Here's another encore blog. Remember this one? It was originally posted on December 22, 2020.
I hope you're all in the holiday spirit.
If you follow me on Instagram @MarthaStewart48, you may have seen photos and a brief video showing some of the cookies I decorated for last week's one-hour virtual “tutorial” on cookie baking and decorating with my dear friend, Snoop Dogg. It was so much fun. More than 400-thousand viewers from around the world joined us for the LIVE Zoom corporate event for Salesforce. And the cookies were amazing - all beautifully made by Molly Wenk @moll_doll23, Julie Preis @bakerofblackrock, and Dani Boglivi-Fiori @sweetdanib here on the East Coast, and on the West Coast, by Jess Damuck @jessdamuck.
Enjoy these photos.
On this day I appeared LIVE from my Bedford, New York farm kitchen. My Winter House counter was filled with holiday decor and interesting cookies such as these two featuring me and my “Potluck Dinner Party” co-host, Snoop Dogg. The cookies were made by @bakerofblackrock.
This cookie shows a fun self portrait captioned: “There’s some ho, ho, hos in this house.”
Snoop’s cookie expertly depicts Snoop on a wreath dedicated to his love for – yes, smoking blunts.
On this end of the counter, more cookies – many of these baked and decorated by @sweetdaniB.
Some of the most memorable cookies were these fun cannabis leaves.
We also had whimsical elves and gingerbread figures. Remember my “4 Ds” when embellishing delicious sugar cookies – dipping, dripping, decorating and drying. I also have a fifth “D” – devouring.
One tip I shared with the group was to always have skewers on hand for the fine detailing on cookies. One can use skewers to fix piping or other decorating mistakes while the icing is still wet.
Here are some of the Christmas trees we made – some decorated with my own Martha Stewart CBD gummies – premium quality, hemp-derived wellness supplements – all made with flavor profiles inspired by some of my most popular recipes.
In “Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection” there are tons of tips and ideas to make all those favorite go-to cookies even better. It introduces new flavors, textures, and techniques, and incorporates equipment that isn’t traditionally used for making cookies.
These are my Flower-Embellished Wreath Cookies from the book – baked by @moll_doll23. These sugar cookies make such an elegant statement when dressed up with glaze and other candies, These include dragees and dots from my CBD gummies.
These are colored green and include finely chopped pistachios. In the recipe, we also use candied ginger, citrus and sugared flowers.
Snoop’s 2018 cookbook “From Crook to Cook” features OG soul food staples like Baked Mac & Cheese and Fried Bologna Sandwiches with Chips, and new takes on classic weeknight favorites such as Soft Flour Tacos and Easy Orange Chicken. It’s such a fun collection of recipes the entire family will love.
I decorated some cannabis leaves with red dots – a humorous take on holly.
And we couldn’t decorate cookies without adding some “Dogg Bones.”
Here I am posing with a box of my CBD Wellness Gummies. My line of CBD products is done in partnership with the world-leading diversified cannabis and hemp company, Canopy Growth Corporation. Some of the flavors include Meyer lemon, kumquat, and blood orange and others.
Snoop joined the event from his home in Los Angeles. Here he is decorating some of his cookies on-camera.
He decorated this full sheet of holiday stars with help from @JessDamuck who has also done lots of work for me here in New York.
And some charming basketball uniformed gingerbread players.
Snoop stopped to show us some of his decorated cookies during the broadcast – great job, Snoop.
It was such a great event. Later, we also took questions from the audience. I hope you are all enjoying these last few days before Christmas! Happy baking, and please stay safe.
Here's the continuation of my family excursion to Costa Rica. This encore blog is from December 17, 2019 - enjoy.
There is so much to see in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is a Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and the Pacific. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south. Costa Rica is known for its beaches, its volcanoes, and its biodiversity - roughly a quarter of its area is made up of protected jungle, rich with wildlife, plants, and trees.
Here are more photos from my trip, enjoy.
