The next Martha Mondays pick is mine. I haven’t chosen one in a while, so I gave this some serious thought! For 4/5 let’s make Pane Integrale, the no-knead bread in April Living. The recipe is not online yet, so if you need it, just let me know and I’ll send it along.

If you would like to join Martha Mondays, you are welcome to! Anyone can play along and if you would like your name added to the official list and would like a turn choosing a project, drop me an email or just leave a comment.

The next Martha Mondays pick is mine. I haven’t chosen one in a while, so I gave this some serious thought! For 4/5 let’s make Pane Integrale, the no-knead bread in April Living. The recipe is not online yet, so if you need it, just let me know and I’ll send it along. If you … Read more →

Thanks to Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life for picking this project – the assignment was to make Easter eggs from the selection on Martha’s site. I made the silk tie dyed eggs last year (#12 in that slide show if this link does’t take you directly there) and my only regret is that I used hard boiled eggs, so all my hard work was thrown out! They were gorgeous and a great project – I highly recommend them. This year I decided it was time to try blowing out eggs. The first

Making the hole

challenge was the eggs. I only buy organic, and they only come in brown, so we ended up buying regular eggs and dumping the contents (wasteful, and I am ashamed).

I read Martha’s instructions for this and her method is to go buy a egg blowing contraption. I decided I didn’t want to invest in that so we decided to do it the old fashioned way. I read some other online

Blowing the egg

instructions about how to do this yourself and we got started. Mr. MarthaAndMe went first since his hands actually do what his brain tells them to do. He used a cake tester and scratched and scratched and scratched at one end until he had a hole. He did the same on the other end and moved the cake tester around to make the hole bigger.  Then you swirl the cake tester around inside to break up the yolk.

Washing the egg

Hold the egg over a bowl, big hole down and blow through the small hole. Success! Next, submerge the egg in a bowl of water and keep blowing water out until it runs clear. Set it back in the egg carton to completely dry.

When I tried it, I couldn’t get the egg to come out. When Dude Martha tried it, his holes ended up uneven and shattered looking. Mr. MarthaAndMe decided that there had to be an easier way. He’s a man, so that meant power tools. He came back with his drill and used a small bit for the small hole and a slightly bigger one for the bigger hole. He stood the drill up

Here come the power tools

and held it stationary and then moved the egg towards the drill bit so he could control it. This worked well the first time. The next few broke, but then he got back on track. Some eggs broke as they were being blown. Out of a dozen eggs, we ended up with 8, 3 of which had nicely shaped holes. Not such a great ratio. It was fun to try this though since I had always wondered how hard it was (pretty hard). I also enjoyed making comments about Mr. MarthaAndMe sucking eggs which made him almost choke as he was trying to blow one out, so that was a highlight as well.

The next day we colored the eggs. I decided to try Marbelizing Eggs. The directions say to color the egg first in one bowl then in another bowl, mix up the dye and add oil. Swirl the oil and roll the egg through it to get the marbelized effect. Total disaster. No marbelizing happened at all. None. We tried adding more dye, more oil, etc and nothing working. So Dude Martha and Mr. MarthaAndMe then began to experiment (shudder). Mr. MarthaAndMe has memories of making these kinds of eggs as a kid and tried to recreate it by

Marbelized result - not so marbelized

adding drops of food coloring to vinegar and water, not mixing it, and quickly rolling the egg through it. It sort of worked. Then he started dripping food coloring directly on the egg and rolling it in the water. That worked the best and resulted in the more brightly colored eggs. Dude Martha did the same thing and the eggs really did turn out quite vibrant and interesting.

This was fun, but was not as successful as I’d hoped. I do like having blown out eggs to work with so that if you’re lucky enough to create something beautiful, you can keep it. That being said, I think I’ll go back to the Broadway Market next year (see yesterday’s post) and buy some more professionally made eggs for $10!

