- 6 months ago
From beautifully crafted cookies to delightful home decor tips, Martha Stewart's expertise shines through in this video, offering inspiration for festive crafts, family celebrations, and delicious recipes. Join us as we explore the charm of Easter through the eyes of the legendary Martha Stewart, and elevate your holiday traditions to new heights with her professional tips.
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00:00:00Our first table features an array of whimsical sugar cookies.
00:00:25These are our vintage Easter postcard cookies, and they are charming.
00:00:29Perched atop little birch logs that we just put together, it makes a very nice cookie
00:00:35stand.
00:00:36And we fashioned some little easels out of twigs and wire to display some other postcard
00:00:42cookies on.
00:00:43And to create these lovely cookies, we selected classic Easter images and sent them to a company
00:00:48called Copy Cake.
00:00:50And they transfer the art onto edible paper.
00:00:52Scalloped scissors create a delicate border around the printed sheets.
00:00:56They are then glued with icing right onto sugar cookies.
00:01:01Once dry, the results are rather nostalgic, almost too beautiful to eat.
00:01:05Well, the children will tell us.
00:01:08And then these adorable Easter eggs and bunny cookies are sure to get gobbled up by the
00:01:12little ones.
00:01:13These were all hand-decorated by Danny Fiore, whom you've seen on my show many, many times.
00:01:19And to make these cookies, roll out sugar cookie dough and use Easter-shaped cookie
00:01:23cutters to create eggs and bunnies.
00:01:26Danny uses tinted royal icings to decorate the cookies and finishes them with sanding
00:01:31sugar and candy embellishments.
00:01:41Every morning, millions of Americans wake up to see our next guest anchor the news on
00:01:45the most-watched morning program in the country, NBC's Today Show.
00:01:50Once a month, I enjoy stopping by their studio to take a look.
00:01:54Roll that up a little tiny bit.
00:01:56Oh, just, it's like that much.
00:01:58Okay.
00:01:59Wow, this is going to be very low-cal.
00:02:01Yes.
00:02:01And actually...
00:02:02Of all of these, this has the most calories, but it's the biggest piece of cake.
00:02:05It's 360, I read.
00:02:07Yeah, yeah.
00:02:07And then twist this like this.
00:02:08How do you do this?
00:02:09Just twist around like this.
00:02:10Put this on a party table.
00:02:14I'm delighted that she found time to visit us today.
00:02:16Please welcome back to our show, Ann Curry.
00:02:19Hey, what's up?
00:02:26I'm glad to see you here.
00:02:27It's been a while.
00:02:27I thought they almost moved here.
00:02:29Yes, they did.
00:02:30Oh, my gosh.
00:02:30Ooh, a project.
00:02:32Oh, yeah.
00:02:32I'm going to teach you how to make a beautiful baked ham and the most delicious
00:02:36Thai maple biscuits.
00:02:38Smells already good in the kitchen.
00:02:39Doesn't it smell good?
00:02:39Doesn't it smell great, you guys?
00:02:42So that's only vinegar cooking, so everything else will smell delicious, too.
00:02:46So I understand.
00:02:47And you didn't bring them because it's raining like crazy outside your cameras.
00:02:51I wanted to see what you're taking those beautiful photographs.
00:02:53Well, see, this is the thing I think people don't really realize.
00:02:56I think you, I had no idea.
00:02:58You are a photographer yourself.
00:03:00So we can talk, girlfriend.
00:03:01I mean, the thing about it is that, you know, I think that I went to a doctor some years ago,
00:03:06and the doctor said to me, you know, because I was working really hard, the doctor said,
00:03:09you know, what are you doing for yourself?
00:03:11What's your passion?
00:03:13And I said, well, I have a lot of passions.
00:03:14I take some pictures, but really, I really love being with my kids, and I love my job.
00:03:17He goes, no, that's not good enough.
00:03:19What kind of doctor?
00:03:20He was, he was just, actually, I had gone in for a, no, no, but it wasn't for a full exam.
00:03:24And, but basically, what he was saying was, you have to, he said, no, not a psychiatrist,
00:03:28but he told me, no, what are you implying?
00:03:30No, no, no, no, no.
00:03:31But he was basically saying.
00:03:33Sometimes we all need psychiatry.
00:03:35Well, that's true.
00:03:36That's, that's absolutely true.
00:03:37Probably.
00:03:37Yeah, in fact, you know, I'll make an appointment later today.
00:03:40But anyway, but the point was that he was basically saying to me, you know, that you
00:03:43have, there's a reason why we call it the Sabbath.
00:03:45One day a week, he actually suggested, you should actually do something that is about
00:03:49you and your passion.
00:03:50For yourself.
00:03:51Because you'll actually live longer, he said.
00:03:53You'll be happier.
00:03:54That every day, he's got to tell people, you know, your time is running short.
00:03:57And they always say, oh, I wish I had done this.
00:04:01Whatever that this is, do it.
00:04:03So I thought.
00:04:03So you were learning a good lesson from Ann Curry.
00:04:04So I'm taking, I'm taking pictures because I realize that that is something I love.
00:04:08But your passion certainly shows up in the pictures.
00:04:11Take a look at some of these photographs.
00:04:13Tell us what this is.
00:04:14Well, that's Al Roker.
00:04:15Look at that.
00:04:15Al Roker and his son, Nikki, we were vacationing together.
00:04:19When does he relax like that?
00:04:20I know.
00:04:20Well, it was, we were in Italy and I saw Nikki reach for his father.
00:04:24So I actually jumped up on top of his bed and then aimed the camera down.
00:04:28They were so into each other.
00:04:29They did, they pretty much ignored me.
00:04:31Oh, that's a beautiful photograph.
00:04:32And I was, it was so fun to give that to Al.
00:04:34It sure was.
00:04:35And this was actually just a couple of weeks ago in Chinatown here in New York City.
00:04:38There was sort of a fog inside this restaurant.
00:04:41And this little girl reached out.
00:04:42Oh, to show you.
00:04:44Yeah, and shot with a very wide lens.
00:04:46In other words, like a 2.8 aperture.
00:04:48I'm talking camera talk because I know what I'm talking about.
00:04:50Now, who is this veil?
00:04:51That's actually in Iran.
00:04:53Last year, we went to Iran and the story of women in Iran.
00:04:56That tells it all, doesn't it?
00:04:57Well, you know, women.
00:04:58That picture tells it all.
00:04:59Very strong women there.
00:05:00Veiled women, yep.
00:05:02That's beautiful.
00:05:03Yeah.
00:05:03Anyway, yeah, but I want to see your picture.
00:05:05We have to talk some more or something about that.
00:05:06Oh, we will, we will.
00:05:07So I thought I would, because Easter is coming very, very soon.
00:05:10Are you having Easter at your house?
00:05:12Absolutely.
00:05:12What are you making?
00:05:13Well, in addition to making, we make a salmon.
00:05:16I'm actually going to make something that you actually taught me on the Today Show years ago.
00:05:20You taught me how to make the best sugar cookies in the world.
00:05:24Oh, yes.
00:05:25They are epic.
00:05:26And, you know, my family, I mean, everyone, I make them at Christmas and I make them at Easter.
00:05:32And they've made me very popular.
00:05:33Bunnies and egg shapes and things?
00:05:34Yeah, eggs.
00:05:36They're easy.
00:05:36The ears don't break off.
00:05:37They do, that's true.
00:05:39So I thought we'd do, I'm going to do an Easter ham this Sunday.
00:05:42Okay.
00:05:43In addition to a whole lot of other vegetables for the crowd.
00:05:48And so the ham, this is a whole ham.
00:05:50And it's kind of hard to find a really good whole ham.
00:05:52This comes from Otto Minnelli's right here in New York City.
00:05:55Have you heard of Otto Minnelli's?
00:05:56I have, but this one looks cured.
00:05:58Yeah, it's a wonderful, well, this is smoked.
00:06:00This is a smoked ham.
00:06:01And what I do is I put it on a piece of parchment paper,
00:06:04and then I wrap it up in an envelope of aluminum foil.
00:06:08And I cook it in the oven at 350 for four and a half hours.
00:06:13So I get up nice and early Easter Sunday and put this in the,
00:06:17this is the first thing I do is put the ham in the oven.
00:06:19Because you want to serve around what, two o'clock or something?
00:06:21You say when you get up early.
00:06:22Well, we're going to have lunch.
00:06:23Yeah, we're going to have lunch probably around two o'clock.
00:06:25And, you know, people come for the Easter egg hunt and then,
00:06:28and then we'll have a cocktail or something.
00:06:30I have a new cocktail that I love.
00:06:32Aperol and Prosecco and club soda and a big slice of orange.
00:06:37I am inspired.
