We were heading out to my parents’ lake house for Memorial Day weekend and I needed a dessert to bring. I like to get my cooking done ahead so I can spend the time there enjoying the water. Martha’s Cream Puffs with Lemon Mousse and Blueberry Sauce (June Martha Stewart Living) sounded very summery and light, so I decided to make that.

So there I was on a Friday night, making cream puffs. I’ve never made cream puffs before. They were a little more complicated than I expected. First you cook sugar, water, butter and salt and then you add flour and cook it again. Once that’s done you beat in eggs. You know it’s ready when you can touch it and take your finger away and a string follows your finger. I was worried it wasn’t going to work, but it did. It was quite similar to Gougere, an hors d’oevres I’ve made often.

Next you bake your cream puffs.  Martha says to use a pastry bag to get them on the baking sheet. Piffle. I just used a spoon. And really, that worked out quite well. The recipe says it makes 10 but I was able to get 12.

They bake a surprisingly long time, but when they were done, they looked great. Now, let me say candidly that these are probably best the same day you bake them, but I had to put them in a plastic container and save them for the next day. They did get a tiny bit mushy I think, so eat them the same day if you can.

Next, I got to work on the lemon curd, which would become the lemon mousse. I’ve never made lemon curd before and it was quite easy. Eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest get cooked, then butter gets mixed in. Pretty easy. I put that in a container to chill and bring along with us.

The next step was the blueberry sauce. Blueberries, water, sugar, salt and lemon zest get cooked down. At the end you add in more blueberries. No problem. I got that done and chilling.

The next morning I packed it all up, along with the heavy cream I needed to make the lemon mousse. It all went into a cooler and came along with us. That night, I served it.

First I cut the cream puffs in half. Next, I got to work on the lemon mousse and here is where things get out of control. I grabbed the heavy cream, dumped it into a bowl and started whipping. Nothing happened. It got foamy but not fluffy. Finally I looked at the carton and realized I had grabbed half and half, which comes in an identical carton (who’s the labeling genius in charge of that I’d like to know!). Down the drain that went and I started over, this time making sure I had the whipping cream I had brought with me. I got it whipped up and stuck my finger in it to check the texture and licked my finger off and immediately gagged. The cream was bad! And I had just bought it two days ago. The expiration date was not until the end of June. What the hell! Fortunately my mother had another carton of heavy cream, so I set to work whipping for the third time and this time it all worked out.

I folded the whipped cream with the curd and voila! Lemon mousse. I filled the cream puffs with the mousse and was getting ready to put the blueberry sauce on them. My son asked me not to put sauce on his. My father overheard this and asked for me to do the same thing for his.

We sat down to eat and my dad took a bite and said, “Oh! It’s lemon! I thought they were regular profiteroles.” My mother then says to him, “It’s not French honey, it’s Martha,” and takes his plate and goes and puts the blueberry sauce on it. He thought they were regular cream puffs and didn’t like the idea of blueberry sauce on them. Once he realized they weren’t, then he was willing to try it.

These were quite good, despite all the effort it took to produce them! The lemon mousse was light and fluffy and just lemony enough. The blueberry sauce was a nice contrast. It all worked well together and was a nice summer dessert. I enjoyed it a lot. I have to admit I would probably rather have regular cream puffs with chocolate sauce though!

We were heading out to my parents’ lake house for Memorial Day weekend and I needed a dessert to bring. I like to get my cooking done ahead so I can spend the time there enjoying the water. Martha’s Cream Puffs with Lemon Mousse and Blueberry Sauce (June Martha Stewart Living) sounded very summery and … Read more →

I am already a wild fan of fish prints. A few years ago we vacationed on Cape Cod and happened upon this fab little shop called Blue Water Fish Rubbings. They sell clothes, bags, and prints that are made by pressing real fish and sea creatures that have been inked onto fabric or paper. We bought a shirt while we were there and I love it.

