Martha also gave tips for making Homemade Sidewalk Chalk.  Maybe it was the glory of my mother hanging my watercolor paintings on the fridge as a child (something you cannot do with sidewalk chalk drawings) – or maybe it was the disappointment of spending an afternoon making a gorgeous sidewalk chalk drawing, and then after an evening of thunderstorms, waking up the next morning to see my sidewalk chalk art destroyed – but I am definitely much more in the group of watercolor paint lovers than the group sidewalk chalk lovers.

Here is how Martha Stewart said to make the Homemade Watercolor Paints, but keep in mind that you can (and should) use your creativity to make lots of fun colors!  Aqua, fuchsia, lilac… you get the idea…

Plus, did anyone see that Martha Stewart will be at the Norwalk, CT Costco tomorrow for a book signing?  I will be there with an armful of books for all of my friends and family members (think about how perfect of a Mother’s Day present a signed Martha book would be)!  I am sure a bunch of my readers will be there, so please let me know so that we can get together and I can say hello!!!  I will be wearing a navy nautical themed button down sweater (new from LL Bean this season – love them!)

Martha Stewart’s Homemade Watercolor Paints:

What You Need:

- baking soda

- white vinegar

- light corn syrup

- cornstarch

- mixing spoon and bowl

- 1/2 dozen egg carton

- food coloring

- popsicle sticks or skewers

Directions:

1.  Mix together 4 TB of baking soda and 2 TB of vinegar.  You will see it fizzing.

2.  After the fizzing stops, add 1/2 tsp corn syrup and 2 TB cornstarch.  Mix well.

3.  Pour this into your egg carton, but only fill the cups 1/3 to 1/2 of the way.

4.  Add between 5 and 10 drops of food coloring to get the color you are looking for.  Here are some tips for making certain colors of watercolor paints (this should remind you of elementary school a bit!)

Red / Pink – 10 drop red

Orange – 1 drop red, 6 drops yellow

Yellow – 5 drops yellow

Leaf Green – 3 drops green, 7 drops yellow

Sea Blue – 5 drops blue

Violet – 4 drops red, 2 drops blue

5.  Let the paints sit overnight so that they can set and become firm.

6.  Paint away with a wet paintbrush and your new Homemade Watercolor Paints!

For Martha’s Bruschetta, she uses loaves of italian or french bread (and even sesame loaves, which is my personal favorite since it adds some extra flavor).   Slice your bread, and toss them on the grill so you get the nice grill marks on your bread.  A great tip that Martha gave for savory bruschetta is to rub a clove of garlic on the warmly toasted bread to infuse it with a garlic flavor (plus a great time saving tip instead of worrying about mincing lots of garlic up).

One of the savory bruschetta recipes that Martha made used prosciutto and ribbons of melon.  And here comes my favorite Martha Moment from the segment – Martha used a potato peeler to slice thin ribbons of melon!  How genius is that?  I can see this melon ribbon tip coming in handy for lots of different recipes.

Martha’s 10 Bruschetta Variations:

1.  Fava Beans, Pecorino Romano, and Mint

2.  Prosciutto, Melon and Balsamic Vinegar

3.  Mozzarella, Parmesan, Pesto and Arugula

4.  Tomatoes, Dill and Balsamic Vinegar

5.  Chocolate and Fleur de Sel (sea salt)

6.  Roasted Red Peppers, Capers and Olives

7.  Avocado, Scallions and Celery

8.   Ricotta, Lemon, Honey, and Basil

9.  Goat Cheese, Carrots, Parsley

10.  The original classic with rubbed garlic, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a touch of salt and pepper.

Do you have any other recipes or ideas for interesting variations on Bruschetta?

Rainbow Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

7 oz marzipan paste or almond paste
1 cup sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 drops green food coloring, or to desired color
5 drops red food coloring, or to desired color
12-oz jar raspberry jam (preferably seedless)
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 3 (13- by 9-inch) metal baking pans. Line bottom of each with wax paper, letting it extend at 2 opposite ends, and grease paper. Break marzipan paste into small pieces and grind with sugar in food processor until no lumps remain. Transfer to a large bowl and add butter. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then add yolks and almond extract and beat well. Beat in flour and salt on low speed. Beat egg whites in another bowl with cleaned beaters until they just hold stiff peaks and stir one third into batter to lighten slightly (batter will still be stiff). Fold in remaining whites thoroughly. Divide dough into thirds (about 1 1/2 cups each). Stir green food coloring into one third and red food coloring into another, leaving one third plain. Spread each dough separately into a pan. (Layers will be thin.)

Bake layers in batches in middle of oven until just set and beginning to turn golden along edges, 7 to 10 minutes total. Run a knife along edges to loosen from pan, then while still hot, invert a large rack over pan and invert layer onto rack, pulling gently on wax paper overhangs to release if necessary. Peel off wax paper and cool completely.