Costa Rica is not very large. The land area measures at about 20-thousand square miles – a little smaller than the US state of West Virginia. But the views over the water are vast and amazing. We took many photos of these spectacular views.
While driving in Costa Rica, one will see numerous fruit stands – many with pipa fría, or fresh chilled green coconut. Coconut water is full of electrolytes and packed with calcium, magnesium, and potassium – it is so good and so good for you.
Discarded coconut shells are made into beautiful bowls and other natural products and sold at these roadside stands.
We visited the Baru National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses more than 800-acres of land along the Pacific, offering spectacular bird and wildlife viewing. There are many trails through primary and secondary forests, mangroves, grasslands, and even a beach. There are hundreds of types of birds and animals, including sloths, monkeys, peccaries, and toucans. Looking up, we saw this huge ant colony in the tree.
Up in another tree, we saw several capuchin monkeys. They were all swinging through the trees playing with each other. This duo stopped to look at all the activity below.
There are four monkey species that are native to the forests of Costa Rica. They include the Central American squirrel monkey, this Panamanian white-faced capuchin, the mantled howler monkey, and the spider monkey.
Capuchin monkeys, also called white-faced monkeys, occupy the wet lowland forests on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and Panama and in the deciduous dry forests on the Pacific coast. These animals are very curious.
The boardwalks have wire netting along the top to make them more non-slip when wet. This is a great idea.
Here’s Ari next to the buttress roots of this huge tree. In Costa Rica, these roots line the forest floor.
Here are the roots of another large tree. Like the name suggests, these roots buttress or keep the tree from falling down.
We also visited another mountain top animal facility, the Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary – dedicated to the protection and conservation of Costa Rica’s wildlife. the facility provides wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education and research.
Peccaries are adorable little wild pigs found in the deciduous dry forest, tropical rainforests, low-lying shrub forests, and agricultural areas in Costa Rica. They are quite resourceful and adaptable and live in herds of between three and 30 other peccaries, maintaining a hierarchical structure within their herd.
There are six sloth species in the world, and two of the six live in Costa Rica. Sloths sleep about 20 hours a day. Here is a pair napping in their enclosure – they didn’t mind our visit one bit.
Here’s another capuchin monkey at the sanctuary. The sanctuary has a more private area for wounded animals that need special care during rehabilitation.
This is a yellow-naped Parrot, Amazona a. auropalliata. It is almost entirely green, with a large patch of yellow on its nape.
This is the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan or Swainson’s Toucan, a brightly marked bird with a large bill. The male can reach up to two feet in length, while the smaller female reaches about 20-inches long at maturity. This toucan eats a variety of fruit, including different seeds, berries, drupes, and fruit fleshes. They also like insects or small snakes and hunt for birds’ eggs, nestlings, and lizards.
We also went on a Titi Canopy Tour – ziplining through the rainforests. Titi Canopy is the only zipline tour located close to Manuel Antonio. The company runs 12 lines, 22 platforms, one rappel, one Tarzan swing and a treetop suspension bridge. It was a great way to see nature.
We ate at my friend’s restaurant, Restaurante La Parcela, specializing in local cuisine, and seafood, as well as more beautiful views.
On another day, we looked at some of the fruits of Costa Rica. Breadfruit, native to Southeast Asia, arrived in Costa Rica with sailors in the early 1800s. In Costa Rica, breadfruit trees grow up to 50-feet tall and have smooth, brown trunks. This flowering tree, which is part of the mulberry family, can produce up to 200 fruits each year.
And do you know what this is? Theobroma cacao also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree. It is a small evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. After four years, the mature cacao tree produces fruit in the form of elongated pods; it may yield up to 70 such fruits annually.
If you saw my photos on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48, you may have seen these two black vultures, Coragyps atratus. We saw vultures everywhere – these large, mostly black birds with bald, wrinkled, charcoal-black heads and wingspans up to five feet. With keen eyesight, they can spot carcass from far distances, but these scavengers have a poor sense of smell.
