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And the winner of all the Martha craft goodies is.......
Thanks to the random number generator Emily you are the big winner. Email me your address and I will get your goodies out to you right away...
Thank you for all your sweet comments, so glad you enjoy my little blog and Susan I will try to do the 12 of 12 again next month. I thought people would get board with my mundane trips to Starbucks...
I just realized that sounded like Oprah...eek. But these are some of my favorite things and in honor of my little old blogs 3rd birthday, you can win the whole lot of it. I can't believe it's been 3 years already and my has she grown. I love and appreciate every visitor and commenter, well except for some of the comments that are trying to get me to look at their "not appropriate" sites. My blog has always been about me and all the things that I love to do that are "oh so Martha" cooking, crafts and baking and cake decorating and who can forget my love for all things French and Cycling and the Tour de French Cuisine.
Here is what you can win:
These are all some of my very favorite Martha products and a few other things in there. You will get 4 packages of patterned paper in Ombre, Gala, Sun Room and Floral Gingham which is more of a vellum and perfect for wrapping small treats in. A set of Martha cake stencils perfect for everyday cakes with dots, scallop edges, stars and Happy Birthday. Clear Stamps in three different styles of numbers. 7different packages of Martha stickers and rub ons, a scallop edged punch (which is my very favorite) a star holepunch and of course a bottle of Ruby Red glitter and glitter glue and I was even able to part with a set of Crepe Paper flowers. And I also have a brand new copy of Martha Stewart Cookies, one of the greatest books and to add a little of my love of things French is a copy of Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, one of the best books ever.
So all you have to do is post a comment and on Sunday (my actual non-blog birthday) we will draw one name that will get all this good stuff. I am sure I will find more things to add in here before then as well.....
Bon Chance!
A few weeks ago John came home and told me that he would be needing a cake to take to work and asked me if I would make him one. His alternative was that he would buy one at the grocery store and knowing how I would feel about that I told him no problem.
So I starting thinking about it two days ago and wanted to make something with flowers. The spring and sunshine is getting to me. Originally I was going to make pink cherry blossoms and pipe on a tree branch but then the color yellow was calling to me. What goes better with yellow then . So I went to the cake department storage area in the garage to find the gumpaste and the cutters. It only took about a hour to roll and cut out and make over 100 daises. Luckily it was really warm today so the gum paste dried really quickly.
After I finished it I was looking through the Martha Wedding cake book and found a beautiful cake almost exactly the same idea. Martha's was with fondant but John is not a big fan so I normally always just do a butter-cream... but French butter-cream....of course.
Check back tomorrow for the Good Things Blogaversary giveaway!
In less then three months the 2009 Tour de France will start. On July 4th, which happens to be John's favorite holiday, my favorite day of the year will collide into his. Will we be able to enjoy fresh homemade croissants for breakfast then hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch and then bouillabaisse for dinner?
So this year the "Grand Depart" will be in the ultra fancy principality of Monaco. I can't help to think of Cary Grant and Princess Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief" when thinking of Monaco. But this year it will be the start of the Le Tour.
This will be the 6th visit the Tour has made to the tiny country of Monaco and will spend the first two stages there before moving clockwise across France. (each year is flips between counter clockwise and clockwise)
So with that I have less then three months to research and plan out my months worth of menus. Yikes! I better get off the computer and back to work on my research.
Easter is all done and I am now sitting with my feet up. Another holiday over and we sent the family home full and happy. Here are some pictures of the day
I picked up these cute little fake chocolate bunnies a few weeks back, pretty cute before glitter but even better with a coat of glitter
And this big boy I found at the local grocery store, he was just crying out for some glitter. He is about 18 inches tall and ceramic. It took days to give him all his coats of glitter, but I love how he turned out.
for the green at the bottom I used some of the tinsel cut glitter Martha sold at Christmas at Michael's. I loved that it made it look like grass.
For each place setting I had one of the Martha wire-ware tray that was used as a charger, a Martha green maidenhair fern plate and some faux bois green napkin. Along with those I used my great great Aunts French Limoges bread and butter plate with a set of her silver butter knives, blue Martha glasses and some pink Fostoria goblets. And of course the favor boxes. I loved the look of the wire trays for a lovely spring meal.
more on the menu later.... happy easter
Every holiday we have at our house I of course have to have a place card/favor. Last year I made the real egg shells filled with chocolate and this year I strolled the aisles of Michael's to decide what I wanted to do. I had an idea in mind so I crossed my fingers that I could find what I wanted.
My grandmother gave me a lovely sparkly ring in one of these adorable baskets a few years back and when I went to Michael's I searched them down. At only $1 a piece and with a coupon in hand I got each one for .60 cents. Then to decide what to put on it I ventured over to the floral department. I am not a big lover of the fake flowers but with it only being a day before Easter there wasn't going to be enough time to make 14 crepe paper roses, so I found some nicely opened white roses each stem for $1.19 before my 30% off coupon. That's about all I needed for the project, the rest I would need I had at home. Glue gun, spray glue and glitter is in vast quantities at my house.
First I drilled a hole with my hand hell Fiskars craft drill so the end of the flower in without it sticking up to high.