00:06:38Yes, it's very good.
00:06:39I'll give you the recipe.
00:06:40And now this, while this is cooking, make a glaze.
00:06:44Now the glaze is a half a cup of champagne vinegar.
00:06:47That's what you really smell.
00:06:48Reduce that to two tablespoons.
00:06:51Okay, so it's gotten kind of a bit darker.
00:06:52Yeah, yeah, we've already reduced it.
00:06:54To that we add, this is this unusual glaze.
00:06:56We add two thirds of a cup of country style Dijon mustard.
00:07:01That means it still has the little mustard seeds in it.
00:07:05Crushed, but still there.
00:07:06We just not, it's not refined.
00:07:09And some salt and pepper.
00:07:12So yeah, a healthy dose, a little bit more of that.
00:07:15And one whole cup of maple syrup.
00:07:18Now, Dominic, my, one of my security guys,
00:07:23he makes his own maple syrup.
00:07:24So I'm using his this year.
00:07:25Oh, how wonderful.
00:07:26He just brought me a quart of it and I'm so excited.
00:07:30It is exciting.
00:07:31It's exciting when people bring things
00:07:32that they've made themselves.
00:07:34And especially when it's something so wonderful.
00:07:35It wasn't a great year either, he said,
00:07:37because of all the rain,
00:07:38but he did manage to get quite a few gallons.
00:07:41And two tablespoons of apricot jam.
00:07:44So now cook this until it thickens up a little bit.
00:07:48It reduces again a little bit.
00:07:50And we have some that's already thickened.
00:07:52You have one over there.
00:07:53Now this is what the ham looks like
00:07:54after four and a half hours.
00:07:56It's nice and tender.
00:07:57It still has some of the rind on it, the skin.
00:08:00So that's yours.
00:08:01This is mine.
00:08:01So follow, follow me.
00:08:03I'm on mine.
00:08:04No, no, follow me.
00:08:05Okay.
00:08:05And what you want to do is take off, don't dig too deep,
00:08:08but just take off the rind.
00:08:10Oh, uh-huh.
00:08:11Now some people love this rind.
00:08:12They make cracklings out of it and eat that.
00:08:15But since we are all watching our figures.
00:08:18And we also want to make sure
00:08:20that this wonderful glaze seeps in.
00:08:22Yes.
00:08:22Right.
00:08:23So we don't want anything to separate.
00:08:24We have a little discard bowl here.
00:08:26Okay.
00:08:27But this is actually easier than I thought.
00:08:29Oh yeah.
00:08:29It's much easier.
00:08:30And that's because it was wrapped.
00:08:32If you put that in the oven without a wrapping on it,
00:08:34that rind would become sort of rock hard.
00:08:37Oh, hence the brilliance of that idea.
00:08:39Yeah.
00:08:39So, and it keeps the ham more moist and tender.
00:08:42I really like a moist and tender ham.
00:08:45This doesn't take very long.
00:08:47You have to do every single bit of it
00:08:48or can you sort of leave the edges a bit?
00:08:49Well, no, just take and then take off most of the fat,
00:08:54leaving a little bit, like an eighth of an inch of fat,
00:08:57if you can, on the edge of the ham.
00:08:59Now, why would you want to leave any of it, actually?
00:09:02Well, because you're putting it back in the oven with a glaze.
00:09:05And that little bit of ham, a little bit of ham fat,
00:09:09actually, again, keeps the ham very tender.
00:09:12Oh, Martha, do you actually have all your guests
00:09:14come on your show and do this?
00:09:16Oh, well, various things, various things.
00:09:20But you like ham.
00:09:20Do you eat it?
00:09:21I do like ham.
00:09:22But you know, I got to tell you,
00:09:23I love the idea of putting mustard and maple syrup together
00:09:28because you're going to get that kind of wonderful yin and yang.
00:09:30Look, that's what it looks like.
00:09:32Why am I not cutting that one?
00:09:34Huh? You're going to get that one in a minute.
00:09:36But I want you to know how to do this.
00:09:38Okay.
00:09:38So then once you get all that off,
00:09:40then, and your fingers are nice and greasy.
00:09:43Yeah.
00:09:43Here's a wet rag for you.
00:09:45Thanks, meaty.
00:09:46And a wet rag for me.
00:09:48Now, then you want to score the ham very nicely.
00:09:51And you score it.
00:09:52I like to do it like, oh, like a half an inch in between the marks.
00:09:57Just draw it.
00:09:58Not too deep.
00:09:58Okay.
00:09:59You know, like all the way down, half an inch apart,
00:10:02but about a quarter, less than a quarter of an inch deep.
00:10:04Don't go too deep because otherwise you're going to, again, dry out the meat.
00:10:08Yeah.
00:10:08So it's really less than an eighth of an inch.
00:10:10Gotcha.
00:10:11Okay.
00:10:11And you're going against the grain a bit here.
00:10:13Well, you get against the grain this way,
00:10:15and then you're going to make diamond shapes.
00:10:16So you're going to go in the opposite direction.
00:10:19Okay.
00:10:19See how easy it is?
00:10:21And then once you get this done, have your oven at 350,
00:10:25then you do your crisscross.
00:10:26See how nicely it looks when it gets a diamond pattern?
00:10:29Really nice.
00:10:29So what you're saying is that once your ham is done,
00:10:31you do this, you put the glaze on top, and it gets pretty.
00:10:33Then you put it in the oven, baste it a couple times at 350 degrees
00:10:39for about 20 minutes, then another 15 minutes.
00:10:41And this is how it comes out of the oven.
00:10:44Unbelievable.
00:10:46And it's tasty.
00:10:48Tasty, right?
00:10:48Stunning.
00:10:49Yeah.
00:10:49Wonderful.
00:10:50When we come back, we're going to make fisticks and say we're pretty, right?
00:11:02In Greece, around Easter time, you'll find sourekki,
00:11:05a braided holiday bread traditionally baked at home
00:11:09on the Thursday before Easter,
00:11:11and it's embellished with red hard-boiled eggs.
00:11:14Sourekki loaves are given as gifts to family and friends
00:11:17to celebrate the festive season.
00:11:19We're using bread flour to create a good gluten formation.
00:11:23So into the bowl of your mixer.
00:11:24Now, this is an easy dough because everything goes right into this bowl.
00:11:28There's no proofing of the yeast or anything.
00:11:31So one cup of room temperature water,
00:11:35three tablespoons of honey,
00:11:38Greek honey if you're making a Greek bread,
00:11:41a Greek bread,
00:11:43and three quarters of an ounce of fresh yeast.
00:11:48Fresh yeast, you might have a little bit of difficulty finding,
00:11:51but it's really worth it.
00:11:53And this is a living microscopic organism
00:11:56which converts sugar or starch into alcohol and carbon dioxide
00:12:00and causes the nice rising of the dough.
00:12:04So let this just sit for a moment to dissolve.
00:12:08And the honey is like food for the yeast.
00:12:14I love making yeast doughs.
00:12:16One tablespoon of salt,
00:12:19one tablespoon of orange zest,
00:12:22and quarter of a cup of vegetable oil
00:12:27and bread flour.
00:12:29We're going to use one and a half pounds,
00:12:33which is about four and a half cups.
00:12:36Now you can weigh if you'd like,
00:12:39which works very, very well,
00:12:41or measure carefully,
00:12:44dipping and leveling in a jar like this.
00:12:49And one last thing, the sugar.
00:12:51This is a slightly sweet bread,
00:12:55so a quarter of a cup of sugar.
00:12:57So that's everything except the egg yolks.
00:13:00Now the machine is fitted with a dough hook
00:13:02which will mix and knead the bread at the same time.
00:13:06And I'll just turn this on.
00:13:07I still have to add the egg yolks, eight egg yolks.
00:13:12And reserve the egg whites for meringues,
00:13:17for other things.
00:13:19And we're going to start adding that
00:13:20because the dough needs a little bit of moisture.
00:13:27So let this knead and knead.
00:13:30The dough used in tzareki is rich with eggs,
00:13:33making it similar to Jewish challah bread
00:13:35and other traditional egg breads made around the world.
00:13:40So once the dough starts flopping around like that
00:13:43and comes away from the sides of the bowl,
00:13:45it's pretty much done as much as the machine will do.
00:13:49Lift this up, release your dough hook.
00:13:52Still sticky, so you're going to do
00:13:54a little tiny bit more kneading.
00:13:57But what a gorgeous color dough,
00:14:00greatly enhanced by those farm fresh organic eggs that I used.
00:14:07So scrape away.
00:14:08This little bench scraper works very, very well
00:14:11for cleaning up the bowl and the mixer.
00:14:16Scrape down the sides.
00:14:18And this is going to make one big challah bread.
