Martha Makes: Blueberry Fool

Blueberry Fool – probably the easiest dessert I’ve ever made (especially coming from Martha Stewart!) 

At its bare bones, this is just whipped cream swirled with blueberry puree.  I had never heard of a fruit fool before, and according to Wikipedia it traditionally is custard swirled with fruit puree.  Making whipped cream is easier than making custard, so I approve of this version.

This was super easy to make and just seemed to be a perfect summer treat.  Want to try this?  (Of course you do!)  The recipe is on Martha Stewart’s website.  I’ll show the steps below.

First you make a blueberry puree (or really any berry would be good in this) by boiling blueberries with some lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon.  Then puree it in a blender and strain the liquid out using a fine mesh strainer.

If you don’t have a mesh strainer you could use cheesecloth.  And if you don’t have cheesecloth or a mesh strainer then Martha is disappointed in you.

Stir the puree to get all the liquid out, leaving just the solids being in the strainer.

I just threw the solids away, which seemed like a waste.  Next time I’ll save them to add to yogurt or oatmeal or something.  Refrigerate the puree for an hour, then make the whipped cream. 

Homemade whip cream is so yummy, yet I never seem to get the consistency I want.  For this you’re supposed to whip heavy cream and sugar until soft peaks form.

I settled for soft blobs.  Then drizzle on the blueberry puree and swirl it together.

Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, or overnight to get a more mousse-like texture (according to the recipe).  We are impatient for our desserts round here, so we had some right at the 2 hour mark.  It tasted delicious, but was somewhat soupy.  I had some more the next day, and while it had definitely firmed up, it certainly wasn’t mousse-like.

I think this would be so good on top of some shortcake, or served as a dip with some fresh fruit or cinnamon chips.  So even though mine didn’t end up looking anything like Martha’s, it was still delicious and I will definitely be making this one again.  Thanks Martha!

Martha Makes: Valentine Goodies

The February issue of Martha Stewart Magazine had a bunch of great recipes.  After weeding out the ones that used never-heard-of-you ingredients and the kitchen equipment made out of spun gold, I settled on two recipes that are super delicious and surprisingly simple!

First up: a yummy breakfast sandwich using frozen puff pastry.  All you do is roll out the puff pastry and cut it into squares, put some bacon on top, bake it in the oven, and top it with a fried egg.  Easy!  You can get the recipe on Martha’s website. 

I made this for breakfast on Valentine’s Day, so I decided to be cutesy and cut the pastry out as hearts.

The yellow goop is egg wash.

The flaky pastry made it taste like an egg Toaster Strudel, yum!  This was pretty easy to make, but not really for quick mornings since you need to thaw and roll out the pastry, then let it refreeze for 30 minutes.  I rolled it out the night before and stuck it back in the freezer.

Simple and yummy!  Perfect Martha!

Next up, I made a super yummy, super moist, super gooey coconut sheet cake!

You can also get this recipe on Martha's website.  This month there were like 5 chocolate cake recipes that all looked delicious, but this was the easiest to make so it won. 

Evolution of a cake.

This kind of tasted like a coffee-flavored German Chocolate Cake.  There is coffee in both the cake and the coconut topping, so the coffee flavor is pretty strong (although it mellowed out and the cake tasted even better the second day). 

This cake is veeerrrrry rich!  A small piece is all you need.  I will definitely be making this one again!

Topped with whipped cream and toasted coconut, perfect!  Two for two this month Martha!

Hope you try these out!  And have a lovely Valentine’s Day!

Thanks for reading!

Martha Makes: DIY Bath Sachets

This month’s issue of Martha Stewart Magazine was a little low on crafts and high on citrusy recipes (meat and citrus fruit should not go together in my opinion).  But I did spot this little nugget on the bottom of a page and thought it sounded interesting.  DIY bath sachets using eucalyptus plants and tea bags.  Sounded easy and I’d get a nice bath out of it, perfect!

I wanted more than just eucalyptus though, so I went to a local health food store and bought some dried lavender and dried rose petals.  I got the tea bags at Cost Plus World Market (random) but I couldn't find them at a grocery store. 

The process was simple; put the dried stuff in a tea bag and tie with a string.  I made a loop so I could hang it over the bath faucet.

Hang the sachet over the faucet and draw a nice hot bath.  And then be disappointed because instead of the rich, fragrant, bouquet-of-flowers bath you thought you’d have, it smells like water.  The sachets didn’t do anything!  I even hung up two, one with roses and one with eucalyptus. 

Maybe the water was infused with their herbal properties and I just didn’t notice, but overall I have to say this one was a bust Martha!

However, I did have a lovely bath on a cold snowy day, and now I can use the other sachets I made as potpourri, or throw them in my fabric dresser, so it all worked out in the end!  And I just got the February issue of Martha Stewart and it is chock full of great crafts and recipes!

Make sure you check back the end of the week, I have an awesome project to share!

Thanks for reading!

Martha Makes: DIY Instant Oatmeal

 

Today is the very first Martha Makes post.  Each month when I get my Martha Stewart Living magazine I eagerly read it and mark all the crafts and recipes I want to try.

And then I never do them. 

So, the purpose of the Martha Makes posts is to get me to finally start making some of these great crafts and trying some of those crazy recipes that are in Martha’s magazine.

 For my first stab at it I thought I’d go the simple route and try out her recipe for a simple DIY homemade instant oatmeal.  You can check out the recipe on Martha’s website. 

I followed her steps for toasting:

 Pulsing:

 

 

And finally adding brown sugar and salt.  She has some suggestions for add-ins, but I came up with some of my own that turned out super yummy.

 

First up, a yummy pumpkin spice combo perfect for chilly fall mornings.  I added roasted pepitas, pumpkin pie spices (1/8 tsp each of nutmeg, cloves, & allspice, but you can adjust this to taste), some cinnamon sugar, and dried cranberries.  Yum, I think this one is my favorite.

 

 

Next, a Hawaiian inspired mixture.  This one has toasted coconut (which I ate most of and had to toast more), chopped macadamia nuts, and dried blueberries.  I made this one with the husband in mind, as he loves those macadamia nuts.  You don’t have to toast the coconut, but it sure is good toasted!

 

 

And lastly, a mix inspired by Christmas morning.  This one has chopped walnuts, a mix of both dried cranberries and dried blueberries, and a dose of cinnamon sugar.  Mmm, I can see those Christmas lights already!

To serve all you do is dish out a half cup and add hot water until you get the consistency you like.  I also added a bit of milk for a little extra creaminess. 

 

 

So, how does this compare to store bought instant oatmeal?  To compare we cooked up a random packet that had been hanging out in our cupboards for months.  The texture wasn’t too different.  The homemade oatmeal was a bit chewier, which I liked.  It was also much heartier with all the extra add-ins we had.  Overall, I think the homemade oatmeal was a much better.

 

Some things to consider if you try this yourself:

I think I pulsed the oats one too many times.  I don’t have a food processer, so I used my powerful blender and I think it made some of the oats borderline flour consistency.  This is probably what made the final result seem thicker and chewier than the store bought stuff.  Next time I'll pulse it a bit less and see how that texture is.

I also put in less salt and more brown sugar than the recipe called for.  But this is to taste, I don’t like a lot of salt in my food, because then that’s all I taste, but oh how I love lots of sugar in my oatmeal!

 

Preparing this really took no time at all, and it is super-fast to whip up on an oops-I-slept-in kindof morning.  There is a lot of room for variety and experimentation with this recipe too, so I will definitely be making it again with some new combinations!

I hope you try it too!