And, on our way back to the airport, we went over the famous Tarcoles River. Driving over the Tarcoles Bridge, you might see dozens of crocodiles. We saw glimpses of some just under the water.
And look at the gorgeous view beyond. If you get the chance, visit Costa Rica – you’ll have a great time. We certainly did.
As we continue the holiday week, I hope you enjoy this encore blog from my vacation in Costa Rica. It was originally posted on December 16, 2019.
I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season.
Some of you have asked for photos of my Thanksgiving. This year, my family and I went away. It felt odd at first - no turkey, no cranberry sauce, and no pie, but once we got to Costa Rica, near Dominical, a beach-front town in the province of Puntarenas, I started to relax and loved every minute of the five days we spent there. We enjoyed the beaches, the wildlife, and of course the many spectacular views from our villa.
Enjoy these photos.
Here I am at Los Elementos, an extraordinary villa built on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The house is superb – a large, secluded home built by two very talented garden designers. The pool area was one of our favorite spots.
Los Elementos has four levels and is reminiscent of an open-air house in Bali. In fact, the house was inspired by five Balinese elements – water, earth, fire, air and ether. All the couches were so beautiful and generously sized.
The entire space was so tranquil – look closely at the hammock at the back. There were many spaces in which to lounge.
There were also some resident pets – this cat was so friendly and loved entertaining my grandchildren.
Here is my gorgeous daughter Alexis. She did her yoga exercises every morning by the pool.
Los Elementos has a wonderful infinity-edge swimming pool. Jude and Truman, who love the water and are excellent swimmers, swam nonstop.
Los Elementos is just a short walk to some of the area’s most beautiful and secluded beaches. Here I am with our friend, Milena. She loves the beach.
The views from the beach were endless. Dominical Beach is well known around the world as one of the best places for surfing.
My grandchildren played and played and played – they adore the water.
We were there for the end of the “green season” or wet season, which runs from May to mid-November. The weather was excellent – mid to high 80s during the day with lows in the 70s – perfect beach weather.
The modern garden at Los Elementos was designed by Dennis Schrader, owner of Landcraft Environments, Ltd., a pre-eminent wholesaler of tropical, tender perennials, and exotic annuals, in Mattituck, New York. This garden showcases tropical plants, including water lilies, Calathea, palms, and Heliconia.
Bismarckia palms, my favorite fan palm, abound in Costa Rica.
The water lilies are so beautiful – they are in full bloom every morning.
Here’s a closer look at the water lilies, Nymphaea. These are hardy pond plants that live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates. The family contains five genera with about 70 known species.
I was so intrigued by this extraordinary vine. Its leaves cling to the tree trunk, all separated and exposed to the light.
Jude floated purple flowers in the pool. She also loves photography and took this picture herself.
And here is another photo by Jude.
The flowers are picked off this pergola – the gardens were so well-maintained – everything was groomed and swept every day.
Here is a beautiful sunset seen from the infinity-edge pool. The sunsets were so stunning.
Here is a photo I took one early morning of a gecko on the screen. It reminded me of an Aztec lizard print.
We also visited Playa Ventanas. The name comes from the caves that look like little windows – ventanas means windows in Spanish. The caves of Playa Ventanas are natural formations.
Our boat was able to go through some of the them – this can only be done at low tide.
Playa Ventanas is located south of Dominical and Uvita and north of Ojochal and San Buenas.
At both ends of the beach are huge boulders covered with lush vegetation that extends to the sea.
Here is another view of one of the “windows.”
Here is Milena standing at the entrance of one of the caves. During the low tide, one can walk through and see the waves breaking inside.
At night, we enjoyed dinner back at Los Elementos. Jude and our friend, Ari, who also accompanied us on the trip, made these arrangements for the table. In my next blog, I will share more photos of our holiday in Costa Rica.
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