The Martha Blog » Television

Meredith Vieira and I have a baking contest

Martha Stewart — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:01:21 +0000

With the holidays approaching, I've been all about pies lately. We held a pie contest on my television show on Monday and invited the winner, Marjorie Johnson back to the show on Tuesday to demonstrate her recipe for English Toffee Pecan Pie. Yesterday, on the Today show, co-host Meredith Vieira and I decided to have a little contest of our own baking apple pies. Meredith brought her mother's original recipe in and I came prepared to make one that I call the 'Mile High Apple Pie.' Co-host Matt Lauer was the judge, a position that made him a little nervous, I think.

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1 For my pie, I used Empire and Granny Smith apples. Other good pie choices include Golden Delicious, Macoun, Crispin, Cortland, Winesap, and Rome.

2 The finished pies - Meredith's delicious apple pie of her mother's is behind my mile-high apple pie.

3 Matt was a very cautious judge.

4 Instead of choosing a winner, he tossed up the ribbon - Meredith caught it!

5 After tasting Meredith's pie, I was very impressed with its flavor and texture.

6 Here I am backstage with Kristen Stewart (no relation) star of "Twilight" and the new "New Moon."

7 We had a wonderful conversation.

8 Backstage with Jon Bon Jovi who was on the show promoting 'The Circle,' his new CD and 'When we Were Beautiful,' his new book.

9 Katie Goldberg - my AVP Public Relations - posing for her latest prized photo with Bon Jovi

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Mile High Apple Pie

INGREDIENTS

Pate Brisee

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Mile High Apple Pie

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

• Deep-Dish Pate Brisee

• 5 1/2 pounds firm tart apples (about 14), such as Empire or Granny Smith

• Juice of 2 lemons

• 1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

• 1 large egg yolk

DIRECTIONS

Pate Brisee (makes enough for 6 double-crust 4-inch pies):

Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add water in a slow, steady stream until mixture just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into 2 disks. Wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate 1 hour to 2 days (or freeze for up to 1 month; thaw in refrigerator before using).

Mile High Apple Pie:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the smaller piece of pate brisee into a 15-inch round about 1/8-inch thick, dusting surface with flour to prevent sticking, as needed. Brush off excess flour. Roll dough around rolling pin, and place over a deep-dish 9-inch pie plate. Line plate with dough, pressing it into the corners. Trim dough to within 1 inch of the pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate.

Roll out remaining piece of dough into an 18-inch round. Transfer round to a baking sheet; cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

Peel and core apples, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices in a large bowl; sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent discoloration. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon; toss with apple slices.

Remove remaining dough from refrigerator; place apple mixture into prepared pie plate, mounding it in a tall pile. Dot filling with butter. Place dough round over the apples. Tuck edge of top dough between edge of bottom dough and rim of pan. Using your fingers, gently press both layers of dough along the edge to seal, and crimp as desired.

Using a paring knife, cut several vents in top of dough to allow steam to escape. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk with 2 tablespoons water to make a glaze. Brush surface with egg glaze; sprinkle with sugar. Place on a baking sheet; this will catch any juices that may overflow during baking. Bake until crust is golden, about 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool completely before serving.

A Pie Contest

Martha Stewart — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:01:10 +0000

Last Monday on my television show, we had our first annual pie contest, where we asked members of the audience to share their favorite pies with us. It turns out that many were eager to impress us with their baking skills because amazingly, a total of 161 pies were transported into the studio that morning. To judge all those pies, we asked Karen Demasco, pastry chef at Locanda Verde in New York City; Sandro Micheli, pastry chef at Adour Alain Ducasse in New York City; John Barricelli, host of "Everyday Baking from Everyday Food" and owner of SoNo Baking Company and Cafe in South Norwalk, Connecticut; and Sarah Carey, host of "Everyday Food" and food editor of Martha Stewart Living.
As you can imagine, there was a whole lot of tasting going on. It was a pie lover's extravaganza! The judges narrowed it down to five choices, leaving me with the final judgment. The winner was Marjorie Johnson with her most delicious English Toffee Pecan Pie. Enjoy these pie photos taken that day and try not to drool!

