Martha Monday--Martha Stewart Center for Living

On her blog last Friday, Martha asked all of her readers/followers to donate one dollar to the Martha Stewart Center for Living.  The Martha Stewart Center for Living is located at Mount Sinai Hospital, and focuses on the care of older patients.  The Center is dedicated to Martha's mother, Big Martha. 

A fundraising gala for the Center is scheduled for tomorrow.  As the original driving force behind the Center, Martha remains involved and that is evident with the gala.  The event is being held at MSLO headquarters in New York City, and Martha is auctioning off several amazing experiences to raise money for the Center. 

Check out the online auction...

You can bid on a guest appearance for the Martha Stewart Show (value: $10,000).  How about a tour of Martha's gardens, led by Martha herself, followed by lunch with Martha?  There are several auction items involving Martha, and all of them would be a phenomenal experience.  You can also bid on consultations from your favorite departments at MSLO, including weddings, interior design, cooking and even a paid internship.  Wow!

The most popular item is the chance to have your next dinner party hosted by Martha Stewart...wouldn't that be amazing?  Sadly, I won't be bidding on any of these things.  Nearly all the items are too rich for my blood, and the ones that are within my reach (two seats at a "Cheese 101" class at Murray's Cheese valued at $100) are just too far away. 

But if you win the dinner party, please think of me when you're making your guest list. 

Thanks, and happy Monday to all my TMI readers!

Martha's banana bread

Martha's banana bread...moist, delicious and a great fall treat. 

The ingredients are fairly straight-forward.  Instead of using fresh bananas, I used frozen bananas. 

Warning: banana tangent starts now.

Did you know that you can freeze bananas in their skins?  It's true!  This is a great solution for overripe bananas that you don't want to toss, but can't use right away. Simply freeze the bananas, and then use them later for baking. 

Before using, allow the bananas to thaw in the fridge.  To get the banana out, simply cut off the top and squeeze the contents into a measuring cup. 

The bananas do get a bit watery, so it's best to put them in a seperate bowl at first. That way you can pour out some of the liquid before adding the bananas to the larger mixture.  Obviously, bananas stored this way are really only good for baking. I wouldn't recommend trying to peel and eat it like you would a regular banana. 

Banana tangent over. 

As you can see, the Little Guy helped. 

I doubled the recipe, and it made enough for 24 muffins and one loaf of bread.  I added pecans to the muffins.  Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes.

The bread turned out great, and the muffins were ideal.  I was able to store them in the fridge, toss a few into the microwave for 30 seconds each morning, and take them in the car with me for a quick breakfast. 

Overall, I thought this was a great and easy recipe.  No frills and no fuss.  And when you're baking with the Little Guy, that's always a good thing.

Cream of cauliflower soup

The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping, and we're almost to that time of year when all you want to do is eat a bunch and then sleep for four months straight.  That's how you feel, right?  Right?

Am I the only one who wants to be a bear and hibernate every winter?

At any rate, it's time to break out the comfort foods of soups, breads and hearty casseroles to help us all make it through the season.  And recently, I found a new comfort soup to add to my repertiore.  Taste of Home has a wonderful Cream of Cauliflower soup recipe. 

For the most part, simply follow the directions online.  I added more carrots and celery than the recipe called for.  More vegetables are good!

The instructions do not mention how to chop the cauliflower.  I did some of it in the food processor, being careful not to chop too finely.  To make sure I had some good-size bites of cauliflower, I also chopped some by hand. 

My only word of caution regarding the recipe is to be careful when you are mixing the butter, flour, milk and whipping cream mixture.  The directions say to bring the mixture to a boil, stir and cook for two minutes or until thickened.  In my experience, the mixture got extremely thick in about a minute, so be sure to stir the entire time and stop before it turns into cement.

From there, add the creamy mixture to the larger soup mixture.

The recipe states to cook the soup for 10 minutes after adding the cream mixture, for a total of 40 minutes cooking time.  I'm sure I let this simmer for well over an hour, and it was fine. 

