Originally I intended to make the peach stuffed pork roast from July Living. I went to the store looking for dried peaches, but couldn’t find any. I bought peach jam and then bought fresh peaches since the recipe said you could dry them yourself. Then I got home and really read the recipe and wasn’t about to spend 3 hours drying peaches so I could then rehydrate them. I decided to take Martha’s original concept and play with it.

So here’s what I did. I defrosted one pork tenderloin. I chopped one garlic clove and put in a bowl. I added about 1/4 cup peach jam, several tsp of Worchestershire and 4 tbsp lemon juice and about 1/4 cup orange juice. Salt and pepper went in too. I mixed it up and put it and the tenderloin in a ziploc and stuck it in the fridge for several hours.

I made up a sauce that had about 1/4 cup of the jam and 1 fresh peach, peeled and cut into pieces. I added all the tamari I had left in the house, which was about 2-3 tbsp. A little bit of lemon juice – about 1 tbsp. Salt and pepper too. Then I added about 1 cup of chicken broth. I boiled this and then added cornstarch to thicken – about 2 tbsp.

I grilled the tenderloin and served it with the sauce on the side. It was fabulous. Everyone loved it. Even Teen Martha’s boyfriend, who will almost never eat anything unfamiliar, liked it. Not a drop was left. So I say thank you to Martha for the inspiration and will definitely be making this again.

Originally I intended to make the peach stuffed pork roast from July Living. I went to the store looking for dried peaches, but couldn’t find any. I bought peach jam and then bought fresh peaches since the recipe said you could dry them yourself. Then I got home and really read the recipe and wasn’t … Read more →

I couldn’t help myself at the grocery store – I bought a giant box of blueberries. So I whipped up a double batch of blueberry muffins, most of which are headed to the freezer. I use a mix of half white flour and half wheat for this and make a crumb topping. Cinnamon is key. I love these muffins – they’re moist, sweet, have just the right crumb texture and are perfect with just about every meal.

Brette’s Blueberry Muffins

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup flour (half wheat, half regular, reserve 1/4 cup to toss with blueberries)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix egg, milk, and oil. Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix blueberries with reserved flour. Add to mixture with cinnamon. Stir gently to mix.

To make streusel topping, place 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in food processor and mix until it resembles coarse meal.  Sprinkle topping on top of muffins before placing in the oven. Freeze remaining streusel for future use. Bake for 20 minutes.

I couldn’t help myself at the grocery store – I bought a giant box of blueberries. So I whipped up a double batch of blueberry muffins, most of which are headed to the freezer. I use a mix of half white flour and half wheat for this and make a crumb topping. Cinnamon is key. … Read more →

This is part of my ongoing series where you ask for it and I make. I’m calling it Martha on Demand and the idea is that I’ll be your guinea pig and try any Martha recipe you suggest so you can see if it’s worth making (if you have a request, leave a comment!). Almost Slowfood suggested I make Mrs. Kostyra’s Meatloaf. Mrs. Kostyra was Martha’s mom (Big Martha, as she called her) and often appeared on her show to make her recipes, and so far every one I have tried has been very good. I hadn’t tried her meatloaf though, so this was a fun experiment for me. I don’t make a lot of meatloaf. In fact, I hardly ever make it. And when I do I have two recipes. One is a turkey and rice meatloaf that I stick some veggies in and serve with a cheese sauce. The other is meatloaf the way my mom taught me, which is just a lot of dumping – ground beef, breadcrumbs, ketchup, onion, herbs, cheese, Worchestershire with mozzarella on top.

Martha’s meatloaf is truly fantastic. I think I like it more than the way my mom taught me. It comes out dense and moist. It’s even better cold the next day for lunch. I cut the recipe in half and it made enough for 4 people. It was pretty easy to make, even if it involves chopping some veggies (carrots, celery, onion, garlic). I think that using some real bread instead of breadcrumbs really adds to the flavor and texture as well. The only thing missing in my opinion is cheese. I missed the mozzarella on top and so if I make this again, I will probably add that to it, but otherwise I thought it was truly fantastic.

