Martha Stewart

Our New Favorite Cookbook:Tara Teaspoon’s Live Life Deliciously

Comments Off on Our New Favorite Cookbook:Tara Teaspoon’s Live Life Deliciously
(Gerry Furth-Sides)  Do you gauge  a new cookbook like I do by how many recipes you’ve tagged to make?    I tagged so many in Tara Teaspoon’s Live Life Deliciously,  I ran out of tags!  Another plus in a new cookbook is already loving the ingredients (sweeteners like maple syrup, molasses, dates in a salad), but finding the addition of classic ingredients in surprising formats, such a common throw-back ingredient that help make Tara’s chocolate chip cookies the “world’s best.”

Anise and almond make Tara’s tart unique.  I copy the tagged recipes, use them for shopping lists – here short ones because I have most of the ingredients.

Live Life Deliciously: Recipes for Busy Weeknights and Leisurely Weekends may be Tara Bench’s debut cookbook, but this seasoned food editor, stylist and recipe developer playfully known as “Tara Teaspoon,” has gathered a recipe collection of simple, sumptuous dishes that taste as delicious as they look.  It seems she saved the best to include over many years.  And they should look good.   Her impressive culinary background lists “food stylist” and editorial for the likes of Ladies Home Journal and Martha Stewart Living.  And, like Martha, there is a solid knowledge base and respect for the classics, with just enough of a twist to make them your own.  

An Italian cheeseboard that serves as lesson and inspiration in Live Life Deliciously

For us who love authentic ethnic fare, Tara has pulled in the flavors and essence global classics.   Tara pulls into the book globally-inspired classics like Spanish Tortilla with Mushrooms and Bacon.  We marked Savory Romesco and Almond Tart with its bright red palette that contrasts so beautifully with the textured greens she pairs with it.

Savory Romesco and Almond Tart in Live Life Deliciously

Tara transforms Potato Gratin into a colorful, dramatic dish  simply by arranging three different colored, thinly sliced, potatoes on their side like an accordion instead of flat on the baking dish.Tara shares fascinating, useful tips from the book, such as how to use a mandolin (and wearing a glove while using it for safety!) and the comparison to a food processor.  Also how the different characteristics potatoes make them better for certain dishes than others. The link to the video is below.

Tara making Potato Gratin on youtube (link is below)

Helpful chapters on New Pantry Staples and The Right Equipment start the book.  Substitutions for spices, using leftovers to create a completely new dish, and best cooking and freezing methods, Bench shares secrets to help cooks feel more confident in the kitchen, and urges cooks to make each dish their own.  To make this easier, Tara has added a section on how to transform a basic recipe into two or three new recipes to make weeknight meal planning simple.

Even the inside books covers are inspiring and beautiful in Tara

We already tried her Classic Pesto, and used the variation of using parsley and arugula instead of basil.  We cannot wait to try the Sublime Sausage Pesto Lasagna to use it in soon.

CLASSIC PESTO that makes a wonderful gift in a small canning jar from Tara Teaspoon’s Live Life Deliciously.

Anise and almond make the mouthwatering Cherry Anise Almond Crostata unique. It gives the tart a Mediterranean sensation.

An old style ingredient helps make Tara’s “World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies inLive Life Deliciously

Proscuitto and mandarin Orange Crostini gives us the idea for using this topping as a salad with the crostini on the side.  This way it works not only for an appetizer but for a side dish and main course.

Mandarin and Prosciutto Crostini plays on the idea of citrus and cured meat that works three ways

 Golden Roast Chickens with Pan Sauce almost has a sunset glow to it.  This dish easily adapts into brunch, lunch or dinner with a salad or side.

Chicken in Paper with Carrot Ribbons and Golden Raisins is another “must-try” recipe in Live Life Deliciously

Bench describes her background as  “growing up in the kitchen, where “I developed her skills and passion for cooking from my mother, a talented cook and Home Economics teacher.”   She went on to study food science and culinary arts before becoming a food editor.  Tara has spent over two decades in the food publishing industry creating recipes and articles, and food styling for magazines, books, television and advertising.  Tara has recently been the food and entertaining director of the homey Ladies Home Journal magazine.  She  was a food editor at Martha Stewart Living, Kids, and Weddings magazines before that. You may have seen her on the Martha Stewart television show, The Today Show, and on The Food Network as a show judge and contestant. For details and more,  please visit her website at TaraTeaspoon.com

Polish Earthenware to Make Martha Stewart Proud

Comments Off on Polish Earthenware to Make Martha Stewart Proud

(Gerry Furth-Sides, earthenware photos courtesy of Janelle)  Just one look at this striking, gorgeous Polish earthenware brings proud Polish-American lifestyle icon Martha Stewart to mind.  In fact, I’ve done that myself whenever a few of the colorful pieces on a store shelf caught my eye.  Now Elle Łoś-Englander makes this pottery available for online and store sale in thousands of patterns.  And it turns out to be as practical as it is beautiful.

