My Birthday at Skylands 2018

August 23, 2018

My favorite birthdays are always those spent with family and close friends.

This year, I enjoyed a wonderful celebration at Skylands, my summer home in Seal Harbor, Maine. I was joined by my daughter, Alexis, her beautiful children Jude and Truman, and a group of very dear friends. Kevin Sharkey made several gorgeous arrangements using a variety of flowers and plants from Skylands and my Bedford, New York farm, and Chef Pierre Schaedelin from PS Tailored Events, and I, planned a delicious dinner menu for all. The day was perfect, and the food was superb.

Enjoy these photos. And if you're doing any late summer entertaining, be sure to check out my gourmet foods offerings on QVC - fresh, organic peaches, juicy pluots, and so much more - your guests will love them all.

: Here I am in the front circle driveway with my 1958 Edsel Roundup. It was a warm, but sunny day – perfect for an August birthday celebration. (Photo by Douglas Friedman, Instagram @thefacinator)

: As you know, I come up every spring to plant the garden containers around Skylands. This year, in the vessels flanking my front door, we planted Kentia palm, Howea forsteriana, and begonias. Kentias have upright slender trunks and long arching, feathered, dark green fronds. They all grew so beautifully this summer.

: A nicely shaped topiary sits on this windowsill – I love how it catches the light through the leaded window.

: Kevin made this bright and cheerful arrangement for my antique faux bois table in the dining room.

: Here is an arrangement of tiger lilies from my Bedford, New York farm. If you recall, we picked dozens of these beautiful blooms from my long pergola garden. For more photos of the tiger lily arrangements around Skylands, see my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.

: Kevin also made this beautiful Cotinus arrangement, Cotinus coggygria, best known for the long, fluffy flowers that resemble clouds of smoke over the plant.

: And here is Kevin with a giant Cotinus arrangement in the Living Hall. The pink billowy hairs of smokebush are mixed with the feathery asparagus ferns also from my Bedford garden.

: Here is a wider look – it is so grand and so pretty on this faux bois table. All my guests admired it as they arrived.

: Here is a view looking out onto my terrace.

: And here is the dining room table just before it was set.

: This is a box of beautiful peaches from Frog Hollow Farm in California. If you caught my appearance on QVC yesterday, I hope you bought a box of these delicious organic fruits from my gourmet foods collection – so juicy and so fresh. goo.gl/Daq54D

: I am also selling pluots from Frog Hollow Farm on QVC – hand picked at the last possible moment to ensure maximum freshness. A pluot is a cross between a plum and an apricot. Put the following shortened URL into your browser to get to the QVC page for ordering. goo.gl/2rXvA6

: I received a box of wonderful mangoes from Pine Island Tropicals in southwest Florida. Pine Island Tropicals has been selling tropical organic plants, fruits and homemade food products since 1993. They were one of our American Made Honorees in 2015. We all enjoyed these mangoes – each labeled with its variety. http://www.pineislandtropicalsnursery.com/

: Guests started arriving early afternoon. Here are Jim Cohen, Jim Dunning, Susan Magrino, and Jim Cohen’s wife, Lisa. And, if you look closely, my handsome Chow Chow, Emperor Han – he is growing fast.

: Later that afternoon, many of us took photos outside with the Edsel. Here I am with Jeff Berkowitz. In this photo, you can see the Edsel’s famous “horse collar” grille.

: And here I am with Lisa and Jim Cohen.

: Dinner was scheduled for 7pm that evening. Here we all are around my dining room table.

: My birthday dinner began with a delicious sorrel soup. Garden sorrel, Rumex acetosa, is a perennial herb in the family Polygonaceae. The leaves are often used for soups, sauces or added to salads. Each bowl was served with lightly toasted bread.

: We also had Oysters Rockefeller, one of my favorites. Oysters Rockefeller consists of oysters on the half-shell that have been topped with a rich sauce of butter, parsley and other green herbs, and bread crumbs, then baked or broiled.

: As an entree, we had salmon with artichokes. The salmon came from our friends at True North. http://www.truenorthseafood.com/

: Look how thick these salmon filets are – and so tender. My guests devoured every morsel.

: Inside the kitchen, final touches were being put on my two birthday cakes. Jude made this decorative cake for me, complete with a candle – I love it.

: And here is the edible birthday cake. Jude, and Truman helped Chef Pierre carry it to the counter where it was finished off with white cream frosting and mint leaves around the side before it was presented to me in the dining room.

: And look how beautiful it is – a yellow cake with raspberry and cream topped with fresh raspberries from my garden and mint leaves also from my garden. The bold colors of red and green look so wonderful together – and it was so delicious.