My kids love cornbread. A whole pan of it can be made to disappear in an evening in this house. I have not yet stumbled on a recipe that is perfect. Some are too dry, some not sweet enough and some have pieces of corn in them (ick). So I was happy to give Martha’s recipe a try, from May Living.

Mix together 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tbsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt. Mix in 1 egg and 1 cup milk (the recipe says to use either goat milk or regular milk – I used regular) and 4 tbsp melted butter. The recipe says to use an iron skillet in the oven. I used a heavy metal round cake pan. Preheat the oven to 400 and heat the pan in the oven with 1 tbsp butter, then pour the batter in. Bake for 25 minutes then brush the top with 2 tbsp honey. This was a winner. Heating the pan in the oven meant that this got really crunchy around the edges but stayed very soft and moist in the middle. I liked the honey on top of it. My kids like to put honey on their cornbread and this was enough so that they didn’t need to slather more on. Very nice recipe.

My kids love cornbread. A whole pan of it can be made to disappear in an evening in this house. I have not yet stumbled on a recipe that is perfect. Some are too dry, some not sweet enough and some have pieces of corn in them (ick). So I was happy to give Martha’s … Read more →

I admit that when I saw the headline for Corn Cakes with Goat Cheese in May Everyday Food that my mind immediately jumped to hoecakes, which I learned to make from Paula Deen. These are actually nothing like hoecakes, but at least it got me interested in the recipe.

This is quite simple to make. Saute 3 cups corn (frozen is fine) with 1 small diced zucchini for about 3 minutes, along with salt and pepper. Dump into a bowl, cool for a few minutes and add 2 eggs, 2 sliced scallions and 1/4 cup cornmeal. Measure out 1/4 cups of it into a pan with a little oil and cook until brown on each side. Serve with a dollop of goat cheese on each.

Quick, simple, and pretty tasty. I’m not much of a fan of frozen corn and prefer fresh corn on the cob if I’m going to eat corn (which I keep reminding my kids is a grain, not a vegetable), but I enjoyed these. The goat cheese is a nice touch.

I admit that when I saw the headline for Corn Cakes with Goat Cheese in May Everyday Food that my mind immediately jumped to hoecakes, which I learned to make from Paula Deen. These are actually nothing like hoecakes, but at least it got me interested in the recipe. This is quite simple to make. … Read more →

I like peanut butter cookies, but the recipe I usually use came from my 7th grade home ec class! I like my cookies slightly chewy, but also slightly crunchy. A tall order, I know. For a few weeks, I’ve been meaning to make some cookies as a thank you for a friend and his favorite is peanut butter. I finally got around to it and decided I would use Martha’s recipe from her cookie cookbook.

The dough was quite sticky (and I’m surprised Martha did not say to refrigerate it since it seems she ALWAYS says to refrigerate cookie dough!). The cookie method making was quite different than what I am used to. I usually roll mine, dip the top in sugar then cross hatch with a fork. Martha says to drop the dough on the sheet, press it with the bottom of a glass, then crosshatch. This did not go smoothly! I had to dip the glass in flour after each one. Then the fork was getting mushed up, so I ended up having to dip the fork in flour each time as well, so it was time-consuming. The cookies were very sandy, but had a good flavor. The recipe was for creamy PB but then had you add in some chopped peanuts. I prefer to just use crunchy PB in my cookies. I would definitely stick with my own home ec PB cookie recipe, which has stood the test of time (thanks Mrs. Belmondo!):

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter, sugars and peanut butter. Add egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Roll into balls, dip in sugar, and crosshatch with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes.

At the bottom of my original home ec recipe is handwritten this (in a handwriting that is still familiar to me):

“Take out of oven and put in bag. Take them to school and give to Beth.” My best friend through much of jr high and high school, Beth Creighton wrote that and this recipe always makes me think of her. We’ve lost touch over the years, but I still have fond feelings for her and hope she has a happy life.

I like peanut butter cookies, but the recipe I usually use came from my 7th grade home ec class! I like my cookies slightly chewy, but also slightly crunchy. A tall order, I know. For a few weeks, I’ve been meaning to make some cookies as a thank you for a friend and his favorite … Read more →

Sirloin Salad with Cilantro was chosen as this week’s project by Sarah at Mum in Bloom. First of all I have to say I do not understand why this is called a “salad!” You marinate the steak in a mix of cilantro, OJ, vinegar, and jalapeno. Then you grill it and you’re supposed to serve it with more cilantro and red onion, with additional reserved marinade as a sauce. It’s not a salad. It’s beef with garnish.

