Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for choosing our project for Monday 6/7: Herbed Flatbread from p. 172 of June Living.  I’ve never made crackers before, so this will be something new! As always, if you need the recipe, just let me know.

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for choosing our project for Monday 6/7: Herbed Flatbread from p. 172 of June Living.  I’ve never made crackers before, so this will be something new! As always, if you need the recipe, just let me know.

My friend Alisa commented on one of my recent posts saying she was interested in hearing the details of dinners I throw together. I do throw a lot of dinners together. In fact, if I’m not making a Martha recipe (or a recipe I picked up elsewhere), I usually am just throwing something together. I always think I should try to plan meals farther in advance, but generally find myself at 5 pm trying to figure something out. The fact of the matter is, I don’t know what I want until it’s close to dinner time!

Last night we returned from spending the weekend at my parents’ lake house and we were completely exhausted. I’ve been fighting a cold virus and not sleeping well. We did a lot of boating, kayaking, swimming, and outdoors activities over the weekend and were just bone tired. We got home and unpacked and Mr. MarthaAndMe went out to tackle mowing and trying to get the pool open. I flitted around the house putting things away, opening mail, getting things ready for the week, and trying to cool the place down. Soon I had to face the fact that dinner had to be made, even though I didn’t feel like cooking it. I thought for a minute about surrendering and going to the hot dog joint at the end of our street, but pushed through it.

I pulled out some Greek turkey burgers. I buy these in the meat dept of my grocery store and feel guilty every time I do because I could easily make them myself – and I have.  To make it yourself, mix ground turkey with some frozen spinach that’s been thawed and squeezed dry. Add in some feta cheese, Greek seasoning (or oregano), salt, pepper, and if you like, a few pieces of sun dried tomato. Mine were pre-made (for just such an emergency) so all I had to do was thaw them. They can be grilled or cooked in a pan. I served them on whole wheat rolls that had Miracle Whip, feta cheese and lettuce on them. Sometimes I buy bottled Greek dressing and put some of that on the roll too.

For a side dish, I thinly sliced half of a zucchini and chopped up about 1 tbsp of onion. I cooked the onion in olive oil, added the zucchini, salt, pepper and 1/4 tsp dried cilantro and cooked till done. I had an ear of corn that had been cooked and was left over from another dinner. I sliced the corn off and dumped it in the pan and cooked it a few minutes to heat it and brown it a little. That was it (this fed two of us – the kids did not want it and ended up finding some other alternatives). I also put a bowl of grapes on the table. Grapes, and other fruit like strawberries, cherries, watermelon, cantaloupe, or tangerines are another of my go-to items. No cooking necessary and I know everyone will eat them.

What do you make for your thrown together dinners?

My friend Alisa commented on one of my recent posts saying she was interested in hearing the details of dinners I throw together. I do throw a lot of dinners together. In fact, if I’m not making a Martha recipe (or a recipe I picked up elsewhere), I usually am just throwing something together. I … Read more →

Thanks to Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for today’s pick – and Happy Memorial Day to all. I love caramelized onions and I also love dip. A match made in heaven for sure. This dip from June Living was not hard to make. You dice and then cook 3 lbs of onions. It takes about half an hour to 45 min to cook. until caramelized.  When they’re done, add 3 tbsp water and scrape up the brown bits. Cool it then add to 1 1/2 cups Greek plain yogurt (I cheated and used regular nonfat plain yogurt), 1/2 cup sour cream, and 2 tbsp lemon juice. A breeze. This was really, really good. You’re supposed to serve it with cut up veggies and it is yummy that way, but this would also be good with some pita triangles, crackers, or whatever you like to pair with your dip. You could even slice some potatoes and bake them until crispy and use those. Thumbs up on this one Martha!

