If you’ve been following along, you know that I’ve tried in the past to do some Martha crafts. You also know that I am basically hopeless.  That was proven yet again for those of us who weren’t positive. I decided to make the “Have a Heart” Good Things heart doily table decorations on page 51 of Martha Stewart Living (Feb). How hard could it be, right? This is a simple craft that just requires folding and cutting. Ha!

Basically you take a paper square dinner napkin (I even bought pink for this!) and fold it into a triangle. Then you fold the pointy side of the triangle back over. I did it! No problem! It helped that there were written directions and a photo in the mag to go by!

Ok, so next you cut from the left side and cut the top of one half of a heart. Then you cut the bottom of one half of a heart, leaving it all attached by at least 1/4 of inch on the right hand side. That sounded pretty simple. Silly me. You unfold it and voila, you should have a beautiful heart doily.

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

So lame, right? They sort of look like hearts, but all I can really see is the star shape in the center. As I am sitting there banging my head on the table, Mr. MarthaandMe comes along, picks up a napkin and scissors and snip, snip, snip in seconds has created the most perfect, magazine ready example.

Mr. MarthaandMe's perfection

Do we hate him? Oh yes we do. It’s not easy to be craft-impaired.

If you’ve been following along, you know that I’ve tried in the past to do some Martha crafts. You also know that I am basically hopeless.  That was proven yet again for those of us who weren’t positive. I decided to make the “Have a Heart” Good Things heart doily table decorations on page 51 … Read more →

Martha was all about the Whole Living Challenge in January, then in February she sends out an issue filled with cupcakes. Intentional sabotage, I tell you. Not fair!

Batter Up

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can tell you about the Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream from February Martha Stewart Living. So the cupcake part was not hard at all – basically whip up cupcake batter then add some chopped strawberries. Mini-Martha assisted. As usual, these took a little longer to cook in my oven than specified.

Mini-Martha scoops

Next I started the buttercream frosting. You whisk egg whites with sugar over hot water until it reaches 160 degrees. No problem there. Then, apparently, you put then under the mixer and whisk it until your motor runs out. Seriously. The recipe says 5 minutes at

Frosting Flop

medium and 6 minutes at medium high until you get stiff glossy peaks. Well, folks, I am sorry to say, I never peaked. I went a good 15 minutes and nada.  It was worse than a bad date.  It looked like a bowl of marshmallow fluff. I gave up and added the butter, then the pureed strawberries. Now, up until the strawberry puree went in, I was sitting pretty. It seemed fine. The puree, though, turned it into slop. Far too wet to frost anything with. I am sure this is because I never got those darned stiff peaks. So, I popped it in the fridge, hoping it would solidify a bit.

It did a little bit, but it was still really runny. I put the cupcakes back in the fridge after frosting them and this helped, but they’ve got to stay in there or you’re in trouble. Also, this frosting recipe makes WAY too much. If I had cut it in half, I would have still had plenty.

The verdict? So-so in my opinion. These cupcakes are moist and the frosting is a pretty pink color. The flavor? Well, have you ever tried to make strawberry muffins? Kind of the same deal – you can see the strawberries and sort of taste them, but for the most part, they don’t taste super-strawberry at all.  I wouldn’t make this one again. Besides, really, when you get right down to it, I would much rather just have chocolate cupcake and be done with it!

Martha was all about the Whole Living Challenge in January, then in February she sends out an issue filled with cupcakes. Intentional sabotage, I tell you. Not fair! Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can tell you about the Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream from February Martha Stewart Living. So the cupcake … Read more →

On page 33 of January Martha Stewart Living, Martha has a page about making oatmeal.  The piece was actually about using aromatics in your oatmeal. I’m not so wild about that, but I do love to make oatmeal myself. I buy steel cut oats and follow the ratio on the package for oats to liquid. I usually use half water and half milk. The key is to bring your liquid to a boil first, then add the oats. Cook it over low heat until it’s almost to where you want it (because I make it ahead and it will cook more when I heat it up). I like the oats to be sliglty al dente. I add brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter. I keep a container of it in the refrigerator all week and it’s simple to just pop it in the microwave for a wonderful breakfast.

On page 33 of January Martha Stewart Living, Martha has a page about making oatmeal.  The piece was actually about using aromatics in your oatmeal. I’m not so wild about that, but I do love to make oatmeal myself. I buy steel cut oats and follow the ratio on the package for oats to liquid. … Read more →

On page 41 of the Feb issue of Martha Stewart Living, Martha has a Valentine breakfast – a piece of toast cut out in a heart shape with an egg cooked in it. I thought I would give it a try.

Well, ok, but not fab is what I think. First it was hard to find a cookie cutter the right size. I have 4 heart shaped cutters and only one worked, and then I had to angle it to get it to fit on the toast.

As I cooked the egg, it kind of ran out from under the toast.

This is cute though and is a fun thing to make for kids.