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1 It was a most amazing pie display!

2 TV show staff members Dani, Anduin, and Calia were happy to be tasaters.

ABC's Nightline comes to visit my farm

Martha Stewart — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:01:44 +0000

Recently, I was approached by Nightline, the ABC news show. They were interested in putting together a program about my life. Remember last week's blog from the book signing in Philadelphia when I mentioned that Nightline was also there? Well, to continue with that theme, yesterday, Cynthia McFadden, one of he co-anchors of the show, arrived at my home in Bedford bright and early with a producer and a film crew. Cynthia interviewed me and tagged along during my morning routine. Then, it was off to New York City, to visit my offices and to document what my day is like in my business world. Be sure to watch Nightline on November 19th!

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1 It was a perfect morning for a visit from Nightline - unusually warm for early November.

2 Early in the morning, before the crew of Nightline arrived, Gyurme neatened up the gravel on the driveway.

3 I started my day with my morning workout in my gym with trainer, Mary Tedesco. Cynthia McFadden joined me for the session.

4 After our workout, we continued our discussion over a healthy breakfast - scrambled farm-fresh eggs, homemade granola, fruit salad, and Greek yogurt - of course, cappuccino.

5 Cynthia spoke for a while to my long-time housekeeper, Laura Acuna.

6 Laura Acuna and Mary Curren, hair and makeup. Mary was laughing that she is always photographed with food on my blogs.

7 After breakfast, we moved outdoors and headed down to the equipment barn for a meeting with my Bedford staff.

8 On the way, we ducked into the blog studio, where I showed Cynthia some photos from my modeling days many years ago. Ken Fuhr followed with his camera.

9 Cynthia was interested in my bald cypress grove as it is turning a magnificent amber shade.

10 In the staff meeting, I instructed where to plant the new delivery of spring bulbs.

11 Here I am mapping out the new garden plan for the Summer House.

12 All the while, Nightline was rolling.

13 Cynthia was amazed at how much machinery is actually needed to run the farm.

14 My fleet of 2 Kawasakis sat ready to transport us to the next area.

15 As we drove down to the stable, we said 'good morning' to Billy, Clive, and Rufus.

16 Meindert was curious to see who was approaching.

17 Ramon was happy to be on camera.

18 Nicole Sutliff, of the Susan Magrino Agency and Kim Kaplan, assistant to Cynthia.

19 Camera man, Akram Abi-Hanna checks for lighting.

20 Akram captures the beauty of the farm with Gil Ben-Ze'Ev - sound technician.

21 The beauty of instant review

22 Rutger was in a playful mood outdoors.

23 Through the allée on to the chicken coops.

24 The chickens were clucking as we pulled up.

25 Cynthia was thrilled to gather a few freshly laid, still warm, eggs.

The MARTHA Halloween TV special behind the scenes

Martha Stewart — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:01:03 +0000

If you didn't see my television show on Friday, you would be correct in assuming that it was our annual Halloween special, which my TV crew and I simply adore. This year's theme was inspired by the new wonderful movie, "Where the Wild Things Are," a beautiful and creative adaptation of the award-winning classic book of the same name, written by Maurice Sendak in 1963. Our set was transformed into the Land of the Wild Things, complete with a crystal cave and a spooky forest. I was dressed as the Queen of the Wild Things and I had so much fun with my first guest, Jimmy Fallon, who, by the way, says he is afraid of dressing up in costume. Jimmy was terribly impressed with our Monster Buffet, but I have a feeling, I better be careful when I am a guest on his show next time.

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1 Jimmy Fallon and I really enjoyed slurping Eggs of Newt together!

