I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Thanksgiving is among my favorite occasions, and mine was perfect - celebrated at my Bedford, New York farm with close friends.
Every year, my holiday begins weeks before with careful planning and preparation. Outside, the gardens around my home are groomed. And inside, all my beautiful turkey decorations are taken out and displayed. This Thanksgiving, my long dining table in my Brown Room was set for 15. I, along with my sous chef Moises, cooked two large turkeys, which came from Mike's Organic in nearby Stamford, Connecticut. I also served traditional sides including scalloped potatoes with white truffle, Brussels sprouts, corn bread and cranberry gelatin made in my fanciful turkey molds, and more. And for dessert, I was proud to share a variety of beautifully decorated homemade pies.
In all, it was a most enjoyable holiday gathering, enjoy these photos.
Here I am on Thanksgiving Day with our perfectly roasted turkey and some of the pies I made the day before – all displayed for my guests to see when they arrive.
Here is the 18-foot long dining table in my Brown Room. It is set for 15 – my 14 guests and myself.
Whenever I entertain, I try to set the table so it is a little different every time. I work with my housekeeper, Enma, on choosing just the perfect combination of plates and linens. This year, we chose gold as the main color. I also like to mix in some plants from my greenhouse. This table looks very pretty.
Guests arrived right on time for my holiday dinner. Here’s my friend Christopher Spitzmiller – in his cheerful winter knit hat.
We started with warm gougères. A gougère in French cuisine is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough and mixed with cheese. The cheese is commonly grated Gruyère, Comté, or Emmentaler. These are always a big hit to serve before the main meal.
I also made carrot, leek, and butternut squash soup using carrots grown right here in my vegetable greenhouse.
Here is one of the cornbread turkeys fresh out of the oven and plated on an antique bread board. The turkey molds I use are five-cup molds from Nordic Ware available on Martha.com. They can be used for cornbread, cranberry sauce, or even cake.
We used the same molds to make these beautiful cranberry gelatin turkeys.
Everyone loves scalloped potatoes for Thanksgiving. I made this dish with white truffle.
My Perfect Roast Turkey 101 recipe, which is found on Martha.com, really creates a well bronzed and glistening bird. This turkey was stuffed with brioche bread, white bread, apples, and vegetables cooked in broth. The turkey is plated on a bed of herbs grown right here in my garden, with citrus and pomegranate slices.
This is my Roasted Spatchcocked Turkey. It was so moist. This is a great option when one wants the bird done quickly. When the turkey’s backbone is removed and the halves are flattened, the meat cooks in just about an hour.
Here is Moises – he did a fantastic job helping me make this wonderful holiday meal.
My handsome Emperor Han is always hoping for something to drop nearby.
And here’s my beautiful champion, Empress Qin, also eagerly waiting underfoot.
I was so pleased with all the pies I baked. I made 25-pies – most to give away to my hardworking staff – a tradition I do every year. The rest were saved for me and my friends to enjoy. Not one crumb was left over. This is a squash pie.
This is a squash crème brulée getting torched. I made two – and both went very quickly.
Chocolate Pecan Pie – made to perfection. This was also a popular favorite. Almost everyone on my crew requested chocolate pecan pie.
And here is a lemon curd pie topped with whipped cream.
I love taking out all the turkey decorations I have amassed over the years, including these dark amethyst turkey dishes. I have a large collection of turkeys. After all, I once lived on “Turkey Hill Road”.
More turkeys were displayed on this side table in my Brown Room.
Here are some gold turkeys in the servery – more than 110 came out for Thanksgiving this year.
I made some of these turkeys years back for a shoot. We casted numerous turkeys from a material called PermaStone, a lightweight, durable cement and then gently tinted them in various earth tones. They look so beautiful sitting on this counter.
I wish you all a very joyous holiday season. In my next blog, I will share photos from friends and colleagues – another tradition I enjoy every year! Stay tuned.
In order to keep my Bedford, New York farm and all its gardens, allées, and groves as beautiful as possible, I pay lots of attention to the maintenance and care of all my trees.