00:14:20And when I say big, wait till you see how big.
00:14:24So scrape everything out of the bowl onto a floured board.
00:14:30And look at how pretty.
00:14:34You can see the little specks of orange zest.
00:14:36And flatten this out.
00:14:38Don't incorporate any more flour into the dough
00:14:41because you want a moist dough.
00:14:44And just pull down the top here.
00:14:47Pull up the bottom, brushing off excess.
00:14:51Fold this in and this.
00:14:55So you're making a nice little package.
00:14:57And this goes right into an oiled bowl.
00:15:03Oil with some unflavored vegetable oil,
00:15:05like a safflower oil will do.
00:15:07And then a piece of plastic wrap.
00:15:09Brush with a little bit more oil to cover the whole thing.
00:15:13Put this right on the surface of the dough.
00:15:16And over the edges.
00:15:19Because you don't want the dough to stick.
00:15:23And put this in a dry, warm spot
00:15:26until it's at least doubled in bulk.
00:15:29So here is our dough.
00:15:31So yellow, so great.
00:15:33Now turn this out onto a floured surface.
00:15:36You don't want a lot of flour.
00:15:38It's like a beach ball.
00:15:41Now deflate the dough.
00:15:44And cut it into three equal pieces.
00:15:47Use a bench scraper like this.
00:15:49It works very well.
00:15:51And each of these three pieces roll into a snake 18 inches long.
00:15:57But try to make the cylinders pretty much even.
00:16:02Because you want a nice, even bread.
00:16:05Three.
00:16:08And then you pinch the ends together.
00:16:11And you'll tuck this under.
00:16:14And braid as you would a hair braid.
00:16:18Over.
00:16:19Over.
00:16:21Over.
00:16:24A tight braid would be good.
00:16:27I think that's good.
00:16:29Now on Easter they sometimes insert a red hard-boiled egg.
00:16:35And we'll show you what that looks like.
00:16:37But I prefer baking this without the eggs.
00:16:41And serving it with the eggs on the platter.
00:16:44Just because the red kind of bakes off into the bread.
00:16:47And people don't like eating that.
00:16:49Put this on the diagonal.
00:16:51And again cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap.
00:16:56If you don't oil your plastic wrap it will pull the dough when you try to remove it.
00:17:02And make little ugly marks.
00:17:04Now put this in a dry warm place until it is doubled in bulk.
00:17:09So now uncover your bread.
00:17:10This is one egg beaten with a fork.
00:17:13That's your glaze.
00:17:15And carefully lightly brush every single square centimeter with your egg glaze.
00:17:23Don't press because you'll deflate what has so beautifully risen.
00:17:28You can brush once and then wait a minute or so.
00:17:31And brush again if you want a really really deep brown crust.
00:17:36Preheated 375 degree oven.
00:17:39It's going to take about an hour to bake.
00:17:42Now if you were going to insert eggs with the eggshells dyed red.
00:17:46Put your bread into the oven for 10 minutes.
00:17:49Remove the bread.
00:17:51Stick these eggs into the braid.
00:17:54Then put it back in the oven.
00:17:56And bake for the rest of the hour.
00:17:58So now here are the two gorgeous breads that we have made.
00:18:03Red eggs are an important part of the Eastern Orthodox Easter tradition.
00:18:06The red eggs symbolize the blood of Christ.
00:18:09Rebirth and renewal.
00:18:11I do not suggest you eat them because they've already been hard-boiled.
00:18:14And then they have been baked in the oven for an hour.
00:18:16And they're not very tasty.
00:18:18But they are very pretty.
00:18:20And I just want you to see this is very light.
00:18:25How pretty that would be on your table.
00:18:27And I know you're dying to see what it looks like when it's sliced.
00:18:31I can just take a nice piece off.
00:18:35It's crusty.
00:18:37It's soft and flavorful on the inside.
00:18:40Don't slice it too thickly.
00:18:43Serve it with unsalted butter.
00:18:47Wouldn't you like to have a taste of this right now?
00:18:50A Greek classic that you will want to make and share.
00:18:54These plants are something else that I wanted to talk about because they're so beautiful.
00:18:59Now, this is a crocus and we wrap the container with pieces of bark and then tied with twine
00:19:06and use some sheet moss.
00:19:07And then this basket, this is just like a little basket.
00:19:12And then we wrap the container with twine and then tie it with twine.
00:19:16And then we wrap the container with twine and then tie it with twine and use some sheet
00:19:19moss.
00:19:19And then this basket.
00:19:20This is just like a little bushel basket that you can buy at a craft store, at a garden
00:19:26center.
00:19:27And we made the handle out of pussywillow.
00:19:29I love that.
00:19:30And planted it with three beautiful miniature orchids.
00:19:34Great.
00:19:34And then this one.
00:19:35I love this one too.
00:19:36This is a whole plant.
00:19:37This is called salagenilla.
00:19:38It's a kind of moss.
00:19:40And the same thing, a pussywillow handle.
00:19:42And for that special someone, a really good chocolate rabbit.
00:19:47So to keep him from toppling, a little skewer on this side and a little skewer on this side.
00:19:53Oh, that's perfect.
00:19:54And he will stand up very nice and tall.
00:19:59Please welcome back to the show, Livia Chetty.
00:20:01It's so nice to have you here.
00:20:02Thank you for having me.
00:20:04So I love what you did in the Weddings Magazine and you continue to just be so creative.
00:20:10And the last time you were on the show, you made some flowers.
00:20:13Where are they?
00:20:13Tell me they were out here.
00:20:14Oh, I think that's them.
00:20:16These are not natural flowers, but some of Livia's fantastic creations made out of crepe paper.
00:20:26Unbelievable.
00:20:27Don't they look real?
00:20:28I mean, they really do look real.
00:20:30Maybe I'll use those in my flower arrangement.
00:20:31I know, they look beautiful.
00:20:32Yeah, it's the right color.
00:20:34So what skills do you think one needs to arrange flowers?
00:20:40Well, I think first of all, you always need to learn to look at the flowers.
00:20:43They all have a face, a side that's most beautiful.
00:20:46And once you kind of understand that, I think your arrangements will always be more beautiful.
00:20:52You know, I also...
00:20:53People, I think the biggest mistake...
00:20:55Are these cherries or apples?
00:20:56Yes, those are from my tree.
00:20:57Oh my gosh, that's so vibrant.
00:21:00Yeah, and it's a crab apple.
00:21:02Yes, it's a crab apple.
00:21:03Yeah.
00:21:04So I think often people forget to get the right size vase for the flowers that they want to use.
00:21:10I think it's always good to consider how many flowers you have,
00:21:13what type of flowers you want to use, and then pick the appropriate vase.
00:21:17Am I going to work alongside you?
00:21:19Yes.
00:21:19Oh, good.
00:21:21In this instance, we've picked just a simple cylinder to make a centerpiece that's a good
00:21:25shape and it's the right height.
00:21:28A trick I always like to use, people are always worried,
00:21:30is their centerpiece going to be too tall?
00:21:32Are they going to be able to see their guests?
00:21:33And so I like to kind of just put my arm like that, right on the base.
00:21:36And that's kind of a good rule of thumb, as high as your fist.
00:21:39Oh, okay.
00:21:39Do you so get that, everybody?
00:21:41Yes.
00:21:41Yeah.
00:21:42Okay, and so are we going to, no frogs, no nothing.
00:21:44No frogs.
00:21:45Yeah, the way that I like to arrange and get kind of a really pretty natural style
00:21:49is that I rest the branches along the edge of the vase and create a structure, circular structure.
00:21:59And it helps if you have really good clippers, if you're using woody plants.
00:22:02These are the greatest.
00:22:04Do you like these?
00:22:04Yes, they're so sharp.
00:22:05They're so great.
00:22:06I love these.
00:22:07So I'm kind of creating a line.
00:22:09So it hits the corner of the vase here and then goes off to the side.
00:22:12And I go all around, creating a structure that when you put your center flowers in,
00:22:18they'll be able to rest upon, kind of hold everything in place.
00:22:23So you're making a little...
00:22:25Flopping flowers.
00:22:26Natural kind of...
00:22:27Yeah, and I like to get a pretty shape,
00:22:30something that looks a little bit more like it came from your yard or was growing in nature.
00:22:35What are these?
00:22:36Those are kind of like a wild spray rose.
00:22:38Oh, those are very beautiful.
00:22:39Yeah, and again, that's something that would grow in somebody's yard.
00:22:43I like to cut stuff from my yard because it's free.
00:22:46If one has a yard.
00:22:49And do not go to Central Park and start cutting.
00:22:52No, no Central Park.
00:22:53Okay, remember that.
00:22:54You can get in big trouble or even along the highways.
