Martha Stewart Clean Set to Debut in October

In February of this year, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Hain Celestial Group LLC announced a new line of Martha Stewart branded 'green' cleaning products were under development.

In collaboration with the Martha Stewart design team, Hain Celestial will develop the products for this line, which are planned to be primarily derived from plants and minerals to create a clean and natural home and workplace environment.

Martha shared during her weekly "Ask Martha" radio segment on Martha Stewart Living Radio (Sirius 112 / XM 157) that the new cleaning product line was set to debut in October of this year. It is anticipated that the "Martha Stewart Clean" products will be widely available in grocery and other retailers where cleaning supplies are sold.

Martha Gets Animated

Martha shared with her Twitter followers this evening a new project in the works for MSLO; a Martha animated series for kids between the ages of 5-11.

According to Martha, the series will be educational but, "lots and lots of fun."

The series involves animation techniques with the use of a red camera, made by Red Digital Cinema Co. Red digital provides one of the highest resolutions available in digital cinematography.

DIY Patio Pond

In the summer, I enjoy stepping outside at the start of the day to enjoy my morning coffee on the patio.

While the birds provide a wonderful soundtrack to start the day, I've always enjoyed the sound of water falling on itself. The trickle of a small stream or the rush of a flowing river; the sound of water is so relaxing.

Just off the patio is an area that needed some work from a design perspective. The entire area is mulched (having been ugly white rock before we moved here) and is pretty much a blank canvas. I decided this would be a perfect place for a small 'above ground' pond.


I'm a firm believer in 'take what you got decorating.' Finding a way to repurpose things that I already have is not only a challenge but allows me to use my creativity to figure out how to make what I want, without a huge expense.

To create this pond, I went on a search in and around the house and yard. I found:

A clear plastic under the bed tote
A small recirculating pump (from an old outdoor fountain)
A few landscaping bricks
Larger, flat stones

I leveled out the space for the plastic tote and surrounded it with the landscape bricks to hide the plastic shell. Using the flat rocks, I started to build up the sides, and creating a waterfall of rocks at the back of the pond.

I installed the small recirculating pump and ran the tubing through the back and secured it in the stack of rocks to create a waterfall.

Once filled with water, I plugged the pump in to the outdoor outlet and voila! Instant pond!

The Best BBQ Ribs For a Southern Inspired Celebration

Our Fourth of July celebration this year was inspired by a good old fashioned southern food. Most of my family is from the south so I grew up on very basic, very GOOD home style meals. I decided to take that food heritage and use it as my inspiration for a holiday cookout for a few friends.

Food always tastes better when served on favorite dishes, right? I decided to use our jadeite for this summer celebration. Taking what I've learned from Martha, each guest received a "lapkin" which was a vintage inspired checked dishtowel with a coordinating rickrack hem. Dishes, lapkins, glasses and utensils were stacked up on the oil cloth topped table. (I love the oil cloth!) Guests grabbed a plate, and sat wherever they wanted to enjoy their meal.

Now... on to preparing some of the best BBQ ribs I've ever tasted!

I decided to use the recipe from a recent Martha podcast, when her guest Ollie Gates, of the famed Gates BBQ in Kansas City, MO. demonstrated his technique for cooking ribs on the grill. It all started with a rub to season the meat and 'get the juices flowing' before grilling.

1C Sugar
1/2 C Sea Salt
2T Paprika
2T Red Pepper Powder
1T Ground Celery Seed
1T Ground Cumin

Mix the salt and the sugar together before adding other ingredients. Mix well to evenly distribute all the spices.


I stored the remainder of the rub in a glass jar for future use.

Next, trim your slab of ribs of any excess fat. I also pre-scored the meat between the ribs.

Sprinkle the rub generously over both sides of the rib slab. The salt and sugar almost instantly get some of the juices running in the meat. Allow the rub to sit on the meat for about 15-20 minutes. Get your grill ready to roll while the rub is working it's magic.

Get your grill to the hottest possible temperature. The Gates BBQ method is to start 'em hot and then allow to slow cook. While the ideal method of grill cooking would be over a hickory wood fire, we used our outdoor gas grill with equally as wonderful results (less some of the hickory flavor)

Place the slab of ribs over the hottest part of the grill and cook for about 15 minutes. The meat will be well caramelized from the sugar based rub.

Turn the ribs over and turn the heat WAY down on the grill or move the ribs to the other side to allow for indirect cooking. No need to turn the ribs again. Allow the slab to slow cook with indirect heat for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Once the ribs are slow cooked, using a mop brush, brush both sides of the ribs generously with your favorite BBQ sauce, or make your own using your favorite recipe.

Cut the slab of ribs into individual pieces and pile on a platter for your guests to enjoy! I served individual cups of BBQ sauce if guests wanted it. All three 5lb slabs of ribs were devoured!

This was the first time in all my cooking years that I've ever cooked ribs on the grill. It's a recipe I'll certainly use again and again.

July Blooms

A quick look at some of the blooms and happenings in the garden this month

Raspberries!

One of the joys of being a gardener is walking past the beautiful branches of the raspberry bushes and discovering that the fruit has ripened and it's ready for picking. You can't help but pick a few of the juicy red berries and pop them directly into your mouth. As they seem to melt away and the juices fill your taste buds with happiness, you can't stop at just one. Berry after berry misses the wicker collection basket and end up as a gardening snack!

The cool, wet spring and the blast of warm temperatures in the last month resulted in some of the largest raspberries ever.

Several years ago one of the Doctors I work with dug up several small sections of his raspberries for me to plant. They have since spread into just the right amount for us to consume and I have to admit, a few are enjoyed by the birds as well.

Whether they are enjoyed straight from the garden, as part of a salad, or pureed into a nice sauce for ice cream, nothing is better for the upcoming holiday weekend.


One of my favorite desserts is a Chocolate/Raspberry Tart with a Biscotti crust.


Biscotti Crust:
8 ounces biscotti cookies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1/3 cup raspberry sauce (recipe follows)
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Raspberry Sauce:
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar

Garnish:
Fresh raspberries

Make the biscotti crust

Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease a 9 inch fluted tart pan.
Using your food processor, blender, puree the biscotti until they are finely ground. Transfer crumbs to a bowl and add the melted butter. Stir to combine. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Bake in preheated oven for 12-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool in the tart pan on a wire rack.

Make the filling

First make the raspberry sauce by pureeing the raspberries in your food processor, until smooth. Pour into a strainer set over a bowl and use a rubber spatula to push the puree through the strainer into the bowl. The seeds will remain in the strainer. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Set aside.

Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, bring heavy whipping cream to a boil. Immediately pour over chocolate and let sit for five minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in 1/3 cup of the raspberry sauce.

Pour the filling into the cooled tart crust. Smooth the top with an offset spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, top with fresh raspberries!