It’s time to get Martha Mondays rolling again, so my pick for Monday 1/10 is Hearty Onion Soup Gratin from p. 188 of Jan Living (if you need the recipe let me know). I’ll post a schedule for the coming weeks soon.

Interested in playing along? Just leave a comment or send me an email and I’ll add you to the blogroll so you can have a turn picking our project. Anyone can cook along with us. Just check back on Mondays and leave a comment with a link to your blog or just a comment with your results if you tried it.

It’s time to get Martha Mondays rolling again, so my pick for Monday 1/10 is Hearty Onion Soup Gratin from p. 188 of Jan Living (if you need the recipe let me know). I’ll post a schedule for the coming weeks soon. Interested in playing along? Just leave a comment or send me an email … Read more →

I got a donut pan for Christmas and I could hardly wait to use it! My family loves donuts, but they’re just not a very healthy breakfast option. Baking donuts with ingredients I could control really appealed to me. I used a recipe I had been saving from Health Magazine since October:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 and spray the donut pan with cooking spray. Mix buttermilk, eggs, honey, butter and vanilla. Then add dry ingredients. Put the batter in the pan, filling each space about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 7 minutes and let it cool for about 2-3 minutes, then roll each donut in cinnamon and sugar (a half and half mixture). Serve immediately. If you reheat the next day, roll in the cinnamon sugar mix again before serving.Makes about 12 donuts.

This was a huge hit here. The donuts are moist and have a nice texture. The wheat flour gives it a heartiness I really appreciate. I’m going to be tweaking this one, trying some wheat germ or flaxseed in it and then experimenting with adding some apples, so I can have some different varieties in my repertoire. I may have to buy a second donut pan since mine makes only 6!

I got a donut pan for Christmas and I could hardly wait to use it! My family loves donuts, but they’re just not a very healthy breakfast option. Baking donuts with ingredients I could control really appealed to me. I used a recipe I had been saving from Health Magazine since October: 1 cup whole … Read more →

It’s our tradition here to have fondue on New Year’s Eve. And it’s also a tradition for the kids to invite their friends. This year Teen Martha had 5 friends and Dude Martha had one (so the teenagers got the dining room and the boys ate with us in the kitchen). We had to run out and buy a third fondue pot. This was the first year people actually ate most of what I made. This time, we set up fondue pots on the table and instead of passing the food for dipping, I set it up buffet style on the kitchen counter. First course is cheese fondue (basic – gruyere, wine, cornstarch). With that I served: mini turkey meatballs, spicy chicken sausage, ham, tortellini, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, french bread, pumpernickel rye bread, pears, apple, grapes and I made 3 dipping sauces: tomato/Italian, mustard, and pesto. There was hardly anything left. Dessert was a chocolate fondue and a white chocolate fondue. In the dining room we did one pot of chocolate and second pot that had half chocolate and half white chocolate (Mr. MarthaAndMe did some synchronized pouring to make that happen). With it I served: pound cake, chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate chip cookies, shortbread, pretzel logs, marshmallows, Rice Krispie treats, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, tangerines, and pineapple. I had chopped peanuts and sprinkles to roll things in as well. This was also inhaled.

I decorate the table with a New Years garland, lots of fun hats (although most of them will not be caught dead wearing them in a photo), noisemakers, those little champagne poppers, and everyone got a chocolate snowman. I serve sparkling juices, soda and chocolate milk. I use paper plates and plastic cups. It’s a lot of work though. Although making the fondues is pretty simple, the prep takes me all day – cutting everything up and cooking all the veggies and pasta and meats. It’s fun though. The best part is that I cook like a lunatic all day and decorate the table, they come, they eat, they horse around a while then they all leave to go to the later parties. Mr. MarthaAndMe clean it all up, then collapse. I never make it to the ball drop and am usually asleep pretty early. It’s a fun tradition though – and before we went out and invested in a third fondue pot Teen Martha promised she will continue to have friends come.

