This tome is a collection of my most treasured recipes and tips, along with photos from my personal archives and the stories behind them. Since it was released last month, I've been on a busy book tour, signing books in Massachusetts, New York City, Long Island, and South Carolina. Over the weekend, I conducted another event at Orangerie Garden + Home, a charming shop and nursery owned by my friend Anthony Bellomo in Millbrook, New York, about one hour north of my farm. I signed a total of 290 books. It was a successful and most enjoyable celebration of MARTHA, THE COOKBOOK. If you haven't already, be sure to get your copy today. You'll love every single recipe.
Here are some photos.
I am so proud of this book. I, along with a very small team, worked very hard on it – cooking, testing, and photographing every single recipe in my own kitchen. It’s filled with spectacular images, tips, and my personal stories. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
MARTHA, THE COOKBOOK: 100 FAVORITE RECIPES WITH LESSONS AND STORIES FROM MY KITCHEN is a #1 New York Times Bestseller published by Clarkson Potter, my publisher since 1982 when I released my first book, Entertaining. These stacks of pre-purchased books were on display – many bought multiple copies. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Anthony Bellomo is a landscape architect, passionate gardener, and owner of this lovely shop. Orangerie sells many home items and has two greenhouses filled with seasonal plants. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Anthony’s husband is designer potter and lamp maker, Christopher Spitzmiller. This spruce colored hand thrown lamp from his collection is called “Patricia.” Many of his lamps can be found at Orangerie. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Orangerie was fully decorated for the event. Anthony decorated this tabletop tree – yes, all the ornaments are for sale. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Other items in the store include these dishes and antique cabinet from the boutique Creel and Gow, also in Millbrook. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Guests enjoyed lots of delicious bites while they waited for their books to be signed. All of the recipes are from the book. Christopher made my daughter Alexis’s famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Anthony baked Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies. I love this recipe and often bake them for my own hosted dinners at the farm. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Also from the book, Vegetable Flatbread, the most popular appetizer item at my Las Vegas restaurant, The Bedford. This version was inspired by my friend Julie Williamson, Junebug, who first served them to me at a party many years ago. And who made this batch? Junebug herself. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
This is my Christmas Punch with pomegranate, cranberry, Cointreau, sparkling water, lemon, and simple syrup. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
More than 300 visitors came through the doors during the two hour event. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
In between signings, I always try to take photos with guests. Here I am with Lois Mander. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
And I always enjoy talking with guests – it’s a great way for me to meet people and to hear lovely stories of how my books have inspired them over the years. This is Molly Levine, owner of Westerly Canteen, described as a “sort of” restaurant uniquely housed in a 1971 airstream in the Hudson Valley. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
I have signed tens of thousands of books and I always like to use a colored pen that best coordinates with the colors of the book – it is a detail that is very important to me. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
Some four legged friends also attended the book signing. This handsome Yorkshire Terrier is Figgy owned by Cece Kieselstein Cord. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
This guest brought in her dog-eared copy of Weddings for me to sign. This book was first published in 1987. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
And this young gentleman gifted me with these beautiful drawings that he did of me and my Summer House sunken garden. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
In this photo – Anthony, his friend Ashley Whitaker, and my friend and colleague, Patsy Pollack. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
This is Matt, who helps care for the plants at Orangerie. He was so excited to get his copy. (Photo by Guisela Photo)
And here I am with Anthony and Christopher. Thank you Anthony for a lovely gathering and celebration of my milestone 100th book, “Martha, The Cookbook.” (Photo by Guisela Photo)
This holiday season, if you come across a winter market or crafts fair where you live, try to attend and support the small businesses in your area - it's inspiring to meet the artisans and to learn about their specialties.
Over the weekend, I took a drive up to Stissing House for the second annual Holiday Craft Feast. Stissing House is a charming country restaurant in the historic town of Pine Plains, New York in Duchess County. For two days, Stissing House opened its doors to 50 collectors and craftspeople selling many collectibles and handmade items such as ceramics, baskets, wooden bowls, woven textiles, knits, etc. More than 1200 ticketed guests walked through the space and shopped. There were carolers, bagpipe players, jugglers, and lots of refreshments. It was a wonderful place to meet local entrepreneurs, shop for gifts, and celebrate the holidays.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Here I am with chef and proprietor, Clare de Boer. She took over Stissing House in 2022. The quaint country inn restaurant serves delicious, simple yet elegant fare. I’ve visited several times and enjoyed every dish. @clare.deboer
The property was originally built in 1782 and housed a tavern, inn and America’s first domed ballroom. (Photo by Gabe Zimmer @catskillimage)
This past weekend was Stissing House’s second annual Holiday Craft Feast. It was cold, but sunny – bagpipe players and jugglers from @madison_shulkin greeted guests as they arrived. (Photo by Gabe Zimmer @catskillimage)
Inside, 50 collectors and artisans set up tables around the main dining room.
There were visitors at all times through the two day event. (Photo by Gabe Zimmer @catskillimage)
The oysters on ice were provided by @islandcreekoysters, a company that harvests oysters daily from Duxbury Bay in Massachusetts.
Chef Clare served her famous ginger cake in bite sized pieces held in a five-foot long grapevine basket.
Here’s the basket in the middle of the room. It was so nice to see such an enthusiastic group talking with talented artisans and entrepreneurs. (Photo by Gabe Zimmer @catskillimage)
There was fresh butter from @ronnybrookfarm and sourdough bread from @sparrowbushbakery.
