This morning I had a blast chatting with Kim and Betsy on Martha Stewart Radio Morning Living Live on Sirius about this blog. They are so fun to talk with and they always have great tips for me. I’m going to be checking out Martha’s yoga videos online based on their recommendations.

I also did an interview with a great blog (Writers in Business) about the writing business and I talked a lot about this blog. Check it out here.

This morning I had a blast chatting with Kim and Betsy on Martha Stewart Radio Morning Living Live on Sirius about this blog. They are so fun to talk with and they always have great tips for me. I’m going to be checking out Martha’s yoga videos online based on their recommendations. I also did … Read more →

In honor of Memorial Day, I’m doing a big triple post, since I plan to be away from the computer most of the weekend.

What’s for Dinner in June you might ask? Or at least you might ask that if you are a Martha Stewart Living subscriber and are familiar with the monthly “What’s for Dinner” feature – “dinner for four in about an hour” it claims.

The June column includes Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Mustard, Heirloom Tomato Salad with Garlic Oil and Grilled Potato Slices with Salt and Vinegar.

The first thing I did was boil the potato slices in vinegar. That’s right, Martha says to boil your potatoes in 2 cups of white vinegar. Then let it cool for half an hour, still in the vinegar.

Next, I mixed up the marinade for the chicken which was very simple and got the chicken into that. I sliced the tomatoes and cooked the garlic for the salad.

Mr. MarthaAndMe was drafted to do the grilling. First he grilled the red onion slices for the sandwich. Then he grilled the chicken, and finally the potato slices. This took serious juggling since the racks on our grill are completely rusted. We’ve ordered new ones, but they have not come in yet, so we’re using a little fish or vegetable griller thing set on top of the racks.

Once everything was cooked, I assembled the sandwich and the salad and we were ready to eat.

First let’s talk about those potatoes. I’m sorry Martha, but they were horrible. Inedible. It was just a mouth full of vinegar. There was nothing subtle about this. Nasty. Skip this recipe.

Next, the sandwich. I know my photo doesn’t look too gorgeous (I should have taken it once we cut it into sections. I am not usually a fan of onion and pickle on sandwiches, but I went with it. This sandwich was good. However, I think the chicken needs to marinate in the mustard mix longer than half an hour. I didn’t really taste mustard at all. I liked the onion and pickles on the sandwich. Martha has you spread creme fraiche on the bread instead of mayo. There was not much noticeable difference, I didn’t think. And in fact no one noticed it was not mayo. I do have to say, I don’t care for sandwiches on big hard pieces of bread like this. It’s just too hard to bite into. I would enjoy this much more on a roll.

And finally, the tomato salad. This was good. Nothing wild or exciting, but good. I often make simple tomato salads like this in the summer. I expected the garlic pieces to be more flavorful, so that was a little disappointing.

Martha says this dinner can be made in less than hour. I say maybe, but only if you are cooking furiously, nonstop for that hour.

Happy Memorial Day! I’ll be back on Tuesday with more posts (it’s going to be a full weekend of Martha here). I’ll be on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Morning Living Live on Sirius Tuesday morning at 8 am if you want to tune in. If you’re listening, call in! I’d love to talk to you.

In honor of Memorial Day, I’m doing a big triple post, since I plan to be away from the computer most of the weekend. What’s for Dinner in June you might ask? Or at least you might ask that if you are a Martha Stewart Living subscriber and are familiar with the monthly “What’s for … Read more →

I am a lover of good corned beef hash, which I make every year after St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve never had chicken hash, but was willing to try it, so I made Summer Vegetable and Chicken Hash from June Martha Stewart Living (no link on Martha’s site for this).

First I boiled the potatoes, then I started creating the hash. First step was to saute the chicken, then the potatoes. Take those out and cook scallion, jalapeno, and then corn kernels. I liked cooking the corn – watching the kernels get brown and listening to some of them pop. Next you add cherry tomatoes, then stock, seasoning and chicken. Add the potatoes back in at the end. It seems like a quick dish but in reality it took quite a while to cook all the separate parts. My corn took much longer to cook than the recipe said.

