Business gatherings are always so much more enjoyable when accompanied by a delicious homemade meal.
Yesterday, I hosted a luncheon at my home for 22. With help from Chef Jeff Srole, I served a wonderful summer menu that included tomato tart, fennel salad with provolone and olives, arugula salad, chilled salmon with cucumber and dill, and for dessert - vanilla bean Panna Cotta with grapefruit granita and Sicilian pistachios. It was an excellent luncheon - al fresco under my pavilion.
Here are some photos.
Delicious summer tomatoes just cut for my luncheon appetizer – tomato tart. It’s part of the mis en place. Mise en place is a French culinary practice meaning “everything in its place,” involving the preparation and organization of ingredients, tools, and workstations before cooking.
The tart crusts are also laid out. If you’re not familiar with tomato tart, try my recipe in my 100th book, MARTHA: The Cookbook. You’ll make it again and again.
A generous layer of grated Italian Fontina cheese is spread on the chilled crust.
Then the tomatoes are arranged in an overlapping circular pattern.
The tarts are garnished with cherry tomatoes and seasoned with salt and pepper before going in the oven.
Meanwhile, grapefruit segments are placed on a sheet pan and chilled so they’re ready when dessert is made.
Outside at my pavilion, potted plants are arranged on the table. I decided to give one to every guest, so I used them for the centerpieces. These are Chinese money plants, Pilea peperomioides – low-maintenance perennials with interesting coin-shaped foliage.
These Chilewich place mats are very special. The seashell image was designed by my granddaughter, Jude. She arranged the shells on the beach while on a trip to the Philippines and sent me the photo inspiration.
Enma ironed and folded crisp, white napkins for the event.
They’re perfect on my drabware Wedgewood plates.
Although the food is already well seasoned, I always like to put out some extra salt and pepper.
Flatware is placed next. When hosting a meal, be sure to decide what utensils, plates, and platters will be needed ahead of time, so there is no last minute rush.
My long yew table is all set. I decided to serve lunch “family style,” so everyone could serve themselves. Space was allotted for all the necessary platters.
Enma made lots of fresh iced teas for the guests including my popular pomegranate iced tea made using concentrate from our friends at POM Wonderful.
I like to serve the tomato tart warm to hot. Here is one of several. Not one piece was left over.
The tarts were served on cake stands to make good use of table space.
The fennel salad is served with strips of provolone cheese, olives and herbs.
The fresh arugula salad was served with pine nuts and a light vinaigrette.
Here’s the main course – a delicious salmon, served chilled with a cucumber and dill. It was perfect.
And finally for dessert, a light Panna Cotta with grapefruit granita and pistachios. It was a lovely lunch to celebrate Hint, my latest project and the newest age in homekeeping. I hope you’ve seen my posts on @MarthaStewart48. Be sure to get on the waitlist – just click on the highlighted link.
It’s always so much fun to watch the baby animals grow here on my farm. Right now, my youngest residents include baby quail, young pheasants, and a peachick hatched right under its watchful mother hen in the peafowl coop.
I’ve been raising poultry and other outdoor birds for many years. Of course, I love keeping chickens for their fresh, delicious eggs, but I also enjoy raising different kinds of birds and learning more about the many breeds and varieties. Most of my hatchlings begin life in carefully maintained incubators and brooders, where they stay warm and protected until they’re ready to move into the "nursery" coop, and then finally to the adult enclosures to join the rest of their flocks.
Here are some photos.
Whenever we have baby birds here at the farm, my stable manager, Helen, who is very experienced in raising chickens, sets up the brooders with bedding, feeders, and proper heating elements in our stable feed room. This is one of more than a dozen quail chicks I brought home as eggs from a Swap Meet and Private Sale at the Gentlemen’s Farm. This chick is already very alert and curious.
These quail chicks, and other baby fowl, do best in temperatures around 80 to 85-degrees Fahrenheit. Baby birds need constant monitoring until they are at least four or five weeks old. Here they are checked several times a day. This room is also free from drafts.
Quail are relatively small, growing up to only eight to 10 inches in length. But they grow fast and can move out of this cage after only a few weeks.
Once big enough, the quail chicks are moved to this “nursery” coop where they have more room to roam.
Because they are small, quail chicks don’t need large enclosures or extensive feeding areas. And in terms of food, quail chicks are omnivores and do well on a balanced diet that includes commercial pellets, fruits, and vegetables.