It’s our tradition here to have fondue on New Year’s Eve. And it’s also a tradition for the kids to invite their friends. This year Teen Martha had 5 friends and Dude Martha had one (so the teenagers got the dining room and the boys ate with us in the kitchen). We had to run … Read more →

I love to read cookbooks. So, I was happy to receive two for Christmas. Mr. MarthaAndMe bought me a wonderful local cookbook written by the recently retired food editor of the Buffalo News, Buffalo Cooks. I’ve only read a few pages, but am loving it. It contains recipes for local specialties (yes, that includes chicken wings, but also things you might not know about like chocolate covered sponge candy, kummelweck, fastnachts, and more) as well as recipes for many favorite Buffalo News recipes.

The other cookbook I received, from my mom, is Sarabeth’s Bakery, a famous restaurant/bakery in NYC, which has come out with their own cookbook. I haven’t looked through this one very much yet, but the pictures are great and I know I’m going to enjoy reading it and trying some things from it.

It wouldn’t be the day after Christmas if I didn’t do a little shopping for myself, picking up the things I wanted that no one bought, so I bought myself Cooking in the South with Johnnie Gabriel. I love Southern food and am looking forward to going through that book (it hasn’t arrived yet).

I gave only one cookbook as a gift this year. I bought Teen Martha Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. She wants to “learn” how to cook. I don’t think she realizes she already knows how to cook, but just needs to develop some favorites and some techniques. This book ought to help. It’s a really nice book, with lots of interesting things mixed with standards. I might have to try a few things from it myself!

Last year I made a family cookbook for Christmas and gave it to my aunt, cousin, and her new daughter-in-law. It was made up of my grandmother’s recipes (she passed away last year and left me all her handwritten cooking notebooks). That was a big hit. I’m planning at some point to make up a big cookbook for my kids that will have recipes from both of my grandmothers, as well all of my recipes and the few recipes I have from Mr. MarthaAndMe’s family.

Did you give or get any cookbooks for Christmas? I would love to hear about them if you did!

I love to read cookbooks. So, I was happy to receive two for Christmas. Mr. MarthaAndMe bought me a wonderful local cookbook written by the recently retired food editor of the Buffalo News, Buffalo Cooks. I’ve only read a few pages, but am loving it. It contains recipes for local specialties (yes, that includes chicken … Read more →

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrated. I thought I would share a photo from ours. My dad made this yule log for Christmas dinner. He says he made it once 30 years ago, but I don’t remember it. I think it looks gorgeous. The cake was very moist, but he used a prune filling that had some liqueur in it and I didn’t care for that. The mushrooms were light and yummy though.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrated. I thought I would share a photo from ours. My dad made this yule log for Christmas dinner. He says he made it once 30 years ago, but I don’t remember it. I think it looks gorgeous. The cake was very moist, … Read more →

This is my tree collection, which I’ve been slowly adding to each year. I love the feather trees (and so do the dogs, which is why they’re in the back!). The little blue ones were my grandmother’s. This year I added the pink one and the gold one in the back right (it’s behind the white one and kind of hard to see). The big silver one is mercury glass.

This is my tree collection, which I’ve been slowly adding to each year. I love the feather trees (and so do the dogs, which is why they’re in the back!). The little blue ones were my grandmother’s. This year I added the pink one and the gold one in the back right (it’s behind the … Read more →

You would swear my husband is Greek. He could happily eat at a Greek restaurant every night I think. He even puts feta cheese on his hamburgers. So he was quite happy to devour my Greek chicken in a packet dish.

Here’s the recipe for making just one. Repeat as necessary for as many portions as you would like to make:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper (use more than you think you need)
1/8 tsp onion powder
1 whole canned tomato (from a can of “whole tomatoes)
4 artichoke heart quarters from a can or freezer bag
1/8 tsp Greek seasoning
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/2 tsp lemon juice
spring of parsley and oregano (optional)

Place the chicken breast on your parchment. Drizzle olive oil on top and season with salt and pepper and onion powder. Top with tomato and artichoke. Sprinkle Greek seasoning on top then drizzle with lemon juice. Top with fresh herbs if you have them. Fold parchment and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Let it rest 3-4 minutes before serving.