Thanks to Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life for picking this project – the assignment was to make Easter eggs from the selection on Martha’s site. I made the silk tie dyed eggs last year (#12 in that slide show if this link does’t take you directly there) and my only regret is that I used … Read more →

We made an excursion to The Broadway Market, a market in downtown Buffalo that is a traditional place to visit during the Easter season. It struck me as something Martha would enjoy, so I snapped some photos and thought I would share the experience. The market is open year round, but the Easter and Christmas seasons are when it is in full swing. In fact, the market makes all of its money during those seasons and is in danger of closing because no one comes to it at other times of the year (organizers are trying to revitalize it and I hope they are able to since this is a tradition everyone who lives in Buffalo knows and loves).

Pussy willows

At this time of year, there are many traditional items at the market that people come from miles around to buy. Pussy willows are always for sale and people take bunches of them home. Horseradish is another popular item – whole or ground.

Butter lambs

Butter lambs are a beautiful addition to an Easter table and I buy one every year.

The market is also home to many Polish baked good specialties. This year I

Chrusciki

bought some chrusciki – a deep fried dough covered in powdered sugar. There are lots of breads and pastries for sale as well, but it’s hard to maneuver with the lines and crowds of people to get to the counter and place your order.

We also usually buy some local specialties, such as Crystal Beach sugar

Crystal Beach sucker

waffles and suckers. Crystal Beach was an amusement park across the border in Canada (now closed) and my dad’s family spent summers there and most people of his age have fond memories of it.  They were also famous for their loganberry drink.

The market is also famous for its holiday meats. Polish sausage is a popular item, as well as hams. Another food you can find everywhere is pierogis – dumplings stuffed with potato, cheese, onion, or other combinations. I have to admit I’m not a fan of the pierogi, mostly because I find it weird to have a dumpling filled with potato ( I don’t like knishes for the same reason).

Smoked and regular Polish sausage

It wouldn’t be Easter without candy, so there are lots of candy bunnies for sale, as well as jelly beans, chocolate bark, chocolate covered apples, and more.

While the food that is available is pretty amazing, the market also has lots of Easter eggs for sale, many made in Poland, Russian, or Austria. They come in every design imaginable, as well as every color. For about $10 each, they are a nice souvenir to take home. If you’re ever in Buffalo at Easter, I urge you to visit this landmark market.

Easter eggs

We made an excursion to The Broadway Market, a market in downtown Buffalo that is a traditional place to visit during the Easter season. It struck me as something Martha would enjoy, so I snapped some photos and thought I would share the experience. The market is open year round, but the Easter and Christmas … Read more →

I must admit I don’t know the difference between burritos, enchiladas, etc. I’ve made a variety of these things, tossing different ingredients into tortillas, but never thinking about what they are. April Everyday Food has a recipe for a Bean and Cheese Burrito. The recipe called for refried beans. I’ve never bought these before. In the past when I’ve wanted to use beans in Mexican food, I take a can of kidney beans, add some water and cook it down till it is mushy. Then I add whatever seasoning I want to it and cook it to the right consistency, so this was new for me. This is also the first time I’ve put rice in a burrito. I’ve always concentrated more on adding veggies and wouldn’t have thought to add more starch to it. The recipe also calls for lettuce, cheese, salsa and sour cream. I added some avocado I wanted to use up. This was good, but I would like it with more veggies – some tomato and maybe some shredded carrot. While this isn’t a recipe I would want to rip out and keep, it was good inspiration to make my own burritos in the future.

I must admit I don’t know the difference between burritos, enchiladas, etc. I’ve made a variety of these things, tossing different ingredients into tortillas, but never thinking about what they are. April Everyday Food has a recipe for a Bean and Cheese Burrito. The recipe called for refried beans. I’ve never bought these before. In … Read more →

Pea pesto? Seriously? Seriously. This recipe was in March Everyday Food. I’m a sucker for pasta and for pesto and was intrigued by the idea. It sounds weird, but it actually was pretty good. Here’s the deal. Cook one cup frozen peas then whiz them in the Cuisinart with one cup parsley, 1/2 walnuts (I used pine nuts), 2/3 cup Parmesan and 3 cloves of garlic. Add a little water and then slowly add 1/3 cup olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Cook linguine (I used whole wheat spaghetti) and at the very end toss in another cup of peas. Drain it and mix it with the pesto.

