Martha Monday--On my to-do list

Martha provides me (through her books, magazines, television show and website) with endless inspiration for recipes I want to try, crafts to make, projects to do and more.

Here are the current Martha-inspired things I have on my to-do list:

1. Get started on my gardening

I've been planning my summer garden for quite a while, and it's almost time to start my indoor seeds.  Ideally, I'll have the peppers, tomatoes and broccoli started by mid-March. I'm itching to start seeds RIGHT NOW, but if I start the seeds too soon then I'll have spindly, and less productive, seedlings by the time I'm ready to transplant them outdoors.  Plus, I'd like to buy a few more varieties of seed (winter squash, anyone?)...I need to get on that!

2. Make some tasty Broccoli soup

I have yet to make my own broccoli soup from scratch, a problem which will be remedied later this week.  Maybe I'll add some potatoes and cheddar cheese to transform this recipe into a full meal rather than a starter course, but either way I have a bunch of broccoli in my fridge that must be put to good use.

3. Try my hand at Parisian macarons

That's not a typo...macarons are a beautiful and delicious French sandwich cookie made from almond flour, and making them has been on my to-do list for years.  I have almond flour in my pantry, so making these cookies needs to go from a "to-do" item to a "ta-da DONE" accomplishment.

Right now, the bag of almond flour mocks me every time I'm in the pantry which, based on how much I cook/bake and how popular a hiding spot it is during games with my kiddos, is several times each day.  STOP MOCKING ME, ALMOND FLOUR! 

Don't even get me started on the taunting I receive from my knitting supplies.
They're all "We've been in this closet for over five years! LEARN TO KNIT ALREADY!" 
And I'm all "Your sass is not appreciated. DON'T USE THAT TONE OF VOICE WITH ME!" 

I've been getting a lot of attitude from inanimate objects lately.  Also, I might need more sleep. Or coffee.  Maybe both.

OMG Organizing!

OMG you guys!!!  Guess what arrived via FedEx today?

Here's a hint:

Here's another hint:

It's a hot-off-the-press copy of The Best of Martha Stewart Living Organizing!

Be still, my heart! While this has the shape and cover of a magazine, the organization and weight are more suited to a book. It has organizing ideas for every room in the house, accompanied by great photo spreads.   

A few of the rooms featured are Martha's! I just love getting peaks into her home and life.  Through her blog and other media, of course. It's not like I'm stalking Martha, okay?

This special Organizing issue is on newsstands until April 30. For anyone wanting to get organized this year, and for those who are mostly organized but need some fresh ideas, this magazine is for you.

Happy organizing!

Back in 2003

Last week, I set out to make a birthday cake.  A rich, delicious, new cake that I had never made before. And to do so, I had to go back in time to 2003 with Martha Stewart Living Annual Recipes. 

There, on page 87, I found the Belgian Chocolate birthday cake.  The recipe called for ground toasted hazelnuts and a stunning amount of chocolate.

 
And I made it.  Without the chocolate shavings and candied hazelnuts, though, because I just don't have time for that.  This cake was amazing: unbelievably moist and rich. The experience was unsettling at first, because the ground hazelnuts threw me off...the cake tasted like hazelnuts, so I kept expecting to find one, but I never bit into a hazelnut.  But by the second or third bite, I was hooked.  Yum!
 

I wish I could link to the recipe, but I just can't find it on MarthaStewart.com.  And reprinting it without permission would only lead to me getting jailed/sued/kidnapped/etc., for which I am so not prepared, so you're going to have to find this recipe on your own. Sorry!

The cake was so rich and dense that I had to eat it with vanilla ice cream to lighten it up, that's how good it was.  Warm cake with vanilla ice cream is amazing...the world needs more of it, quite frankly. 

 
Whose birthday was this for, you ask? I'm glad you did...this totally awesome birthday cake was for a totally awesome person: TMI's very own Handy Freddy!  Today is his birthday, by the way.
 

 
Happy birthday, Freddy! And thanks for all that you do in the TMI household.

Resolute

So far, I'm sticking to my New Year's Resolution of trying new recipes...

...well, sort of.  We had lasagna on Wednesday. I've made lasagna before, but since it's not in my regular rotation (I make it once or twice a year, if even that) I'm counting it as a new recipe. It was delicious, easier to make than I remembered, and a nice change of pace for dinner.

But, I do need to branch out to truly new recipes, and I've been pouring over my cookbooks.  This is the stack on the family room end table that I peruse whenever I have a spare moment.  The tabs sticking out are marking the recipes I want to try:

And here's another shelf of cookbooks in the office:

This shelf is baking cookbooks only:

Of course, I have more cooking/baking books that don't fit on those shelves just laying around the house.  I want to go through all of them, try the recipes that sound good, and get rid of any that don't have something I can use. 