On page 41 of the Feb issue of Martha Stewart Living, Martha has a Valentine breakfast – a piece of toast cut out in a heart shape with an egg cooked in it. I thought I would give it a try. Well, ok, but not fab is what I think. First it was hard to … Read more →

Is it me or have the last few cooking school segments been really, really basic? The one about poaching and now rice? There must be people who don’t know how to cook rice, but aren’t those the people that just buy Minute Rice?Anyway, Wednesday on the Martha Stewart Show, Martha and Sarah Carey showed us three ways to make rice – absorption, rice pilaf and risotto.

Rice Steamer

I always use a steamer to cook my rice. It’s a Black and Decker multi-purpose steamer that I also steam vegetables in. It takes longer than a rice cooker – I would say about 45 minutes. I normally make only brown rice.

I did appreciate seeing Martha and Sarah make risotto. I love risotto and it made me crave it. I have this fabulous recipe that includes roasted butter squash, pancetta, and fontina cheese.  It’s so good, I swear, I could roll in it.

I didn’t have any butternut squash hanging around, so I made a mushroom and broccoli risotto.  First you start with cooking some onions in oil, then you add the rice and cook that until it makes a popping sound. Then you gradually add the broth and stir until your arm falls off. I admit I do not stand there and stir constantly. I will dump in some broth, mix it up and work on something else and come back to it. I also do not use 100% broth. I like to use some water. I think it can be almost too rich if you use just broth.

At the end, I added in butter, salt and pepper, parmesan cheese (oh yes!) and cooked mushrooms and broccoli.  This was delicious.

Finished Risotto

I am not a big fan of rice pilaf. I think it’s boring. I would rather have plain rice with butter and salt.

Is it me or have the last few cooking school segments been really, really basic? The one about poaching and now rice? There must be people who don’t know how to cook rice, but aren’t those the people that just buy Minute Rice?Anyway, Wednesday on the Martha Stewart Show, Martha and Sarah Carey showed us … Read more →

In the Jan/Feb issue of Everyday Food, there is a section of turkey recipes that caught my eye. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking with ground turkey and have made a few dishes with turkey cutlets. I decided to try the Pan-Seared Turkey Cutlets with Wine Sauce. It sounded pretty simple.

I bought turkey cutlets, so I did not have to slice up a turkey breast. I pounded them, then cooked them part of the way (they cooked most of the rest of the way as they sat on a platter as I made the sauce). The sauce is just pan scrapings, wine, dijon mustard and salt and pepper. I cooked the wine down and added the mustard. Yikes! Way too much mustard in this one! It was far too strong. I ended up dumping in some chicken stock to ease up on the flavor a bit. Then I needed to add a little Wondra to thicken it. I also felt like it didn’t taste like anything other than the mustard, so I added some sage.

Once the sauce was a good as it was going to get (which wasn’t much), I quickly stuck the turkey back in the pan to heat it up.

I was not wild about this one at all. I’m also not really a fan of the turkey cutlets in general. They really dry out when cooked, even though I was very careful not to overcook them.  The sauce was boring, plain and overly mustardy. Most of this went down the garbage disposal. Next!

In the Jan/Feb issue of Everyday Food, there is a section of turkey recipes that caught my eye. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking with ground turkey and have made a few dishes with turkey cutlets. I decided to try the Pan-Seared Turkey Cutlets with Wine Sauce. It sounded pretty simple. I bought turkey … Read more →

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I have a Valentine tree. It goes up when the Christmas decorations go down (so the house doesn’t feel so bare). I use a metal all-season tree that stands about 2 1/2 feet tall and put it on my mantel. I hang heart shaped ornaments on it, which are surprisingly hard to find. They cannot be red (I don’t do red). I have some small ones that are supposed to be conversation hearts, with saying on them that are cute. My favorite is the cranberry glass one you can see in the front. I need more ornaments – the tree still feels too bare to me.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, I have a Valentine tree. It goes up when the Christmas decorations go down (so the house doesn’t feel so bare). I use a metal all-season tree that stands about 2 1/2 feet tall and put it on my mantel. I hang heart shaped ornaments on it, which are surprisingly hard … Read more →

As part of my Superbowl snack-food-a-palooza, I made Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting (p. 152 Martha Stewart Living February).

The Batter

These cupcakes are a little more complicated than your basic cupcake. First of all, you need cake flour. This meant a trip to the store for me (if I could count the number of trips to the store Martha has resulted in for me…). You make your batter with butter and sugar, milk, vanilla, cake flour, salt and baking powder. Then you beat some egg whites until they have stiff peaks and fold that into the batter. Then you fold in chocolate chips. The batter tasted *really* good. Light and fluffy and wonderful.

I poured it into my cupcake pans. The recipe says it makes 30. Please raise your hand if you normally make cupcakes using two pans. I know I do. Who has 3? I made 24 and they were fine.

While they were baking, I made the frosting, which is buttercream with chocolate chips. I cut the recipe for this in half since it said it made 4 cups which seemed like a lot to me.