2 I'm standing with some 'wild things' and Sonny Gerasimowicz, the creative designer of the wild characters.

3 The original award-winning book by Maurice Sendak published in 1963

4 Working on the crystal cave

5 A turkey vulture picking at bones

6 Glowing eyes seemed to be peering out from everywhere!

7 There was amazing detail in all places.

8 More glowing eyes

9 Creatures big and small

10 A beautiful, but spooky woodland forest

11 Set decorator Aaron Caramanis - wearing one of his designs

12 His 'comb' is made of rubberized work gloves.

13 My makeup artist Mary Curran (middle) with a couple of other wild things.

14 Calia Van Dyk, studio manager, in a menacing pose.

15 Dani Fiore - set decorator - as a wild bird

16 Audience members in the waiting area

17 Warm up artist Joey Kola looking very wild, indeed

18 Our ghastly buffet was actually set upon this wild guy.

19 The buffet table engulfed in fog

20 That's Jimmy Fallon getting very spooked! He was so much fun.

21 Green eggs of newt - they were actually large beads of tapioca.

22 Creepy Bat wings - chicken wings in a black bean marinade - very yummy

23 Crunchy monster fingers and pimento cheese paws - the finger nails were almonds.

24 The cured epidermis - salty ham

25 A vial of monster mucus - raw oysters!

26 A platter of dirt and worms made from hot dogs

27 Jars of pickled brains - cauliflower heads

28 Thirst quenching eyeball Martinis

29 Radishes stuffed with olives - so ghastly!

30 Lovely audience skunks

31 Audience members dressed as KW and Carol with Producer Barbara Fight

32 Here I am backstage with Jimmy Fallon.

33 The audience was amazing!

34 More great costumes

35 Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament?

36 Beautiful detail

37 More great masks

38 I just love how the audience really got into this show.

39 Here I am talking to the audience after the show.

40 My boots were quite wild - After the show, I had to remove the right one because it was hurting my foot.

41 Posing on set with my TV crew

42 Wouldn't you know it? The fire department stopped by for an inspection! They were only a little surprised.

The Incredible Brooklyn Flea Market

Martha Stewart — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:01:09 +0000

My television crew and I have been working on an upcoming special about the New York City borough of Brooklyn, with a strong emphasis on the food scene. This past Sunday, we paid a visit to the incredible Brooklyn Flea Market, and once again, my niece, Sophie Herbert, a proud Brooklynite, joined me for the occasion. The Brooklyn Flea takes place every weekend in two locations. On Saturday, it's held in Fort Greene and on Sundays, it's under the Brooklyn Bridge, now called DUMBO. More than 100 vendors gather beneath this most beautiful bridge and it's so much fun to stroll around and to sample all the delicious and varied food.

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1 This is my film crew setting up for the shoot.

2 Mary Curran - my hair and makeup artist and Clair Magruder - my wardrobe stylist visiting with Sharkey

3 Delicious prosciutto, arugula, and fresh ricotta open-faced sandwiches at Salvatore Ricotta Bklyn www.salvatorebklyn.com

4 Betsy and Rachel, the founders of Salvatore Ricotta - they named their business after a man called Salvatore, whose ricotta they fell in love with in Italy. That's Gary behind the lens.

5 Scrumptious cannoli from Salvatore Ricotta

6 Bob and Joe McClure of McClure's Pickles www.mcclurespickles.com have carried down their great-grandmother Lala's classic pickle recipe. They make their pickles in Brooklyn and Detroit. We loved the spicy dill pickles!

7 Here I am with John Cutti, his wife Sarah, and their adorable son Eli.

8 Francesca was captivated by the people strolling on the Brooklyn Bridge walkway overhead.

9 Francesca's point of view of the bridge above

10 Raw, fair trade Ecuadorian cacoa from FINE & RAW Chocolate www.fineandraw.com - Decadent!

11 FINE & RAW's chocolatier Daniel Sklaar

12 Pickled green beans, okra, peppers, and more at Rick Field's Rick's Picks rickspicksnyc.com pickle stand. Rick has been living and pickling in Brooklyn for over 20 years.

13 Rick Field of Rick's Picks

14 Gary standing in front of Pizza Moto www.pizzamotobklyn.com - a portable wood oven pizza parlor

15 Pizza dough ready to go into the wood burning oven

16 The pizza assembly line at Pizza Moto

17 The incredible Margherita pizza we savored from Pizza Moto. It's made with a sourdough starter procured from local apples.

18 Here I am with Dave, the founder of Pizza Moto, and his co-worker. Dave, a former architecture student, is also a chef at Brooklyn's Lunetta.