00:22:59First of all, it's dangerous.
00:23:00Yes, but you know, if you have a neighbor or you...
00:23:03There's a lot of great places where you can get pretty things.
00:23:06They have better shapes.
00:23:07They're more interesting.
00:23:08These are exquisite lilacs.
00:23:09Yeah, that's kind of an unusual color.
00:23:13Again, when you cut it from your yard too, the tree kind of likes to be pruned.
00:23:17It'll grow back, you know, the next year.
00:23:20And you'll notice I'm cutting up the stem on all the wooded branches.
00:23:23That kind of helps it take in water better.
00:23:27Yes, you have beautiful flowers here.
00:23:29These are hellebores, which are the winter rose.
00:23:33Lenten rose, they call it.
00:23:36They bloom until Easter.
00:23:38And that's a great example of a plant that I often buy at nurseries.
00:23:42And then I cut a couple of the flowers off to use in my arrangements.
00:23:45And then I can plant the remaining plant in the yard and, you know, bloom again.
00:23:50It's a great way to get kind of a natural look.
00:23:53And these little upside down checkerboard tulips are called Fritillaria.
00:23:57Yes, one of my favorites.
00:23:59Mine too.
00:23:59I love them.
00:24:00Mine are just starting to bloom in my garden.
00:24:02I also like to kind of group three flowers together at separate heights like this
00:24:07to give it a natural feeling as opposed to polka dotting the flowers evenly throughout.
00:24:13I like to kind of make clusters more how they would grow in nature again.
00:24:18Very nice.
00:24:19Sometimes two stems, sometimes three stems.
00:24:22A lot of these flowers just come from the market, right?
00:24:25Yeah, I think also the farmer's market's a great source to get flowers.
00:24:32Another thing to consider is where your arrangement is going to be.
00:24:36Today we're making a centerpiece.
00:24:38But if you were going to make an arrangement that would go against a wall or something,
00:24:41you don't have to really worry about putting flowers in the back of it.
00:24:46You can just kind of work on the front.
00:24:48So considering where your flowers are going to live ultimately is...
00:24:52What are these?
00:24:53It's also good.
00:24:53That is a very unusual type of Ixia that I've never seen before.
00:24:57I was very happy to bring that to you.
00:25:00I knew you'd like that.
00:25:02I love those.
00:25:03A nice color.
00:25:04Yeah.
00:25:05I'm going to bunch these.
00:25:06Yeah.
00:25:06So I'm kind of just creating this outer perimeter using three or four flowers at a time.
00:25:13And then I'll...
00:25:14This pretty ranuncula kind of like punctuate that one pretty shape.
00:25:18Mine's a little more monotone than yours.
00:25:21I like to mix all the crazy colors and you like it more.
00:25:25I'll take some of these sweet peas then.
00:25:28These are beautiful too.
00:25:29Yeah, this is a great color of sweet pea.
00:25:35And how many of you in the audience like to make your own arrangements?
00:25:40Everybody does.
00:25:42And it's just so beautiful.
00:25:47And then you can really make your table look amazing.
00:25:50I'm just waiting.
00:25:51I have daffodils out and I have tulips and lots of hyacinths out.
00:25:56Yeah.
00:25:56And I can't wait to see what I can do on Friday for the Easter weekend.
00:26:01So yours is beautiful.
00:26:03Well, this is a great way to...
00:26:03Am I beautiful enough?
00:26:04I don't know.
00:26:05No, that looks beautiful.
00:26:06I don't know.
00:26:09I hope it is.
00:26:12Very fun to work with you, Livia.
00:26:14And that is spectacular.
00:26:17I don't know if you can see it with all this stuff.
00:26:18That is...
00:26:19Put it over there in the front so people can get a really good look.
00:26:23Oh, so, so gorgeous.
00:26:26Hi, I'm Martha.
00:26:35And I am going to show you today an easier way that I've devised to decorate sugar cookies.
00:26:42It's called the four D's.
00:26:43Dipping, dripping, decorating and drying.
00:26:47And you'll see each step one by one as I cut out my cookies,
00:26:51bake them first and then do all the four D's.
00:26:57So the sugar cookie dough is my foolproof, beautiful sugar cookie dough.
00:27:09One of the secrets is not only the addition of vanilla into the sugar cookie dough,
00:27:14but also brandy or cognac.
00:27:16It prolongs the life of the cookie and it makes them taste really good.
00:27:21So, roll it out to about, oh, less than an eighth of an inch thick.
00:27:26And I like to bake these cookies because of their size on cookie sheets that are either steel
00:27:33or aluminum like this one with very few sides.
00:27:37They have to have a way for you to lift the cookies.
00:27:41So, it's rolled, it's cold.
00:27:43I'm using very beautiful, do you remember the Martha cookie cutters?
00:27:47Cut that out just like that.
00:27:49Just like that.
00:27:51A smaller egg.
00:27:53Work quickly because if the dough gets too warm, it's too soft to lift.
00:27:58It might crack, it might break.
00:28:00If you find that your dough is getting too warm, slide it onto the sheet,
00:28:03put it back in the fridge and let it chill a little bit more.
00:28:06Very easy.
00:28:07So here's a cute little running rabbit.
00:28:10Okay, so now take away the negative, lift up the positive.
00:28:20So now that should go right back into the fridge.
00:28:22Chill it before you bake it.
00:28:27Okay, so now the decorating.
00:28:29What we want is a cookie that looks sort of like this.
00:28:32See how smooth it is?
00:28:34And the bright yellow yolk?
00:28:36It's all about the consistency of the frosting.
00:28:39This is the dipping stage.
00:28:41The frosting is made out of sifted confectioner's sugar mixed with egg white.
00:28:46Mixed slowly, not vigorously.
00:28:49You don't want air bubbles in the frosting.
00:28:51It's also flavored with a little bit of vanilla and thinned with a little bit of fresh lemon juice.
00:28:57And you mix that until you get a consistency of wet yogurt.
00:29:02I think that probably is the best description.
00:29:04Take the cookie and then you're going to dip the top side.
00:29:07So you wouldn't want to dip this side because it's uneven when it bakes.
00:29:11You want that beautiful smooth side and you just dip like this.
00:29:15Squiggle it around a little tiny bit.
00:29:17This is the first day dipping and you can see now it's the dripping.
00:29:22This is a lot easier than the old-fashioned method of damming,
00:29:26which is taking a strip of frosting around the edge and then filling.
00:29:31So I am really trying to minimize the labor and maximize the good looks.
00:29:38So it's not dripping too much more.
00:29:39Turn it over and then you can use this.
00:29:42See this nice little toothpick just to smooth it out?
00:29:45And then with your finger, you can go around the edge.
00:29:48Take away any drips.
00:29:50So you've already now dipped and you've dripped.
00:29:53And now while the frosting is still wet, you can decorate.
00:29:57This is easy one.
00:29:58I have my bright yellow, yolk yellow.
00:30:01I call that frosting.
00:30:03A little bit thicker consistency, not much.
00:30:06And place it where a yolk would be.
00:30:08Right into the wet frosting.
00:30:11Now how big a yolk depends on your chicken, of course.
00:30:16Now that'll settle into the white.
00:30:19And that looks like the perfect sunny side up.
00:30:23Let them dry overnight uncovered.
00:30:25And in the morning, they will be rock hard and ready to wrap,
00:30:29hide, or to put in the Easter basket.
00:30:41I'd like to show you two different ways to decorate.
00:30:43One in the wet frosting as I did with the egg yolk.
00:30:47And another on dry frosted cookies.
00:30:50I will do a wet cookie now.
00:30:52This is an Easter egg and let's dip it in blue.
00:30:55You can shake off like this.
00:30:58You can continue to drip.
00:30:59You can turn it from side to side.
00:31:02And you can just splat it like this.
00:31:04I need to get that center.
00:31:06I might use the bamboo just to speed up the process.
00:31:10Give it a little help.
00:31:12And then let it settle on the rack.
00:31:15And this is, I love this brown.
00:31:16This is a beautiful color.
00:31:18Now I'd like to do what I call the Napoleon.
00:31:21It's just a stripe across, evenly spaced.
00:31:26And it doesn't have to be perfect.
00:31:28Now remember we're working in wet base coat.
00:31:31That's the blue.
00:31:33And wet top coat.
00:31:35And then you take a clean toothpick
00:31:39and you draw the Napoleon lines.
00:31:41I call it Napoleon because that's exactly
00:31:44what they do on the tops of Napoleon pastries.
00:31:49And then you can turn the cookie
00:31:51and go in the opposite direction.
00:31:56And that took all of less than a minute.
00:31:59I think this one deserves a yolk.
00:32:01And it's so pretty.