Mayhem slightly repaired

The cupcakes came out nicely. Frosting them was a bit of a situation though. It did not go well.  Mayhem might be the word. The cupcakes simply shredded when I spread the frosting on using my offset spatula. The tops were ripping off, the sides were collapsing. It was not a good situation. It took a lot of work and care to spread the frosting and repair the rips that happened. I gave up on several and did not even try to get the frosting all the way to the edges.

The Playing Field

Now for the taste test. The cupcakes were pretty good. This is really a very good concept. My son asked me how they are different from chocolate chip muffins and they are softer and lighter than that. The finished cupcake did not taste as good as the batter did though! It was a little dry I thought.  It was tasty, however.

There was one major flaw with this recipe. All of the chocolate chips sunk to the bottom of the cupcakes! This is not a good situation.

The Sinking Chips

My other problem is the frosting. I just didn’t like it. It was too sweet. Just grossly sweet. And somehow full sized chocolate chips seemed too big in the frosting. These almost don’t need any frosting at all in my opinion. So this one is kind of a mixed bag – good, not great.

As part of my Superbowl snack-food-a-palooza, I made Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting (p. 152 Martha Stewart Living February). These cupcakes are a little more complicated than your basic cupcake. First of all, you need cake flour. This meant a trip to the store for me (if I could count the number … Read more →

As part of my Superbowl snack-food-a-palooza, I made Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting (p. 152 Martha Stewart Living February).

The Batter

These cupcakes are a little more complicated than your basic cupcake. First of all, you need cake flour. This meant a trip to the store for me (if I could count the number of trips to the store Martha has resulted in for me…). You make your batter with butter and sugar, milk, vanilla, cake flour, salt and baking powder. Then you beat some egg whites until they have stiff peaks and fold that into the batter. Then you fold in chocolate chips. The batter tasted *really* good. Light and fluffy and wonderful.

I poured it into my cupcake pans. The recipe says it makes 30. Please raise your hand if you normally make cupcakes using two pans. I know I do. Who has 3? I made 24 and they were fine.

While they were baking, I made the frosting, which is buttercream with chocolate chips. I cut the recipe for this in half since it said it made 4 cups which seemed like a lot to me.

Mayhem slightly repaired

The cupcakes came out nicely. Frosting them was a bit of a situation though. It did not go well.  Mayhem might be the word. The cupcakes simply shredded when I spread the frosting on using my offset spatula. The tops were ripping off, the sides were collapsing. It was not a good situation. It took a lot of work and care to spread the frosting and repair the rips that happened. I gave up on several and did not even try to get the frosting all the way to the edges.

The Playing Field

Now for the taste test. The cupcakes were pretty good. This is really a very good concept. My son asked me how they are different from chocolate chip muffins and they are softer and lighter than that. The finished cupcake did not taste as good as the batter did though! It was a little dry I thought.  It was tasty, however.

There was one major flaw with this recipe. All of the chocolate chips sunk to the bottom of the cupcakes! This is not a good situation.

The Sinking Chips

My other problem is the frosting. I just didn’t like it. It was too sweet. Just grossly sweet. And somehow full sized chocolate chips seemed too big in the frosting. These almost don’t need any frosting at all in my opinion. So this one is kind of a mixed bag – good, not great.

As part of my Superbowl snack-food-a-palooza, I made Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting (p. 152 Martha Stewart Living February). These cupcakes are a little more complicated than your basic cupcake. First of all, you need cake flour. This meant a trip to the store for me (if I could count the number … Read more →

I do not associate Martha with the Super Bowl, but she was there apparently, and has been there the past four years. She says she used to have parties for it before that. So, I invited Martha (ok, just her recipe) along to our little party.  I made Martha’s Seven-Layer Bean Dip (Martha Stewart Living January page 39) yesterday.

This was very simple to put together, even though 7 layers sound intimidating. You cook onions and garlic and then add beans. You smoosh the beans. That becomes your first layer. The next layers are cheese, scallions, tomato/onion, avocado/chile, sour cream and olives. I didn’t include the olives.

Martha says to make several small jars of this to place around the party. I cut the recipe in half and make just one since there was only three of us (and we have a lot leftover). I served it with nachos. I also made my regular guacamole dip that is traditional for us. And I cut up some fresh veggies.

I liked the bean dip. It was very easy to make and I liked how you just throw it together and put it on the table – no refrigerating, no heating it up. The beans are still warm when you eat it which is nice. I loved, loved, loved the crunch of the scallions and the onion taste in the tomatoes. I did think it was a little bland. It needed some more heat. That’s my only criticism. I am an avocado freak, so I loved that part of it also.  It was pretty to see the layers and it felt very festive. Nice play, Martha.

I do not associate Martha with the Super Bowl, but she was there apparently, and has been there the past four years. She says she used to have parties for it before that. So, I invited Martha (ok, just her recipe) along to our little party.  I made Martha’s Seven-Layer Bean Dip (Martha Stewart Living … Read more →