Martha Monday--Mojitos and a sandwich

In the July/August issue of Everyday Food, I marked ten recipes as must-do's for this month. Of the ten, six of them are for cocktails. Go figure.

Last week I made the Watermelon Mojitos on page 94. They weren't bad!

There are five cocktails featured on the "Instant Party" spread--everything from a Singapore Sling to a Painkiller. Once I've made my way through them all, I'll let you know my favorite. ;)

After the mojitos, I made the Pesto Chicken Burgers from page 13.  I didn't have any ground chicken on hand, so I simply used cubed breast meat.  The ciabatta rolls, pesto, chicken, melted cheese and tomato slice was a terrific combination--what a great sandwich!

I'm not entirely sold on the watermelon mojito (a regular mojito is more my thing) but I am smitten with these pesto chicken burgers.  I'll be making them again. Need something different for dinner? Give these pesto chicken burgers a try!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Martha Monday--Skillet shrimp and orzo

In the May 2012 issue of Everyday Food, there is an amazing one-pot recipe of skillet shrimp and orzo:

The ingredients are fairly simple, as is the process, and I just had to make it. The recipe calls for 3/4 pound of orzo, but as you might know, most boxes of orzo are a full pound. Rather than deal with the math, I put in all the orzo and two full cans of chicken broth.  And, since I used canned tomatoes, I added all of the juice. The orzo turned out just fine.

However, I got the crazy idea to GRILL OUT the accompanying shrimp (along with some chicken). As you can see, that did not turn out just fine.  Grilling simply isn't my thing.

Then, to add insult to injury, I wasn't watching the orzo closely enough during the cooking process and a small layer was burned to the bottom of the pan.  Not fine. I'd say cooking isn't my thing, but I will not let this one mishap diminish my quest to become Aurora's version of Martha Stewart. 

COOKING IS STILL MY THING.

And because it is summer, watermelon is also my thing. A thing which, when following dinner, totally makes up for blackened shrimp and chicken and burned orzo at the bottom of the pan. Which is just fine with me.

I will be trying this recipe again. The orzo was delicious, and I can only imagine that by following directions and cooking the shrimp in the skillet that the entire dish would be amazing.  Give this recipe a try today, but please learn from my mistakes and follow the instruction.  Just in case, keep some watermelon on hand and you'll be just fine.

A note to Tenney in Hawaii:  your emails always brighten my day. Aloha!

A note to everyone: As always, thanks for reading. Have a wonderful week!

Martha Monday--Fourth of July desserts

Independence Day is almost here...time for grilling out, parades and fireworks!  With the heat wave here in the Midwest, I am looking forward to cool desserts to follow the bbq.  And naturally, Martha has a bunch of ideas on her site.

Since it's too hot to turn on the oven, these Firecracker Ice Pops are worth a try:

This Mixed Berry Salad with Mint also looks refreshing:

But if your dessert needs to contain chocolate, then these super-easy Pretzel Sparklers are for you:

Should you feel the need to take a more traditional route and actually bake despite the soaring temps outside, then I can heartily recommend these Fireworks Cookies:

I made them last year and they were a huge hit. 

This Summer Shortcake is also a real crowd-pleaser:

I've also made this before, and it was delicious! 

My plans for the Fourth are still up in the air, but I'm sure they will include good food, good friends and good desserts.  What are your plans for the Fourth of July?

Martha Monday--Garden watching

Martha Stewart has some amazing gardens.  Her gardens, combined with her expansive property and animals, actually resemble more of a farm. In fact, that is how she refers to her property (named "Cantitoe Corners") in Bedford,  New York. 

Martha's amazing vegetable garden is....amazing:

My vegetable garden is not quite there, but I am working on it. Also, I'm working on getting a staff of 40 to do all the work my house and ginourmous garden will require. I'll keep you posted.

Martha does fancy things in her garden like install time-lapse cameras so she can monitor the progress of the peas:

I'm not into monitoring my own peas (at this point I am just crossing my fingers that I'll harvest some), but I have been keeping on eye on my neighbors' gardens.  Next door neighbors Sara and Yogita are doing a great job growing veggies in their backyards.  Both ladies have some great gardens coming up with everything from herbs to eggplants to tomatoes.

This is Sara's garden just next door:

That's Little Miss taking a peek inside.  Sara has cilantro, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant and a few other things in there. Everything is growing at such a rapid pace!  My tomatoes are not this big and lush yet. I can only assume Sara is sneaking into my garden at night and sabotaging my tomatoes' progress.