Elle Łoś-Englander, Janelle Imports LLC

Elle’s offerings help promote Poland’s distinctive cultural preferences and traditions surrounding tea.  It makes it stand out among tea service of so many ethnic cultures around the world.  Łoś-Englander, founder and owner of the world’s largest Polish stoneware store Janelle Imports, pointed out the key elements essential to a “proper Polish tea”.  They are:

  • Poles tend to favor the English tea style with black tea preferred, served with lemon, honey or sugar along with warm milk or cream
  • Freshly brewed tea served in pre-warmed cups or mugs elevates the tea drinking experience by providing the comfort of holding the warm vessel that also keeps its contents at an optimal sipping temperature
  • Charming teapots, infuser/cups, mugs, male/female shaped ware, plates and biscuit platters complete the tea drinking experience, bringing whimsy and grace to intimate or larger gatherings over tea and sweets

A colorful teapot holder becomes a conversation piece

  • Confections commonly served with tea in Poland range from lemon sandwiches (Cytrynowe Ciasteczka) to any number of traditional Polish cakes, pies or pastries and  Babka. Martha Stewart often celebrated her family’s their Polish ancestry through these sweet and savory tea favorites.
  • Raisins, dates, honey or fruit syrups are alternative sweeteners to sugar or liquors
  • The local clay in Bolesławiec, Poland creates a sturdy, heat-maintaining stoneware vessel, for keeping beverages like tea, sipping cocoa and coffee warm for extended periods, or for setting it atop a tea candle warmer.

A polish tea warmer in lively colors

Founded in 2003 by Elle Łoś-Englander, Janelle Imports LLC has the world’s largest selection of authentic hand-painted earthenware stoneware for baking, table top display and decoration.  There are over 60,000 pieces and 9,000 combinations of patterns and shapes in classic, traditional and contemporary themes.  They are created in Manufaktura in the small village of Bolesławiec, Poland, where the time-honored tradition has its roots.   Each piece of stoneware is free of chemicals and is produced with natural local Bolesławiec materials such as regional clay and glazes which enable pieces to go from microwave or oven to table, and are freezer and dishwasher safe.

“Enjoying a cup of tea alone, with family or friends, is a relaxing, soothing experience,” says Łoś-Englander. “We are seeing an increase in sales,  a good indication that people are looking for a way to slow down and savor life’s special moments,” Łoś-Englander reports.   You can see her explain the proper tea cups and pots on Facebook videos.   The earthenware is available at Janelle Imports’ vast retail warehouse at 7 Moody Street in Enfield, CT and online at PolishPotteryBarn.com.

What’s to Like About Martha Stewart in Person?

Comments Off on What’s to Like About Martha Stewart in Person?

Making sure everything is going right even the 4th city tour stop

(Gerry Furth-Sides) As major fans of teacher/entrepreneur/celebrity, Martha Stewart, we braved downtown LA holiday traffic and parking to attend the event.  What’s to like about seeing Martha in person?  Everything.  Martha’s forte seems to be sharing her life, products and information on a stage with an audience.   She is naturally exuberant, the ultimate disarming entrepreneur, informative (after all, this is her mission), the perfect educator sharing inter-active “teaching moments” in her demo), generous to her assistant, witty and above all looked twice as beautiful as on her best TV day and half the age.  We all got to ask questions and only a few stood up with gushing adoration, which the crowd didn’t seem to mind at all.

Martha delighted in laughing about her “particular” taste, and how she could not get the egg provider to change the color of eggs from Dr. Seuss  green to blue to match her color palette

In one simple demo she managed to cover new information in a fascinating, inspiring way how to make dog food, her favorite cookies in the world (Answer:  “my sugar cookies with frosting on them, which require some time to make.”  Her assistant got a huge laugh when he mentioned to the audience it was her favorite because there was brandy in them).  And, she smiled, “I love a good boiled egg, too.”

She covered how to use the new style pressure cookers (be careful not to overcook or the food does look a little grey), with her new book (mentioning as many of the other 82 books in answer to audience questions) and a little lesson on the origins of the food zester.  Anyone who missed anything can catch up on her many blogs.

Of course we asked about the influence of ethnic food on the American culinary scene and how much it has changed in one generation.  Already in the food demo she noted that she was using Asian fish sauce, as though this was a novelty, but one that home cooks would find practical to have on their shelves.  Martha also noted how ethnic food products have  permeated the food markets in only one generation.  “Can you imagine no cilantro in a market shelves or any Japanese restaurant in New York when I went to college there?” she asked rhetorically.  And,” she chuckled as if sharing an inside joke with the audience,” that wasn’t so long ago was it?” (And Martha has been a regular at Nobu since it opened almost that long ago).

Martha kitchen tools, books and even her new line of clothing were touted during the demo. We all loved it.

Martha the entrepreneur, former model, accepting a fashion compliment, pointing out her vest is on QVC

Martha explained how she made dog food for her four pets.  “I never open a can,” as I mentioned smiled Martha.  And I buy fish that is four dollars a pound or less to start with at home. And after cooking it with other ingredients grind it up.   Her attentive assistant and Culinary Director, Chef Thomas Joseph added, “and when we film an expensive beef roast on the cooking show, $22 a pound, the staff gets to eat leftovers and the rest is ground up for the dogs .  So that evens out.”.   Martha didn’t skip a beat.  ” I always have a bag in the freezer and one in the fridge ready to go.”

Marth’s  determination for perfection that has influenced the way Americans cook and present food, and that influenced a generation to cook, was on show.  You could feel the crowd laugh inwardly when Martha talked about “herbs”, using the “h” sound.  She may have people working for her, but you could tell that her watchful eye was everywhere and directing it all.

The Martha determination for perfection was there, too.    Martha’s Culinary Director Thomas Joseph is a James Beard winner in his own right.

The Martha Stewart Experience included wines curated by Martha featured in demos and tastings, and a gift shop.

It was so good to catch up with our friend Chef Antonia Lafaso of Scopa in Venice with an introduction by way of samples to her new Doma restaurant  in DTLA.

 

Restaurants and a demo included Los Angeles’ legendary Susan Feniger of Border Grill.

For more details on the event, please see (//localfoodeater.com/tag/martha-stewart-wine-food-experience/)

Cuisines

Authors