Thanks to Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for today’s pick – and Happy Memorial Day to all. I love caramelized onions and I also love dip. A match made in heaven for sure. This dip from June Living was not hard to make. You dice and then cook 3 lbs of onions. It takes about half … Read more →

I haven’t been posting much this week. Thing have just been completely crazy here with doctor appointments, other appointments, and kids’ events and activities. There has been almost no time to cook. Last night I threw together a macaroni, tuna, and veggie salad for us to shovel in before we ran from the house. Teen Martha was playing a flute solo at her band concert, which was held at Kleinhan’s Music Hall, a gorgeous facility in downtown Buffalo. If you’re interested, here’s the link to the song. We were so impressed by her beautiful music, and so touched that her band director complimented her on stage at the end (you have to wait for the guest conductor to leave and her band director to come out to speak if you’re interested). It was a lovely evening and we were so proud of her. She is a senior, so this was her last high school Kleinhan’s concert (the school rents it out once a year). I admit I got a little teary.  We don’t know yet if she will continue playing flute in college, but it’s something I will miss if she doesn’t!

I haven’t been posting much this week. Thing have just been completely crazy here with doctor appointments, other appointments, and kids’ events and activities. There has been almost no time to cook. Last night I threw together a macaroni, tuna, and veggie salad for us to shovel in before we ran from the house. Teen … Read more →

I’ve been dying for ribs lately. In recent years I’ve hit upon what I consider to be the perfect rib recipe, which I’ve adapted from Trisha Yearwood’s first cookbook. I don’t actually have her cookbook – I saw her on The View and then borrowed it from the library. I liked the basic concept and tweaked it to suit my taste. The secret to these ribs is marinating them overnight, then cooking them in the oven covered with foil, then finally cooking then uncovered with BBQ sauce. I like my ribs to have some crunch but then to have tender meat inside, but none of that gross gloppy fat on it. This recipe achieves that perfect combination.

1 cup tamari or soy sauce

1 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp salt

2 racks of baby back ribs

Mix first 4 ingredients together in a large glass measuring cup or glass bowl and microwave until sugar dissolves (1-2 minutes). Cut the racks of ribs in half (or quarters) so that they will fit in a ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over them and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375. Place the ribs in a roasting pan and cover with foil. Bake for 2 hours.

Remove ribs. Combine 1  1/2 cups ketchup (I use only organic, which has a wonderful flavor), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce, 1 tbsp yellow mustard. Brush on ribs and reserve what is left. Reduce heat in oven to 350 and bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until the ribs are a dark color. Serve with leftover sauce. You could also put these ribs on the grill for the last half hour if you prefer.

I’ve been dying for ribs lately. In recent years I’ve hit upon what I consider to be the perfect rib recipe, which I’ve adapted from Trisha Yearwood’s first cookbook. I don’t actually have her cookbook – I saw her on The View and then borrowed it from the library. I liked the basic concept and … Read more →

My family is big on Greek food. We always joke that Mr. MarthaAndMe must be Greek (his ancestry is a little cloudy – lots of Eastern European with little details). So of course I had to make the Lamb and Cucumber Kebabs with Feta Sauce from June Living (p.184).

I make something like this pretty often and I usually buy lamb tenderloin. This time I couldn’t find that at the store, so I ended up with boneless leg (which was what the recipe called for anyhow). I cut it into chunks and marinated it in the mix of oil, garlic, oregano and lemon juice. I mixed up the sauce – yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and feta with a little oil. I added salt and pepper to that.

You grill the lamb on kebabs with cucumber. I would never have grilled the cucumber – seemed weird, but it was actually pretty good. The lamb, on the other hand, was tough and chewy – since I am used to tenderloins, the leg was tough by comparison.

I served this with some whole wheat tortillas and lettuce and we wrapped it up. It was quite good over all.

My family is big on Greek food. We always joke that Mr. MarthaAndMe must be Greek (his ancestry is a little cloudy – lots of Eastern European with little details). So of course I had to make the Lamb and Cucumber Kebabs with Feta Sauce from June Living (p.184). I make something like this pretty … Read more →

How about this for a great Memorial Day pick? Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ has chosen the caramelized onion dip with veggies from page 154 of June Living. Thanks Megan! I hope some of you can play along.