This is part of my ongoing series where you ask for it and I make. I’m calling it Martha on Demand and the idea is that I’ll be your guinea pig and try any Martha recipe you suggest so you can see if it’s worth making (if you have a request, leave a comment!). Almost … Read more →

The Martha Mondays pick for next week (6/28) is coconut cream tart, chosen by Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

The Martha Mondays pick for next week (6/28) is coconut cream tart, chosen by Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Today’s project, Caramel Corn from July Living was chosen by Teresa at A Homemade Iowa Life. I’ve never made caramel corn and the kids love it, so this was a great project to try.

It was easier than I expected. You pop 12 cups of popped corn and mix 1 1/2 cups of beer nuts (or salted peanuts which is what I used). Melt 1 stick plus 2 tbsp butter and add 1 3/4 cups brown sugar, 1/3 cup light corn syrup, 1/2 tsp salt and cook to 248 degrees. Add 1/4 tsp baking soda and toss with the popcorn. Then bake at 250 for 40 minutes, stirring a few times. Not a lot of work and it turned out nicely. It tastes great. The only caveat I would offer is to make sure you separate out all of the unpopped corn. I make mine in the microwave and always have some that doesn’t pop. It gets mixed into the caramel and is not nice to chew if you don’t get it all out before adding the caramel. Thumbs up on this one!

Today’s project, Caramel Corn from July Living was chosen by Teresa at A Homemade Iowa Life. I’ve never made caramel corn and the kids love it, so this was a great project to try. It was easier than I expected. You pop 12 cups of popped corn and mix 1 1/2 cups of beer nuts … Read more →

Dear Martha – you really confused me with this recipe from July Everyday Food. This recipe calls for “puffed rice cereal.” I am pretty sure you mean crispy rice cereal, not puffed rice cereal. I don’t even know if they actually sell puffed rice anymore, although I do remember having it as a kid. Puffed rice is not really crunchy. So I just assumed you really meant Rice Krispie cereal and went with that.

This is a Rice Krispie treat recipe, kicked up with peanut butter, chocolate and peanuts. You melt 3 tbsp butter, 4 cups mini marshmallows and 1/3 cup peanut butter then stir in 6 cups of the cereal. Put half in a square baking pan and cover with half of your melted chocolate (12 oz choc chips melted). Cover with the rest of the rice mix then pour on the rest of the chocolate and sprinkle with 1/4 cup roasted peanuts.

My kids are fiends for Rice Krispie treats. I made a batch of plain ones when I made this and they disappeared in less than 12 hours. They aren’t excited about Martha’s recipe though. I thought it was pretty darn good, but I guess they’re purists! This is an easy way to make a dessert that takes little effort but looks like some time went into it. I will eat anything that combines chocolate and peanut butter, and this was really good in my opinion!

Dear Martha – you really confused me with this recipe from July Everyday Food. This recipe calls for “puffed rice cereal.” I am pretty sure you mean crispy rice cereal, not puffed rice cereal. I don’t even know if they actually sell puffed rice anymore, although I do remember having it as a kid. Puffed … Read more →

As part of my new Martha on Demand initiative, I recently asked readers of this blog to tell me what Martha recipes they would like me to test out for them. There was an overwhelming number of people who asked for veggie burgers. Stephanie in particular requested the veggie burgers in the July issue of Everyday Food and others chimed in saying any veggie burger recipe would be great.  Thanks to all of you who requested it, I gave this recipe a try.

Things did not start off well in the grocery store! I could not find bulgur. I ended up buying a tabbouleh mix, which has bulgur and then spices in an envelope inside. You start by soaking 1/2 cup bulgur in 1 cup boiling water for 30 min. Then you drain it. Coarsely chop 1 can of drained and rinsed pinto beans and add to the bulgur. Shred 2 carrots and add that and an egg. Also add 1 thinly sliced scallion and salt and pepper and 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese.

The recipe says to measure 1/2 cup of the mix as one burger and smush it with a spatula to the right thickness. It was supposed to make 4 burgers, but I ended up with 5. You cook them in a pan with a little olive oil. My mix was really kind of mushy and didn’t hold together too well. The recipe says to cook 3 min per side. Mine took about 20 min before they were cooked through, but I had them all in one large pan so the heat was not very direct. I did successfully transfer most of it to buns. The recipe says to put avocado and bean sprouts on the bun. I used Miracle Whip and avocado.

