I hope you're all ready for Christmas - it's just three days away. It's been another challenging year for us all, but brighter days are ahead. I hope you are able to enjoy this time with those near and dear. For the next couple of weeks, I'll be sharing a few of my favorite holiday memories from years past. This blog was originally posted one year ago on December 23, 2020. Enjoy this encore blog! If you're busy baking cookies and other treats, be sure to visit Martha.com for a scrumptious selection of recipes.
I hope you are all enjoying these last couple of days before Christmas despite pandemic guidelines to keep parties and other gatherings small and intimate.
This year, I wasn't able to have my annual holiday party at my Bedford, New York farm. I usually invite more than 200-guests for an open house through three buildings, each with a different and festive theme. Some of last year's party photos are in the December 2020 issue of my magazine "Martha Stewart Living" - I hope you have your copy; it's on newsstands now. Among the main features at the event - my elaborate gingerbread village and the thousands of cookies we baked and decorated for my guests.
Here are more photos from December 2019, enjoy.
Preparations for my annual holiday party start weeks in advance. During the week leading up to the party, I make two or three cookie doughs every night after work and then store them in the refrigerator. I made all the sugar cookie and gingerbread cookie doughs.
Last year, I gifted myself with this wonderful prepline countertop dough sheeter from Kitchenall. It is a commercial size machine, so it took up almost the entire counter, but it saved us so much time. The dough is placed on the conveyer belt and then passed through the machine – no rolling needed. It’s so amazing. And when it is done, it is flattened to a pre-programmed thickness.
Longtime “Living” contributor and author of the new book, “Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker,” Jason Schreiber, helped me create a beautiful gingerbread village for the party. My Winter House kitchen was bustling with activity.
Jason pre-made all the templates using cardboard and labeled each piece with the structure name and building part.
Royal icing was used to secure all the pieces together. This is the back of a chimney ready to be placed onto a house.
Here is the inside of two walls – all carefully connected with delicious royal icing. Finished houses dry in the background.
T-Pins are used to hold the pieces together until they dry.
Then more icing is applied to support the roof.
Here I am using silver-leaf foil to decorate the the top of this roof. We worked late into the night, but it was so much fun.
Meanwhile, Jason tends to the piping details on this wall to the clock tower.
Down at my Maple Avenue House, Molly Wenk @moll_doll23 and Jessie Damuck @jessdamuck prepared the long list of cookies to make. Being very organized is crucial when making so many cookies.
Molly and Jessie spent four days baking and decorating cookies with me. I am fortunate to have several kitchen at the farm where we could use all the ovens to make stacks and stacks of cookies.
These cookies were just decorated and are ready to be displayed. In the center, crushed freeze-dried raspberries and pink peppercorns on icing-filled sugar cookies.
On the day of the party, guests were told not to miss the “Cookie House” – Alexis’s little Tenant House was filled with sweet treats. We made about 2500-cookies in all. Many of the recipes are from my books and my web site at MarthaStewart.com. In this house, they were surrounded by whimsical woodland animals and miniature cookie figurines – the children loved this house the best.
I made these gorgeous palmiers, also known as pig’s ears, palm hearts, or elephant ears. These are French pastries made in a palm leaf shape or a butterfly shape. My guests loved these so much, they were gone before I got to even taste one myself.
I love to incorporate natural elements whenever possible. Here in the woodland Christmas themed Tenant House, cut tree stumps hold stacks and stacks of cookies – Alexis’s brown-sugar chocolate chip cookies, four-ingedient sables bretons, bourbojn-spiked Noel nut balls, raspberry and apricot jam filled pecan linzers, and sugar cookie mushrooms.
We decorated sugar cookies in different colors – these in white, gold and silver.
Green royal icing and sanding sugar were applied in sections to add texture to these gingerbread trees.
And these sugar cookie wreaths were embellished with ground Sicilian pistachios and silver and gold dragees.
Some cookies were as small as coins while others spanned seven inches across – there was something for everyone. And guests were encouraged to take a bag home with them to enjoy later.
And then back in my Winter House Brown Room – the finished gingerbread village.
Small lights were used to illuminate every house.
The entire village scene includes outdoor elements as well – gingerbread boxwood and trees covered in snow.
The village filled an entire table. It was such a beautiful centerpiece – everyone loved it. I hope you are baking lots of beautiful cookies this holiday. No matter how small, every Christmas gathering can be special. See more photos from last year’s gathering in this December 2019 blog. Happy holidays.
The season's burlap project at my Bedford, New York farm continues at my long and winding pergola.
As many of you know, I've been covering shrubs and hedges with burlap for many years to protect the branches from splaying and even breaking from the weight of snow and ice. Every season, our wrapping methods become easier and more streamlined, giving me peace of mind during the cold weather months. This entire project takes weeks to complete, but it's almost done. And just in time - winter officially begins today.
Here are more photos of our "burlapping" process, enjoy.
My long pergola is located along the carriage road leading to my home. Here it is in September – this garden is among the first guests see when they visit the farm.
