Living nominated for General Excellence Award

Martha Stewart Living magazine has been named as a finalist for a National Magazine Award by the American Society of Magazine Editors. Martha's magazine was nominated in the "General Excellence" category for Service and Lifestyle, alongside fellow nominees Bon Appetit, Afar, Saveur, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Living has won numerous magazine awards over the years in just as many categories, from design to photography. The winners will be announced on March 14th. Congratulations to the editors at Living!

The March issue of the magazine will be on newsstands February 15th. I love the cover!

Martha's Next Book Is All About Grilling

The northeast is currently covered in thick layers of snow with temperatures dipping down into the minus range. Dreaming about being outdoors enjoying some deliciously grilled summer food is my activity du jour thanks to the upcoming release of Martha's 94th book, Martha Stewart's Grilling. The book comes out on March 26th and promises to be filled with more than 100 recipes for the barbecue and grill, including desserts, cocktails and complementary side dishes as well.

Martha is shown on the cover of the book - the first cover she's had in a while, and it's nice to see her. Below are some of the recipes that are featured in the book: all of them look absolutely delicious, but I'm most excited to try Martha's Favorite Cheeseburgers! (Call me basic, but I love a good grilled burger). Continue reading for notes about the book from the publisher, below.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

With more than 100 recipes from the trusted editors at Martha Stewart Living, this indispensable guide to grilling has everything you need to create delicious, inviting meals for everyday dinners and backyard feasts.

There's nothing like the satisfaction of cooking over a live fire, whether a weeknight meal or outdoor entertaining. Martha Stewart's Grilling captures this spirit, while providing essential tips and techniques for both experienced outdoor cooks and those brand-new to the grill. Longtime favorites like pulled-pork sandwiches and bacon-and-turkey burgers are alongside foolproof dishes such as Korean short ribs and mojo-marinated shrimp. Crowd-pleasing appetizers, burgers, tacos, and kebabs join colorful cocktails to allow for easy entertaining, while smart strategies make grilled classics like pork chops and butterflied whole chicken a snap. Friends and family alike will love diving right into beautiful platters of grilled meats and vegetables, followed by grilled or chilled sweet treats--the perfect ending to a simply delectable meal.

Paperback/256 pages
Clarkson Potter

Valentine's Day with Martha at Macy's

Each year, the housewares designers at Martha Stewart Living come up with something fun to offer for Valentine's Day. Last year it was the glazed ceramic cocottes that enticed me enough to purchase a set; they are perfect for individual servings of something delectable, either sweet or savory. (I suggest using them for individual fondue servings - chocolate or cheese). This year, the cocottes are back again and a few new offerings are just as bright. Click here to view them!

New Year, New Hopes!

I was going through my Martha Stewart book collection recently and realized there are three books I would like to see added to the roster of titles; books that have not yet been published, but that ought to be. The urge for these books was strong enough to inspire me to sit down and design their covers, just for fun. You can see my designs below.

The three books I'm craving are "Kitchen Conundrums", "Good Things" (there hasn't been a second volume since the late 1990s) and a new edition of "The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook" that I would call "Updated Classics" containing recipes from the magazine that were published between 2008 and 2018, inclusive. (The previous MSL Cookbook concludes with the 2007 publication year).

There is a vast pool of content here to be mined and collated by the editors and I think they are necessary editions for my library. What do you think?

Martha Stewart Living food editor Thomas Joseph and his popular video series "Kitchen Conundrums" deserve a book containing all of the helpful hints and solutions to our everyday kitchen problems and questions. I know I would refer to to this volume very often.

I think it's time for another "Good Things" book. The last one was published in 1997, over twenty years ago. I would be pleased if it contained even a fraction of the numerous good things that have been published monthly in the magazine over the last two decades. It would be a great compilation of inspiring and helpful ideas.

The last Martha Stewart Living Cookbook was published in 2007, leaving ten years of recipes from the magazine just waiting to be published in one big volume. I am not sure if there are 700 recipes: perhaps there are more or perhaps less but I would love to see them all in one book. This would act as a companion volume to the other two MSL Cookbooks, giving us a trio of cookbooks containing virtually all of the best recipes from the magazine. We need this book!