I thought this was actually pretty darn good and a good cheap, quick substitute for real pesto. I liked the garlicky-ness of it but needed to add a little cheese on top.  It was something different, which I always appreciate.

Pea pesto? Seriously? Seriously. This recipe was in March Everyday Food. I’m a sucker for pasta and for pesto and was intrigued by the idea. It sounds weird, but it actually was pretty good. Here’s the deal. Cook one cup frozen peas then whiz them in the Cuisinart with one cup parsley, 1/2 walnuts (I … Read more →

Greek Spaghetti has been a family favorite here for years and years and I couldn’t even tell you where I got the recipe from originally or how much I’ve changed it. Teen Martha asked me to make this the other day and I realized that with all the Martha cooking I’ve been doing, I haven’t made this one in a while. I thought I would share the recipe with all of you. It’s an easy meal to throw together and all you need are some pantry staples.

Cook 1/2 a chopped onion in a few tsps of olive oil until translucent in a large, deep pan. Then add one chopped clove of garlic. Cook for about a minute, then add 2 cans (14 oz) of stewed tomatoes. Cook, breaking up the tomatoes for a few minutes. Add one jar of marinated artichoke hearts that you’ve cut up into small pieces, as well as half of the juice in the jar. Cut 2 boneless chicken breasts into bite size pieces and add those. Add 2 tsp Greek seasoning (or use oregano) and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about half an hour on medium, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked and the sauce has thickened. Cook 3/4 package whole wheat spaghetti. Drain the spaghetti and add to the tomato mixture and then add one carton of feta cheese, broken up. Stir and serve. For variations on this, I substitute shrimp for the chicken and sometimes I add some chopped spinach (but the kids don’t care for that) or some scallions for green color. If you like olives, you could add some black olives. This is enough for 4-6 people depending on how big the appetites in your house are. I like to serve this with a green salad. It reheats well in the microwave if you have leftovers.

Greek Spaghetti has been a family favorite here for years and years and I couldn’t even tell you where I got the recipe from originally or how much I’ve changed it. Teen Martha asked me to make this the other day and I realized that with all the Martha cooking I’ve been doing, I haven’t … Read more →

Next week’s Martha Mondays is Easter eggs, chosen by Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life. Very seasonal! Teresa wanted to do the silk dyed eggs. I did these last year and it is a really great project. Since I already made it, we decided to just make the assignment any Easter eggs you want. Martha has a lot of choices on this page, so it will be interesting to see what everyone tries.

Next week’s Martha Mondays is Easter eggs, chosen by Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life. Very seasonal! Teresa wanted to do the silk dyed eggs. I did these last year and it is a really great project. Since I already made it, we decided to just make the assignment any Easter eggs you want. Martha has … Read more →

I’m checking out the April issue of Martha Stewart Living at last. I’m so glad to be done with that stupid March gardening issue since I am just not a gardener! This issue at least has some things in it I want to cook! One recipe that caught my eye was Crisp Baked Lemon Cod. It is very simple. You crush some Rice Chex (about 2 c) and add 1/4 c olive oil, 2 tsp lemon zest, and 1/4 chopped parsley and some salt. Martha says to press the fish into the cereal mixture (no egg wash first), then bake at 400 for about 15 minutes. As you can see, the cereal mix did not stick to my fish very well. I would definitely use an egg wash next time. That being said, this was crispy and good. We did squeeze lemon juice over it before eating since the zest was not quite enough lemon flavor. I would use the Rice Chex again as breading – very crunchy.

I’m checking out the April issue of Martha Stewart Living at last. I’m so glad to be done with that stupid March gardening issue since I am just not a gardener! This issue at least has some things in it I want to cook! One recipe that caught my eye was Crisp Baked Lemon Cod. … Read more →

This week’s project was chosen by Pru at Perfecting Pru. Maple Bacon Quiche sounded good,

Maple Quiche

but I am fan of quiche in general. Maple and bacon can also do no wrong in my book.

