This was something that I found on Martha's site while I was skimming recipes.  Who doesn't love animal pics especially when they're this cute. 

Today while watching the Martha Stewart Show I saw this amazing "pork recipe" made with an Ecuadorian marinade, something that I will HAVE to try, it looked amazing!  Anyway, they mentioned that you should never just cover meat with just tin foil when it's going to cook in the oven.  They suggest protecting the meat with a layer of parchment paper between the meat and the foil to stop any sort of reactions that can change the flavor of the meat.  Good to know.

Big Boi, from Outcast, was on the Martha Stewart show the other day and when Martha inquired about where his name came from and wanted a nickname of her own he quickly thought of one that pleased her, watch below.

So it's about time that I got my butt in gear and started knocking out some recipes.  This was the easiest of the artichoke recipes so I figured I might as well get it out of the way. 

So I started with slicing the tops off two artichokes and removing and bottom leaves and of course cutting down those dangerous little spikes at the ends of the leafs.
 
I had to let them soak in some lemon water so they didn't brown.  They still did a little bit so next time I'll try it with a bit more lemon juice in the water. 


When it came up to a boil into the 'steamer' they went with some lemon slices, for about an hour or until tender.  It'll be much easier when I get my bamboo steamer. 
Then I started on the tarragon butter.  Since I was only doing two artichokes I cut the recipe and only made 1/3.  I removed the milk solids with a slotted spoon so it looked better.  I don't know why this didn't call for clarified butter in the first place.  Next time that's how I'm gonna do it.

Final product and review will be posted later as the artichokes are still steaming.

UPDATE:  Holy Crap!  I wasn't really expecting anything this good since they looked a little mushy.  After steaming, the artichokes petals get creamy on the bottom and with the butter it's absolutely amazing.    And since you can make this with very little effort I'd have to say that it's going to be a new house favorite.


I saw an episode on FoodTV about artichokes and it just seemed like a lot was thrown away and for the price (normally $2.50 a piece) it seemed like a waste when I could by them already marinated for about the same.  But not any more, now I can't wait until I make the poached egg with steamed artichoke.

Today I decided that I would use the leeks that I have in the fridge.  Martha had a lesson on them and I've tried cooking with them one other time and it didn't go good.

So the first step was to trim off the green parts from the top of the leek.  Here is what was left over

So today I took the time, while I was doing laundry and other chores that made me wait around, to count up and start my spreadsheet of my Cooking School lessons so I can track my progress properly.  

The number of actual recipes included in the book are:  228
And then there are misc lessons and 'extra credit' as Martha calls them that total:  186

So that means there are about 400 things that I need to do/make from this book.  As I go I'm assuming that I'll make adjustments to this number.

Since this isn't the only thing that I'm working on at the moment I'm being flexible with the end date.  I know most people do this in a year but since watching the documentary Food, Inc. the other day I'm going to try feed Pete and I as much organic as possible.  I'd rather eat less of a higher quality food (organic, local, in season) instead of cheap crap.  I may have said it before but I always slip back to buying crap.  Not anymore.  So I'd like to do my recipes with some amazing food I can find from local farmers and farmers markets this summer.

So it's gonna be a long road but now that I've looked at everything in this book I'm really excited and can't wait until I can say that I cooked my way thru it.

According to the producers 'Marge receives a nighttime visit from the most powerful force in the universe who teaches her the true meaning of Christmas: Martha Stewart.'

I was so happy to come across a sale at one of our local grocery stores for artichokes.  I have a few lessons from Martha that require artichokes and usually they cost up to $2.50 a piece sometimes!  I was lucky enough to snag 10 for $10.  I can't wait to make the marinated artichokes!  Mmmmmmmm

So Martha has a recipe for homemade french onion soup that looked so good but, trying to cook out of the pantry and all, I opted to make a few changes.  First off I decided to use some organic boxed soup that's been in the pantry and I've been meaning to use.

Thank goodness that I decided to kick it up a bit and caramelize the other half of that onion from the other day.  I didn't follow the instructions, I used olive oil instead of butter, but they came out great. 
When he got home I jumped into action for the final few parts of this meal.  I threw the bread in a pan with olive oil to brown it up.

So since I was making French Onion soup I wanted to have a cool garnish for it.  I've always wanted to make these and for some reason never have.  So the first step was to grate the cheese

Another day of Pete skiing and me trying to get stuff done while he's out of the house.  I've implemented a rule that I can't sit down for breakfast until I work out and I'm trying to make sure that it's at least partially protein. 

I was skimming through recipes and decided that I really wanted to have some Martha Eggs.  When I looked I noticed I needed to have clarified butter for most of what I would want to make.  So, I did the 'How to fry an egg' lesson.  I was in the mood for sunny side up so that's what I did.  I never knew that you should spoon butter over the egg white to cook it.  More butter than I would normally use, 2T for just one little egg, but boy was it tasty.  See why I need to work out first. Of course I broke the yolk cause I was in such a rush to get it on the plate. 
Since I'm trying to have some small indulgences I've decided to treat myself to 2 Strawberry Kombucha drink a week.  Bethenny talked about these in Naturally Thin but I never tried one until we moved to Colorado.  They are expensive and that's why I only drink a third of the bottle at a time.  It's carbonated and reminds me of the natural soda that I was drinking, Izzy, so it's a nice replacement and much better for you.

I was so pooped from my work out that I ended up falling asleep for an hour until Pete called to let me know he was on his way home.  Usually we have a snack when he gets home from skiing but he had to run to a friends so he had eaten before coming home.  I was in the mood for soup and decided to hold off until he got home. 

After dinner we hung out for a few and watched some TV and to bed early like always.  I'm not sure what the plans are for tomorrow but I'm sure we'll find something to do.  Pete mentioned wanting to go to the pool so we'll see. 

I was trying to get a feel for what would be the first few recipes I wanted to try out.  This will all be after we've cleared out some of the food we have in the house.

I can see why Jeff's "Blog" is so popular, he's a really funny guy.  It does make me miss the days of entertaining in NY.  I really wish that Larry didn't live above us because that last apartment was the best for having parties. 

So here are a few recipies that I found that I would like to try:
Lemon Vinaigrette (pg 357)
Indian-Spiced Split Pea Soup (pg 401)
Brown Rice Pilaf with Currants (pg 415)
Caper Lemon Compound Butter (pg 167)

So today was pretty productive, blog wise anyway.  I posted earlier that I received my featured publisher status for Foodbuzz and I also have been accepted into the Friends of Martha Blog Network.  So my network is expanding more and more everyday.

Today I also started my new workout plan, Slim in 6.  6 days a week for 6 weeks. 
The first work out kicked my butt.  I just keep telling myself it will only get better.  I'm sore already but not too bad.  No matter what it's the same for the next 5 days.  Then in to level 2.
Here is my scale set up.  Since our floors are slanted, why can't we ever live somewhere level, I have to keep it in the same place.
Trying to eat as natural as possible, here was breakfast.  All I can say is thank goodness the caffeine withdrawal headaches are gone. 
I didn't do any cooking today.  I don't think the fridge can hold any more food.  Tomorrow  I'll be pulling the ham apart and getting it ready for the freezer.  Today I spent most of the day in the office reorganizing everything.  It's looking good.  Then I sat down to redo the taxes.
I might be filing an extension and looking for an accountant to get them done, but we'll see.  Pete was in Frisco today hanging with Andy at the shop.

So one of the lessons was how to slice an onion and here is my final product.  Obviously I've sliced one before but like I've said, every lesson will be done and documented.