In my teenage years, I discover the Martha Stewart Living show. While my friends were doing teenage things, I was obsessed with crafting and baking. I remember watching episodes of the show and convincing my mom to make some of the things from the show. One of the very first things I ever made was a recipe for apple pie. My family loved it, since then I became the official baker in our home. To this day I still use the same pie dough recipe for all my recipes that call for pie dough.
You can find my recipe for Mini Apple Pies on my “Fall Fun” post.
As a little girl, my favorite things to do always revolved around my play kitchen and crafting. As I got older and discovered TV shows, magazines, and books dedicated to these art forms I began to develop more of my skills. My family and close friends began to call me mini Martha or Dominican Martha. My brothers enjoyed being my taste testers when I baked. When my brother Jason went to college I even mailed him chocolate chip cookies a few times during the school year. During Christmas time, I was given the task to decorate. I would plan the theme and even make my own ornaments. I wish I had pictures or even kept some, but because storage in NYC is limited my parents did not keep many things.
My mom is an exceptional cook so growing up I did not do much cooking. Also, my dad and my brothers were and still are very picky eaters. I mostly baked. But my mom and I would have fun trying some recipes for ourselves. Once I got married I was able to get in the kitchen more. My husband loves to eat. He is always willing to try new things. Our first few years of marriage I was obsessed with cooking shows and I was able to pick up many culinary techniques. With the amount of time I have spent watching cooking shows, I should have received a culinary degree.
As a newlywed, I subscribe to Martha Stewart Everyday Foods magazine. I would take the monthly issues to plan my dinner meals. After 12 years of marriage I still have my copies and from time to time go back to make my favorite recipes. I learned the basics of making risotto by following a recipe in the April 2008 issue. They don’t make the magazines anymore but you can find the recipes online.
Martha Stewart paved the way for the DIY and foodie generation that created sites like Pinterest and Etsy. Because of what began so many years ago, here I am today blogging about the homemade and handmade things I create.
Thank you, Martha,
How many of you have been inspired by Martha Stewart? Share under comments.