00:32:03And then the kid will say,
00:32:05that's not a good egg.
00:32:06There's no brown eggs.
00:32:08The whites are white.
00:32:09Let them talk.
00:32:10Now the ombre effect is also a very nice effect.
00:32:14And that's done in wet frosting.
00:32:16You can start by first dragging it in.
00:32:19I think I'll do a pink ombre.
00:32:21That's a beautiful rabbit.
00:32:22I love the shape of this rabbit.
00:32:25He's running away from the farmer.
00:32:28He's mad at him because he ate all the lettuce.
00:32:31A few dabs of yellow.
00:32:33A little bit of brown.
00:32:36And a little bit of blue.
00:32:39And that looks sort of like a mess.
00:32:41But if you just squiggle it around a little bit,
00:32:45it will dry into a very nice
00:32:49kind of marbleized pattern on the rabbit.
00:32:52Now on the beautiful dried cookies,
00:32:54we want to have a little bit of detail.
00:32:58So it's nice to put an eye,
00:33:01a little brown beak,
00:33:04and maybe a little brown toenail.
00:33:06Polka dots.
00:33:07Also another very cute way to decorate these easily.
00:33:24Oh, this little guy needs...
00:33:26He needs a little line down his ear.
00:33:29I think you get the gist.
00:33:30For very easy cookie decorating,
00:33:33the 4D method called dip, drip.
00:33:37Decorate and dry and have a lot of fun.
00:33:39And thank you all for joining me on Frosted.
00:33:42Decorative eggs are a perfect adornment for your holiday table.
00:33:46And these nests are going to showcase them beautifully.
00:33:49And you can put them on the tables as place cards, whatever.
00:33:53Let me show you how to make a little nest just like these.
00:33:57You start with a circle of paper.
00:34:00And whatever the diameter or the circumference of the circle,
00:34:03cut a strip of paper as however high you want it.
00:34:07And with double stick tape, we just attach the...
00:34:12Oops, this way.
00:34:14We attach the bottom to the rim and go all the way around.
00:34:22Just affix that.
00:34:23And it takes a little bit of time, finagling to get it around.
00:34:26But you just make the basket.
00:34:28Here it is.
00:34:29And use some hot glue on the inside,
00:34:33just to make sure you secure it for safety.
00:34:39That goes all the way around.
00:34:41And then you can use this beautiful nesting material
00:34:44and this beautiful fringed paper.
00:34:47It also has some clear cellophane in it.
00:34:48Can you see that?
00:34:50And this gets hot glue gunned to the exterior.
00:34:54Just put a little dot here.
00:34:57And start it.
00:34:58And you go all the way around and around,
00:35:01dotting the hot glue,
00:35:03until you get a nest that looks like this.
00:35:06I love how that looks.
00:35:07And this beautiful grass,
00:35:10as well as this very fine grass,
00:35:13comes from De Bloomschen.
00:35:15This is a wonderful, wonderful company.
00:35:18And you should look them up online
00:35:20for all their extraordinary products.
00:35:22This grass comes in 12 different unusual colors,
00:35:25from pinks and cappuccino colors,
00:35:27to yellows and greens.
00:35:29And then just fill your beautiful nests with eggs,
00:35:33if you like.
00:35:34Put hard-boiled eggs in them for the children.
00:35:36Some Valrhona chocolate eggs, like this.
00:35:40And a bumblebee.
00:35:43These cute little things are available
00:35:46at Michael's Craft Stores.
00:35:49And our wonderful daisy stickers.
00:35:51These are Martha Stewart crafts.
00:35:53They can just get stuck anywhere, here and there.
00:35:57Even on the eggs, if you want.
00:36:00And you make a beautiful basket.
00:36:07Bath buns, spice buns, penny buns, Chelsea buns,
00:36:10currant buns, hot cross buns,
00:36:12all have one thing in common.
00:36:14They're as English as afternoon tea.
00:36:16And traditionally, these soft and slightly sweet cakes
00:36:19are served on Good Friday.
00:36:20My mom made really delicious hot cross buns
00:36:23every Easter in our home in Nutley.
00:36:25I had them for Ash Wednesday and then for Good Friday.
00:36:29Right.
00:36:30And they were tender and delicious and full of currants.
00:36:34And sometimes raisins.
00:36:34I always ask mom to put more currants in them
00:36:37because she was always skimping on the currants.
00:36:40I also used citron from time to time.
00:36:42That's right.
00:36:43Well, here's a recipe that is an adaptation,
00:36:46I think, of mom's original.
00:36:48One cup of milk, right, Mother?
00:36:49It's been heated just till it's...
00:36:51Lukewarm.
00:36:52Lukewarm.
00:36:53If it's too hot to touch it, it's too hot for the yeast.
00:36:56And you're pouring in...
00:36:57Two envelopes of dry yeast.
00:37:00And that's just the regular dry yeast, right?
00:37:02Right, Fleischmann's.
00:37:03Okay.
00:37:04And you stir to dissolve.
00:37:07And you need your sugar.
00:37:09Half cup and two teaspoons of salt.
00:37:11Half a cup of sugar.
00:37:13Two teaspoons of salt.
00:37:17Okay.
00:37:18And now the melted butter.
00:37:20Oh, yes.
00:37:20That's been melted and cooled.
00:37:22Yep.
00:37:22Twelve tablespoons.
00:37:23Twelve tablespoons of unsalted butter.
00:37:27And for flavoring, I used cinnamon and nutmeg.
00:37:32Oh, great.
00:37:32Three quarter teaspoon of each will do it.
00:37:35Okay.
00:37:35There's the cinnamon.
00:37:37So it's three quarters of a teaspoon of grated nutmeg.
00:37:40Look at this beautiful nutmeg, Mother.
00:37:42This is so strong.
00:37:43I'm not going to add a whole three quarters
00:37:45because this is fresh and pungent.
00:37:47So we'll see how that tastes.
00:37:48I can smell it all the way here.
00:37:50Oh, yeah.
00:37:50It's very fragrant.
00:37:51To this, we add the flour.
00:37:54Okay, so.
00:37:55Five and a half cups.
00:37:57And I'll beat up four eggs.
00:38:07Now, this is a really easy dough
00:38:09because it's just the liquid and the flour.
00:38:13Yep.
00:38:13Really easy.
00:38:14Five and a half cups.
00:38:16About that.
00:38:19This was acceptable for lunch.
00:38:21Well, there's sugar in them.
00:38:22How did we get away with the sugar?
00:38:26I used to give up sugar for lunch.
00:38:28We gave up candy.
00:38:30Oh, candy.
00:38:30Sugar in baked goods.
00:38:34We didn't have cakes or too many pies,
00:38:36but hot cross buns were acceptable
00:38:40because it's sort of a bread.
00:38:42And bread, you know, is the staff of life.
00:38:46There's always some rationalization.
00:38:49You know, Easter is the season of the resurrection
00:38:53and a rebirth of spring.
00:38:57So bread had a very important part.
00:39:00That looks good, don't you think?
00:39:01Okay, so why don't we take this off
00:39:03and see how we're doing.
00:39:06Okay.
00:39:06So how many currants are you adding?
00:39:08About a cup of them.
00:39:10Okay.
00:39:10The more, the merrier, you know.
00:39:12I like fruit in my cakes and buns.
00:39:16Mmm, looks beautiful.
00:39:19Take all this out and I'll get going on kneading it.
00:39:25Okay, how much kneading do you think it's going to require?
00:39:27Well, we'll have to mix all the currants in first.
00:39:37And the scraper, please.
00:39:39There you are.
00:39:41And it doesn't stick.
00:39:43It doesn't stick.
00:39:45Lovely.
00:39:46And now this has to rise until it doubled in bulk.
00:39:50I like to turn this around so that the top gets a little bit of butter on it too.
00:39:56Good idea.
00:39:57Now you cover it.
00:39:59So we're going to let this rise for an hour and a half,
00:40:01but we have one already made that really did rise beautifully, didn't it?
00:40:05Nice and spongy.
00:40:06So I'll turn it out on a lightly floured surface.
00:40:11Give it a couple more.
00:40:12And I'm making the little egg wash.
00:40:14It's really an egg white wash for the tops.
00:40:17Just a little bit of salt, water, and egg white.
00:40:21One egg white.
00:40:23So now this makes 24 buns and you can form the buns.
00:40:27And I'm going to brush them with egg white.
00:40:32And I'm rolling these between my hands.
00:40:34Okay.
00:40:36And what's nice about an egg white glaze like this
00:40:39is that it doesn't really add any color, but it does add a beautiful shine.
00:40:44And this dough is dark because of all those spices.
00:40:48One thing my mother is very good at is high speed, big production.
