#7 Martha Stewart's Quick Cook

#7 Martha Stewart's Quick Cook
200 easy and elegant recipes

Today is my sister Martha's birthday and she shares more than just a name with the infamous Martha Stewart, she shares the dream of perfection in all things! Actually, I had no idea I was being raised with a future homemaking star. There were some hints, the Betty Crocker Homemaker of the Year trophy in junior high, but I must say I never remember her cooking a meal at home. Of course, I'm much older and I married and left home so I probably just missed the signs. It wasn't until she married and started a family that I realized she could do it all! She had a career, two kids, she was featured in "Visit My Kitchen" in the local paper. Martha even made the magnets shown in the photo.

She did sometimes let little things slip like, "oh, I made Dutch pancakes with lingonberry sauce for the family's breakfast this morning" while we would be eating Eggos with Aunt Jemima. When they moved into their new home she got a stove so big that you could land airplanes on the griddle, six or seven burners, who knows how many ovens and a shelf with infra red lights to keep your filled plates warm as you feed the troops. Most amazing to me, she uses it, all the time!

She's also fearless like the other Martha, before Christmas she mentioned she would be making her own cheese this year! Who knew you could make cheese but she said how easy it was and that it was a real money saver. By the time she was done explaining the process, my mouth was watering and I was off to look for vinegar and cheese cloth. It was amazing just like she said, the whey separated from the curds and within minutes it looked like cream cheese. It was also delicious so my confidence soared, I had made cheese! I emailed her with the news that I could make cheese too but by this time she had moved on to the next challenge. She had made homemade marshmallows!!!

Can you imagine, homemade marshmallows and she raved about how they melted in your mouth and how one dropped into a cup of hot chocolate was pure heaven. Well she had thrown down the gauntlet and I had to try them too. What a mess! I have a heavy duty Kitchenaid mixer but it was straining, on high it appeared to be in slow motion as the white goo climbed up the beater and tried to escape out of the bowl. I have never seen anything so clinging and sticky and then there was the next instruction, dust with potato starch and pat into a pan, right! I tried getting it out of the bowl with spoons, knives, spatulas, just like oobleck it stuck to everything. I was almost in tears when I finally had some of it in the pan. But she was right, it did set up nicely and I was able to cut it with a wet knife after it had dried over night and, it was soooooo good. I proudly presented it to friends and family and all of them had just one question, WHY? Why in the world would you make homemade marshmallows, I had to be honest, because Martha did! So Marty bring it on, what's next, homemade ketchup, decorative gourd carving, interpretive jazz dancing, I'm ready. You're an inspiration, Happy Birthday! So cookbook # 7 is Martha Stewart's Quick Cook.