Lindens, Tilia, are medium to large sized shade trees that are easy to maintain and attractive in any landscape. I have two linden tree allées. One near my stable and another which runs from the old corn crib all the way down to the chicken coops. Not long ago, Pasang and Domi groomed and "limbed up" this second, slightly younger, allée. They trimmed branches to control its shape and to allow for better air circulation through the center of the specimen. They also pruned back the low branches so anyone on foot, or on horseback, could pass through easily.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Tilia, commonly called basswood or linden, is a medium to large deciduous tree which typically grows to 50 to 80 feet tall with an ovate-rounded crown. This spring view of the linden trees looks south up the allée from the Boxwood Allée.
And here is a June photo looking north from the old corn crib, which is original to the farm. A corn crib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It may also be known as a corn house. Notice, the walls are slanted on the corn crib. This taper, which narrows a foot from top to bottom, was designed to keep the corn dry. The wooden boards are spaced slightly to let in air flow. Corn cribs are also raised above ground on stone piers strategically placed to support its frame and to deter any curious vermin.
Here is a photo of the allée in October as the leaves start to turn. In autumn, the leaves of the linden tree take on a beautiful golden hue before dropping. Linden trees are easy to care for and ideal for urban landscapes because they tolerate a wide range of adverse conditions, including pollution.
I loved the allée so much I extended it in 2017 all the way down to the chicken coops. These trees are developing so nicely.
And here are some of the trees just before they were pruned. These trees are done every couple of years. The best time to prune trees is when the trees are dormant. It’s best to complete all pruning before early spring when the buds begin to form. Dormancy pruning reduces the amount of stress placed on the tree. The reduced flow of fluids in the tree during the time helps the pruning wounds heal quicker.
For this pruning job, two different kinds of tools are used – an extended reach pole saw and a pole pruner.
Pasang Sherpa is our resident tree pruner and groomer here at the farm. He oversees a lot of the smaller tree pruning projects. Pasang begins by cutting off dead, damaged, diseased, or crisscrossing branches using the telescoping pole saw.
This tool is lightweight and has a very sharp blade for making smooth cuts. It is ideal for pruning higher branches that are not too thick.
It is important to always use sharp tools whenever pruning so that the cuts are clean. Dull tools are difficult to use and could even damage the tree. A straight, clean-cut promotes quick healing of the wound and reduces stress on the specimen.
As branches are taken down, they’re gathered and placed into tidy piles, so they can be cleaned up easily and quickly. After the job is done the crew will chip the branches and use the wood chips as top dressing in another area of the farm. Everything is always reused, repurposed or recycled when possible.
Here, Pasang uses a long-reach pole pruner to cut higher branches that are more difficult to reach.
This tool has about a 1/2-inch cutting capacity.
Then, Domi gathers all the branches and piles them up neatly in sections.
I instructed them to “limb up” by cutting the lower branches that are hanging too low over the center path. Pasang looks at what he has done and assesses what he will cut next to ensure the trees look uniform down the entire length of the allée.
It is easy to see where any branch was previously cut. The one on the left is a new cut and the one on the right is older.
There are a lot of branches cut from these lindens, but already there is more light and air circulating through the allée, and one can see more clearly underneath the trees.
Regular and thorough pruning will give the branches more room to grow.
Here’s Pasang carrying another load of branches to the pile.
This entire process takes a couple of days to do properly by hand, but it is all worth the efforts to have well-manicured, healthy trees.
And here is the allée all done. After pruning and limbing up, these trees look so much better. Thanks Pasang and Domi!
It's the weekend after Thanksgiving - are you busy shopping for all those on your list? Remember, you can shop my collections for great gift ideas and inspirations!