I separated the flowers from the stems and then pulled off the leaves. They came right apart with a good tug
then using the same technique as the red roses from Valentine's day I sprayed the silk roses with a little glue and then sprinkled the Martha Crystal Coarse glitter for maximum sparkle. The great thing about spray glue is that it dries very fast so the total time to complete the craft is minimal. Then using the glue gun I glued a clump of leaves on each one and glued them to the top and then put glue over the drilled hole and put the flower into the hole to hold it.
And then using the Martha Crafts pastel flags to match my table and some blossom stickers and then cut them down a little and placed into the flower. Now I just need to fill with some grass, candy and top with a Sees chocolate truffle. I think they are adorable....
With a cover like this, what's not to love. Pink, blossoms and silhouette eggs, love it! The April issue is different from any other issue, for one thing the Martha calender is back after a few years (and she forgot to put my birthday on it) and there is more fashion and beauty in this issue then ever before. the first 1/3 of the magazine feels a little more like the Blueprint magazine. It seems a bit odd to see makeup and clothing in a issue of Living but also feels a bit refreshing.
Don't miss Martha's feature on her trip to Prague, there are some great photos of some beautiful sites.
page 37, Twists on Lemon; the lovely little lemon has so many uses, a cleaner, stain remover and perfect with fish, chicken and don't forget Lemon bars. And with a great buying tip, "look for lemons with thin skin and heavy for their size for the most juice"
page 148; The ideas for Easter eggs in this issue are fantastic. I love the nature inspired eggs with cut outs of birds and butterflies. And the floral images on the larger eggs are amazing. Time to see if grandma still needs those huge ostrich eggs. I really need to make some of these cute butterfly eggs for sure.
page 130; There is also a feature on the ex-ceo of Martha Stewart Living Susan Lyne's New York apartment. I fell in love with the cheery yellow walls and the curved staircase is to die for.
page 116; Easter classics re-vitalized, still needs some ideas for this weekend? How about Pineapple-Mustard glazed Ham, Leeks Mimosa with toasted hazelnuts, Spring salad with Fava beans or Quiche with Morels and Scallions and don't forget Rack of Lamb. It reminds me that I need to figure out my menu for Easter dinner.
page 124; Flower arranging with brothers Remco Van Vliet and Cas Trap are from the Netherlands and now make their home in New York and make some amazing flower bouquets. I would love to have the giant urn filled with flowers in my entry every day
page 140; Fish technique refresheris filled with recipes using one of my very favorite things, fish. Pan-Sauteed Sole, Slow Roasted Salmon, Parchment-Baked Black Bass, Steamed Halibut and Poached Trout. Fish is so fast to cook and so good for you. Make some of these this week.
Make sure you pick up the issue on the news stands now, May is right around the corner
On the news stands now is the April Issue of Everyday Food and as with every issue it is packed full of great ideas for dinner tonight. Let's get started on my highlights and picks from the issue.
Page 13,Pan-seared Pork with Potatoes and Lemon; I actually made this for dinner tonight and it was great. The crispy potatoes and the lemon that is seared to bring out the juice was fantastic.
Page 19, 4 Fast ideas for Asparagus; If I only had to pick a few items to eat everyday for the rest of my life Asparagus would be one of them. I love it roasted, grilled, steamed and blanched and this is a great feature with four fantastic ideas, Wrapped in Prosciutto, with Yogurt Dip,with Creamy Mustard Sauce and Steamed with warm goat cheese. The Mustard sauce is really tasty!
Page 20, Asparagus, Leek and Gruyere Quiche; If you are going to only make one thing from this issue, it is this. anything with Gruyere is good with me. This is the perfect spring dish and served with a mixed green salad with some French Vinaigrette makes for a perfect dinner
Page 38, How-To-Classic Cheesecake; This was actually the first time I ever made a cheesecake and not sure I waited so long. This was a Classic in every sense of the word. It was creamy and perfect and I wish I had a slice right now.
Page 57, Chicken Satay Skewers with a peanut dipping sauce. Good for big kids and little kids. The peanut sauce was great
Page 74, Slow-Cooker beef and black bean chili; this was so good, I am making it again this week. Except when I made it I put in 3 Tablespoons of Chipolte chili powder instead of regular chili powder but it was really spicy and really good. For the 2nd night I served it over rice.
Page 97, Tortilla pie with chicken; the toasted tortillas and the creamy sour cream and cheese gave it a real rich flavor. John loved this one and was even better the next day.
The April issue is out now, hurry out and get it!
like most great things April fools day is said to have started in France. In the 16th century, 1564 to be exact King Charles XIV decided to change from a Julian calendar to a Gregorian calender. In a Julian calendar the new year began on April 1st, with the switch to a Gregorian calender it began on January 1st. Some people decided to stay with the April 1st, those that did were played tricks on and were then called the Poisson d'Avril or the April Fish. In France the children cut out pictures of fish and tape them on peoples back, I think if I tried that people may think I am nuts.... but maybe I can glitter it?
In the tradition of Poisson d'Avril it will be fish for dinner tonight. There are may recipes available on-line. I received this one in a on-line newsletter the other day and sounds light and simple. Other traditions are making fish shaped chocolates and pastries. Oh if I had more time yesterday.
Other great April Fool's tricks can be found at MarthaStewart.com. I love the blue milk and the green eggs. Food coloring does wonders playing some tricks on people. Maybe I should use blue food coloring on the fish tonight?
Make sure to check out one of my favorite blogs Paris Breakfast for more great Poisson pictures from all over Paris.
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