00:40:53I think that comes from having such a big family, don't you?
00:40:57Perhaps.
00:40:58Nice.
00:40:58Okay.
00:40:59There you go.
00:40:59So this here, you can cover that lightly with plastic wrap
00:41:05and let these rise until they're doubled in bulk and look like this.
00:41:09And they'll be ready to be baked.
00:41:10Now we're going to cut the tops of these in a cross that, who was it?
00:41:16Queen Elizabeth required.
00:41:20And so now these go into what temperature oven?
00:41:22About 350, 375.
00:41:24Okay, for approximately 25 minutes.
00:41:28And here is a finished batch.
00:41:30Oh, they look so good and they are tender.
00:41:34And to make the glaze, confectioner's sugar.
00:41:36Right.
00:41:37What else?
00:41:38Will we add a couple of spoons of milk to the confectioner's sugar?
00:41:43Just a little bit, like one.
00:41:45That's enough.
00:41:46Two.
00:41:48And a little lemon juice for flavoring and perhaps a little rind.
00:41:54And we'll pipe this on.
00:41:55You can do it with a spoon, but it works so easily with a piping bag.
00:42:03And a nice little secret so everything doesn't leak out of the pastry bag
00:42:07is that the tip is covered with a piece of plastic wrap.
00:42:10Oh.
00:42:11See?
00:42:12So we can now decorate our hot cross buns with beautiful crosses.
00:42:21Yeah, right into the cross.
00:42:23I always used to lick off the cross.
00:42:26I think most kids do.
00:42:28And then I would eat my hot cross bun.
00:42:30Let's see if they're as good as I remember.
00:42:33Really good.
00:42:35It's better.
00:42:36Lovely little place cards are bunny rabbits.
00:42:39And I'll show you how to make them right now because they're so easy and you're going to
00:42:43want to do this.
00:42:44The template's on our website at marthastewart.com.
00:42:47And we've printed them out on a beautiful, we call this the articulated bunny place card.
00:42:53Articulated meaning that the limbs and the ears move.
00:42:57And you can just print it out on a piece of paper.
00:42:59And you can just print it out on some sort of gorgeous paper.
00:43:04This is this beautiful, almost foil-like paper on hard cardstock that we have in our
00:43:10Michaels collection.
00:43:12And cut out each piece carefully.
00:43:14And then where the dots are, those are your joint, basically joints.
00:43:20You have to use your little punch like this.
00:43:24This is our hole punch.
00:43:26And put the legs and the ears and the head right on your body.
00:43:34And we're using these tiny little, I love these, these little brads that are just,
00:43:41they're available in craft stores.
00:43:43And they make a very neat presentation.
00:43:46So there we have everything done.
00:43:48One leg goes in the back and one leg might match up the holes.
00:43:54And one leg goes in the front.
00:43:57That way the little rabbit can run, run away from you.
00:44:02And here's the brads.
00:44:04See how tiny they are?
00:44:05They are just big enough to go through without being too obvious.
00:44:10And what that allows you to do is run, see?
00:44:15That's so easy.
00:44:17And then the head and the ears.
00:44:18And this is what the bunny looks like.
00:44:20This one is going to run across the table.
00:44:23And his ears can move too.
00:44:26And as a place card, very effective to write just on one of the ears.
00:44:29Let's see who else is coming on Easter Sunday.
00:44:32Richard.
00:44:33Let's put down Richard.
00:44:36And we'll just fill this out.
00:44:40And we have a really good Easter egg hunt planned for Easter Sunday.
00:44:48Hope it doesn't rain because then there won't be any hunt.
00:44:53There it goes.
00:44:55And it'll be baby Jude's first Easter.
00:44:57She's going to have a great time.
00:45:01So there you have it.
00:45:02Let's put that at every place.
00:45:04And when you design a table specially for a holiday,
00:45:09it certainly will add a lot of charm and personality to your celebration.
00:45:25This blossoming quince is so beautiful.
00:45:29Look how pretty these ornaments are hanging from the branches.
00:45:32Making these ornaments is really very easy.
00:45:36So you use a push pin and gently tap a small hole into each end of an egg.
00:45:40Stick a thin wire into one of the holes to scramble the egg and then break up the yolk.
00:45:46Use an egg pump to push out the liquid.
00:45:48Rinse the blown out egg and water and place it on a small cup to drain.
00:45:53Then there is the dyeing of the egg itself.
00:45:55Always remember to add a little white vinegar to the dye bath.
00:45:58This will act as a fixative.
00:46:00Another tip for beautiful eggs is to rub the eggs with a cotton ball dipped in white vinegar
00:46:05before dyeing.
00:46:06This will remove any grease from the egg and help it take on the dye.
00:46:10And remember, very important, use hot water in glass bowls for mixing the dye.
00:46:16Another wonderful tool that we created and use every year is this egg drying pin board.
00:46:21Take half inch foam core and measure out a one inch grid.
00:46:24Then insert a straight pin at every intersection of the grid.
00:46:28Now all the eggs have a wonderful raised place to drip dry.
00:46:32Christina and Sophie are using all of these beautiful dyed eggs to make even more ornaments
00:46:37for our egg tree.
00:46:38We started with these inexpensive plastic pearls.
00:46:41Then we dyed them in the fabric dye.
00:46:43It's very simple.
00:46:45Just by mixing the colors, you can get all these different shades.
00:46:48You're doing it very nicely, Sophie.
00:46:49Do you want to take us through the technique?
00:46:51Oh, sure.
00:46:51So the ribbons are about, I would say, one and a half, two feet long.
00:46:55You can make them different sizes.
00:46:57Fold it in half and just make sure it's straight.
00:46:59And then we're going to tie a knot about a third of the way up.
00:47:03Big enough so it won't go through the egg.
00:47:06And then take your wire, put it right on the edge.
00:47:08And then from there, you have a very nice needly point.
00:47:11And then two pearls for underneath the egg?
00:47:13Yeah, one small and then one large.
00:47:15And just draw this right through like that.
00:47:18And that's it.
00:47:19You can wear these as earrings.
00:47:20Let's see.
00:47:21Ooh.
00:47:21I know.
00:47:22Stylish.
00:47:26But they are such an easy way to make a really beautiful ornament.
00:47:31So let's get started with the basket.
00:47:32Because every year, I look for a different shape of basket,
00:47:35a different kind of weave, a different kind of material.
00:47:38And we found these beautiful baskets.
00:47:40They come in nests of three.
00:47:41We found them over in the flower market.
00:47:44And I like how they look.
00:47:45Don't you?
00:47:46I think they're great.
00:47:46And they're very good for children, too,
00:47:48because your eggs aren't going to fall out.
00:47:50Oh, that's always so traumatizing when they fall,
00:47:52and they break, and oh, my gosh.
00:47:54So we're going to decorate with rickrack and rickrack flowers.
00:47:59And we've just been applying rickrack around the outside.
00:48:02And I love rickrack.
00:48:04I think it's so pretty.
00:48:05And you can do that with hot glue all the way around.
00:48:09Do you want to add more to yours?
00:48:10Or are you going to make flowers?
00:48:12I'm going to make the flowers, I think, first.
00:48:13And these are so easy, which is so great.
00:48:15And they're beautiful.
00:48:16It's just a little felt round.
00:48:18Somebody was telling me today that you
00:48:20put the rick up and the rack down.
00:48:22What are they talking about?
00:48:24See, it looks pretty symmetrical to me.
00:48:26I know.
00:48:26I didn't know which was the rick and which was the rack.
00:48:28What does the name rickrack come from?
00:48:30Do you know?
00:48:30No, I do not know.
00:48:31You have to look that up.
00:48:33I know.
00:48:33We should have all that information before we start on a craft project like this.
00:48:37Because this is what happens when people get together to craft.
00:48:41All those questions, those very important questions with no answers come up.
00:48:47Things you don't think of.
00:48:48But I'm sure there is something about rick and rack.
00:48:50Yeah, I've only used rickrack when I was sewing a lot.
00:48:53I'd sometimes line the hem of my skirts.
00:48:55Oh, that's a good idea.
00:48:57Yeah.
00:48:57So what are you doing for Easter this year, Sophie?
00:49:00Well, I have to teach on Easter Sunday.
00:49:03Sophie, you know, is the yogi extraordinaire,
00:49:06who not only travels back and forth to India all the time,
00:49:11but also teaches yoga in New York.
00:49:13Yeah.
00:49:14And how many students do you have now?
00:49:17I have a pretty decent-sized student body.
00:49:19I'd say a couple hundred total.
00:49:21And I'm also doing my life coaching certification,
00:49:23which I'm very excited about.
00:49:24So I'm starting my practice.
00:49:26Actually, as of now, I'm taking clients.