Fast forward to June Martha Stewart Living, where Martha has several pages devoted to making fish prints, shell prints and other beach imprints. Martha uses a rubber fish for hers, but this weekend we visited my parents at their lake house, so I was determined to use a real fish.

I went to a craft store and bought ink and rice paper. I had a little brush already. I took it with us. We caught a lot of fish, but since bass season has not started yet, we couldn’t keep those big fish. We did catch a lot of little sunfish though and we kept some to eat for lunch. One of the fish we set aside for the print.

First I dried the fish off and let it sit in the sun to get really dry. I painted the ink on it and pressed the rough side of the rice paper onto it (hoping that was the right side!). The first one wasn’t great and I quickly learned to use a very light coating of ink. The next few turned out really well. I am definitely going to frame one and hang it up at the lake.

I ended up with ink all over my hands, but it all washed off. And don’t worry, we did eat the fish after we washed it, so this project was not wasteful.

I want to try this again with a really big fish once they are in season and we can keep them, so I left all the supplies at the lake. I’m going to buy some other colors of ink so that I can do a multi-colored print as well.

This project was really very easy. If I can do it, you can do it! I would love to try it with some shells and maybe some seaweed.

I am already a wild fan of fish prints. A few years ago we vacationed on Cape Cod and happened upon this fab little shop called Blue Water Fish Rubbings. They sell clothes, bags, and prints that are made by pressing real fish and sea creatures that have been inked onto fabric or paper. We … Read more →

In honor of Memorial Day, I’m doing a big triple post, since I plan to be away from the computer most of the weekend.

What’s for Dinner in June you might ask? Or at least you might ask that if you are a Martha Stewart Living subscriber and are familiar with the monthly “What’s for Dinner” feature – “dinner for four in about an hour” it claims.

The June column includes Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Mustard, Heirloom Tomato Salad with Garlic Oil and Grilled Potato Slices with Salt and Vinegar.

The first thing I did was boil the potato slices in vinegar. That’s right, Martha says to boil your potatoes in 2 cups of white vinegar. Then let it cool for half an hour, still in the vinegar.

Next, I mixed up the marinade for the chicken which was very simple and got the chicken into that. I sliced the tomatoes and cooked the garlic for the salad.

Mr. MarthaAndMe was drafted to do the grilling. First he grilled the red onion slices for the sandwich. Then he grilled the chicken, and finally the potato slices. This took serious juggling since the racks on our grill are completely rusted. We’ve ordered new ones, but they have not come in yet, so we’re using a little fish or vegetable griller thing set on top of the racks.

Once everything was cooked, I assembled the sandwich and the salad and we were ready to eat.

First let’s talk about those potatoes. I’m sorry Martha, but they were horrible. Inedible. It was just a mouth full of vinegar. There was nothing subtle about this. Nasty. Skip this recipe.

Next, the sandwich. I know my photo doesn’t look too gorgeous (I should have taken it once we cut it into sections. I am not usually a fan of onion and pickle on sandwiches, but I went with it. This sandwich was good. However, I think the chicken needs to marinate in the mustard mix longer than half an hour. I didn’t really taste mustard at all. I liked the onion and pickles on the sandwich. Martha has you spread creme fraiche on the bread instead of mayo. There was not much noticeable difference, I didn’t think. And in fact no one noticed it was not mayo. I do have to say, I don’t care for sandwiches on big hard pieces of bread like this. It’s just too hard to bite into. I would enjoy this much more on a roll.

And finally, the tomato salad. This was good. Nothing wild or exciting, but good. I often make simple tomato salads like this in the summer. I expected the garlic pieces to be more flavorful, so that was a little disappointing.

Martha says this dinner can be made in less than hour. I say maybe, but only if you are cooking furiously, nonstop for that hour.

Happy Memorial Day! I’ll be back on Tuesday with more posts (it’s going to be a full weekend of Martha here). I’ll be on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Morning Living Live on Sirius Tuesday morning at 8 am if you want to tune in. If you’re listening, call in! I’d love to talk to you.