In addition to the usual cookbooks, I have years of back issues of magazines with valuable recipes.  Below are my office shelves dedicated to Martha Stewart publications (plus the Complete Chicken Cookbook which won't fit on the other cookbook shelf).  Some of the Martha Stewart books deal with crafts, organization and business, but I own a few cookbooks from her and I've kept every issue of Martha Stewart Living from 2005 on.  I've also kept every issue I've ever received of Everyday Food, which now amounts to a sizable collection of those. I need to go through each of these again and find recipes and meals that will work for my family. 

As if this weren't enough cookbooks and magazines, I also have 10+ years worth of Taste of Home back issues, as well as 10+ special Taste of Home publications (hardback books, recipe collections, etc.).  There's also two years of back issues of Better Homes and Gardens, and several binders worth of recipes, tips and ideas I've clipped from magazines over the last 14+ years. 

With all material for new dinner and meal ideas, I might need to change my resolution from trying two new dinner recipes a month to trying a new recipe twice a day.  And working out more. That, or investing in several new pairs of sweat pants. 

I'm leaning towards new sweat pants.

Martha Monday--Broken glass cupcakes

In the October issue of Martha Stewart Living, there's an entire spread of spooky treats and crafts for the Halloween season.  These "broken glass" cupcakes caught my eye, and I knew I had to make them for my October BUNCO fun night.  

The "glass" is actually caramelized sugar/water and it gave me a really hard time. I'd never made caramel before, and the instructions in the magazine were surprisingly vague.  I consider candy making to be fairly difficult, and a lack of clear directions only made the situation worse.

The first time I tried to make the "glass," I boiled the water and sugar mixture for too long (30+ minutes).  It hardened almost immediately when I poured it onto my baking sheet, but it was opaque.  I wanted my glass to be just like Martha's, so I tried again.

The second time around, I boiled the sugar/water mixture for 10 minutes and poured it onto the pan.  I let it sit for 18 hours, and it never hardened up. Basically, I had a nice simply syrup but no "glass."  So I decided to try again. 

On the third try, I let the mixture boil for 17 minutes.  It set quickly on the baking sheet, but part of it turned opaque and part of it remained perfectly clear.  When I tried to get the "glass" off the sheet, however, I had problems. The opaque stuff was coming off, but the clear "glass" was incredibly pliable.  Too pliable to work with, as it turns out...trying to get it off the pan was like pulling taffy.  It wouldn't shatter or break at all.

Finally, with my BUNCO pals due to arrive in just an hour, I choose to use the opaque parts of the third batch of glass and pitch the rest.  I used maraschino cherries and the juice to simulate the cut flesh look.  Creepy!

Because I didn't have enough "glass" for all the cupcakes, half of them remained plain for my shindig.  That's just as well, I suppose, as not everyone wants to be biting into a dessert that resembles a stabbing victim. 

Any advice for better broken glass for next time? The picture in the magazine was amazing, but obviously my attempt at "glass" fell short.  I'd really like to get this right before Halloween.  If you give this recipe a try, let me know how it goes.  Happy caramelizing!

Martha Monday--Fireworks cookies

On the cover of the July issue of Martha Stewart Living, there's an awesome picture of frosted sugar cookies done up like fireworks.  Love it!  And so obviously, I had to make them. 

Fortunately, we had a great July 4th weekend birthday party to attend for our friend and neighbor, so I made a platter of circle and star fireworks cookies for the adults and, at the hostess' request,  individually wrapped twelve cookies to be included in the kids' favor bags. 

This project was a lot of fun.  Martha's colors are a lot deeper, and I had some icing consistency issues going on here, but overall I'm really happy with the result.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!  Have a safe and fun celebration!

Gift ideas for Mother's Day

Is your mom a Martha fan?  If so, there are some great deals to be had on Martha Stewart publications in time for Mother's Day. 

Get one year of Martha Stewart Living for $19.95.

Get ten issues of Whole Living for $10.00.

Get ten issues of Everyday Food for $10.00.

And to get this adorable front-page style coloring sheet, click here.

But don't stop the gift-giving with a magazine subscription. Seriously.

Is your Mom a fan of smelling awesome? Or a fan of gorgeous earrings?  Then compliment that magazine subscription gift with some lovely baubles and scents from Darling Clandestine.  Evonne sent me two new fragrances (Carny Wedding and Pyrotechnik) and I was blown away.

I am now the proud owner of eight fragrances in the Calliope Crash line. Before these arrived, I had them all arranged by my order of preference, which was an already difficult job. When Carny Wedding and Pyrotechnik got here, that comfortable and well-established order was totally disrupted. In fact, these two might have marched right into places #2 and #3.  That's how awesome they are.

