I’m very familiar with Martha Stewart – I unofficially “apprenticed” myself to her for a year on my blog MarthaAndMe – so I have tried many Martha recipes, projects, and products. Martha, have you been reading my blog? Your new Martha Wrap seems to indicate you may have. Martha Wrap is a new product that has parchment paper on one side and foil on the other. Martha touts it as perfect for covering food (she doesn’t believe foil should ever touch food, so she always covers it with parchment, then foil) and there are also recipes on the box for parchment paper packets. I was excited to give it a try.

Let’s get down to the specs first. Regular parchment is 15 inches wide and the roll has 32 feet. Martha Wrap is 12 inches wide and has 40 feet. I paid $6 for a roll on Amazon. Supposedly you can buy it at Safeway for $4.99. I buy parchment at the grocery store for $3.99 (you can get another brand that is longer for $2.99, but I like Wilton).

When I opened my package, the roll was taped shut. When I peeled the tape off, it ripped the paper, so I had to throw the first six inches away. Not an auspicious start. I used it like I use parchment, to make a packet. Because it is not as wide, I had a harder time fitting my food in it. It also meant I did not have have enough paper at the sides to make my usual twist. I like the twist because it completely seals in the juices. If you just fold up your sides, juices tend to run out of the seams in the folds. And that is exactly what happened here. A lot of my juices ran out, making a mess on my baking sheet. Ugh.

Other than that, the paper performed well. I’ll stick with regular parchment though because I just prefer the longer width. It would be possible to work with this to be able to twist the ends, but you have to reposition your food to fit the shorter paper and I think it just makes for an awkward packet.

There are some reviews up on Amazon complaining about the edges of the paper curling up if you use it to line a cookie sheet.  I haven’t tried using it in that way and probably never would, since I use silicone liners when baking cookies. I also probably would never use it in place of foil or plastic wrap.

I’m very familiar with Martha Stewart – I unofficially “apprenticed” myself to her for a year on my blog MarthaAndMe – so I have tried many Martha recipes, projects, and products. Martha, have you been reading my blog? Your new Martha Wrap seems to indicate you may have. Martha Wrap is a new product that … Read more →

There was a recipe for stuffed acorn squash in October Everyday Food. I was interested, but didn’t like the stuffing, so I decided to make my own.

1 acorn squash

2 ounces pancetta

1/2 cup diced sweet onion

1/4 teaspoon thyme

salt and pepper

2 cups of packed kale leaves

2 slices whole wheat bread, torn into 1 inch pieces

2 tablespoons cream

1 tablespoon chicken broth

1/4 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes, until the squash is soft.

Cook the pancetta. Remove it, leaving the drippings. Cook onion over medium high heat until soft and translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Add thyme, salt and pepper. Stir in kale, reduce heat to medium and cover for about 3 minutes, until kale is softened. Stir in bread, cream, broth, pancetta, and cheese and stir until combined. Stuff into squash and bake at 400 for 10 minutes until slightly browned on top.

I really liked this. I like acorn squash to begin with, but this added color and flavor to it in a big way. You don’t even realize it has kale in this (good if you have kids). The pancetta and cheese add a lot of nice flavor to it. Definitely something worth making!

There was a recipe for stuffed acorn squash in October Everyday Food. I was interested, but didn’t like the stuffing, so I decided to make my own. 1 acorn squash 2 ounces pancetta 1/2 cup diced sweet onion 1/4 teaspoon thyme salt and pepper 2 cups of packed kale leaves 2 slices whole wheat bread, … Read more →

Our project for next week is Easy Peanut Butter Cups, chosen by SteakandPotatoKindaGurl. This will be her last pick as she is leaving us to go back to school and work.

Our project for next week is Easy Peanut Butter Cups, chosen by SteakandPotatoKindaGurl. This will be her last pick as she is leaving us to go back to school and work.

Here’s a great little salmon dish that has lots of veggies and lots of flavor. And it’s incredibly easy to make in parchment!

1 salmon fillet (about 6 ounces)

1/2 cup cooked or frozen broccoli

1/2 cup frozen artichoke heart quarters, thawed

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons ranch dressing

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon lime juice

2 pinches Old Bay Seasoning

Place the salmon on the parchment and top with the broccoli and artichoke hearts. Mix other ingredients in a small bowl, then pour over salmon and vegetables. Fold the parchment (See Technique page on this blog) and bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness of your salmon) at 400.

Here’s a great little salmon dish that has lots of veggies and lots of flavor. And it’s incredibly easy to make in parchment! 1 salmon fillet (about 6 ounces) 1/2 cup cooked or frozen broccoli 1/2 cup frozen artichoke heart quarters, thawed 1/4 cup plain yogurt 2 tablespoons ranch dressing salt and pepper 1 teaspoon … Read more →

This week’s project was chosen by yours truly: Chocolate Beet Cake (from November Living, not online yet). Wow! The gold standard for chocolate cake in my house is my grandmother’s Miracle Whip cake and this was just as good. It was incredibly moist and you would never know there were beets in it. It just tasted like a delicious, very moist chocolate cake – it looked just like a chocolate cake too.