In honor of Memorial Day, I’m doing a big triple post, since I plan to be away from the computer most of the weekend. What’s for Dinner in June you might ask? Or at least you might ask that if you are a Martha Stewart Living subscriber and are familiar with the monthly “What’s for … Read more →

I am a lover of good corned beef hash, which I make every year after St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve never had chicken hash, but was willing to try it, so I made Summer Vegetable and Chicken Hash from June Martha Stewart Living (no link on Martha’s site for this).

First I boiled the potatoes, then I started creating the hash. First step was to saute the chicken, then the potatoes. Take those out and cook scallion, jalapeno, and then corn kernels. I liked cooking the corn – watching the kernels get brown and listening to some of them pop. Next you add cherry tomatoes, then stock, seasoning and chicken. Add the potatoes back in at the end. It seems like a quick dish but in reality it took quite a while to cook all the separate parts. My corn took much longer to cook than the recipe said.

The end result was actually quite good. It tasted nothing like what I think of as hash – I guess I like my potatoes brown and crunchy. However, it was tasty. The jalapeno gave it just enough heat and the corn was sweet and crunchy. It was a really nice flavor.

It was also good reheated the next day. I wasn’t thrilled with how it looked – like a pile of food on your plate, but it had nice flavors.

I am a lover of good corned beef hash, which I make every year after St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve never had chicken hash, but was willing to try it, so I made Summer Vegetable and Chicken Hash from June Martha Stewart Living (no link on Martha’s site for this). First I boiled the potatoes, then … Read more →

I made Martha’s strawberry shortcake cookies.  This involved cutting up lots of strawberries into tiny little pieces which wasn’t too enjoyable but I dealt with it all right.  Some of Martha’s descriptions of what the dough should look like at certain stages was a little misleading and she had me a little nervous when she told me I was supposed to have coarse crumbs and I really didn’t.  I kept going though and everything turned out fine.  They took a really long time to bake – almost half an hour – but I didn’t really mind that.  They tasted more like a biscuit than a cookie.  Maybe a little more sugar could have solved that problem?  Overall they weren’t terrible and I would probably make them again.

MarthaAndMe here again. I tasted the cookies and they really do taste like strawberry shortcake. They aren’t overly sweet because shortcake is not too sweet. Mr. MarthaAndMe said they needed whipped cream. They were really an interesting cookie that did not taste at all like a cookie.

Now it is time for me to tell the story behind the post. Teen Martha baked these up and took photos. The next morning, after she left for school, she called me in a panic because she left the cookies at home. So I turned my car around and went and got them for her. As I was walking into the school it occurred to me that I had not seen her take a photo of the finished cookies. I called her and asked her and no she had not. So I took one cookie out and left it the car and photographed it when I got home!

Today my daughter, known as Teen Martha, is guest blogging. She needed cookies to take to a party at school (apparently they are still having parties in 11th grade) and she agreed to go with Martha’s Strawberry Shortcake Cookies (June Martha Stewart Living). Here are her thoughts. I made Martha’s strawberry shortcake cookies.  This involved … Read more →

I’ve had Spanish Rice a few times at a Mexican restaurant and liked it a lot, but had never made it.  I stumbled upon it in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living and decided to give it a try.

This recipe is very easy. Basically you’re just cooking rice with some onion, garlic, carrot, tomato paste and chicken broth. No additional seasonings or spices.

The rice cooked easily and was moist and a beautiful orange color. I’m a big fan of this dish. It’s simple yet different enough from plain rice that it’s a nice change. The other thing I really love about it is that the rice needs no butter.  I often make rice as a side dish and we like it plain with just butter and salt, but this dish is moist and tasty without any added fat which makes it a big winner in my book!

I’ve had Spanish Rice a few times at a Mexican restaurant and liked it a lot, but had never made it.  I stumbled upon it in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living and decided to give it a try. This recipe is very easy. Basically you’re just cooking rice with some onion, garlic, carrot, … Read more →

My June issue of Martha Stewart Living has arrived. I love the cover and I love all the grilling recipes. Summer at last! I immediately dove in and picked the Honey Brine for chicken to try out.