Quail communicate with each other using a variety of whistles, chirps, and clucks. This young quail is quite vocal.
Most of these birds are Celadon quail – a rare, recessive-gene variety of Coturnix quail prized for laying true blue eggs, which are often described as robin’s egg blue or speckled blue.
These quail come in soft brown, gray, and buff with white markings, making them blend in nature when out in the wild.
Quail are very social birds and enjoy being in groups with their own kind.
Their temperament is calm, docile, and while skittish at first, they learn to acclimate quickly to their environments.
And do you know… a collective terms for a group of quail is a “covey?”
Living with the quail are nine young pheasants, also known as poults or chicks, which I hatched here at the farm. Quail and pheasants are both precocial birds, meaning they grow rapidly and become independent feeders within hours of hatching.
Pheasants are hardy, very intelligent, and very friendly.
Baby pheasants have a distinct coloration that is different from adult pheasants. Their down feathers are usually a tawny-yellow color with darker feathers on their backs and sides. As they grow, their feathers change and they begin to resemble adult pheasants.
Pheasants are very curious, alert and very fast. In fact, these birds prefer to run rather than fly and adults can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour if necessary to escape danger.
Right now, the most visited baby on the farm is this peachick, hatched right under its mother last week.
Because all my birds are kept near humans and human activity, they are very social and love when anyone stops to visit.
This peachick is learning everything from its mother hen – how to move in and out of the nesting box, what to eat and how to be confident, independent. The combination of these lessons, including predator avoidance and social learning, is crucial for development.
And there are lots of mature friends to help. The others keep their distance from the peachick now as most mother peahens tend to be very attentive and protective of their chicks.
But it won’t be long before this youngster is playing with all the others. I’m excited to watch this little peachick grow and thrive.
Outdoor wood furniture requires regular oiling to maintain its natural beauty.
In 2021, after a large yew tree was removed from my former East Hampton home, I decided to give the wood a second life by turning it into a large dining table for the pavilion beside my pool. I created its design and enlisted master artisan Peter Billow, owner of Peter H. Billow Fine Woodworking in Brooklyn, New York to make it. The craftsmanship is evident in every detail, but to keep it looking its best I make sure to care for it properly. It is stored indoors during the winter season and oiled twice a year.
Here are some photos.
Yew wood, Taxus Baccata, is a species of evergreen tree in the conifer family. It is also known as common yew, European yew, and English yew. Here is the lumber after the yew was cut. Wood from the yew is classified as a closed-pore softwood, similar to cedar and pine. Yew is easy to work with and is very flexible.
Here is a section of the table at the shop after pieces are selected and laid out.
Holes are made in the criss-crossed center of the trestles for the horizontal support.
This is one base after the cross piece was secured to the trestles. A trestle is a framework consisting of a horizontal beam supported by two pairs of sloping legs to hold up a flat surface such as a tabletop.
The tables were finished and brought to my farm the following spring. English Yew ranges from durable to very durable when it comes to decay resistance. And, it is also resistant to insect attack. I knew it would be perfect here at the pavilion.
Peter did not use any epoxy to fill the knots and natural holes in the wood – he left them as is.
The top peg on the trestle is made of walnut, a very strong and stable wood that can take intricate carving.
Each table weighs about 300-pounds – wind will not bring it down!
The heartwood of yew tends to be an orange-brown, at times a darker brown. It is often used for cabinetry and tool handles. The hard, slow-growing wood is also used to make gates, furniture, parquet floors, and paneling.
To maintain its beauty, I treat it with Christophe Pourny’s Teak Tonic, which cleans, restores, and protects the wood. I’ve been using Christophe’s products for many years.
Here is one of the trestles yesterday before oiling – it’s gotten a bit dull in color.
Here is another “before” look.
Elvira pours some Teak Tonic onto a dry cloth.
And then rubs the cloth together to spread the oil.
Next, she slowly wipes down the table, applying the oil on every surface of the legs and base.
She also makes sure to gets into the corners and crevices, removing any accumulated dust while restoring its shine.
Elvira oils the tops of the tables as well, Here, she does it twice, so the surface is extremely clean as well as polished.
It doesn’t take long to see the difference. It looks brand new! Elvira is so pleased with the results. This treatment should be done at least twice a year.
Look at the legs after they are completely cleaned and oiled. The oil is left to dry and then the table is wiped with a dry cloth the next day to remove any excess.
And here is the table completely done – and ready for my next gathering. In fact, I’m entertaining later this week!
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