In 2017, I decided to line both sides of my clematis pergola with small boxwoods. There are more than 300-shrubs now planted here, and they continue to thrive.
This hedge is now covered every year along with all the other tender boxwood hedges and shrubs around the property. Chhiring begins to build the frame on top of the hedge. The frames are built at least several inches above the plants so even the heaviest snow doesn’t weigh the burlap down and crush the foliage.
These wooden stakes are placed in between every three of the boxwood shrubs at the pergola. String is used to ensure all the stakes and piping are straight and even.
Chhiring screws the horizontal piping to the vertical stakes positioned along both sides of the pergola.
Because the burlap covers are custom fitted for each hedge and shrub, every burlap cover is labeled, so it can be reused in the same exact location the following season.
Here, Pasang unwraps the piece of burlap saved from the previous season and drapes it over the frame at one end.
And then carefully covers the long hedge section by section. My crew has gone through the process several times – it is a well-executed production line.
After the burlap cover is in place, Domi hammers in smaller wooden stakes every two to three feet at the base of these specimens.
The sides are pulled over the stakes and then sandwiched and secured with wooden strips.
The strips are four to six inches long – just long enough to accommodate two or three screws that will keep the burlap secure. These are also reused year after year – nothing is wasted at my farm.
Here is Pasang screwing in a wooden strip at the bottom, securing it to the stake on the inside of the burlap.
Here is one side all done – it looks great. Any snow that falls will just slide off the the burlap cover.
The larger burlap shrubs are also enveloped in burlap. Do you see the hole on the left of this giant boxwood shrub? Various birds love to perch and nest in the big bushes, so I purposely add a few holes for our avian friends. These covered shrubs are great places for small birds to take shelter on cold, windy days.
Our burlap covers last up to three seasons depending on the weather, but remember, these boxwood specimens also grow a little more every year, so the covers and frames have to be adjusted each time.
The pergola is long and curved, but the burlap is measured carefully and cut to fit perfectly.
Here is a view from the soccer field looking south toward my Tenant House. The “burlapped” plantings take on a whole new look. This boxwood is now ready for the winter weather ahead – which officially begins today.
Meanwhile, holiday shooting stars are put up around the farm – it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
I like to position them strategically on buildings so they can be seen from afar. Once the star is hung, the taillights are separated so they swoop properly and are all equally spaced. Here’s one above my giant Equipment Barn. I designed these stars for my holiday collection – they’re available on Martha.com. Use them all winter long to liven up your home.
Here’s another shooting star above my Hay Barn.
And here’s Pete placing another star on one side of my stable.
As day turns into night, the stars light up the farm – the more lights, the better. I wish all of you a very happy and safe holiday season.
During my recent trip to Washington, DC, I also stopped at Mount Vernon - the historic home of George Washington, the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. The estate sits on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia. It is located south of Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, Virginia and is across the river from Prince George's County, Maryland.
Here are more of my photos, enjoy. And if you're in the area now through 2022, you can visit Mount Vernon using the following information for discounted tickets. Use promo code: MSMV20 for 20% off a grounds pass and up to six tickets. The offer is valid from now through December 31, 2022.
The Mansion at George Washington’s Mount Vernon is one of the most iconic 18th-century homes in the United States. The original house was built by George Washington’s father, Augustine, and George Washington expanded the house twice – once in the late 1750s and again in the 1770s. The present day mansion is more than 11-thousand square feet. This is the West Front of the mansion taken from the Bowling Green.
And here is the West Front entrance to Mount Vernon. Look closely at the lack of symmetry. Washington reused the original four room house as the core of the expansion.
Above the entrance is the bulls-eye window and cupola.
Here is a view from the inside of the window looking out to the Bowling Green. The current size and shape of the Bull’s Eye Room were created by the addition of the wide pediment in 1778. Some of the shelves in this room are part of the original shelving in this space. The shelving confirms this room was a storage space, almost certainly the “China Closet upstairs.”
And here is the view looking out from the cupola to the Bowling Green.
The mansion is flanked by colonnade passageways from the Servants Hall and the Mansion.
The exterior of Mount Vernon is made to look like stone, but actually it is made up of pine boards beveled to look like masonry, then sanded and painted.
When George Washington returned home from the American Revolution, he was immediately referred to as a modern day Cincinnatus after the Roman statesman, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus (519-430 BC). Cincinnatus fought to protect the Roman republic, and like Washington, after claiming victory returned to the plow of the farmer rather than assuming absolute authority over the state. Samuel Vaughan recognized this and sent Washington a marble mantelpiece with bucolic scenes of rural life symbolically celebrating the General’s return.
The view from Mount Vernon’s Piazza, or veranda, has been preserved by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association to look as if it did during Washington’s time. Across the river is Maryland and Piscataway National Park.
Added to the Mansion in 1777, the two-story piazza is the Mansion’s most distinctive architectural feature. Extending the full length of the back of the house, it also has a practical function – catching the river breezes on a hot and humid Virginia day. The Washingtons treated the piazza as an outdoor room, serving afternoon tea and coffee to visitors and family members seated in comfortable Windsor chairs.