I boiled water, honey and salt. Hmm, those ingredients seemed a little plain-Jane to me, but I gave Martha the benefit of the doubt. I brined 8 boneless chicken breasts for two hours. Trying to be clever, I thought I would make 8 and use the leftovers to make a big salad or some sandwiches another night. Someone stop me the next time I try to be clever. We grilled the chicken after the brining.

I’m sorry to report that this chicken was inedible. It was so salty you simply could not eat it. 1/2 cup of salt in 6 cups of water is a lot, but brines do generally have a lot of salt. Maybe if there was some other flavor involved in this it might have been edible, but as it was, it jut tasted like salt and nothing else. The honey flavor did not come through at all. This was a HUGE disappointment!

My June issue of Martha Stewart Living has arrived. I love the cover and I love all the grilling recipes. Summer at last! I immediately dove in and picked the Honey Brine for chicken to try out. I boiled water, honey and salt. Hmm, those ingredients seemed a little plain-Jane to me, but I gave … Read more →

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms reading this. On Martha’s show Friday, she made an arrangement of lilacs using a bowl and a vase together (this is also in May Living, page 50). Our lilacs are just in bloom, so I decided to give this a try. Of course, it was complicated by several factors. First of all, I don’t have a pedestal bowl and a vase that matches it. I do not have floral tape. I am also not a very talented flower arranger. I tend to prefer to leave my flowers growing outside, where they last longer. If I do pick them, I tend to just stuff a few in a vase.

I used an actual snipper thing to cut them with instead of wrestling with scissors. I found a pink bowl and pink vase to use, but the bowl has no pedestal and the vase is not very tall, so it didn’t come out looking like Martha’s.

The best tip I picked up from Martha’s demo was that you are supposed to smash the ends of the flower stalk so it will last longer. I never knew that and in the past, my lilacs have never lasted more than a day or two. It will be interesting to see if they last longer this time.

I’m not really wild about my arrangement. It’s ok. I love the lilacs and will enjoy looking at them and smelling them though. While I was cutting them, I was thinking of my grandmother, who just passed away. I remember helping her cut them behind her house, and seeing her arrangement on her dining room table.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms reading this. On Martha’s show Friday, she made an arrangement of lilacs using a bowl and a vase together (this is also in May Living, page 50). Our lilacs are just in bloom, so I decided to give this a try. Of course, it was complicated by several … Read more →

I have to say I wasn’t wild about the idea of Martha including fashion in each issue of Living, but I liked the handbag feature. The issue arrived just as I was searching for a new spring purse, so I read it with excitement. I am extremely picky about purses. I have a few hard and fast rules:
1. There must be a cell phone pocket.
2. There must be a pocket for keys
3. There must be a zippered area for chapstick and lipstick
4. The handles must fit comfortably over my shoulder with a coat on
5. There must be enough room to fit all my stuff
6. The purse must zip or snap closed so things don’t fall out.
7. The purse must be cute.

Now those requirements do not seem to be outrageous to me, but since it took me weeks and weeks to find the right purse, maybe they are!

I ended up with this fabulous Liz Claiborne madras (I am mad about madras) purse, which I got at TJ Maxx for $29.99 . I love how it has an outside pocket so I can stick receipts in it without opening up the whole purse. The straps are long enough to fit over my shoulder. I prefer a purse with one strap, not two, but I can make do with two (it seems as though if you have two,  one is always falling off your shoulder).

This is the main section of the purse which has a cell phone pocket, a keys pocket and an extra pocket where I keep all my store reward cards. It also, as an added bonus, has a cute little zippered section that is for a pen (it’s the oblong brown section on the bottom part of the photo). That is mighty handy, since pens always get lots in the bottom of a bag.

This section has the zippered pocket for lipstick, etc. Don’t you just love the fab pink polka dot interior?