(I hope you like my cover designs, too! I had fun with them.)

Martha Stewart Living on 2019 A-List of Honorees

Ad Age has added Martha Stewart Living magazine to its "Publishers A-List 2019" honourees. Each year, Ad Age (a global hub for news and conversations about marketing and media communities) names its top magazines to watch for and for the second year in a row Martha Stewart Living has made the cut.

The 2019 January/February issue


Here's what Ad Age says about Martha Stewart Living:

"Former independent magazine Martha Stewart Living has been under the Meredith umbrella since 2015, when the Des Moines, Iowa-based publisher took over operational and editorial control in a licensing deal. Over the years, various Martha wannabes have come and gone, and while we salute Meredith for teaming up with Joanna Gaines, one of the only truly convincing Martha-esque rising lifestyle gurus, we're pleased that four years later, Meredith's partnership with the Martha continues to pay off. Under Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Graves, MSL continues to be the gold standard of lifestyle glossies, and under SVP/Group Publisher Christine Guilfoyle, ad revenue has held steady (even as the food and shelter-mag categories declined overall in 2018), thanks to new or increased business from brands including Kimberly-Clark, Subaru, Starbucks and Tito's Vodka."

Other honorees include the aforementioned Joanna Gaines and her magazine Magnolia Home Journal, which is also run by Meredith Corp., as well as The New York Times Magazine, Country Living, WSJ, O-The Oprah Winfrey Magazine and The New Yorker. Congratulations!

Season 11 of Martha Bakes

The eleventh season of Martha Bakes begins today on PBS! The series was taped at the studio kitchen at Martha Stewart Living headquarters in the historic Starett-Lehigh building in Manhattan. (The kitchen, by the way, can be purchased at The Home Depot). This season Martha will feature a series of guest cooks, chefs and food experts who will share their knowledge about how many of the ingredients we use in baking are produced and then used to their best advantage in the baking process, as Martha describes below.

"For this new season, I’ll talk to experts who grow and produce some of the wonderful ingredients in a baker’s repertoire - fruits, nuts, cocoa, milk and more. I’ll also work with some of my favorite bakers to use these delicious elements to make mouthwatering pies, impressive cakes, and the most delectable cookies. This season is packed with great recipes, ideas and information for bakers of all skill levels - you don’t want to miss any of it!"

Modernist baker, Francisco Migoya, makes an unusual and ingenious pressure-caramelized oat sandwich bread in one episode.

Sara Foster shares her flavourful recipe for using cultured dairy to make this delicious-looking buttermilk cardamom pie.

To learn more about the show and the episodes this season, click here. Be sure to check local listings for air times in your area.

The Martha Manual: How to do (Almost) Everything

You may as well start the New Year on the right foot by re-familiarizing yourself with a roster of how-tos. Martha's new book, The Martha Manual: How to do (Almost) Everything, is a good place to start. The book was published today and is available for order. It is hardcover and 400 pages in length: a hefty but not oversized manual chock full of ingenious information.

This book is similar in style to the Homekeeping Handbook but is not quite as encyclopedic or as detailed in scope. The book expands its lesson plans, however, to include subjects such as how to build a campfire and how to pack for a picnic, how to bathe a cat, fold a flag and how to play to certain lawn games, just to name a few of the topics. If you're looking for the more comprehensive of the two books, the Homekeeping Handbook is the one to get but The Martha Manual is an excellent companion and a nice to addition to your homekeeping library. (It also makes the perfect gift for new homeowners or newlyweds).

The book is designed with beautiful colour photography, originally published in Martha Stewart Living magazines. The content includes sections on how to organize, fix and maintain, refresh and embellish, clean and launder, craft and create, garden and grow, host and entertain, enjoy and delight, eat and drink, celebrate and how to care for pets. As you can see, the subjects are quite diverse.

I've just ordered my copy and I hope you'll order yours too!