Yogita also has a wonderful garden growing. This year, she doubled the space so she could grow more tomatoes, herbs, spinach, everything!  Yogi's garden is beautiful and looks like a miniature version of Martha Stewart's.  Behold:

And just like in Sara's garden, Yogita's plants are so much more lush and full than my own at this point.  Maybe they are both sabotaging me!  Of course, a more likely explanation is that they both water their gardens regularly. 

That, and the fact that they are better gardeners than I am is probably the real reason for their success.  No matter, I'll just steal their tomatoes while they are sleeping.

Don't worry Sara and Yogi, I am totally kidding about stealing tomatoes.  Though I will be willing to trade them for Ice Pops.  Let me know!

Happy Monday, everyone!

(Belated) Martha Monday--Father's Day

Father's Day is just around the corner, and I found some super-cute ideas on MarthaStewart.com.  These handmade gifts would be perfect for new fathers, old fathers, grandfathers, uncles and general dad-type people. 


Remake Dad's favorite foods with fun labels:

 Give Dad a booklet of fun coupons:

If handmaking gifts is not your thing, this car care travel kit would be easy enough to assemble:

You can find more handmade gift ideas here, or go here for a fun Father's Day gift guide.  Have a great week!

Martha Monday--Skylands

Martha's summer home Skylands (once Edsel Ford's estate) is located in beautiful Seal Harbor, Maine.   Just feast your eyes on all this gorgeousness:

At this point in my life, I can't imagine having a "summer home" so incredible that it deserves its own name, let alone one once owned by an American icon. Or having a summer home at all. I own a tent, but that's just not the same as this:

At this point, I'd like to appeal to Martha...

Dearest Martha, my idol, my inspiration,

Skylands is a beautiful estate, and I do so enjoy looking at all the pictures you post on your blog.  Should you have a shortage of interesting and fun guests at Skylands this summer, please consider adding me, and my two little cherubs, to the guest list.  My children are well-behaved, I make a mean coffee cake, and we desperately need a vacation.

Sincerely yours,
Amanda Grant (mini-Martha)

PS. We could even stay in the guest house:

For now, I'll just get back to pitching the tent in my backyard.  Happy Monday, everyone!

Martha Monday--Asparagus

Spring is the season for asparagus.  I planted two bushes? shrubs? root balls? of it last year and since asparagus takes three years or so to get established, I'm still waiting on the tasty spears. However, asparagus is plentiful at grocery stores, farmers markets and in roadside ditches now.  Get your hands on some to make these awesome Martha recipes:

Asparagus Guyere Tart

Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto

Need more?  You can find all of Martha's asparagus recipes here.

In the meantime, I've found my asparagus.  Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I needed to weed out the area next to the compost bin, which is where I had planted my asparagus?

I finally got around to it!

And look! It's asparagus!

To help the asparagus get established, it must be allowed to grow throughout the summer season.  The larger root base the plants develops, the more it will be able to produce.  And since asparagus plants can last for twenty years or more, it's really in my best interest to let it grow and grow and grow. 

Over the past few weeks, that small purple stalk has turned into an enormous 6-foot-long plant:

I can only hope I'm rewarded for my patience next spring with enough asparagus to make one of Martha's tasty recipes. 

Do you grow/find/buy asparagus?  How do you prepare it?

Martha Monday--Mother's Day

Mother's Day is May 13, and I'm sure you've already lovingly made your dear mother a beautiful card, a darling scrapbook of your fondest memories and have a wide array of flowers (that you've grown from seed, obviously) ready to be picked on Sunday morning so they are at their absolutely freshest.

You did this, right?

You didn't?

HOW COULD YOU FORGET YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT?!? AFTER ALL SHE'S DONE FOR YOU?

Just kidding.  As a mom, I'm a firm believer that while having a special day is nice, there's really no need to make a special fuss on Mother's Day.

I demand recognition of my hard work, sacrifice and dedication on a daily basis.  Just kidding! Sort of. Mostly. 95% kidding, okay?

Anyways, if you are in the mood to do something different from the usual card/flowers routine for your Mom this year, Martha has some great ideas. 

Is your Mom into movies and Hollywood glamour? This ticket stub sentiment would be perfect for her:

Better yet, have a family movie night in honor of Mom and be sure to let her pick the movie:

Is your Mom the crafty type? Give her a package with everything she needs to complete a craft.  Then, and this might be the most important part of the package, give her the TIME to do the craft. Seriously, go mow the lawn or do some laundry. Maybe clean the house.  Just sayin'.

