Salmon, avocadoes and tomatoes are on my fave foods list so putting them together with corn was something I couldn’t pass up. I made Martha’s Salmon with Sweet Corn, Tomato and Avocado Relish from Sept Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

This is a great dish for a busy summer night, when you don’t want to do a lot of work to have a fabulous dinner. You cook the corn quickly then cut it off the cobs. Cut up tomatoes and avocado and mix with diced onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper and oil. You grill the salmon and top with the mixture. Quick and painless.

This was such a colorful dish that I loved seeing it on my plate. The combination of flavors is nice, but I did have to add some more lemon juice to mine. I enjoyed it with the salmon, but I ate the leftover relish mix the next day for lunch plain and it was fabulous plain.  I’ll definitely make this dish again and again.

Salmon, avocadoes and tomatoes are on my fave foods list so putting them together with corn was something I couldn’t pass up. I made Martha’s Salmon with Sweet Corn, Tomato and Avocado Relish from Sept Martha Stewart Everyday Food. This is a great dish for a busy summer night, when you don’t want to do … Read more →

I finally was able to try Martha’s Pick from May Martha Stewart Living – Frederic Fekkai’s Ageless Rejuvenating Shampoo.  I was excited to try this since it is a name I’ve heard and I think Fekkai does (or maybe did?) Martha’s hair. It sounded like a real “product of the stars”! This was on back order so I waited a while to get it. I paid $35 for 7 ounces, plus shipping. Eek.

The shampoo smells nice and has a nice consistency and feel. It lathers really, really well.  I used this for a week. And I wasn’t impressed. My hair was limp. Now, I have very curly hair and I do not straighten it. I like my hair with body and curl. This shampoo made it look sad and stringy. Definitely not for me. I can’t say how someone with straight or wavy hair would like it. All I can tell you is it’s not something I’m interested in shelling out for. So far Martha’s picks are not impressing me! I’ve tried four. I only really liked one, but it was overpriced.

I finally was able to try Martha’s Pick from May Martha Stewart Living – Frederic Fekkai’s Ageless Rejuvenating Shampoo.  I was excited to try this since it is a name I’ve heard and I think Fekkai does (or maybe did?) Martha’s hair. It sounded like a real “product of the stars”! This was on back … Read more →

I finally was able to try Martha’s Pick from May Martha Stewart Living – Frederic Fekkai’s Ageless Rejuvenating Shampoo.  I was excited to try this since it is a name I’ve heard and I think Fekkai does (or maybe did?) Martha’s hair. It sounded like a real “product of the stars”! This was on back order so I waited a while to get it. I paid $35 for 7 ounces, plus shipping. Eek.

The shampoo smells nice and has a nice consistency and feel. It lathers really, really well.  I used this for a week. And I wasn’t impressed. My hair was limp. Now, I have very curly hair and I do not straighten it. I like my hair with body and curl. This shampoo made it look sad and stringy. Definitely not for me. I can’t say how someone with straight or wavy hair would like it. All I can tell you is it’s not something I’m interested in shelling out for. So far Martha’s picks are not impressing me! I’ve tried four. I only really liked one, but it was overpriced.

I finally was able to try Martha’s Pick from May Martha Stewart Living – Frederic Fekkai’s Ageless Rejuvenating Shampoo.  I was excited to try this since it is a name I’ve heard and I think Fekkai does (or maybe did?) Martha’s hair. It sounded like a real “product of the stars”! This was on back … Read more →

Yes, zucchini cookies. Really. I was a little leery myself, even though I have a fab zuke cake recipe. I couldn’t help wondering about zucchini in cookies though. So I had to give this recipe a go. It’s from September Martha Stewart Everyday Food (follow the link above for the recipe).

You start by creaming butter and powdered sugar (interesting to use powdered sugar). Then you add vanilla, lemon zest and salt. No egg or leavening! Add your flour and cornmeal (I had some frozen from the historical Jenney Grist Mill we visited in Plymouth, MA). Then add the grated zucchini. This was one of those recipes that didn’t seem like it was going to come together. I ended up smushing the dough up with my hands to get it to hold together.  It’s a little weird to have cookie dough with zucchini in it for sure. You definitely do not want to lick the beaters or the bowl because raw zucchini totally ruins it!

I baked it up and they came out quite nicely. Mine did not really spread on the cookie sheets very much and stayed rather round and thick. As always, they took longer to bake than Martha said.