Upon his death in 1799, George Washington’s estate inventory listed 30 Windsor chairs on the piazza. These reproduction chairs are based on an original in the collection that descended in the family of Washington’s enslaved body servant, Christopher Sheels. In July 1800, Martha Washington paid to have the chairs on the piazza painted with mahogany – a paint scheme that was replicated on these reproductions.
This 1796 stipple engraving depicts a calm and resolute Washington before the Battle of Trenton, in which the American troops defeated a garrison of Hessian soldiers after the famous Christmas night crossing of the Delaware River in December of 1776.
Nearby is reproduction furniture in the Front Parlor. In 1774, Washington received a new suite of parlor furniture as a gift from his friend and neighbor, George William Fairfax. This suite consisted of a set of eight backstools, chairs upholstered on the back and the seat, and a sofa all upholstered in luxurious blue silk and worsted damask.
The ornamental plaster ceiling was made by Irish plasterer Richard Tharpe in the late 1780s. The ceiling features neoclassical detailing—swags, husks, and ovals. Documentation and conservation work in 2018 confirmed that much of the 18th-century ceiling ornament still survives.
George Washington died in this bed on December 14, 1799. The bedstead’s tall, slender, turned posts exemplify the neat and plain style the Washingtons favored. During the winter, it was hung with dimity curtains to ensure warmth and privacy. Netting installed in the warmer months kept insects out but permitted cool evening air to flow through. The bedding shown here is a reproduction.
After returning to Mount Vernon from the presidency, Martha Washington used this small, Louis XVI-style writing desk to manage her household business. Originally called a “bonheur du jour,” meaning daytime delight, it was made in France around 1787 and was designed especially for ladies’ use. The Washingtons purchased it in 1790, from the household of the French minister to the United States. The upper cabinet of the desk features fashionable tambour panels, created with flat, vertical strips of wood glued to a canvas backing. The panels slide in grooves revealing internal compartments for storage. The hinged writing flap below also lifts up. In a letter, dated June 23, 1775, George Washington wrote Martha that he was about to take up his new duties as the commander in chief of the Continental Army. One of only two surviving letters from the general to his wife, this document was found behind one of the drawers in Martha’s writing desk. Mrs. Washington destroyed the couple’s correspondence, presumably to preserve their privacy.
By the time of his death, George Washington had acquired more than 1200 books, pamphlets, magazines, and newspapers – he loved to learn. He organized this extensive collection in built-in bookcases and free-standing units. The subjects ranged from politics and economics, religion, agriculture, and military matters, to poetry and literature, applied and natural sciences, and general reference works.
The most faithful likeness of George Washington is a terra cotta bust created by Jean Antoine Houdon. The French sculptor visited Mount Vernon in October 1785 to carefully observe Washington’s movements and expressions, even making a plaster “life mask” of Washington’s face to accurately preserve every detail. Washington was then 53 years old. When completed, Houdon gave the bust to Washington and it has remained at Mount Vernon for more than two centuries.
In March 1797, Washington bought this stately secretary-bookcase from Philadelphia cabinetmaker John Aitken for his study at Mount Vernon. His choice, purchased for the exceptional sum of $145, was based on fashionable British neoclassical design. His chair is an early edition of a swivel – this one on four legs.
The kitchen was a central hub of activity on the Mount Vernon estate. Cooks arose at 4am each day to light the fire in the bread oven and prepare for the Washingtons’ usual meals: breakfast, dinner, and sometimes tea. Martha Washington planned each day’s menus, selected ingredients, and supervised food preparations. The Washingtons were well known for their hospitality.
It was such a beautiful day for a tour of Mount Vernon. Here is a row of outbuildings on the South Lane.
There are four main gardens at Mount Vernon. This is the Lower Garden, or Kitchen Garden. While George Washington oversaw most aspects of the grounds, Martha Washington oversaw the kitchen garden, allowing her to keep fruits and vegetables on the table year round.
The octagonal structures at the west end of the Upper and Lower Gardens were used to store tools and seeds. They also provided sheltered workspaces for gardeners, who cultivated new plants, gathered seeds, and carefully stored them.
This graceful, serpentine-front sideboard is one of two that George Washington purchased from Philadelphia cabinetmaker John Aitken in February 1797 for his “New Room” at Mount Vernon. When the New Room was used for dining, the sideboard could be set up to serve food, but more often than not, it displayed ceramic figurines and knife boxes, while storing linens and other valuable objects in its drawers.
This is a view of the New Room, where Mount Vernon’s curators setup a holiday dining scenario. This is one of two English-made tables. One table is stored in the Central Passage, the other is this one in the Dining Room. While the winter scenario is in place guests see a completely empty Dining Room, bare of furniture showing the practicality of furniture in the 18th century. The beautiful light green color is called “green verditer.”
If you haven’t yet been, I hope you take some time to visit Mount Vernon one day to see the place that the Father of Our Country and the first First Lady called home. For more information, go to the Mount Vernon web site.
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