This section of the purse has some built-in features I don’t use. I don’t know why you would put your credit cards, money, license, etc directly in the purse. Not only is it hard to find things, but if you want to switch purses it is much more difficult to take it all out than it is to just remove a wallet. In this photo you’ll see two wallet type things in the bag. The brown one is my medical wallet – I have bandages, Advil, Tylenol, etc in that. The striped one is my coupon/punch card wallet.

Did you catch Martha’s show yesterday where she showed the purse her mom inscribed to her? I thought it was a bit odd in a way. Can you imagine having so many bags that your staff just opens them up and puts them away somewhere without even showing you?

What are your handbag requirements?

I have to say I wasn’t wild about the idea of Martha including fashion in each issue of Living, but I liked the handbag feature. The issue arrived just as I was searching for a new spring purse, so I read it with excitement. I am extremely picky about purses. I have a few hard … Read more →

Martha Stewart Living has done away with the Dessert of the Month, renaming the last page of the magazine “Save Room for” (personally I liked the idea of a dessert of the month better). The May column is about Lemony Angel Food Cake. I’ve never liked angel food cake. It seemed dry and tasteless to me. Why bother with dessert if it isn’t going to be good? So, I felt some trepidation about making this. Would it taste like sawdust? Will it be bad?

I ended up making this to distract myself the day of my grandmother’s wake. It didn’t start until late afternoon and I needed something to do to keep me busy.  There was a going to be a family dinner afterwards and this seemed like it would be a nice contribution.

The first step was buying an angel food cake pan. I found one at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $14.99 (minus my 20% off coupon).

I began by whipping the egg whites – all 12 of them. Next you add lemon juice, lemon zest, cream of tartar, vanilla and salt and then you whip them to soft peaks. This went quickly. The next step is to add sugar gradually and then to sprinkle with a flour/sugar mix and fold it in.

Confession time. This was a difficult day for me and I obviously did not read the recipe carefully. The recipe calls for cake flour. I missed that part and just used regular flour. I didn’t discover this until the cake was in the oven. Yikes! Would it be too heavy? Would it fail to rise? I was a nervous wreck. Not to mention I was worried about serving this to my family if it was a disaster!

The cake came out of the oven and looked ok. I let it rest upside down and then removed it from the pan and it miraculously came right out.

Once the cake was cooled, I was ready to make the frosting. And here is where I had a conundrum. The frosting for this cake is really just whipped cream with some sugar, lemon juice, zest, salt and flour in it.  How could I put what is essentially whipped cream on a cake and then let it sit in my car for 4  1/2 hours? So I ended up making up the whipped cream and putting it in a small cooler with lots of blue ice and taking it along.

I did not make the candied lemon-peel flowers. So shoot me.

We got through the wake and then went to my grandmother’s house for a buffet-style dinner with family and friends. I put the cake on the counter and the frosting in the fridge. When I was about halfway through eating my dinner, my son came and reported that dessert had been set out and they put my cake out unfrosted. Emergency! Off I ran. I yanked the cake off the table and flew to the kitchen where I slapped the frosting on it then set it back on the table. By the time I got back with the camera to take a photo, it had been decimated. I was able to get a piece of it and that’s all I got a photo of.

I remained skeptical about this cake until I had my first bite. It was wonderful! It was moist, just sweet enough, very lemony, and very light. It probably would have been even lighter if I had used cake flour, but I don’t think anyone noticed. The frosting was light and creamy and smooth. It added just the right touch to the cake.

I’m now an angel food cake convert. This was a great dessert and it really was not a lot of work. And, just so you know, the last couple pieces of this sat in my fridge for a few days and the seem no worse for the wear. The whipped cream frosting did not disintegrate or soak into the cake, so this probably could be frosted in advance and kept chilled.

Martha Stewart Living has done away with the Dessert of the Month, renaming the last page of the magazine “Save Room for” (personally I liked the idea of a dessert of the month better). The May column is about Lemony Angel Food Cake. I’ve never liked angel food cake. It seemed dry and tasteless to … Read more →