19 Susan Povich of the Red Hook Lobster Pound redhooklobsterpound.com. She and her husband, Ralph Gorham, founded their Maine Lobster business last May.

20 A classic Maine lobster roll on the left and a Connecticut roll on the right - served on a buttered roll

21 Rafael and Reina Soler, of Red Hook Foods, cook up some of their delicious tamales and pupusas - a traditional food of the Pipil/Mayan people of Cuzcatlan in modern day El Salvador

22 The hot pupusas at Red Hook Food Vendors

23 Cesar Fuentes of Red Hook Food Vendors told us all about pupusas.

24 Delicious tamales and pickled cabbage to go

25 Sophie and I shared a rice and bean pupusa - delish!

26 Yummy hot dogs at Asia Dog

27 Steve Porto and Melanie Campbell of Asia Dog. Both are half-Asian and decided to merge their Asian and American heritages. Their dogs all have Asian inspired toppings.

28 David Carrell and Joel Horowitz of People's Pop. They make splendid all-organic popsicles and ices.

29 Joel shaving the ice block

30 Crafts by Lotta Jansdotter jansdotter.com

31 Former MSLO craft department editor - Laura Normandin's crafts. Her new line is called Wren Handmade. lauranormandin.com

32 Fois bois plates, made by Marcie McGoldrick, AVP editorial director Holiday & Crafts MSLO (http://www.marciemcgoldrick.com/) The stationery is made by moontree letterpress

33 Laura Normandin with her handmade craft line

34 Blue Marble ice cream cart under the Brooklyn Bridge www.bluemarbleicecream.com

35 Maple, vanilla chocolate chip, chocolate, and green tea ice cream from Blue Marble. Yum!!

36 The Blue Marble ice cream vendors - Alexis and Jennie. Blue Marble, which has two store fronts in Brooklyn, makes organic ice cream from locally sourced ingredients.

37 The very majestic Brooklyn Bridge

38 Driving away from the flea market on the Brooklyn Bridge

39 Another view of the grand bridge

Photos By Sophie Herbert and Martha Stewart

Enter the Dinner at Home Sweepstakes! You can win instantly!

Martha Stewart — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:01:25 +0000

Last week, on my TV show, I was so happy to kick off our promotion with Valpak, called 'Martha's Dinner at Home' sweepstakes, which you can enter daily at marthastewart.com/dinnerathome.

There are 5 GRAND prizes that include:
* A trip to New York City to see 'The Martha Show', including round trip airfare and hotel courtesy of Delta Vacations

* Flowers for a year from the Martha Stewart 1-800-Flowers.com collection

* My newest book, 'Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home'

Plus, you can play an instant-win game EVERY day to win one of over 100 prizes. Valpak is helping to spread the word about this sweepstakes by mailing over 40-million blue Valpak envelopes all across the country. Scratch the MARTHA logo to play! You may be an instant winner! So, when your envelope arrives, hurry up! These sweepstakes are fantastic!

A new relationship with Age Group Ltd. and Petsmart!

Martha Stewart — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:02:13 +0000

You may have heard in the media that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has entered into a relationship with Age Group Ltd. to manufacture, market and sell pet-care products, which will be sold through PetSmart, Inc., the largest specialty retailer of services and solutions for pets. The line will include a wide range of pet accessories, including apparel, collars, leashes, bedding, grooming supplies, toys and more. You can expect to see the first of these products sometime next year.

I have always loved having a lot of pets – dogs, cats and birds, and consider them members of my family. It's very important to me that domestic animals be well fed, well groomed and well cared for, and I have always prided myself on the good health and happiness of my pets. I look forward to working with Age Group and PetSmart to provide other pet owners with the types of Martha Stewart-designed products that will keep pets happy, safe and healthy. Enjoy these photos of my appearance on CNBC's Power Lunch talking about this development. My dogs, Francesca and Sharkey, accompanied me to the show and have blogged about it today, as well. What Martha Stewart pet-care products would you like to see on the shelves at Petsmart?

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1 Francesca and Sharkey were bathed and dressed very fashionably for their appearance on CNBC's Power Lunch.