I was dying to try them and popped one in my mouth when it was too hot (ouch) and was surprised at how good they are! They are crunchy and lemony and you would never know there was zucchini in it if you didn’t see the green flecks.

Now I knew the kids would turn their noses up at this, so I was a bit sneaky. I gave them each one to try (including Teen Martha’s boyfriend who I think eats nothing green, ever) without saying what it was. Everyone said they liked it, until I told them what it was, then they refused to eat any more! I liked them though and have probably snacked on a few too many since I am able to lie to myself and say “it’s just vegetables!” These cookies are really good and if you don’t tell anyone what’s in them, they will be a hit!

Yes, zucchini cookies. Really. I was a little leery myself, even though I have a fab zuke cake recipe. I couldn’t help wondering about zucchini in cookies though. So I had to give this recipe a go. It’s from September Martha Stewart Everyday Food (follow the link above for the recipe). You start by creaming … Read more →

It’s that time of the year when the tomatoes pile up around the kitchen and I look for new ways to use them. I love, love, love fresh tomatoes. They are such a luxury after a winter of mealy, white tomatoes. Martha has a recipe for Tomato Provencal in September Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

You lay your sliced tomatoes in a dish and then pile a mix of breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme on top. You’re supposed to bake them in the oven. It sounded good. But it wasn’t. The breadcrumbs stayed dry and powdery. It was like tomatoes with sand on top. This is truly awful. If you’re going to bread your tomatoes, dip them in an egg wash first. Or use some olive oil and just a dusting of breadcrumbs so they become crunchy and wonderful. There were leftovers and I dusted them off the next day and heated them up in some olive oil and they were a million times better. There are so many wonderful ways to make tomatoes, don’t waste your time on this.

It’s that time of the year when the tomatoes pile up around the kitchen and I look for new ways to use them. I love, love, love fresh tomatoes. They are such a luxury after a winter of mealy, white tomatoes. Martha has a recipe for Tomato Provencal in September Martha Stewart Everyday Food. You … Read more →

A new idea for beans is always welcome. I make a lot of beans. Usually I have green beans, but I happened to have some fresh yellow beans so I used those. This is just a simple finishing idea for beans. Steam or boil them, then toss with some butter, salt and pepper and some toasted hazelnuts. I’ve used toasted pecans or toasted slivered almonds with beans and those are delicious, but this was something unusual and we enjoyed it (although my father-in-law asked “are those chickpeas?”). This is something I would not have thought of myself and it gets a thumbs up.

A new idea for beans is always welcome. I make a lot of beans. Usually I have green beans, but I happened to have some fresh yellow beans so I used those. This is just a simple finishing idea for beans. Steam or boil them, then toss with some butter, salt and pepper and some … Read more →

For Monday, Sept 7, the Martha Mondays project is Apple Honey Challah from September Martha Stewart Living (if you need the recipe, let me know). You can thank Sara Stall-Ryan from Sassy Suppers for this pick. Check back on Tues the 8th for my results and post yours then.

For Monday, Sept 7, the Martha Mondays project is Apple Honey Challah from September Martha Stewart Living (if you need the recipe, let me know). You can thank Sara Stall-Ryan from Sassy Suppers for this pick. Check back on Tues the 8th for my results and post yours then.

First, I apologize to all Martha Mondays members because when it comes to crafts like these, I am just hopeless.  I gave it my best shot, but I’m pretty much a total crafting loser.

This week’s Martha Mondays project was pom poms.  I chose to make the napkin ring pom poms. I measured my tissue paper, cut it and folded it. I was fine to this point.

Then I twisted the wire and tried to fluff the tissue. Here is where things got ugly. Somehow, this seemed too long to be for a napkin ring. It looked like a giant bizarre butterfly. I am not very good at fluffing.

I tried to put another wire higher up from the fold, so there would be less paper

first attempt

flapping around and that worked better. The results were still not that impressive, but that’s due to my ineptitude. I am sure this project worked just fine for others. I do think this is a cute alternative to napkin rings. A friend of mine recently gave a luncheon at her house and didn’t have napkin rings that matched. This would have been a nice project for her because she could have made them in any color she wanted to match.

Second attempt

First, I apologize to all Martha Mondays members because when it comes to crafts like these, I am just hopeless.  I gave it my best shot, but I’m pretty much a total crafting loser. This week’s Martha Mondays project was pom poms.  I chose to make the napkin ring pom poms. I measured my tissue … Read more →

In retrospect, I should have just used my grandmother’s trusted family recipe for lemon meringue pie. It works, it’s delicious, and there’s no roll of the dice involved. Instead, I used Martha’s recipe from September Martha Stewart Everyday Food. For a dinner with my in-laws. Oh dear.