You would swear my husband is Greek. He could happily eat at a Greek restaurant every night I think. He even puts feta cheese on his hamburgers. So he was quite happy to devour my Greek chicken in a packet dish. Here’s the recipe for making just one. Repeat as necessary for as many portions … Read more →

One of things that is hardest to manage over the holidays is breakfast. If you have guests, or if you just want something other than a bagel or a bowl of cereal, there just isn’t a lot of time to whip things up in the midst of the madness. I’ve come up with a great solution – the omelet biscuit. Using canned biscuits, eggs and whatever filling makes you happy, these muffin tin liner treats offer a hearty, delicious breakfast with almost no clean up. What could be better?

1 can of regular (not jumbo biscuits)
5 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
frozen broccoli or fresh broccoli that’s been cooked
cheddar cheese

Fill your muffin tin with 10 foil lined muffin tin cups. Spray them with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 400. Take one biscuit at a time and smush it so it gets flatter (making it round like you would with a tiny piece of pizza dough). You want it big enough to cover the bottom and some of the sides of the muffin liner, but it does not need to come up to the top – it’s ok if your eggs go over the top of the biscuit. Mix up eggs with milk and herbs and spices. Place two florets of broccoli in each tin and a tablespoon of grated cheese. Pour egg mixture over top. Bake for 15 minutes.

It’s that easy. You can substitute spinach for the broccoli or swap out the cheese with another type. Change out the herbs with anything you have. You could ditch the veggies and add bacon. You could also swap out a couple of the eggs for plain egg whites and add a little extra milk. You can use skim milk, whole milk, cream, or whatever you have in the fridge. It’s a very versatile recipe. You could even use squares of puff pastry in place of the biscuits if you have some leftover. These are great hot or at room temp, so you can easily make them ahead and let them sit out for people to grab.

One of things that is hardest to manage over the holidays is breakfast. If you have guests, or if you just want something other than a bagel or a bowl of cereal, there just isn’t a lot of time to whip things up in the midst of the madness. I’ve come up with a great … Read more →

Thanks Ana at Sweet Almond Tree for choosing Artichoke Dip for today. I love dips so I was excited to make this one. Confession time. I did not follow this exactly. I made only 1/3 of the recipe which was enough for 4 people. There was no way I was cutting all the leaves off the hearts. I also used half Parmesan and half Fontina cheese. I have to say I was annoyed that this required two pans and a dish for the dip – seemed like a bit much. All that being said, it was good. I think I like artichoke spinach dip a little more, but this was good. Oh yeah, I also didn’t serve with crudites. We just smeared it on bread.

We’re going to take a hiatus from Martha Mondays for the holidays and start back up in January.

Thanks Ana at Sweet Almond Tree for choosing Artichoke Dip for today. I love dips so I was excited to make this one. Confession time. I did not follow this exactly. I made only 1/3 of the recipe which was enough for 4 people. There was no way I was cutting all the leaves off … Read more →

I’ve been doing holiday cookies in stages. I’ll make the dough one day, cut it out and bake it another and then we had a big cookie decorating night to decorate the gingerbread and sugar cookies. This year I bought some little squeeze bottles, thinking we could emulate Martha and make the cookies look like the ones Dani decorates on Martha’s show. Silly me. First problem – my mixer broke as I was making frosting. Then the frosting was too stiff, so we had to add milk (by hand!). Finally we got it to work. The bottles were great for outlining and making lines and designs. “Flooding” the inside of the cookie (as Dani, the cookie decorating expert on Martha’s show calls it) was harder. Sure you could squeeze frosting into the center, but then trying to spread it evenly with a knife was very hard. Still, I think the cookies turned out pretty well. I’m not a fan of a lot of frosting, but kids will be kids! It took us about 2 hours to get them all decorated. It was exhausting but fun!

I’ve been doing holiday cookies in stages. I’ll make the dough one day, cut it out and bake it another and then we had a big cookie decorating night to decorate the gingerbread and sugar cookies. This year I bought some little squeeze bottles, thinking we could emulate Martha and make the cookies look like … Read more →