2 Sharkey and Franny were drawn to the very colorful peacock logo.

3 Here are the girls anxiously on their way into the television studio.

4 Upon entering the building the Frenchies were dazzled by the sapphire-blue flooring.

5 They're always so happy to see Mary Curran, my hair and makeup artist.

6 Franny making friends with Karima Greene - producer of the segment

7 Apparently, Francesca thought she needed attention to hair and makeup - of course, I had already beautified her that morning.

8 The Frenchies are always so inquisitive about electronics, and this state-of-the art control room was no exception.

9 The dogs were very well-received by all employees at CNBC.

10 Bill Griffeth - co-host of Power Lunch - coming over to meet Sharkey and Francesca.

11 As usual, the dogs were very well-behaved on set.

12 Charles Koppelman - our chairman and I, being interviewed by Michelle Caruso-Cabrera - Power Lunch co-anchor

13 It's true, I am mad about pets!

14 It's an exciting outlook - 81% of pet-owners will increase pet care spending!

15 We also talked about some of our products which are current hot-sellers, such as our popular Halloween decorations and my newest book, Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home.

16 Dennis Kneale - Power Lunch co-anchor - CNBC Media and Technology Editor - paying up on a bet, made with Charles, that Francesca and Sharkey would not sit still on their podium during air time.

Planting Japanese maples and a TV shoot behind the scenes

Martha Stewart — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:01:35 +0000

Yesterday, I blogged about choosing and purchasing 117 Japanese maple trees from Environmentals, a nursery in Cutchogue, New York. After unloading the trees, Shaun affixed metal nametags onto each specimen and started positioning them in the shade garden, paying close attention to size and shape. Because I think it's very important to document such projects, I asked my field television crew to visit last Friday and take footage for a segment, which will air in early November. It was a perfect day for planting and I was impressed when Shaun reported that all 117 trees were in the ground and watered by day's end. Francesca and Sharkey were also involved with the planting and posted it on their blog today, as well.

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1 The Japanese maples that Shaun bought at Environmentals were unloaded down in the shade garden.

2 The great variety will so much color to this area.

3 Going over the order of taping with Laurie Hepburn and Gary Nardilla.

4 The rest of Gary's crew standing by along with Mary Curran - hair and makeup

5 When planting trees, we like to use this organic Bio-tone Starter fertilizer to help promote root growth.

6 The camera is rolling.

7 Laurie is happy with what she sees in the monitor.

8 Shaun is describing the characteristics of Japanese maples.

9 Rich and moist compost from the compost yard

10 Preparing the hole for planting

11 This is so much fun! Now, we only have 116 more to go!

12 When TV was done taping, the real work began. This is Phurba Sherpa.

13 Wilmer, digging away

14 This is not the easiest task with so many roots and rocks.

15 The Biotone

16 Shaun sprinkles 1-1/2 cups per 2 gallon container.

17 This beautiful maple will be planted in this hole.

18 Aptly named Acer palmatum 'Sunrise'

19 Very pretty leaves

20 Shaun is demonstrating the planting process again for the blog camera.

21 Removing the tree from the pot, Shaun uses his garden knife to scarify the root ball.

22 It's important to break up the roots this way, all the way around the root ball, to stimulate new outward growth.

23 Lifting the compost

24 To blend it into the soil and Biotone

25 Placing the tree into the hole

26 Shaun checks to see that the trunk is perfectly upright.

27 He then begins filling in the hole with the amended soil. It's important to mound a dam around the tree to hold in water.

28 Busy at work

29 The Japanese maples from Environmentals were grown from grafts. You can see the 'V' cut where the graft took place. Hybrid trees are multiplied by grafting.

Photos By Eliad Laskin

My tech show is airing today!

Martha Stewart — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:01:08 +0000

On Tuesday of this week, we taped a really fun episode for my television show, which is airing today! The show is all about technology with a strong emphasis on social networking. As you may know, I like staying on top of the latest technological trends and I especially love meeting the great visionaries who have contributed to this new paradigm of social networking. My guests were Biz Stone (@biz) - one of the founders of Twitter, David Pogue (@pogue) - New York Times technology columnist and author of 'The World According to Twitter,' Chris Hughes - the co-founder of Facebook, and Heather Cabot - Yahoo's Web Life Editor. It was fascinating talking to these experts and if you watch the show, I'd love to hear what you think. Leave a comment on my blog or on my Facebook, or just Tweet me!

