I got a little creative yesterday and made these super simple Thanksgiving candle centerpieces. It is just popcorn and cranberries and a small votive. Next time I will try to find some colored popcorn (they sell red and black) to mix in for more color. Very easy to make and you can still use the popcorn afterwards!

I got a little creative yesterday and made these super simple Thanksgiving candle centerpieces. It is just popcorn and cranberries and a small votive. Next time I will try to find some colored popcorn (they sell red and black) to mix in for more color. Very easy to make and you can still use the … Read more →

We spend every July 4th at Conesus Lake in New York state’s Finger Lakes region. While the 4th is a great holiday, it’s the 3rd that is the big day here. On the night of the third, everyone with a home on the lake lights flares they’ve lined up near the water at 10 pm. The red lights circle the lake, making a ring of fire. There are also bonfires at just about every home, and there are fireworks everywhere. Municipal fireworks are shot off at Vitale Park at the north end of the lake, but about every third house has fireworks they shoot from the ends of their docks. One of our neighbors has so many that he backs a trailer up to his house every year to unload and then spends the day carrying stacks of boxes out onto the dock. It makes for quite a show. In fact, it’s hard to even know which direction to look in, there are so many spectacular lights in the sky. Fireworks are very different when they are exploding directly over your head!

People start “practicing” during the afternoon and by 9 pm there are fireworks everywhere. It lasts until the wee hours of the morning and I’m always in bed hearing more explosions happen outside.

A recent addition to the festivities are Chinese lanterns, tissue paper lanterns with a square of flammable tar at the bottom. You light the tar, wait for the hot air to fill the lantern and let it go. It rises up, up, up until you can’t see it. The sky is filled with these, but I admit they make me nervous that one will end up in a tree or on someone’s roof.

All of this fun has a few downsides. Our dogs go completely crazy. They hate the noise. We leave them in the house and try to get them to stay in an interior room with the doors closed. Another big issue is that the next morning there is debris everywhere. The deck is covered in dust and scraps of paper. The water has garbage floating in and we clean up what washes ashore. Any cars that are outside are covered in debris. At least this year we didn’t hear any sirens, so hopefully there were no injuries.

 

We spend every July 4th at Conesus Lake in New York state’s Finger Lakes region. While the 4th is a great holiday, it’s the 3rd that is the big day here. On the night of the third, everyone with a home on the lake lights flares they’ve lined up near the water at 10 pm. … Read more →

I know I’m a few months early, but I’ve already decided what I’m making for Easter. I am in love with these carrots. There was a fight over the leftovers here.

half a bag of baby carrots

2 heaping tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp dried dill

salt and pepper

4 tbsp white wine

chives or green onions

Slice the carrots into thick matchsticks – you want to get 4-6 per carrot. Boil until just tender. At the very end, drop in the green from green onions (scallions) or a handful of chives and just cook for a minute to wilt. Drain. Make little bundles of the carrots and tie with the chives or green onions (even if you only do a few, this still will look cute). Melt butter, sugar, dill, salt and pepper, and wine. Cook for a minute or two until combined and the wine has time to burn off and it thickens slightly.  Add the carrot bundles and gently stir, then serve. As you can see, I didn’t have a lot of success with the bundles, but I didn’t have much green onion here to work with. Next time I will have more and will be prepared. I just think this is so darn cute and will look wonderful for Easter.

I know I’m a few months early, but I’ve already decided what I’m making for Easter. I am in love with these carrots. There was a fight over the leftovers here. half a bag of baby carrots 2 heaping tbsp brown sugar 2 tbsp butter 1 tsp dried dill salt and pepper 4 tbsp white … 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 →

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 →

This is my final Martha giveaway of the year. 10 lucky winners will get a Martha Stewart Holidays double-edged snowflake trim punch (this creates a strip of die-cut paper to use as a decorative strip) AND a set of Martha Stewart Holidays treat bags (each package includes 8 bags, 8 paper boxes/trays that go at the bottom, 8 tags, 8 pieces of ribbon, and 16 adhesive strips). The paper cutter is super fun to use and makes such pretty strips of snowflakes. It’s perfect for scrapbooking, crafts or making cards. The treat bags are a great way to package candy or small cookies. It’s hard to see in the photo, but the bags have tiny white dots on them which are really cute.  The prizes are courtesy of MSLO and they will mail them out. Previous winners of my other contests have written to tell me how much they liked the punches and treat boxes they received, so I know you’ll love them!

Here’s how to win. Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a comment here with your Twitter handle, so I can match you up. If you are already following me on Twitter, just leave a comment here with your Twitter handle. You must enter by midnight ET on Friday December 10, 2010. I’ll randomly and blindly select ten winners by random number drawing (numbers assigned in order of comments here). Sorry, offer limited to U.S. addresses only and entrants age 18 and up only. One entry per person. Winners notified by email given when entering, not responsible for email transmission problems. You are responsible for notifying me of your correct  address if you are selected as a winner. Contest closes at midnight Eastern time on 12/10/10. Prize is nontransferable and may not be redeemed for cash. MarthaAndMe reserves the right to announce the name of the winners on the blog. Prizes will be sent by MSLO to winners and MarthaAndMe is not liable for any failure of MSLO to deliver.

This is my final Martha giveaway of the year. 10 lucky winners will get a Martha Stewart Holidays double-edged snowflake trim punch (this creates a strip of die-cut paper to use as a decorative strip) AND a set of Martha Stewart Holidays treat bags (each package includes 8 bags, 8 paper boxes/trays that go at … Read more →

I like to make eggs for weekend breakfasts. I find if I eat protein for breakfast, I’m not hungry for hours, which is always a good thing. I have the worst time with egg pans and spatulas though. The egg gets crusted on. Well, no more! Try this fantastic no-pot idea for an egg breakfast or brunch that’s made in a muffin tin, with paper liners leaving no mess and no clean up.