00:49:26Do you want a very, very difficult client?
00:49:29Sure.
00:49:29Oh, yeah.
00:49:30I like challenges.
00:49:30You want me to tell you who it is?
00:49:32Maybe if you feel you can tell me.
00:49:35Me.
00:49:37I'll take you on.
00:49:38Okay.
00:49:38Yeah, right.
00:49:39You're not taking me on.
00:49:41Oh, gosh.
00:49:42Can you imagine having your niece coach you?
00:49:45No, no friends or family.
00:49:47I think that's a good policy.
00:49:48I can recommend you to other people.
00:49:50How does that sound?
00:49:51So to make these cute little flowers, you use Fabri-Tac.
00:49:55Don't use the hot glue for the whole thing.
00:49:57Because it's very forgiving.
00:49:58Yes.
00:49:58And if this gets on your fingers, guess what?
00:50:01It doesn't burn.
00:50:02And this has evolved.
00:50:03We used to use that stuff in the brown bottle,
00:50:06the white tacky things.
00:50:08Oh, yes.
00:50:09Which is very good, too.
00:50:10But this seems a little easier.
00:50:11This is so good.
00:50:12And you have to gather it a little bit around the edge.
00:50:15And to cut out the felt, you can use a cup, any round thing,
00:50:20just to make a nice circle.
00:50:21Oh, to make the circle.
00:50:22Yeah.
00:50:22And then go ahead and start to layer it.
00:50:25And then while you do that, I'm going to show
00:50:26what it looks like at the very end.
00:50:28How do you know all this already?
00:50:29I'm supposed to be teaching you.
00:50:31I know.
00:50:31I had to hone my skills with this.
00:50:34So the last thing, though, is you just
00:50:36want to trim a teeny bit.
00:50:38What, in the center?
00:50:39Once you're at the center, you're
00:50:40going to have an extra tail.
00:50:42And then trim it off and make a little loop.
00:50:45Well, these are very easy to make glue down.
00:50:46Look how cute.
00:50:47Yeah, isn't that in there?
00:50:48Yeah.
00:50:48And I am doing the rick down.
00:50:50They are forgiving.
00:50:53Now I have to look that up.
00:50:55All right, so this is a finished piece right here.
00:50:58Just have lots of Fabri-Tac on hand if you're
00:51:00going to make a whole lot of flowers.
00:51:02I'm going to start putting some on my basket.
00:51:03So we have some that we finished.
00:51:05I like the idea that somebody else makes all the flowers.
00:51:09And I can just glue them on.
00:51:11Now, this you do use the hot glue gun for.
00:51:12You do use a hot glue gun.
00:51:14You can also make leaves, which is nice,
00:51:15just cutting a little of the extra green and fold that over.
00:51:20So I'm going to put like one here.
00:51:25But these are, I mean, I remember when you made these Easter baskets,
00:51:27we kept them for years.
00:51:28You know, there's always.
00:51:29Well, don't you still have all of them from my house?
00:51:31Actually, well, we had a big tag sale last year,
00:51:33but we did up until that point.
00:51:35Can you imagine?
00:51:37Aunt Martha's Easter baskets at a tag sale.
00:51:40That's horrible to tell me.
00:51:42No, I mean, we kept the best ones.
00:51:45My parents are trying to downsize.
00:51:48I'm not giving you any more Easter baskets.
00:51:52There.
00:51:52But look how pretty.
00:51:53They do look awfully pretty.
00:51:54Yeah, they're beautiful.
00:51:56And so you add them.
00:51:57And then we have a little styrofoam, which we're putting.
00:51:59Of course, this has to come out for the egg hunt
00:52:01because you want to make sure you have a lot of room in there.
00:52:03But put that down.
00:52:04We have these beautiful lollipops.
00:52:06And then.
00:52:07Oh, yes.
00:52:08Just stick those in there.
00:52:09You're filling yours already.
00:52:10I am still decorating.
00:52:11OK, well, I'll start filling.
00:52:13The little.
00:52:13This is good.
00:52:14This offers stability.
00:52:15And and actually, I would never put the styrofoam in the bottom.
00:52:18I put Cadbury eggs.
00:52:20Hmm?
00:52:20Cadbury eggs in the bottom.
00:52:21Yeah, I would love.
00:52:23Yeah.
00:52:23Who wants styrofoam?
00:52:26Poor little children do not want to dig in their basket and find styrofoam in the bottom.
00:52:35They will say, I would never do that in a million years just to stand up.
00:52:39I'll use it just to stand these lollipops, but.
00:52:41Oh, and these are these wonderful little candies.
00:52:44They're delicious.
00:52:46And I believe everyone in the audience is going home with.
00:52:49Oh, yes.
00:52:50Oh, no, this size.
00:52:51That size.
00:52:51That size.
00:52:52These are from Hammond.
00:52:53These are from Hammond.
00:52:54I sampled them.
00:52:55They're excellent.
00:52:57And you have to have a chocolate bunny.
00:52:59Hammond's makes really great, great candies for the holidays.
00:53:03And then there's still lots of room for hard-boiled eggs,
00:53:06colored eggs and whatever else the Easter Bunny happens to drop on his way through the farm.
00:53:13Right?
00:53:13The golden egg.
00:53:14Yes.
00:53:14Of course.
00:53:15Well, thank you.
00:53:16It's always fun to have you here.
00:53:18Take the artichoke, these beautiful, all green.
00:53:20Make sure there are no little holes in the stem, no brown leaves, beautiful green heads.
00:53:27And cut the artichoke about halfway down.
00:53:32Use a serrated knife like this.
00:53:34It really helps cut through the nitty gritty of that artichoke.
00:53:39Also cut off the stem.
00:53:44Now, for artichoke lovers, steam this now.
00:53:47So delicious.
00:53:48And just use that.
00:53:50And then you want it to be very, very pretty.
00:53:53So you're going to take off the little tough leaves at the bottom.
00:53:58And they have very, very sharp little,
00:54:01it's, I guess, they're little barbs on the ends of all the leaves.
00:54:04So cut about a third of the leaf off.
00:54:08This makes a nice presentation.
00:54:10And this is the way you do it for artichokes.
00:54:13If you're just going to steam them and eat them with hollandaise,
00:54:15I wouldn't take off half the artichoke.
00:54:16I would take off maybe the top third.
00:54:20Just trim that like that.
00:54:22And then make sure that you open up, loosen the leaves.
00:54:25It makes the steaming process a little bit faster.
00:54:30So really open that up like that.
00:54:33It's tough.
00:54:34These are very beautiful.
00:54:36They're thistles, really.
00:54:38Now, put them on a steamer in boiling water and steam like that for,
00:54:45and the water can be lightly salted,
00:54:47a steam for about 45 to 50 minutes until they are tender.
00:54:52Here's a beautifully steamed artichoke.
00:54:55Make sure that they're edible.
00:54:58Every leaf has to be edible.
00:55:01And now we want to take out what I call the hoary core.
00:55:05And that is the center of the thistle.
00:55:08You want to get down to the beautiful heart of the artichoke.
00:55:13Leaving as many of the exterior leaves as you can
00:55:18because you want something to eat your souffle with.
00:55:21You're going to use the leaves as the spoon of the souffle.
00:55:26So here is the thistle.
00:55:28So scrape that out with a sharp spoon.
00:55:31I find a spoon works very well.
00:55:33And this is the inedible part of the artichoke.
00:55:38It's inedible, but my chickens love it.
00:55:40They eat all the interior.
00:55:43See that?
00:55:43That's the thistle.
00:55:44You can see it's a little wooly and sharp, not edible.
00:55:49And very pretty.
00:55:53And that is what you're going to fill with your souffle.
00:55:57Do this very neatly.
00:56:00Oh, it's so perfectly cooked.
00:56:02Tender as can be.
00:56:03And an artichoke is pretty hearty.
00:56:06And even though it's going to bake again with the souffle in it,
00:56:09the tender leaves will stay tender and it'll be very, very nice.
00:56:13Now immediately brush the cleaned artichoke.
00:56:16You can see how clean with melted butter.
00:56:18This is extremely important.
00:56:21You're coating the entire inside and the outside with melted butter.
00:56:27It's giving a very nice flavor to the artichoke.
00:56:31And then we have breadcrumbs that we flavored with salt, pepper and lemon juice,
00:56:38as well as a zest of lemon and a little bit of olive oil, like a half a cup of olive oil.
00:56:45And I want to put this here and we're going to put the breadcrumbs.
00:56:50I remember watching my next door neighbor in Nutley, New Jersey,
00:56:53Mrs. Allegri, do her artichokes like this.
00:56:56Putting bread flavored breadcrumbs down.
00:56:58And she didn't miss a leaf.