It started innocently enough. I bought refrigerated pie crust. I know, it’s not Martha, but I was under a time crunch as well as some health issues, so I needed to simplify.

This lemon meringue pie recipe is part of an entire section of recipes predicated on a lemon curd recipe. I get the concept of this (three desserts based on one basic recipe), but it was really quite annoying to flip back and forth between two pages to make this (“follow the recipe on page XX up to step one, then add X, Y and Z and then continue with the recipe”).

This is basically egg yolks, lemon juice, zest, sugar and cornstarch. I think this recipe is written wrong however. You are referred to the lemon curd recipe which says to cook until it coats the back of a spoon. It needs to cook longer and become much thicker in my opinion to become pie filling.

I poured the lemon into the pie crust and refrigerated. Then we packed it in a cooler the next day to take to the lake house. On the way there, it shifted and part of the lemon filling slopped out all over the cooler. This was the first sign I should have abandoned this and just served store bought cookies.

I made the meringue topping and popped it in the oven. It came out looking beautiful, with no hint of the disaster that lay beneath. I went to serve this pie and all the lemon ran out. It did not set up at all. It was a plate of crust, covered in soup with a floating meringue top. It all tasted ok, but it looked awful. Everyone was very nice about it of course and we ate it with spoons, but it was truly an unmitigated disaster. Sigh. I only make dinner for my in-laws once or twice a year and I try to make lovely food they will enjoy. What a disappointment this was.

In retrospect, I should have just used my grandmother’s trusted family recipe for lemon meringue pie. It works, it’s delicious, and there’s no roll of the dice involved. Instead, I used Martha’s recipe from September Martha Stewart Everyday Food. For a dinner with my in-laws. Oh dear. It started innocently enough. I bought refrigerated pie … Read more →

I’ve got a bone to pick, but it’s not with Martha. It’s with the grocery store.

Earlier in the week, I went grocery shopping and bought ingredients for a few Martha dishes. I specifically bought avocado so I could made Roasted Chicken Tacos (Martha Stewart Everyday Food, September). There was a nice selection of avocados and some were marked “ripe”. Now, from what I could tell, none seemed ripe to me, but the ones marked “ripe” were closer than some of the other cement footballs in the bin. I brought my avocado home and let it sit out in the fruit bowl with the bananas (known to help ripen fruit) for two days. Finally, I was desperate for something to make for dinner. I had to rule out a salmon dish with a corn/tomato/avocado relish since I didn’t have any corn. I ruled out a fontina and mushroom turkey meatloaf because I had no mushrooms. My choices were dwindling and so I went with the chicken tacos. The sticker on the avocado says “ripe,” I rationalized. It must be at least close to ripe. Wrong.

I had some leftover fried chicken so I used that in place of the roasted chicken. This recipe has very few ingredients – cilantro ( had to use dried which is no real substitute but I was desperate for a dish I could make), onion, salt and pepper, lime juice and salt and pepper, and tortillas.  And of course the cursed avocado. I tried to cut the avocado in half. It was so hard it would not separate in the center. I ended up peeling the skin off and cutting avocado off around the edges. It was just nasty. It was woody and pulpy and awful.  The entire dinner I muttered under my breath about the ridiculousness of labeling this as ripe! I find they do this with other things too – peaches, nectarines, plums, etc. There is usually a bin of regular ones, then one marked “ripe now,” but they never are actually ripe. Nor are they close to ripe.I understand ripe fruit has a short shelf life. I understand they have to pick things unripe to allow for transportation time. I do know the reasons. But it doesn’t change my frustration.

The whole thing made me cranky and grumbly. How far in advance must one buy avocados?

Anyway, we went ahead and ate these, but they were not great. Even if the avocado had been ripe I would have given this a thumb’s down. It just needed something – salsa, cheese, tomato, sour cream, lettuce. Anything at all really would have helped.  It was very blah and did not feel like anything close to a real meal.

I’ve got a bone to pick, but it’s not with Martha. It’s with the grocery store. Earlier in the week, I went grocery shopping and bought ingredients for a few Martha dishes. I specifically bought avocado so I could made Roasted Chicken Tacos (Martha Stewart Everyday Food, September). There was a nice selection of avocados … Read more →