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1 The colorful Martha banner adorning the studio, located in the Chelsea section of Manhattan

2 Some vintage photos from my modeling days line the walls of this hallway at the studio.

3 Our new shop at the studio - audience members can purchase T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, glitter sets, tote bags, and more.

4 The MARTHA shop is only open for a short time, while the audience is in the holding area.

5 Some of the tote bags offered

6 My wardrobe room this year doubles as a voice-over studio.

7 My new assistant Jessica, busy at work

8 Various staff members, lined up near my office, waiting for the show to begin

9 The big meeting/briefing before the show - a good time to check my emails - oops - no tweeting while meeting!

10 A laptop on stage - I logged into my Twitter account on this computer before the show began. Notice all of the Blackberries, IPhones, and laptops in the audience?

11 Ron Palacio, Rob Maurizi, and Jarrett Garcia - members of the MSLO tech crew - they were very excited to attend.

12 I started off in the control room for this episode.

13 A 'bumper' with the very young Chris Hughes, co-founder of facebook.

14 The show begins!

15 I wheeled out a cart filled with older technology. Did you know that the functions of all 115 pounds of this stuff now fits in a 4.1 ounce Blackberry?

16 An old black and white tube TV - I still think that black and white televisions have their own charm.

17 One of my earlier computers - I have heard that people now make aquariums out of the monitors - that's a good way of recycling.

18 I still have thousands of slides that need to now be digitized.

19 Who could forget the fun of PONG on ATARI?

20 My first guest, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone

21 Here I am with Biz.

22 Joey Kola, our warm up artist, handing out some giveaways to keep the energy level high during intermissions.

23 Here I am with New York Times technology columnist David Pouge, who is promoting his new book 'The World According to Twitter.'

24 Next was Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook.

25 Here I am with some of my own digital team, Parneet Gosal and Brenda Dargan. Not shown in the photo is Eliad Laskin, who actually took this picture.

26 Logging back into my Twitter account

27 This is Heather Cabot, Yahoo's Web Life Editor. She walked me through the great features of the new Yahoo homepage, search engine and email.

28 We also taped a Q&A session where the audience had a chance to ask me and my guests questions.

29 Biz, David, me, Chris, Heather

30 Rolling on camera 5!

31 Nick Douglas is a technology writer and the founding editor of the humorist Web site valleywag.com. He is the author of the new book Twitter Wit, a very funny compilation of Twitter aphorisms and witticisms.

32 My hair and make up artist Mary Curran is giving the thumbs up for a show well done.

Behind the scenes of the Today Show

Martha Stewart — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:01:43 +0000

Yesterday, on the Today Show, my daughter, Alexis joined me for a cooking demonstration. As you may know, Alexis and her co-host, Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, have started their second season of their television show, Whatever Martha on the Fine Living Network. It's really hilarious. I've been helping to promote the show, and consequently, Alexis and I have been spending a bit more time together, which has been very nice. You can also see us on the cover of the latest edition of my magazine, Body + Soul.

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1 Meredith Vieira, me, Alexis, and Matt Lauer

2 On the Today Show, Alexis and I were demonstrating a couple of recipes from the October issue of Living. The title of the story is Salt & Pepper and we had several different varieties of each.

3 Here we are just before taping.

4 Here we are going over our notes.

5 The recipe I demonstrated is Peposo, a peppery pork stew. You begin by making slits in a bone-in pork shoulder and inserting garlic cloves. The pork gets rubbed with plenty of coarsely ground black peppercorns and then marinates overnight in 2 bottles of red wine along with rosemary sprigs.

6 Alexis demonstrated one of her favorite meals - spaghetti with pecorino romano cheese. She uses whole wheat or spelt pasta, which has more protein than regular pasta.

7 At the beginning of taping, we got a little carried away discussing the various salts and peppers, which, unfortunately, cut our demonstration time short.

8 Alexis and Matt were left with only 30 seconds of air time but finished, none the less.

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Photo By Katie Goldberg