Martha Stewart Living Archives

Twenty years ago the Martha Stewart Living Magazine was born.
Twenty years later…it goes DIGITAL!
Yes, August 15, 2011 marks the unveiling of Martha’s totally digital version of her beautiful magazine.

If you can’t catch it on Hallmark, view the Martha Stewart Show “Digital Living” episode introducing the exciting new era of the magazine by clicking HERE .

See how Adobe created moving, “living” photos for the cover. The peony on the cover comes to life! It’s simply beautiful.

Also in this installment, learn how to make Phyllo Pastries with Martha and actor Jeff Goldblum.

In a hurry and can’t watch the clip right now? Be sure to make a note to come back to it but here is one of the recipes for you now:

Phyllo Squares with Baked Egg,

Spinach, and Cheese

From MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients

8 cups baby spinach, remove stems

1 cup ricotta cheese

¾ cup crumbled feta cheese

Coarse grain salt and freshly ground pepper

7 large eggs

1 stick butter, unsalted

6 sheets of thawed phyllo dough (12 X 17 inches each)

How to Make It

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Wash spinach, leaving some water clinging to leaves. Cook in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Squeeze spinach to release as much liquid as possible. Finely chop, and transfer to a bowl. (You’ll have 1/2 cup packed.) Add ricotta and feta. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1 egg.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; let solids sink to bottom. Skim foam. Carefully pour off clarified butter, discarding solids. Brush baking sheet with clarified butter.

Cover phyllo with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel to keep it from drying out as you work. Remove 3 phyllo sheets, and layer on baking sheet, brushing each with clarified butter before topping with another sheet. Repeat brushing and layering with remaining 3 phyllo sheets to form a second stack on a work surface; cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel to keep from drying out.

Place 6 evenly spaced dollops of spinach filling onto first phyllo stack, leaving a 2-inch border around each dollop. Make a well in the center of each filling mound. Crack 1 egg, and separate, reserving white. Carefully tip egg yolk into well of 1 filling mound. Repeat with remaining eggs.

Whisk reserved egg whites and brush onto phyllo between mounds. Top with remaining phyllo stack. Press between filling mounds to seal. Using a pastry wheel, cut around filling mounds to form six 5 1/2-inch squares. Bake until phyllo is golden but yolks are still runny, 6 to 7 minutes. (Centers should still be soft when touched with the tip of your finger.) Serve immediately.

Another Great Recipe: Phyllo Cups with Cappuccino Cream

Vocabulary Update

Definition: Phyllo — phyllo, filo, or fillo dough is paper-thin sheets of unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine…more

Baklava Cups

Definition: What is an IPad? I had to ask myself that question. With Ipads and Ipods and Blackberries and Kindles advertised all over the place, I wasn’t all that sure that I knew what an Ipad was, as I was listening to Martha talk about it. It made me want one but I wasn’t sure what it was that I was wanting! 🙂

The iPad is a tablet computer designed and developed by Apple. It is particularly marketed as a platform for audio and visual media such as books, periodicals, movies, music, and games, as well as web content…more

Get the Martha Stewart Living APP for your IPAD here

Buy Your New IPAD Here

Recently:

Instead of “Simple Lovely Living” perhaps this post should be called “Living Like Martha”. There is something so casual and warm about Martha Stewart that living like her, in some small way, seems possible. It does not require a lot of money. It does require a love for life and for pretty surroundings.

Check out her Martha Stewart Living website and enjoy the beautiful photo montage of what Martha loves to have in her life…like the flowers in this perfectly decorated dining room. OK…so much of it probably did cost a pretty penny but she didn’t start out that way.

In fact, since we are dedicating Mondays to the inspiring Martha Stewart, I decided it was time for me to read her biography. Being Martha was written by her friend, Lloyd Allen, who has known her for over 30 years. When the media began to rip her apart and basically “have her for lunch” during the unfortunate period of her life, it grieved him to think that the wonderful attributes of this woman were being overlooked…trashed and forgotten. So, he set himself to tell the whole story about Martha Stewart. I’ve only just started reading it but, so far, I love this book!

Did you know that she started out as a fashion model, then stock broker, and in a heartfelt desire to be at home and do what she was created to do–homemaking–she quit her day job. As a SAHM, she started a catering business from her house and hired other moms who also wanted to stay at home, but needed an income to support their families, to help. They would cook at home and bring the dishes to her for the catering events! Is that wonderful, or what!

Her charm and unending talent carried her into the spotlight as she shared her passion for simple, lovely living. And she makes it so easy for us to learn how to do it for ourselves.

To Get Your Own Copy of Being Martha: Click Here

As I said, I have just started reading this fascinating book but can already say that I can recommend it to anyone who is curious to know more about Martha or who gets strength from true stories of real people who started humbly small and became a brilliant success!

Enjoy Martha Monday this week and, now, go pick some fresh flowers to put on your table!

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