They looked pretty decent – nicely browned. They tasted really bland though. There’s nothing in them to give them any flavor. It just tasted like plain beans. At the very least this needed onion or garlic and some other seasonings – herbs of some kind. I don’t think I would make this again. It was a lot of work with not much taste, unfortunately! A big disappointment. My kids hated it, but they aren’t veggie burger fans in general. I love Gardenburgers, but this didn’t measure up at all.

I’ll be making some of the other Martha on Demand requests made on the other thread in my continuing Martha on Demand series, but if you have any requests, go ahead and post them here. I’m always open to suggestions and it’s great when people post specific Martha recipes they want me to try.

As part of my new Martha on Demand initiative, I recently asked readers of this blog to tell me what Martha recipes they would like me to test out for them. There was an overwhelming number of people who asked for veggie burgers. Stephanie in particular requested the veggie burgers in the July issue of … Read more →

It’s strawberry season – so short and so sweet! I bought two quarts of local strawberries over the weekend and *had* to make strawberry shortcake. I make my mom’s wonderful recipe which is very unique. Most people make strawberry shortcake like a biscuit or cake. Not my mom! Her main complaint with those types is that the cake or biscuit gets wet and soggy. So she devised a shortbread-like shortcake that is out of this world. It’s also amazingly simple to make. The strawberries sit on top and the “cake” stays crunchy, while absorbing much of the juice. The whipped cream is completely optional – this is so good you don’t need it, but I know the dessert isn’t complete for some people without it!

Mom’s Strawberry Shortcake

1 1/2 quarts strawberries

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar plus extra

1 tsp salt

12 tbsp butter, room temp

4 tsp grated lemon zest

2 eggs, separated

1/2 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp cold water

Preheat the oven to 400.  Combine butter, sugar and lemon zest (you can use a food processor or do it by hand). Add the 2 egg yolks, vanilla and water, then add dry ingredients. Press dough out onto a baking sheet covered in parchment until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Brush the top with egg white and sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake for 12 minutes until lightly brown.

Hull and slice the strawberries and mix with 4 tbsp sugar. If you want whipped cream, I always whip my cream then add in some vanilla and a few spoonfuls of powdered sugar to sweeten it.

Break the shortcake into pieces and serve with strawberries and whipped cream on top.

As another variation, sometimes if I am making this in the food processor, I add some chocolate chips, which get chopped up into tiny pieces and are a nice addition.

This recipe feed 4 strawberry shortcake pigs in my house, so it can definitely be used to feed at least 6 normal people in your house!

It’s strawberry season – so short and so sweet! I bought two quarts of local strawberries over the weekend and *had* to make strawberry shortcake. I make my mom’s wonderful recipe which is very unique. Most people make strawberry shortcake like a biscuit or cake. Not my mom! Her main complaint with those types is … Read more →

Strawberry cupcakes! What a thought. This is a perfect pick for June. I’ve made strawberry muffins before, but not strawberry cupcakes. This recipe is from Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and is the June selection for the MSC Cupcake Club.

The cupcake batter was lovely and wonderful tasting – I could have eaten a bowl just of that. Sigh. They baked up nicely. I was hesitant about the frosting – strawberry buttercream. I tend not to do well with Martha’s frostings, but I went for it. It’s a basic buttercream with pureed strawberries added at the end. I took my time and it turned out well I thought. I didn’t get out the cake decorating tips – ugh. Instead I just sort of free-form glopped frosting on top of these. They looked cute I thought. They tasted pretty good too. They got a thumbs up from everyone, except Teen Martha, who wouldn’t even try one because “I don’t like fruit in my cupcakes.” My only complaint was that they weren’t chocolate! They were moist and did taste like strawberry. Now I have a refrigerator full of cupcakes which I am quickly going to give away so they don’t end up on my hips!

Strawberry cupcakes! What a thought. This is a perfect pick for June. I’ve made strawberry muffins before, but not strawberry cupcakes. This recipe is from Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and is the June selection for the MSC Cupcake Club. The cupcake batter was lovely and wonderful tasting – I could have eaten a bowl just … Read more →

The Martha Mondays pick for 6/21 is caramel corn on page 151 of July Living. If you need the recipe, let me know. This was chosen by Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life.

The Martha Mondays pick for 6/21 is caramel corn on page 151 of July Living. If you need the recipe, let me know. This was chosen by Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life.