00:57:02So gorgeous.
00:57:06And you learn a lot watching people.
00:57:08I hope you're certainly learning how to make this because you should all make this.
00:57:11If you're not going to make it for Easter, you should definitely make it for something.
00:57:15So that now that is ready to accept the souffle mixture.
00:57:19And we're going to start with your base for the souffle,
00:57:23which is a third of a cup of flour, a cup and a quarter of half and half.
00:57:33And one and a half teaspoons of salt.
00:57:37And heat this up.
00:57:39One and a half.
00:57:42Heat this and cook it until it looks like this.
00:57:46It's a very thick kind of base for the souffle.
00:57:53And you want to cool this off.
00:57:56And just put that in a bowl to cool and add one and a half tablespoons of butter.
00:58:05On top of the warm flour and cream mixture, just dot the top.
00:58:14So this will prevent a skin from forming and the butter will melt.
00:58:18But it will not get not get a big thick skin on it.
00:58:22Now, here we have that cooled mixture.
00:58:26Stir that up.
00:58:28And we're beating our egg whites.
00:58:31Five large egg whites.
00:58:36And we add a little secret ingredient.
00:58:39It's called just whites.
00:58:41It's 100 percent dried egg whites.
00:58:44This and you add about four and a half teaspoons of this.
00:58:50Get that to be soft peaks.
00:58:55So artichokes are very, very popular in the early spring.
00:59:00They are growing in California and they're actually growing in my garden, too.
00:59:06There are varieties now that grow in the northeast very nicely.
00:59:09Oh, see soft peaks.
00:59:11Very well done here.
00:59:13And we're also going to add into our mixture three quarters of a pound of mixed cheeses.
00:59:19We're using a cone.
00:59:20We're using a Gruyere and an Appenzeller.
00:59:23Very pungent cheese and two large egg yolks.
00:59:29So mix that all together before you fold in your egg whites.
00:59:37So gorgeous.
00:59:38This is a very fragrant souffle and very nice for Easter.
00:59:44You could do a spinach souffle inside the artichoke.
00:59:48I was trying to think of what might what would be the best flavor,
00:59:51but I think this really rich cheese souffle is utterly perfect.
00:59:56So lighten up that mixture a little bit with your egg white.
01:00:04And then add the rest.
01:00:06And then you put the artichokes back in a 400 degree oven
01:00:11for about 40 minutes until the souffle is nicely puffed.
01:00:17And that's what it looks like.
01:00:19That gorgeous, gorgeous.
01:00:23It could be a first course.
01:00:24It could be part of the main course.
01:00:26I'm going to be serving these with ravioli made from fresh pea puree
01:00:32and lots of artichokes and a ham and lamb.
01:00:39I haven't decided what kind of lamb yet,
01:00:42but it's going to be a very nice Easter brunch.
01:00:45Hopefully I'm getting a shipment of kielbasa from Buffalo.
01:00:52Oh, this is such a beautiful mixture.
01:00:55And you see those big lumps of cheese in there.
01:00:57They're about a quarter of an inch square lumps are perfect.
01:01:02They take a while to melt and they are very,
01:01:06very tasty when they're all melted together.
01:01:09So now just fill your artichokes and takes about two scoops in each.
01:01:23See how pretty.
01:01:24It's so fantastic.
01:01:26And I think we have some in the oven.
01:01:27I want to get those out so that you can see what they look like when they come out.
01:01:34Here they are.
01:01:37Oh, they are done.
01:01:44What do you think?
01:01:47I think those are utterly fantastic.
01:01:51For the best presentation, be sure that you serve the artichokes immediately.
01:02:02I thought I'd show you how to make some really delicious kebabs.
01:02:05Kebabs were thought to have originated with ancient Middle Eastern cooks who,
01:02:08out of necessity, had to devise a way of cooking meat with limited fire.
01:02:13Their solution was to thread small pieces of meat onto skewers,
01:02:17which cooked faster than larger ones.
01:02:19As you'll see in this recipe for curry, yogurt, marinated lamb kebabs,
01:02:23they cook in no time at all.
01:02:25So we have one cup of Greek yogurt, unflavored, could be low-fat or regular.
01:02:32Add to that a half a teaspoon of cumin, two tablespoons of finely chopped onion.
01:02:39And I'm mixing this whole dressing right in the same pan in which the lamb and the vegetables
01:02:46in which the lamb and the vegetables will marinate.
01:02:52Some honey, very nice, a half a teaspoon of honey,
01:02:56Greek honey if you have it.
01:02:58This is my own honey.
01:03:01The zest of one lime.
01:03:04We're making a very flavorful marinade.
01:03:09Lamb just takes flavors really, really well.
01:03:12We also want the juice of half of a juicy lime.
01:03:16If your lime is kind of dry, use the whole lime.
01:03:21It's pretty.
01:03:22So you can cut your lime in half and juice it right into this mixture.
01:03:32And always zest before you try to juice it.
01:03:37Be pretty hard to zest that.
01:03:41Some salt and pepper.
01:03:43Oh, two tablespoons of fresh mint, chopped.
01:03:48And some curry powder, half a teaspoon.
01:03:51Get a nice, flavorful, fresh curry powder.
01:03:54Important that it be fresh.
01:03:56Spices do tend to get old, do tend to lose their potency, their flavor, and they also get rancid.
01:04:06So I think that's it for our marinade.
01:04:09Cut the meat into one and a half inch cubes.
01:04:12This is boneless leg of lamb.
01:04:15Some of the pieces may be slightly smaller than you can put two pieces together.
01:04:20But isn't that gorgeous, gorgeous lamb?
01:04:23Oh, so beautiful.
01:04:25You can cook these on a griddle pan right in your kitchen.
01:04:28You can also do them on a gas grill or on a wood-fired grill.
01:04:33Just be sure that you don't have the fire so hot that the kebabs burn.
01:04:37You want to cook them fast but tenderly.
01:04:42So here we have the lamb all cut up.
01:04:48Pretty, isn't it?
01:04:49This is going to marinate for at least eight hours in the refrigerator.
01:04:54And you can do it overnight too.
01:04:57Now I'm cutting these, I call this quarter cut.
01:05:00Keep turning the squash a quarter turn so you're getting an odd shape.
01:05:07And always cut off the end like that, like that.
01:05:11It gives more surface area and it's prettier and chunkier.
01:05:17And the same with the yellow squash.
01:05:23And they all end up kind of being the same size, which is nice.
01:05:26And if you wish, a tiny bit more salt can be sprinkled and a little bit more pepper.
01:05:32Cover and refrigerate.
01:05:34So now here's lamb that has marinated with the squash eight hours.
01:05:39Make sure that the pieces are all about the same size and don't crowd the skewers.
01:05:45Bamboo skewers like these are readily available in supermarkets and cooking supply stores.
01:05:50And they should be soaked in water before you use them.
01:05:54It prevents them from burning once they're on a griddle pan like this or on a grill.
01:06:00I also like sometimes to use these beautiful rosemary branches.
01:06:05If you have a big rosemary plant or have access to rosemary that's growing quite large,
01:06:11you can use this because it's a woody stem.
01:06:13Just make sure that you cut the ends of these branches with scissors so you make a little point.
01:06:22Now to make a rosemary skewer, take a branch and just strip the leaves right off.
01:06:28They come off so easily.
01:06:29And are they a fragrant, wonderful skewer.
01:06:33And these two can sit in a little bit of water until you're ready to use them.
01:06:38So now skewer meat.
01:06:41We're going to cook all the meat on the rosemary.
01:06:45And I'm going to do all the meat together and the vegetables together
01:06:49so that everything cooks in the same amount of time.
01:06:53So per person, I would say four pieces of meat.
01:06:56I'm going through the meat through the longest side, exposing the largest bit of meat to the heat.
01:07:04Now this can be done before your guests arrive,
01:07:07so you're not there with dirty hands skewering kebabs.
01:07:12And now for the vegetables, you can use the bamboo and go also through the squash.
01:07:18And this can be done alternating colors.
01:07:22So now just lay your kebabs on your grill or your griddle.
01:07:34And look how pretty these look on the rosemary.
01:07:38These are best eaten as soon as they're done, but they can be made in advance also and kept warm.
01:07:45And they take about four minutes per side, so stay nearby and cook away.
01:07:52So once they've cooked about four minutes per side, just remove them to a platter and enjoy.
01:08:00These look so great.
01:08:04And I'm sure you're going to love their taste.
01:08:08So once off the flame, hot off the grill, just sprinkle with a little bit of olive oil.
01:08:13Hot off the grill, just sprinkle with a little bit more salt.
01:08:16And you will definitely enjoy curry yogurt marinated lamb kebabs.
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