The end result was actually quite good. It tasted nothing like what I think of as hash – I guess I like my potatoes brown and crunchy. However, it was tasty. The jalapeno gave it just enough heat and the corn was sweet and crunchy. It was a really nice flavor.

It was also good reheated the next day. I wasn’t thrilled with how it looked – like a pile of food on your plate, but it had nice flavors.

I am a lover of good corned beef hash, which I make every year after St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve never had chicken hash, but was willing to try it, so I made Summer Vegetable and Chicken Hash from June Martha Stewart Living (no link on Martha’s site for this). First I boiled the potatoes, then … Read more →

I made Martha’s strawberry shortcake cookies.  This involved cutting up lots of strawberries into tiny little pieces which wasn’t too enjoyable but I dealt with it all right.  Some of Martha’s descriptions of what the dough should look like at certain stages was a little misleading and she had me a little nervous when she told me I was supposed to have coarse crumbs and I really didn’t.  I kept going though and everything turned out fine.  They took a really long time to bake – almost half an hour – but I didn’t really mind that.  They tasted more like a biscuit than a cookie.  Maybe a little more sugar could have solved that problem?  Overall they weren’t terrible and I would probably make them again.

MarthaAndMe here again. I tasted the cookies and they really do taste like strawberry shortcake. They aren’t overly sweet because shortcake is not too sweet. Mr. MarthaAndMe said they needed whipped cream. They were really an interesting cookie that did not taste at all like a cookie.

Now it is time for me to tell the story behind the post. Teen Martha baked these up and took photos. The next morning, after she left for school, she called me in a panic because she left the cookies at home. So I turned my car around and went and got them for her. As I was walking into the school it occurred to me that I had not seen her take a photo of the finished cookies. I called her and asked her and no she had not. So I took one cookie out and left it the car and photographed it when I got home!

Today my daughter, known as Teen Martha, is guest blogging. She needed cookies to take to a party at school (apparently they are still having parties in 11th grade) and she agreed to go with Martha’s Strawberry Shortcake Cookies (June Martha Stewart Living). Here are her thoughts. I made Martha’s strawberry shortcake cookies.  This involved … Read more →

In June Martha Stewart Everyday Food there’s a cute little recipe for sesame broccoli. We eat a LOT of broccoli since it is the only vegetable both of my kids will eat. A new way to make it is always welcome.

This recipe has you roast the broccoli in a very hot oven. Note that mine cooked much faster than the time the recipe said. Once it comes out you put some soy sauce, lemon juice and sesame seeds on it.

It was interesting, but I wouldn’t make this again. I felt like the flavors were kind of overpowering and it was just too strong. The kids would not touch it. Not really a winner. Sorry, Martha.

In June Martha Stewart Everyday Food there’s a cute little recipe for sesame broccoli. We eat a LOT of broccoli since it is the only vegetable both of my kids will eat. A new way to make it is always welcome. This recipe has you roast the broccoli in a very hot oven. Note that … Read more →

I’ve had Spanish Rice a few times at a Mexican restaurant and liked it a lot, but had never made it.  I stumbled upon it in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living and decided to give it a try.

This recipe is very easy. Basically you’re just cooking rice with some onion, garlic, carrot, tomato paste and chicken broth. No additional seasonings or spices.

The rice cooked easily and was moist and a beautiful orange color. I’m a big fan of this dish. It’s simple yet different enough from plain rice that it’s a nice change. The other thing I really love about it is that the rice needs no butter.  I often make rice as a side dish and we like it plain with just butter and salt, but this dish is moist and tasty without any added fat which makes it a big winner in my book!

I’ve had Spanish Rice a few times at a Mexican restaurant and liked it a lot, but had never made it.  I stumbled upon it in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living and decided to give it a try. This recipe is very easy. Basically you’re just cooking rice with some onion, garlic, carrot, … Read more →

My June issue of Martha Stewart Living has arrived. I love the cover and I love all the grilling recipes. Summer at last! I immediately dove in and picked the Honey Brine for chicken to try out.