My big Cuisinart is broken (I dropped the plastic thingy you push food down with and it broke and it won’t turn on without that locked on), so I made this in my little mini food processor, which worked fine actually. Then I realized my son drank all the OJ! I squeezed the juice from some tangerines instead.

The marinade looked and tasted good. The next problem was that the grill was out of propane (even though we have an extra tank to prevent this kind of thing from happening – it was empty too!). So I grilled this on the JennAir. We were rushing to get to my son’s hockey game and the meat was just not cooking, so I threw it in the oven for a while at the end because it was completely bloody. Somehow it went from beyond rare to completely well done in minutes so that wasn’t so great. I couldn’t really taste anything different about the meat, even though this marinated more than an hour. We put more sauce on it, but it was so thin it just ran all over.  I put a little in a small bowl and dunked each bite and that worked out better. I didn’t have red onion and don’t like it, so I skipped that.

This was something I never would have made on my own and was different, but it’s probably not something I would make again.

Sirloin Salad with Cilantro was chosen as this week’s project by Sarah at Mum in Bloom. First of all I have to say I do not understand why this is called a “salad!” You marinate the steak in a mix of cilantro, OJ, vinegar, and jalapeno. Then you grill it and you’re supposed to serve … Read more →

This is the second in a series of posts about the items I inherited from my paternal grandmother. She didn’t leave much behind, so I cherish the items I received, but at the same time I am trying to figure out just what to do with them.

handbag

This is a beautiful beaded handbag, but unfortunately, it’s falling apart. The other side is in even worse condition. I would love to get it repaired but have no idea where to do that. Any ideas? I love the style of this. My mom has a close friend who had an old heirloom handbag preserved in a display box and I would love to do something like that if it could be repaired.

pin cushion

Next up is the pin cushion. My aunt says this used to be on Gram’s dresser, but I am not sure I really remember seeing it there.  My aunt says that the hat pins belonged to Gram’s mother Rose, my great-grandmother. Rose was quite a woman, from the stories I’ve heard. She took in foster children before there was a real foster child system, and despite her family’s lack of wealth. Because of this, there is an “aunt” who was raised by her who is not a biological relative, but was always considered a sister to my Gram and her two biological sisters. I love the pin in the center with the rhinestones, even though many are missing. I would love to get that repaired as well. Stick pins were in fashion in the late 70s – maybe they’ll make a comeback and I could wear it as one!

There were some costume jewelry pins my mom chose for me to have.  The two that are identical are actually a belt buckle I think. I like the little one at the bottom the most. It’s pretty and delicate and would be something you could just pin on a collar for a little extra fun. I know it’s not exactly in style at the moment, but it appeals to me.

My mom also gave me an assortment of rings. Some I passed along to my daughter. I kept three for myself which you can see on my finger (which looks incredibly old and wrinkly in this photo for some reason!). The top one is missing some stones (rhinestones I presume) and I would love to get it repaired and sized to fit me. It’s a cute little ring.

The second one is missing the stone (I assume the stones were sold or reset at some point). I LOVE this setting. What is really, really strange is that it is very similar to the ring I received from my other grandmother. You can read that post here. My other grandmother’s ring was her engagement ring. The stone was reset for an anniversary. My mom gave me that ring and had an aquamarine stone set in it for me. This ring from

Comparison of two rings

Gram is very similar. It might have been the style of the times – however they weren’t the same age. Gai married in the 30s and Gram married in the 40s (she was a WWII bride), so I’m not sure what to think.

I’ve included a photo of the two similar rings together. In this photo, you can see that the ring from Gram has a blue stone on the side (it’s missing on the other side).

The third ring is also missing a stone, but again I am in love with the ring. The setting is quite high – it sticks out quite far and I love the delicate detailing on the ring itself. I really want to get all three of these rings repaired and reset so I could wear them.

This is the second in a series of posts about the items I inherited from my paternal grandmother. She didn’t leave much behind, so I cherish the items I received, but at the same time I am trying to figure out just what to do with them. This is a beautiful beaded handbag, but unfortunately, … Read more →

If you’ve been following along with me, you probably remember the Grandmother Project. After my maternal grandmother passed away almost a year ago, I inherited boxes and boxes of things (my entire dining room was filled) and spent a lot of time trying to make sense of them and put them to good use. I posted many times with photos of some of the more interesting finds and uses.

My paternal grandmother passed away several years ago, but there was recently a family pow-wow to divide up what remained of her belongings. Gram was not a woman of material wealth and didn’t leave much behind. I had nothing of hers though, so I was happy when my mom brought home some things for me. Today and tomorrow I’m going to share some of them with you.