So, if you were wondering to get Mom, or yourself, for Mother's Day, then I'm happy I could point you in the right direction:  a MS magazine subscription and fragrances from Darling Clandestine will thrill her for the entire year.  Have fun shopping!

Martha Monday--Cinnamon-Streusel Coffee Cake

Remember that coffee cake recipe I mentioned last week--the one I hoped would get me through the next few weeks of winter?  I made it this weekend, and while it didn't go off without a hitch, it did turn out really well. 

The recipe is Cinnamon-Streusel Coffee Cake, and it can be found in the March 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living (page 78).  The topping calls for cold butter to be mixed with flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans.  I can honestly tell you that when a recipe calls for the mixing of cold butter with just about anything else, I throw it in the food processor.  It always turns out fine.

See what I mean?  It looks like sand...brown sugary buttery sand.  Which is exactly the texture you want for this coffee cake topping.  Yum!

The recipe clearly states that this coffee cake should be baked in a 9-inch tube pan with a removable bottom.  I don't own such a pan.  I had made the batter, the streusel filling and the topping when I finally acknowledged that all this stuff would need to go into some kind of pan.  I then froze in my kitchen for about five minutes staring at this mess and trying to figure out what to do. 

What was more important:  to have a tube pan or to have a pan with a removable bottom?  I decided the removable bottom aspect of the baking dish was most important, so I lined my spring form pan with foil and gave it a wax paper bottom. 

As with any recipes that calls for batter, a filling and more batter, getting everything spread around without too much intermixing of the layers was difficult.  It did work out though.  Note:  I made and assembled everything and put it in the fridge overnight, and baked it the next morning. 

Because the coffee cake was not baked in the specific 9-inch tube pan with a removable bottom, it took a really long time to bake and the outside edge got a bit overdone.  Still, this was a really good coffee cake. 

It is a solid recipe that could very well carry me through the next few weeks of winter while I pour over gardening books and plans.  I can see how this coffee cake would have turned out better in the pan the recipe clearly calls for. 

And to that I say:  Martha, I'm going to need a 9-inch tube pan with a removable bottom.  Pronto!

Welcome, March!

The thrill I got from seeing the March issue of Martha Stewart Living in my mailbox is difficult to convey.  After a long, cold, gray winter (that will continue for a few more weeks), this magazine cover was the dose of sunshine and warmth I needed.

One of my major life goals is to become a serious gardener.  The idea of growing my own food, and canning the surplus to extend the bounty through the winter, is something I've wanted to do and do well for a long, long time. 

My nightstand is filled with gardening books right now, and I've dug out (no pun intended) the detailed plans I had drawn up last spring.  This year, I'd really like to start making my backyard vegetable garden and orchard dreams a reality.

The Garden Primer was mentioned in the March issue of MS Living as a must-have for the gardening library. Though I haven't had time to read it cover to cover, it was helpful.  Lesson taken:  don't grow more than you can manage!  

The other books from the library has similar messages, and I totally plan to ignore that good advice and grow as much as I possibly can in my allotted garden space. 

I was fortunate to attend two garden seminars taught by Master Gardeners from the University of Illinois Extension office.  The seminars were "Herbs for the Kitchen" and "Planning and Planting Your Vegetable Garden."  The seminars were hosted by my local library and free.  Both classes were well worth the time.  If you have this resource available to you in your area, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of their services. 

The books from the library were great, but none of them were zone-specific prompting me to buy this "Guide to Illinois Vegetable Gardening."  It has methods, suggestions and cultivars specific to this region, and I'm finding it immensely helpful. 

Now that I'm learning more about how to do what I want to do, I need to form some concrete plans, develop manageable goals and objectives, and a do-able timeline for getting things done.  I have a feeling I will be mostly on my own with this garden this summer, so Martha, if you are reading this, please feel free to send your grounds crew over.  I could use the help!

But until the ground thaws, I'm going to busy myself with two recipes in the March issue of Living:  cinnamon-streusel coffee cake...

...and yeasted chocolate coffee cake. 

I'm not sure if coffee cake can get me through the next 12-14 weeks to the frost-free date for our area, but it's worth a shot!

The gift of Martha

As a self-proclaimed and semi-certified (and maybe certifiable!) Martha Stewart wanna-be, my Martha card would be revoked if I did not share this deal with you:  now through Sunday, MSLO is offering full-year subscriptions to Living, Whole Living and Everyday Food for only $20.00. 

Plus, they are even throwing in a free tote bag!  This is a tremendous deal, and would make the perfect gift for yourself or anyone in your life who is interested in all good things for their home and their life. 

This offer expires on December 5, so act now (wow, don't I totally sound like an infomercial?  Scary!) before the deal is gone. 

Seriously, I love all of her publications, and I know that this is one gift the recipient will not want to return.  Happy shopping!