I started making this much later than I should have, but I put the oven on convection and we were able to eat dinnerbefore it was time to go to bed:) First up was the pate brisee.  This made a lot of pie crust. In fact, it uses twice as much butter and almost twice as much flour as my usual recipe for pate brisee. I’m not sure why Martha wanted the crust so thick and so big. You make the crust and then bake it separately. Then you cook bacon, and cook some onion in a little bacon grease, adding maple syrup. That all gets mixed with egg, cream and thyme and goes into the pie shell.

Maple Quiche

I thought it was very good. Mr. MarthaAndMe thought it had too strong of a maple flavor. I also thought it seemed very rich – it’s mostly egg, cream and bacon! I’m used to quiche that has vegetables in it, so this was a heavier version. It looked pretty with the bacon sprinkled on top.

This week’s project was chosen by Pru at Perfecting Pru. Maple Bacon Quiche sounded good, but I am fan of quiche in general. Maple and bacon can also do no wrong in my book. I started making this much later than I should have, but I put the oven on convection and we were able … Read more →

I just finished reading The Best of Friends by Mariana Pasternak, the new tell-all memoir about Martha. The author was friends with Martha for 20 years before testifying against her during her trial. The best part of the book was “seeing” inside Martha’s houses and reading about the trips she takes.  It is a rare glimpse inside Martha’s real life. I enjoyed reading about how she bought the different houses, how they are furnished and decorated. The trips she took with the author were simply stunning and things most of us could only dream of doing.

I had some problems with the book. At times, the author talks about how she didn’t like things Martha did or felt that Martha made unsafe choices for her children, yet she did nothing.  If someone encouraged my child to go water skiing on a river filled with piranhas, I would definitely step in and stop it and make a big, big fuss afterwards. Mariana also took many loans from Martha over the years so that she could afford to go on Martha’s extravagant trips. I have the travel bug too, so I understand the urge to want to go to wonderful places, but I’m pretty sure I would not take out loan after loan from a friend to do so (and then complain when interest is added to the loan!). It seemed to me that the author was living a life beyond her means at times  – doing things like taking on multiple mortgages, but then building a beach house at the same time. No one can keep up with Martha’s lifestyle and I don’t know why she thought she could.

The book tries to say she and Martha were the closest of friends, yet at the same time she expresses her reservations about Martha and her distrust of her. The two don’t quite go together in my mind. Then there is the troublesome tale that leads up to the trial. The author claims total ignorance of what Martha was doing, yet at the same time acknowledges she had a feeling it had to be breaking some laws. Again, you can’t have it both ways. Then she insisted for months she could not remember if Martha commented about what her broker did, then at trial, offers convoluted reasoning for why she eventually said Martha did comment on this. Maybe she was one very confused woman, but it didn’t quite ring true for me.

Getting back to Martha though, the author talks about Martha candidly in ways that match things others have said. She describes Martha as cold, calculating, demanding, selfish, cruel, yet also says she desperately was seeking love. I don’t know how you get to where Martha is without being driven, tough, and calculating. She’s always been portrayed as cold and difficult and from watching her closely for a year for this project, I think those attributes peek through in her public persona and must be quite obvious when you know her on a personal level. The author doesn’t talk much about Martha’s incredible knowledge, her dead-on sense about many things, and her truly stunning business acumen, which I think are also key attributes of Martha.

I enjoyed seeing inside Martha’s world, even if I took some of it with a grain of salt. There’s not much mention of Martha’s daughter Alexis and I would have liked to know more about her.  If you want to see behind the scenes in Martha’s life, you’ll enjoy this book.

I just finished reading The Best of Friends by Mariana Pasternak, the new tell-all memoir about Martha. The author was friends with Martha for 20 years before testifying against her during her trial. The best part of the book was “seeing” inside Martha’s houses and reading about the trips she takes.  It is a rare … Read more →