My aunts say that this piece of lace was my grandmother’s parochial school collar from her uniform. It’s actually quite beautiful and is 23 inches long. I’m not sure what to do with it though! Any suggestions are welcome. I could frame it I suppose.

Lace collar

Next up is another collar, but this one is for a baby or child. And since it is blue, we think it must have been my father’s, or possibly the other son my grandmother had who died as a baby. I’m not sure what to do with this either! It’s an interesting piece of family history to have though.

These gloves are very tiny – I can’t get my hands into them at all and neither can Teen Martha ( I think we inherited a scaled down version of my mother’s giant paws), but Gram had very small hands. It’s possible these are from her wedding, although her hands are not visible in the wedding photo I

Gloves

have. They have tiny little pearls at the edge and are quite pretty, if  a bit yellowed. Again, I’m at a loss as to what to do with them and the only thing I can come up with is framing them. I also am not sure how to get the yellowing out without damaging them. Any thoughts or suggestions for any of this is welcome!

Tune in tomorrow for another installment of this project.

If you’ve been following along with me, you probably remember the Grandmother Project. After my maternal grandmother passed away almost a year ago, I inherited boxes and boxes of things (my entire dining room was filled) and spent a lot of time trying to make sense of them and put them to good use. I … Read more →

Yesterday was Mr. MarthaAndMe’s birthday. Every year, he asks for gingerbread with lemon sauce for his cake. He always had this as a child too, except I think his mother used a mix. The lemon sauce recipe was printed on the box.

Over the years, I’ve developed my own gingerbread and lemon sauce recipe that I make once a year for him (I did once make it for a family Christmas party and it is a nice holiday dessert). The cake is dense, moist, and very deeply flavored – it’s based on my grandmother’s recipe, but has been altered to suit my sensibilities. The lemon sauce is sweet and bright. It’s a hit every year and the kids enjoy it. I’m pretty much the lone hold-out since I don’t care for raisins and hate trying to pick them all out.

Gingerbread Cake

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup molasses (I use blackstrap)

1 cup boiling water

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 325. Mix butter, sugar and eggs. Add molasses and hot water then add dry ingredients. Stir in raisins. Bake in a 9 inch greased square pan for 50 minutes.

Lemon Sauce

1 cup sugar

4 tbsp cornstarch

dash of salt

2 cups water

juice of one lemon

4 tbsp butter

zest of one lemon

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in water. Cook until it boils and is slightly thickened and clear. Use a whisk to prevent lumps. Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice and zest. Serve hot.

Yesterday was Mr. MarthaAndMe’s birthday. Every year, he asks for gingerbread with lemon sauce for his cake. He always had this as a child too, except I think his mother used a mix. The lemon sauce recipe was printed on the box. Over the years, I’ve developed my own gingerbread and lemon sauce recipe that … Read more →

My May issue of Living arrived and there is section in it about an herb garden Martha designed for the NY Botanical Garden. It includes a list of what her must-have herbs are in an herb garden: Genovese basil, Red Rubin basil, Pesto Perpetuo basil, chervil, dill, Fernlead dill, flat leaf parsley, sage, sorrel and spearmint.

I grew up with a large herb garden. My dad has one in a raised bed on the side of the garage. I was often sent back there to pick herbs for my mom as she cooked dinner. He had everything you can think of.

We have a sad little herb garden here. Basically we scratched up the dirt next to the house, next to the deck and planted some chives, which come up every year, as well as some oregano that comes back also. I usually plant some basil and it almost always dies.

This year, we are going to make the herb garden bigger and surround it with some landscaping bricks to hold the dirt in. My must-have herbs will include:

– chives

– basil

– oregano

– rosemary

– dill

– sage

– thyme

– parsley (curly leaf)

– cilantro

What are your must-have herbs for an herb garden, or what would you grow if you had one?

My May issue of Living arrived and there is section in it about an herb garden Martha designed for the NY Botanical Garden. It includes a list of what her must-have herbs are in an herb garden: Genovese basil, Red Rubin basil, Pesto Perpetuo basil, chervil, dill, Fernlead dill, flat leaf parsley, sage, sorrel and … Read more →

The Martha Mondays project for 5/3 is Sirloin Salad with Cilantro, chosen by Sarah at Mum in Bloom.  Thanks Sarah! I’m looking forward to it.

The Martha Mondays project for 5/3 is Sirloin Salad with Cilantro, chosen by Sarah at Mum in Bloom.  Thanks Sarah! I’m looking forward to it.

MarthaAndMe is taking a short break and will be back Apr 27.

MarthaAndMe is taking a short break and will be back Apr 27.