I boiled water, honey and salt. Hmm, those ingredients seemed a little plain-Jane to me, but I gave Martha the benefit of the doubt. I brined 8 boneless chicken breasts for two hours. Trying to be clever, I thought I would make 8 and use the leftovers to make a big salad or some sandwiches another night. Someone stop me the next time I try to be clever. We grilled the chicken after the brining.

I’m sorry to report that this chicken was inedible. It was so salty you simply could not eat it. 1/2 cup of salt in 6 cups of water is a lot, but brines do generally have a lot of salt. Maybe if there was some other flavor involved in this it might have been edible, but as it was, it jut tasted like salt and nothing else. The honey flavor did not come through at all. This was a HUGE disappointment!

My June issue of Martha Stewart Living has arrived. I love the cover and I love all the grilling recipes. Summer at last! I immediately dove in and picked the Honey Brine for chicken to try out. I boiled water, honey and salt. Hmm, those ingredients seemed a little plain-Jane to me, but I gave … Read more →

Last weekend we planted the seedlings I had been growing in the house for over a month. And immediately we had a serious frost. Almost everything died.  I know Martha has all sorts of frost-prevention items – little paper hats she puts over things, etc. If I had known it was going to have  a frost I would have at least tossed a blanket over the garden, but I had no idea.

So, yesterday we were at Walmart and I grabbed a few replacement plants so we could try again. I have to say this gardening thing is already quite discouraging!

It’s definitely much easier to buy the plants already started than to do it yourself from seeds – sorry Martha!

Last weekend we planted the seedlings I had been growing in the house for over a month. And immediately we had a serious frost. Almost everything died.  I know Martha has all sorts of frost-prevention items – little paper hats she puts over things, etc. If I had known it was going to have  a … Read more →

Yesterday my daughter went to the junior prom.  Although it was her prom, I spent the day getting ready since her limo of friends were coming back here afterwards.

In the afternoon I had to redo my daughter’s hairstyle – she wasn’t happy with how the hair stylist did it.

I spent a lot of time trying to get the house ready – setting out hand towels and extra toilet paper rolls, moving around chairs, and finding serving bowls.

I managed to take a photo of the table before I put out the food – I made a centerpiece of lilacs and what I think is a honeysuckle tree.  I didn’t get any actual food photos since the kids did not arrive until 2:30 am and it was all I could to do to dump it all on the table and sit in a stupor on the couch.

I did try to make things as Martha-like as possible. I made a cookie cake and decorated it with pink rosettes and wrote “Prom ’09” in the center. I used my good serving bowls for the snacks, fruit, dip, cheese and cake. This morning I had donut holes, muffins and juice available, which they picked at as they stumbled out the door.

Yesterday my daughter went to the junior prom.  Although it was her prom, I spent the day getting ready since her limo of friends were coming back here afterwards. In the afternoon I had to redo my daughter’s hairstyle – she wasn’t happy with how the hair stylist did it. I spent a lot of … Read more →

I was looking for something simple for a busy weeknight dinner and settled on Penne with Two Tomatoes and Mozzarella from May Everyday Food. I had a box of penne, but when I pulled it out of the pantry I realized it was only 1/4 full, so I decided to use shells for this.

I boiled the pasta and then cooked up garlic, cherry tomatoes and sundried tomatoes. Super simple. You mix the pasta with the sauce and then stir in frozen cubes of mozzarella (so they stay as chunks and don’t melt) and sprinkle on some chives.

I liked this dish, but it doesn’t reheat well because the cheese melts all over. Other than that, I thought it was tasty and I liked the two types of tomatoes. The chives are a nice touch and the green color looks great. I might be tempted to add some spinach to this or some other vegetable just to make it a little more interesting.

My June Living came in the mail yesterday – hooray!

I was looking for something simple for a busy weeknight dinner and settled on Penne with Two Tomatoes and Mozzarella from May Everyday Food. I had a box of penne, but when I pulled it out of the pantry I realized it was only 1/4 full, so I decided to use shells for this. I … Read more →