Thee were lots of sweets to try including the quince jelly donuts from @_gazoz. If you’ve never tried a quince jelly donut, it adds a sweet and floral flavor to the dough.
Here, @mgamwell uses her foraged, homemade black walnut ink for custom calligraphy gift tags.
These are Wendy Jensen baskets – all handwoven in the Berkshires.
Several tables showed beautiful ceramics. This one from @arc_ceramics.
And look who else was there, Frances Palmer. I’ve known Frances for many years. @francespalmer has been in my magazine and on my television shows.
Here are some of the wonderful wheel-thrown and hand-decorated pieces as well some from her manufactured Pearl Collection.
Here’s a table of charming collectibles from Country Mouse @sarahjean_c and @cassandra_dawn.
This collector’s table is set up by Warren Battle, co-owner of @battle_brown from nearby Hudson, New York.
These are handwoven textiles from @hetchellhandwovens inspired by 19th century overshot, Bronson lace, and huck weaves and made on an 1800s century barn loom.
@sawduststudioturnery sells these wooden bowls. The company is owned by food stylist and cookbook author Suzanne Lenzer and former IT specialist Ken Rath who create a limited range of home goods from only salvaged and reclaimed New England wood.
These items are from @curioshop_ where they offer antique lighting, glassware, tableware, art, and other vintage objects reimagined and repurposed for today’s needs.
Here’s a table filled with beautifully forced winter bulbs from @english.garden.grown. (Photo by Gabe Zimmer @catskillimage)
There was a little something for everyone at the Stissing House Craft Feast. @james.mc.grath (Photo by Gabe Zimmer @catskillimage)
I attended last year’s Craft Feast and this year’s Craft Feast. I am already looking forward to next year’s event @StissingHouse.
If you haven’t yet planted all your spring-blooming bulbs, try to get it done soon!
Planting bulbs can be a a very labor intensive task. Every autumn, I plant thousands and thousands of bulbs around my farm. This year, I selected bulbs from two of my favorite sources in Connecticut - Van Engelen Inc., a wholesale family-run flower bulb business located in Bantam and Colorblends Flowerbulbs, a third generation wholesale flower merchant in Bridgeport. I always find it exciting to plant bulbs in the fall that you won't see for many months - it's such a wonderful surprise of color when they bloom in spring.
Here are some photos.
It’s that time of year again, when gardeners rush to get all their spring-blooming bulbs in the ground before it gets too hard. Spring-blooming bulbs are planted in fall, grow roots during the winter, and then bloom in spring.
I order lots of bulbs, not only for my farm in Bedford, but also for my gardens at Skylands, my home in Maine.
Here’s my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, sorting all the bulbs in my garden library where it is cool, dry, and protected from direct sunlight and frost. Ryan organizes them by type and then by planting location.
There are several different tools used for planting bulbs depending on the size of the bulb. My gardeners use T-handled dibbers, which are pressed into the soil to make holes, and traditional bulb planters with six inch barrels for removing soil and then dropping it back into the hole over the bulb.
There are also garden auger drill bits which are very helpful for making bigger holes or for working in hard soil.
Nearly every garden bed is planted with new bulbs each fall. This area is behind my Tenant House. The beds are bare and cleaned for winter, but they’re ready to be planted with hundreds of scilla bulbs.
We always add Bulb-tone to our nutrient-rich soil. The food should be a balanced fertilizer that has a good amount of phosphorous. Fertilizing spring-blooming bulbs also helps them fight off diseases and pests.
The fertilizer can be sprinkled over and worked into the top few inches of soil.
Bulbs need to be packaged very carefully to ensure they are kept in the best conditions during transport. They are packaged in netted sacs, paper bags, boxes, and plastic pouches depending on the bulbs’ humidity needs. They must be kept moist without being wet.
These bulbs are Scilla Siberica Spring Beauty. These plants produce produce three to four thin scapes with one to three drooping, bell-like, deep blue flowers with blue anthers per scape. The flowers appear in early spring just after Galanthus, the white snowdrops.
Each bulb is placed in a hole about three to five inches deep. The dibber is perfect for planting these bulbs.
Josh makes a series of holes in the space first, being very careful not to poke any bulbs previously planted in the area.
One by one, each bulb is carefully placed in a hole, with the pointed end faced up, or root end faced down. This is very important, so the plant grows properly from the bulb.
Here is a bulb positioned correctly in its hole. If it is planted upside down, the flower will still grow, but it will likely take longer.
Josh plants an entire section before backfilling, so he knows what holes he has planted.
Then he goes over the area with a rake, making sure every bulb is covered. The ground is wet and more rain was expected, so the bulbs also get well-watered.
Close by, Ryan uses the auger attachment to make holes. The ground is a bit hard from the recent cold, but it’s still workable.
This hole is at least six inches deep for larger bulbs. Holes should be about three times the bulb’s width and depth.
Once again, it is easy to see that the pointed end of the bulb is faced up. This is an allium bulb. Alliums are members of the onion family. The shape of this flower cluster can be round, oval or cascading, and the flower color may be white, yellow, pink, purple, or blue.
Ryan backfills the hole to completely bury the bulb.
And then the area is raked and tidied.
These beds will look so pretty come spring. I hope this inspires you to start planting some beautiful bulbs in your garden – there’s still time!
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