How about this for a great Memorial Day pick? Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ has chosen the caramelized onion dip with veggies from page 154 of June Living. Thanks Megan! I hope some of you can play along.

Going into the oven

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Hannah at City Interludes. Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (from June Everyday Food) sounded terrific. I once made something similar from Martha (years ago) and it was fantastic, so I had high hopes. Let me just say, this did not meet them!

I am still scratching my head at this recipe.  It has almost nothing in it. 1/2 c flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp poppyseeds. Wet ingredients include only 1 tbsp veg oil, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp lemon zest. The recipe does say the dough will be dry, but it didn’t mention it would be a bowl of sand. I could not get this to stay together. As you can see, what I sent into the oven did not resemble cookies. I tried to use a spoon, a cookie dough scoop and my hands to get this to stick together, but it just would not.

It came out of the oven looking about the same, just browner. Although it was a total disaster in terms of appearance, they did taste quite good, so it’s a shame they wouldn’t act like cookies! I’ll be interested to hear if anyone else had success – maybe I’m just a loser who couldn’t make this one work!

End result

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Hannah at City Interludes. Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (from June Everyday Food) sounded terrific. I once made something similar from Martha (years ago) and it was fantastic, so I had high hopes. Let me just say, this did not meet them! I am still scratching my head at this … Read more →

Slab pie? That sounded so weird to me when I ran across this recipe in June Everyday Food. Dude Martha saw me looking at it and wanted it, so I bought the ingredients and got to work. The crust is to be made in the food processer. Oh, snap, mine’s broken and I haven’t ordered the part yet. No problem, I thought, I’ll just use my pastry cutter. Well, it had vanished. I already had all the ingredients in a bowl, so I went in with my hands! It actually worked pretty well (5 c flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp sugar, 4 sticks butter 1 to 1 1/2 c water)

This pie is made in a jellyroll pan, hence the concept of it being a slab. The filling is basic – blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, zest, and cornstarch. Now, I approached this with a skeptical eye. I sometimes find Martha’s fruit desserts too tart. There is a history in our family of too tart desserts. My mother does not have a sweet tooth and likes her pies on the sour side. We call them pucker pies. I like mine sweet, sweet, sweet. So I DOUBLED the amount of sugar, thinking that ought to do it. I also added a tsp of cinnamon since I think it enhances the flavor (the recipe says: 8 c blueberries, 3 tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 c sugar, 1 tbsp zest, 3 tbsp lemon juice).

I pressed the bottom crust into the pan without rolling (I am such a rebel), smeared the filling and then rolled out the top crust. Into the oven it went – and promptly leaked all over the bottom of my oven (I should have put a tray under it).

It came out looking really gorgeous. It sliced nicely. I liked how it was a short pie. In my opinion, you don’t always need gobs of filling – sometimes a lot of crust can be a good thing. As for taste? It was still a little tart for me. Everyone did like it (including the famous Dude Martha who is watching me type this) and happily gobbled it. The crust texture was pretty fantastic, probably because I used my hands.

So I have to say the concept of a slab pie is getting high marks from me, although next time, I would use more sugar!

Slab pie? That sounded so weird to me when I ran across this recipe in June Everyday Food. Dude Martha saw me looking at it and wanted it, so I bought the ingredients and got to work. The crust is to be made in the food processer. Oh, snap, mine’s broken and I haven’t ordered … Read more →

Hannah at City Interludes has chosen lemon poppyseed cookies from June Martha Stewart Everyday Food for our next project. As always, if you need the recipe, let me know.

Hannah at City Interludes has chosen lemon poppyseed cookies from June Martha Stewart Everyday Food for our next project. As always, if you need the recipe, let me know.