Martha Jr.

I'm over at Playful Learning today with a tutorial on how to make this bracelet! Part of my Martha Stewart experiment, I use her technique to assemble, swapping in round wooden beads and kids crafting stretch cord.  Check out the full post on their blog here.

xo, Heather

About A Girl

I'm not the kind of girl who wears a lot of jewelry.  My earlobes are so sensitive that I can't really wear earrings very often, and I find accessorizing to be so challenging that I usually just buy clothes with interesting prints and collars to avoid having to style myself.  On occasion I do rock a big bib necklace, but that's only for fancy dress, so I was pretty excited when I found Martha Stewart's tutorial for making a more casual version from wooden beads.  Her DIY employed all sorts of tools and wire, so I modified mine using only beads (1/2") and embroidery thread (that string art project is the gift that keeps on giving).  I love the bit of red that peeks out between the wood grain. Here's the link to her original tutorial, I followed a very similar pattern.  My photo tutorial is below...  Have a happy weekend! xo, Heather

 

Martha Martha Martha

It's no secret that the woman who inspired many of the bloggers in my niche to start writing and sharing their recipes and DIY's is of course Martha Stewart.  She's the high priestess of domesticity.  I have had a subscription to Living since forever and I usually make something from each issue.  This past month she featured a recipe for one pan pasta that we immediately tested out, and I can already tell it'll be a mainstay in our house, with some variations. It only takes about 20 minutes to prepare from start to finish, so it's a winner for parents. I'm sharing this today, because I'm going to be testing some other Martha recipes and DIY's this week, making them my own by switching up ingredients and materials.  For this first one, I thought I'd give a few suggestions to make this dish more hearty, and how to change up the flavors. 
 

The original recipe is as follows:

12 oz linguini
12 oz cherry tomatoes (halved if large)
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 sprigs basil, plus torn leaves for garnish
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for serving
Course salt and peper
4 1/2 cups of water
Fresh Parmesan for serving

Combine all ingredients in a large straight-sided pan, bring to a boil over high heat, stirring and turning pasta with tongs until pasta is al dente and water is nearly evaporated. Season, drizzle and garnish to serve.

After making this the first time, here are my thoughts.  Wow, the texture is amazingly creamy, which is great.  My suspicion is that the starch from the pasta combines with the olive oil to give it that texture.  Adding a little more water and a dash more olive oil will bolster the creaminess.  Another observation was my crazy garlic breath after the fact.  Maybe cut down to only 2 cloves to keep it from overpowering the dish.  Lastly, add many more tomatoes to the pan, like double, because doing so will add more tang and makes it heartier.

So using this idea, this week I plan to try making a one pan dish using different ingredients.  I am obviously a nut for Asian cuisine, so I thought we could try doing a one pan version with bok choy, miso broth substituted for water, a little fresh ginger, a dash of sesame oil, brown rice noodles and shitake mushrooms instead of tomatoes, garnished with a little green onion and Siracha sauce. I'll let you know how that goes. See you Wednesday when we test out her recipe for homemade bubbles.

xo, heather

Iron Maiden

I've had a subscription MS Living since I was in my early 20's, which I know is not cool, but I've learned how to do grown up  things from the expert and it earned me the moniker "Martha Jr." Watch out, I'm coming for you lady. This month she has a spread on skillet meals.  I like the one pot idea and I love our perfectly seasoned cast iron skillet, which was found at the Alameda Flea Market. I decided to set my whole week up with recipes from this article and a few from our own kitchen.  We kicked it off last night with a deep dish pizza, but tonight has turned into a dinner that will unofficially celebrate the night before Jasper's first day of Kindergarten with some of his favorite things, I'll feature that skillet recipe below.

Sunday: Roast Pork with Carmelized Parsnips, Mashed Potatoes and Arugula Salad with cucumber, blueberries and pomegranate seeds.

Roast Pork with Carmelized Parsnips

(Adapted from MSL September 2011)

Coarsely ground salt and pepper

1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1 teaspoon coarsely chopped rosemary (plus one sprig)

1 boneless pork loin roast (2 1/2 lbs)tied with twine

1 1/2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cut into 3-by-1 inch pieces

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Coarsely grind the first 4 ingredients in a mini chopper or grinder.

Rub spice mix over pork, add rosemary sprig under twine.

Transfer to cast iron skillet.

Roast pork for 20 minutes.

Toss parsnips in olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Arrange parsnips around pork.

Roast for 20 minutes, then stir parnsips

Continue to roast until pork reaches 140 degrees, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to platter and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.