Today’s project was chosen by Pru at Perfecting Pru. This (click here for recipe) is a great fall dish. And I have to say it was pretty easy to make. You roast all of the vegetables (red potatoes, red onions, garlic, butternut squash, and carrots) at 450. Then you puree them with water (I used chicken broth and I used a handheld blender to puree instead of the blender method). You push it through a fine mesh strainer (this took a while), then add more liquid, a little lemon juice and salt and pepper. I added some cream and a pinch of dried mustard, as well as a pinch of salt. I served it with a dollop of sour cream in each bowl.

I loved, loved, loved this. It’s fantastic. It has a really deep, rich flavor that is very complex. And it is really something you can have made in about an hour and a half (an hour of which is just roasting time). I will definitely make this again and will probably play with the ingredients. Parsnip or rutabaga might be fun to try. I often make butternut squash soup in the fall, but this has a deeper, more complex flavor that I really loved. Mr. MarthaAndMe liked it, even though he generally is not a fan of butternut. Dude Martha did not care for it. Sigh.

This made a lot and I froze some for future dinners, so that’s a big plus!

Today’s project was chosen by Pru at Perfecting Pru. This (click here for recipe) is a great fall dish. And I have to say it was pretty easy to make. You roast all of the vegetables (red potatoes, red onions, garlic, butternut squash, and carrots) at 450. Then you puree them with water (I used … Read more →

Today’s project was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers – Herbed Flatbread from the June issue of Living. I’ve never made anything like this before. The dough was very simple – get 1/4 tsp yeast foamy in 1 cup of warm water, then add flour and oil and salt and knead till smooth. Let it rise for an hour and then divide into 16 pieces and roll them out to a 10×4 size. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt and herbs and bake. That’s it. Given that there is very little in them, they were surprisingly flavorful. Everyone enjoyed them. Dude Martha said they tasted like garlic bread sticks. I froze the rest and plan to use them again. Maybe I’ll sprinkle a little cheese on them before heating them up for something different.  I can see lots of different ways to use these. You could make little pizzas on them. They would be great with smoked salmon. Or they’re nice just plain with soup or a salad.

Today’s project was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers – Herbed Flatbread from the June issue of Living. I’ve never made anything like this before. The dough was very simple – get 1/4 tsp yeast foamy in 1 cup of warm water, then add flour and oil and salt and knead till smooth. Let it … Read more →

I usually post the assignment for Martha Mondays on Tuesdays, however, the past two weeks the people assigned to choose have never answered my emails reminding them (I did post a schedule so everyone should have been aware of their scheduled date). If you don’t want to choose, I would really appreciate it if you could at least let me know instead of just radio silence. If you no longer want to participate, I will take your name off the blogroll.

Since once again the choice is left up to me, I’m choosing One Bowl Chocolate Cake from April Living for Monday 4/19. If you need the recipe, let me know.

There will be no Martha Mondays for April 26 and we’ll pick it up again for 5/3 – the person choosing for that date is Mum in Bloom. And here is the schedule from that point on. IF YOU DON”T WANT TO BE ON THE SCHEDULE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

5/3 Mum in Bloom

5/10 Tiny Skillet

5/17 At Least Twice a Week

5/24 City Interlude (Hannah I have tried to contact you but got no response. Please confirm you want to be on this list)

5/31 Megan’s Cookin’

6/7 Sassy Suppers

6/14 Perfecting Pru

6/21 Homemade Iowa Life

6/28 Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen

7/5 Stirrin It Up (Mary Ann I did not hear from you for your last scheduled pick – please contact me if you’d like to remain on the list)

I usually post the assignment for Martha Mondays on Tuesdays, however, the past two weeks the people assigned to choose have never answered my emails reminding them (I did post a schedule so everyone should have been aware of their scheduled date). If you don’t want to choose, I would really appreciate it if you … Read more →

The person who was scheduled to make the pick for next Monday is MIA, so I will step in and make another pick so that we can keep to the previously arranged schedule from here on out.

So, I’ll pick the Chess Tart on the last page of April Martha Stewart Living. Let me know if you need the recipe.

The person who was scheduled to make the pick for next Monday is MIA, so I will step in and make another pick so that we can keep to the previously arranged schedule from here on out. So, I’ll pick the Chess Tart on the last page of April Martha Stewart Living. Let me know … Read more →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for choosing this week’s project – earring storage in a paint palette from March Martha Stewart Living (pg 48). I thought I had a paint palette my kids used to use for painting, but I couldn’t find it, so I thought I would show you how I store my earrings. I have plastic cases with little cube dividers like you might find for fishing tackle or for hardware like nails or screws. I put one or two pairs in each space and this keeps them together and makes it easy to find them. If I were more organized, I would arrange them by color, but I’m not!

The plastic cases are inside a big 8-10 drawer plastic unit that sits on a low shelf in my closet. I have a different drawer for each type of jewelry and also keep my shawls and scarves in it.

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers for choosing this week’s project – earring storage in a paint palette from March Martha Stewart Living (pg 48). I thought I had a paint palette my kids used to use for painting, but I couldn’t find it, so I thought I would show you how I store my … Read more →

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers, the project for next Monday is an organizing one. On page 48 of March Martha Stewart Living, Martha suggests using a painter’s watercolor palette (the thing you put the paint on in the different little compartments) to organize jewelry. The magazine says to use a ceramic one, but an inexpensive plastic one would work just as well.

Thanks to Sara at Sassy Suppers, the project for next Monday is an organizing one. On page 48 of March Martha Stewart Living, Martha suggests using a painter’s watercolor palette (the thing you put the paint on in the different little compartments) to organize jewelry. The magazine says to use a ceramic one, but an … Read more →

Today’s Martha Mondays is Chocolate Marble Quick Bread with Ganache. Well, this one sounded really good. Thanks to Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for the pick.

I must confess to a tiny goof on this recipe! I used only 3 oz of chocolate in the bread instead of 5. I just read the recipe wrong. It came out looking gorgeous. It tasted good and the ganache was yummy. But I would rather have real chocolate cake than quick bread any day think. If I wasn’t trying to lose weight, I could see having this with a cup of tea in the afternoon and it would be lovely, but if I have to pick and choose my calories, I’ll pick cake – or ice cream – or pie – or cookies over this I think. I’m not a fan of the texture of it somehow – too grainy or not quite moist enough. Maybe I’m just craving cake! Anyway, it was good and very pretty. What did everyone else think?

Today’s Martha Mondays is Chocolate Marble Quick Bread with Ganache. Well, this one sounded really good. Thanks to Megan at Megan’s Cookin’ for the pick. I must confess to a tiny goof on this recipe! I used only 3 oz of chocolate in the bread instead of 5. I just read the recipe wrong. It … Read more →