This soup was delicious.  I liked it, the Little Guy liked it, and Mom2 liked it, so the recipe was a definite winner.  The recipe makes a large batch, which is great for easy lunches.  It reheats very well.  The TMI household is giving this recipe 4 stars--give it a try!

Martha needs a new proofreader

Recently, I tried to make Martha's Peanut Butter Cookies from her Cookies book.  And I found a mistake in the instructions. 

Seriously.

Things started out well enough.  I got out all the ingredients, made the dough according to the instructions, and popped my cookies into the oven.   This is where things went wrong.  Horribly, horribly wrong.

Do you see what that says?  "Bake cookies...about 25 minutes."  Now, before I put the cookies into the oven, I thought that baking time sounded a bit long.  Most cookies of this nature only take 10-12 minutes to bake.

"Don't be silly," I told myself.  "This is a Martha recipe, and Martha would never steer you wrong."

Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened next.  At the 15 minute mark, I had some overly crispy cookies. Some even had burned edges.  And before you even ask, my oven is calibrated just fine, thankyouverymuch.

That screaming you hear?  Yeah, that's me. 

I lost almost an entire round of cookies.  Because these cookies were for a family birthday party and there wasn't time to make another batch, I salvaged all the cookies I could by drizzling candy melts over the top.  That makes it look a little better, right?  And the candy coating offsets the extreme crispiness.

I will say that for the second round of cookies, I decreased the baking time to the standard 10-12 minutes and they turned out fine.  Very tasty, in fact. 

Because Martha is my idea of perfection, I'm going to blame this snafu on the staffer that wrote the recipe, or whoever was in charge of proofreading, or maybe the book publisher.  But I can't pin this on Martha herself.

(Alert: huge dramatization ahead)

Because if I did blame this on Martha, my world would fall apart.    And I just can't handle that right now.  Sniff. Sob. Sniff.

(Gratuitous dramatization over)

Admitting to myself that Martha made a mistake wouldn't be that bad, but it would lead me to question other beliefs and convictions I hold dear, such as the laws of gravity, the values of democracy and that Steel Magnolias is one of the best movies ever made.

(Personal note to Martha ahead)

Martha, you clearly need a new field editor and/or baker for your test kitchen.  This Martha-in-training is the perfect woman for the job.  You can count on me, Martha!  Call me!

Martha Monday--Thanksgiving Central

Thanksgiving is only 25 days away, and people across the country are making plans for the holiday.  Some will host, some will travel, and nearly everyone will enjoy a fantastic meal and fall into the subsequent turkey coma.  

Thanksgiving is, I believe, the only holiday that centers around a meal.  Sure, there's that whole giving thanks and being grateful stuff, but let's face it:  most people are all about the turkey and the trimmings.  And I can't blame them.   

Sorry folks, just keeping it real here.  You know how much I love food.

If you are hosting Thanksgiving, or bringing a dish to the festivities, Martha has you covered.  The good people at Martha Stewart have set up a Thanksgiving Central with recipes, ideas and planning tips to make this the best of all Thanksgivings.  Sign up for the special enewsletter and have Martha's menu ideas, recipes and instructions delivered to your inbox every week leading up to Thanksgiving. 

Last year, the TMI family enjoyed three Thanksgiving dinners spread out through the long weekend. We hosted one of them, and opened our home to 21 friends and family.  It was wonderful!  Two things I relied on for a great meal were Martha's instructions on brining a turkey and making a perfect pie crust. 

If you are hosting the Thanksgiving meal, or contributing to one, then I strongly recommend that you give Martha's Thanksgiving Central a try.  I know I will be relying on her divine guidance in the coming weeks.  And thanks to how delicious my turkey was last year, I will never not brine a Thanksgiving turkey again.

Only 25 days until Thanksgiving...I'm not sure I can wait that long!  All this turkey talk is making me hungry.