This year, I am so excited to share lots of great holiday gift items on Martha.com - products for home décor, kitchen gadgets, table setting pieces, products for the gardener, the baker, the home cook, and more. And if you haven't already, be sure to check out my Martha: Harvest + Holiday 2022 gift guide for finding that special someone something useful and meaningful. Visit my partner, Canopy, for my line of Martha Stewart CBD wellness supplements and topicals. If you're looking to get organized for the New Year, take a look at my California Closets Collection for ideas. If you're sending family photos to loved ones, consider getting a Martha Stewart Mixbook. If you're looking for weatherproof, easy to pack outerwear, you can find great pieces in my Collection on Amazon. And if you're looking for sweets, take a look at my offerings at Goldbelly - pastries, cakes and delicious cookies. I have something for everyone.
Enjoy these photos and happy shopping!
I’m so excited about our shop at Martha.com. Martha.com and our trusted partners are celebrating the season with inspired collections for the holidays. You can find décor, gifts, kitchen tools, and supplies all in one spot. And we’re adding more and more all the time. Click on the highlighted link and start shopping now!
Are you decorating your tree? This is my Champagne Shatterproof Ornament Set complete with 75 shatterproof pieces that will fill the spaces and sprigs on the tree in a cohesive, elegant fashion. The baubles come in an assortment of metallic tones with shiny, satin, flitter, and frosted white finishes, so there is a balance of sparkle, shine, and luster among the lights. Best of all, they’re durable, safe, and yes, shatterproof.
At Martha.com you can also find lots of beautiful jeweled ornaments that will look striking on any tree or hanging from the mantel.
Time to take out that warm bedding or give a set as a gift. Here’s my Herringbone Cotton Flannel Sheet Set. It includes a fitted sheet, a flat sheet, and two pillowcases, all crafted in Portugal from brushed cotton flannel. My beautiful Empress Qin is not included.
For the cook on your list, consider my MARTHA by Martha Stewart Enameled Cast Iron Cookware – braisers and dutch ovens in a variety of sizes and colors. These pots and pans will be so helpful all year round for roasting, frying, searing, sautéing, and baking.
My photo products from Mixbook are a great way to share the most important moments of your life. Visit the web site for photo cards, books, and holiday greetings.
To keep the stress levels low this busy season, I’m offering my Martha Stewart CBD 15 Flavor Sampler Wellness Gummies box from Canopy. These gummies are packaged in an elegant and reusable linen-textured drawer box that helps to preserve the texture and flavor of the gummies. All the CBD cube gummies are inspired by fruits and flavors I love and use.
These gummies are so flavorful – we worked hard to get the flavors just right. Persian lime, black raspberry, strawberry, grapefruit, calamondin, red raspberry, rhubarb, passion fruit, green apple, black currant, blood orange, kumquat, quince, Meyer lemon and huckleberry – you’ll love them all.
You’ll also love my Martha Stewart CBD body care topicals with aroma technology and CBD, that help comfort tired muscles, offer sleep support, and small stem solutions for relaxation and stress management.
This is The Everyday System™ “Perry St. White Woodgrain with Gold Metal” finishes modular set available at California Closets. Streamline any space and create an inviting area with my wall-mounted components. This desktop includes a drawer and two shelves, and a modular design for customization.
And, of course, my Martha Stewart Women’s Outerwear on Amazon – its ultra-lightweight construction makes it easy to pack away. It’s the perfect staple for daily wear this season – find it in black, navy, mercury, olive and toasted taupe.
For anyone with a sweet tooth, check out my collection at Goldbelly, the curated online marketplace for regional and artisanal foods crafted by local food purveyors throughout the United States. Order some of my favorite pastries, cakes, and addictively delicious cookies.
I never forget the pets. I’ve partnered with Fetch for Pets to bring you an array of pet supplies, such as shampoos, conditioners, brushes, combs and puppy training pads.
And cozy up in my Faux Fur Coat from my Outerwear collection. Whether you’re layering it over a formal look for a nighttime event, or throwing it on over jeans for a fabulous finish to your weekend wardrobe, the faux fur will provide insulation and the snap closures will ensure you are secure and warm. Best of all, despite the lush look of this piece, it is fully machine-washable, so you can continue to look and feel your warmest and best for many winters to come. I’ll be sharing lots more great holiday gift ideas on my blog in the weeks ahead. It’s time to get into the holiday spirit! Have a safe and wonderful season.
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