But whatever you do, do not give your mother this:

Unless she specifically asked for a Big Ball necklace.  Seriously, Martha has a TON of great crafts on her site, but I just cannot get behind this.

In summary: for Mother's Day, a movie night or craft package is great.  Big Ball necklace? Not so much.

At least, not for this mom!  Happy Mother's Day!

Martha Monday--Easter time!

Easter is quickly approaching.  On Saturday I took the kids to an Easter egg hunt, and this Saturday we'll have breakfast with the Bunny.  Fun!

I'm not hosting Easter this year.  Instead, we'll do an egg hunt at home with the kids, and then it's off to the grandparents' houses for dinner and family fun.  What are you doing for Easter?

If you are in need of inspiration, be sure to check out Martha's Easter menus, decorations, and crafts.

If I were hosting Easter dinner, then I might have tried my hand at this table-scape: 



Maybe if I get it started now, I can have it ready in time for next year's Easter celebration. 

Happy Monday!

Martha Monday--Spring cleaning

It's spring here in the Midwest. Well, scratch that. It was winter, then it was summer, and now back to almost winter, so spring must be coming soon.  Any minute now, in fact!  And spring means cleaning.

Though I must admit....do you know what really puts me in the mood to clean?  It's not the weather...it's watching Hoarders. Nothing makes me want to clean quite like watching that show does.  Shudder.

Of course, Martha is a whiz when it comes to spring cleaning. She may have even invented it. 

Honestly! Look how happy she is! I'm nowhere near that happy when I'm cleaning.  I can only guess her happiness is due to the fact that she invented spring cleaning, and now it's a cultural phenomenon.

Note to self: invent something that becomes a cultural phenomenon. Bonus points if it includes ice cream and cake! 

My plan for the weekend was to spring-clean the entire second floor (four bedrooms, two bathrooms and one laundry room) but all we accomplished was cleaning the kids' rooms and simply vacuuming the rest. It's certainly not as much as I hoped to get done, but it is a start.  

One of the great tips I got when I was reading over Martha's list of spring cleaning basics is to clean the curtains, and that did happen for the kids' room.  So while we only tackled a few rooms, we got them completely done. 

Well, mostly almost completely done. Don't look at the baseboards.

Instead, look at this ice cream and cake! It's part of this new thing I've invented!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Martha Monday--Martha's Entertaining

I finally got my hands on Martha Stewart's Martha's Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations.  And it's amazing. 

Martha's Entertaining is an inside look at a year's worth of celebrations as planned, coordinated and executed by Martha Stewart.  All celebrations were authentic: they were done for that particular holiday/occasion, and nothing was staged.  What a refreshing change from the usual magazine schedule...for magazine layouts, they often shoot a feature or story 6-8 months in advance (such as a Christmas scene staged in the month of June). But for this book, the parties and soirees were real events hosted by Martha throughout the year.  Awesome!

The book is divided into times of day: Mornings, Afternoons and Evenings. Every single holiday was given its due, from Easter to Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas. Several dinner parties, cocktail hours, family breakfasts and picnics are also included, and formats ranged from very formal to completely relaxed.

Martha's Entertaining contains a ton of beautiful pictures about every aspect of each event: the food, guests, decorations, preparations, setting, etc. 

A large section at the end of the book contains recipes and how-to instructions.  No matter what you are planning, this book is sure to provide an invigorating dose of inspiration.

Have you seen this book? If so, what did you think?  I love the glimpse it gave into Martha's life.  Everything is so beautiful and it seems totally effortless to make it happen.  Though I know better--events are a ton of work, and Martha has an entire staff to do that work for her. 

Now, more so than ever, I want to live her life.  Or maybe be reincarnated as one of her dogs.  Either way, that's a win-win.

Martha Monday--St. Patrick's Day fare

St. Patrick's Day is all about the gold, the shamrocks, the leprechauns...and the corned beef and soda bread, which is what I usually focus on.  This year, I might change it up a bit and make a few other Irish-themed dishes and treats for St. Patrick's Day.  Thanks for the inspiration, Martha!

I'm liking this Irish Beef and Stout Stew:

This Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie is going to be a huge hit with my family:

Irish Beef Hand Pies?  Yes, please!

After any of those hearty meals, Irish Coffee Cupcakes would be a delicious dessert:

Topped off with a Hot Nutty Irishman, of course!

What are your plans for St. Patrick's Day?  If nothing else, make sure they involve a hot, nutty Irishman. He sounds like a lot of fun!