I don’t know how often I would make this though, because beets are just a pain to work with! You have to peel them, then cut into pieces then boil then puree. I have an off-white Corian sink and was totally paranoid about it getting stained. I was able to find a pair of medical gloves to wear so I didn’t stain my hands. I peeled the beets on top of newspaper. I drained them out in the yard to avoid the sink issue entirely.

Other than the beets, the cake was easy to make and had an easy chocolate glaze, only one layer which I appreciated. It was so good I sent it away with Mr. MarthaAndMe this morning – can’t have that in the house AND the Halloween candy!

As you can see, I took it out of the oven a smidge too early – the very center didn’t quite cook all the way. I took it out with5 minutes remaining because it seemed done. I should have tested it with a cake tester.

I’m wondering if this would work with roasted beets (where you roast them whole, then just rub the skin off with a paper towel), or even canned beets so you wouldn’t have to cook them yourself at all.

This week’s project was chosen by yours truly: Chocolate Beet Cake (from November Living, not online yet). Wow! The gold standard for chocolate cake in my house is my grandmother’s Miracle Whip cake and this was just as good. It was incredibly moist and you would never know there were beets in it. It just … Read more →

Here’s the latest schedule. Let me know if your date doesn’t work for you. Also let me know if you’d to be taken off the schedule. Anyone new is welcome to join!

11-7 SteakAndPotatoKindaGurl

11-14 Megan’s Cookin’

11-21 Sassy Suppers

11-28 Perfecting Pru

12-5 Tiny Skillet

12-12 Sweet Almond Tree

12-19 MarthaAndMe

Here’s the latest schedule. Let me know if your date doesn’t work for you. Also let me know if you’d to be taken off the schedule. Anyone new is welcome to join! 11-7 SteakAndPotatoKindaGurl 11-14 Megan’s Cookin’ 11-21 Sassy Suppers 11-28 Perfecting Pru 12-5 Tiny Skillet 12-12 Sweet Almond Tree 12-19 MarthaAndMe

Congrats to Angie Walker, who won a copy of The Parchment Paper Cookbook! Thanks to all who entered.

Congrats to Angie Walker, who won a copy of The Parchment Paper Cookbook! Thanks to all who entered.

Congrats to Diane Fala who won the year’s subscription to Everyday Food. I hope you enjoy it Diane, and thanks to everyone else who entered.

Congrats to Diane Fala who won the year’s subscription to Everyday Food. I hope you enjoy it Diane, and thanks to everyone else who entered.

Romanesco is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. I recently picked a head up at the grocery store. It’s shaped kind of weirdly, with the florets being sort of pointy. It’s a pale green color. I decided to cook it simply so I could understand the flavors. I cut it into florets and steamed it until it was tender. I seasoned it only with butter and salt and pepper. It truly tastes just like a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. It’s got more of the texture of cauliflower, as well as the sweetness. I really liked it will try it in some more adventurous recipes in the future.

Have you tried it? What did you think?

Romanesco is a cross between broccoli and cauliflower. I recently picked a head up at the grocery store. It’s shaped kind of weirdly, with the florets being sort of pointy. It’s a pale green color. I decided to cook it simply so I could understand the flavors. I cut it into florets and steamed it … Read more →

It’s been a while since I tried a recipe from Martha’s show. Recently she made apple dumplings with the author of The Apple Lovers’ Cookbook. I had to make this one.

For several years, we rented a cottage each summer in New York state’s Finger Lakes region, on Cayuga Lake. One of our favorite things to do was visit Sauder’s Store in Seneca Falls (the town that Bedford Falls in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” was modeled after). Sauder’s was smaller then than it is now (now they sell woodcrafted items and plants outside), but it had a huge bulk section and lots of Mennonite and Amish made baked goods. There were always Mennonites shopping in the store when we were there, which my kids were fascinated by.  There is a bookstore section that sells Mennonite and Amish cookbooks and other books. We always purchased birch beer (similar to root beer) here, a treat we always enjoyed at the fair each summer, but which you could not find in stores at that time. There was a meat case and I always bought Lebanon bologna, a cold cut that looks exactly like salami, but tastes like sweet bologna.

The baked goods were the highlight (whoopie pies, breads, pies, cookies) and apple dumplings were one of our favorites. I’ve never tried to make this and really forgot about it until I saw it again on Martha’s show!

I followed the instructions on this recipe to a “T”, but I think the problem was that my apples were too big. It’s really hard to find small apples here in NY state, where our apple crop is a big deal and sellers pride themselves on selling big, ripe, beautiful apples. I ended up cutting an inch or so off the tops of my apples, but they were still too big to fit in the dough squares. I ended up rolling the pieces of dough out to be larger and I still had to smush them to get them to cover most of the apples.

Other than, that it went well. The cider sauce is simple and it was all much easier than I imagined. This was really delicious. I think I might make regular pie crust next time instead of this dough recipe. I will definitely make this again. The entire family loved this.

It’s been a while since I tried a recipe from Martha’s show. Recently she made apple dumplings with the author of The Apple Lovers’ Cookbook. I had to make this one. For several years, we rented a cottage each summer in New York state’s Finger Lakes region, on Cayuga Lake. One of our favorite things … Read more →