Egg Crescent Pockets

1 package of 8 crescent roll dough

4 slices of ham

8 eggs

goat cheese (or cheese of your choice)

salt and pepper

thyme

Place 8 muffin tin liners in your tin and spray the inside of them with cooking spray. Lay the short end of the crescent roll in the liner, so it is near the top of the liner and press it around so you get dough all around the edge. Leave the long end of the dough hanging out of the liner.

Take half a piece of ham and fold it so it fits inside the liner. Place a dab or two of goat cheese (you can use any cheese you like for this, but I made mine with goat cheese) on top of the ham, and a pinch of thyme. Crack an egg and place it in the liner. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Flip the rest of the dough over the top of the egg and gently tuck it into the side. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Allow it rest for a few minutes before lifting it out of the muffin pan.

The results are super cute and are easy to serve. This is a great idea if you have some leftover crescent roll dough from a holiday dinner, and if you have house guests!

I like to make eggs for weekend breakfasts. I find if I eat protein for breakfast, I’m not hungry for hours, which is always a good thing. I have the worst time with egg pans and spatulas though. The egg gets crusted on. Well, no more! Try this fantastic no-pot idea for an egg breakfast … Read more →

Thanks to Karen at Karen and Charlie’s Kitchen for choosing this week’s pick-your-own project  – Thanksgiving tablescapes. I liked the one where you make a small pumpkin into a candleholder, so I did a trial run with that, which looks sort of lame since it’s crooked. I guess you need a straighter pumpkin to get it to work! I just hacked away at it with a knife to make the hole, then pushed the candle in. I like this idea a lot, even if mine wasn’t the greatest in execution!

Here’s a photo of a centerpiece I bought a few years ago (I think I got it at the grocery store to be honest!) and which I really still love a lot.

Thanks to Karen at Karen and Charlie’s Kitchen for choosing this week’s pick-your-own project  – Thanksgiving tablescapes. I liked the one where you make a small pumpkin into a candleholder, so I did a trial run with that, which looks sort of lame since it’s crooked. I guess you need a straighter pumpkin to get … Read more →

In my quest to do things the Martha way, I am taking to heart the suggestions in the December issue of Living.

On page 4, Martha provides what she calls “gentle reminders”. I’ve read her tipping guide. I don’t have that many people to tip, although I do have to buy gifts for teachers, tutors, and a house cleaner. Usually I do gift cards for these people and I’m going to do that again this year. However, I may be cutting back on the amounts (isn’t everyone cutting back?) and giving some candy (Martha’s recipes) in addition to the gift card.

Next, Martha suggest we create handcrafted gift card holders. I am going to give this a try for some gift cards I am giving to relatives.

Martha suggests we organize all of our paperwork from the holidays – receipts and warranties. I’m ahead of the game on that. I have a manila folder in my desk I put every receipt in. What I really need to learn to do, however, is to write on each receipt what it is for and what item it is. In the spirit of Martha, I’m going to add that to my to-do list.

Protecting our pets is the next tip. I actually have a funny story about this one. I have a gumdrop tree. It’s a metal tree that you stick gumdrops on. My kids love it. It usually sits on an end table in the family room. Last year one of our dogs disappeared while we were eating dinner at some point in December. He returned licking his lips which is a bad sign. It turns out he completely denuded the gumdrop tree! This year, we put it out again and I forgot about that, so he promptly helped himself again. We’ve now moved it to the top shelf of a bookcase in the family room. He occasionally walks over there and lifts his nose in the air and sniffs to let us know he would really like some.

Because we have big dogs with big tails, I don’t do candles, except for one Yankee candy that sits on a high table. I don’t have anything else that is dangerous for our dogs, so I think they are safe for the holidays.

Page 134 has tips for simplifying the season.  Martha suggests keeping a master calendar. I already do that. Next she says to remember to unwind. I do need to remind myself of that. Yesterday I ordered a holiday mystery for myself from Amazon and I am going to make time to sit down and enjoy it.

Another tip is to update your address book. When we got out the Christmas decorations, I found the cards we received last year in the basket I keep them in. I went through them to see if I could make any into gift labels and came upon a note from friends with a new address. I’ve got to add that into my address book (which I now keep in pencil so it is easy to make changes!).

Last year I cut back my Christmas card list and stopped sending them to people we don’t really know. I’m continuing with that this year. I bought one box of cards and that’s going to be it. If I need more, I have lots of leftover ones from years past.

Martha recommends postponing some holiday festivities. This is good advice. My dad’s family does not celebrate together until Jan 2 this year and we usually see my in-laws a few days after Christmas. It eases the craziness and gives you something to look forward to after the big day.

Another suggestion is to reevaluate gift exchanges. Oh, wouldn’t I love to do this! We buy gifts for some people that we barely know and I would love to put an end to that. It’s easier said than done though and negotiating something like in my family is nearly impossible.

Our decorations are completely up (I’ll post some photos soon) and my shopping is just about done. Next I’ve got to get serious about wrapping and baking.

In my quest to do things the Martha way, I am taking to heart the suggestions in the December issue of Living. On page 4, Martha provides what she calls “gentle reminders”. I’ve read her tipping guide. I don’t have that many people to tip, although I do have to buy gifts for teachers, tutors, … Read more →