Line a large shallow baking pan with wax paper and slide green layer into it. Spread half of jam evenly over green layer and carefully top with plain layer. Spread remaining jam evenly over uncolored layer and carefully top with pink layer (trim edges if necessary). Cover with plastic wrap and weight with a large cutting board or baking pan. Chill at least 3 hours.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Remove weight and plastic wrap and spread chocolate evenly over top, but not sides, of pink layer. Let stand at room temperature until set, about 1 hour, and cut into small diamonds (12 rows crosswise and 12 diagonal rows).

Cooks’’ note:
• Do not make this dough ahead.

Now to make this Rainbow Cake into a six layer colorful cake, just make two of these but color each layer a different vibrant color.  Make sure to make one cake have red, orange and yellow layers and the next one should have green, blue and purple.  That way when you stack them together, you will have the same beautiful colors of Martha Stewart and Kaitlin Flannery’s Rainbow Cake Recipe!

Martha Stewart’s Container Herb Garden:

What You Need:

- windowsill plant box

- organic potting soil

- herb plants like the ones that Martha used: dill, cilantro, basil ‘pesto perpetuo,’ Italian oregano, French tarragon, Italian/plain/flat leaf parsley, curled parsley, sage, English thyme, lemon thyme, mint, spearmint ‘Kentucky colonel,’ and rosemary.  If you live in New York, definitely check out the farmer’s market at union square for some great fresh herb plants at a very reasonable price.

What to Do:

1.  Cover the drainage holes at the bottom of your windowsill plant box with pottery shards (a great use for your broken flower pots!)

2.  Fill your windowsill plant box half of the way with organic potting soil.  You can also add time-release fertilizer (although the truth is that I never have, and it has been just fine).

3.  Take your fresh herb plants out of their pots.  Loosen the roots a little bit with your fingers and put it into your windowsill plant box.

4.  Fill with more organic potting soil to hold in your plants firmly.

5.  Water frequently (around once a day or every other day) and find a nice sunny windowsill for your plant box!

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Lisa Kudrow & Martha’s Raspberry Rhubarb Sorbet Recipe:

Ingredients:
- 8 cups rhubarb (fresh or frozen works)
- 1/2 vanilla bean (scrape out the inside)
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 2 pints raspberries (I think I may try frozen raspberries or strawberries)

Directions:
1.  In a pan over medium heat, warm the rhubarb (cut into pieces), sugar, vanilla bean seeds and 1/2 cup water.
2.  Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer until the rhubarb breaks down and its thickened and syrup-like… this should take about 15 minutes.
3.  Pop the mixture, raspberries and lemon juice into the blender.
4.  Blend well and pour through a mesh or strainer.
5.  Refrigerate the strained mixture.
6.  Pop the mixture into an Ice Cream Maker.
7.  Serve in adorable floral shapes or cones made of Martha’s Pink Tulle Cookies!

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I cannot wait to get one of these for one of my friend’s with a cute Manhattan apartment… this will be perfect for hanging on a South facing wall and for growing an edible garden (totally taking Martha’s advice for her daughter’s apartment in new york!).  Miguel Nelson claims that Woolly Pockets are waterproof and won’t stain your walls either.  He says that in the worst case, if you over water your plants, you will get a little water that drips off of the front of your Woolly Pocket, but it won’t drip down the wall.  With names like Wally, Tina, Lana, Steve, and Brian … how can you resist?

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My favorite, if I had to pick a favorite, would be the lemon box shape, which would even work nicely in apartments or on a porch.  It was wonderful to hear that these terra cotta pots do not need to be brought inside during the winter months, although honestly, I am with Martha on this one and will still be bringing my pots inside when it is winter time.

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Martha & Kristy Boucher’s Vinyl & Paper Wallet Templates

Here are the two wallet templates: Wallet Pockets Template and Main Wallet Template

1. Pick your card stock and trace the template onto the cardstock.  Either all of the cardstock can be the same pattern, or you can use different patterns or solids that look good together.

2.  Take your vinyl and cut it large enough so that you can cover the entire front and back of the piece cut from the Main Wallet Template.  You should fold the vinyl at the bottom (the straight edge) rather than on the top with the rounded corners.  Sew around the edge (1/4″ from the fold or crease in the vinyl) using your non-stick presser foot on your sewing machine.

3.  Do the same thing with the vinyl for the pockets cut from the Wallet Pockets Template.

4.  Do yet again the same thing for the vinyl for the closure tab, but this time sew around all of the sides except for where the vinyl is folded.

5.  Line up all three pockets in descending size order and so that the side where the vinyl isn’t folded is at the bottom.

6.  Carefully mark a line down the center of the pockets so that you can where to sew to make sections for your credit cards.

7.  Line up the pockets on the bottom of the “outside” side of the main wallet.  Attach the pockets to the wallet and sew down the center to make sections for the credit cards.

8.  Attach the closure tab to your wallet.

9.  Fold the bottom portion with the pockets for your credit cards up to form a pocket for your dollar bills (and $100 bills!) to go.  Sew along the two sides and around the rounded side of the main body of your wallet (but make sure not to sew close the section for your dollar bills).

10.  Trim off any extra vinyl of course to tidy it up and attach snaps so that the closure tab will hold your wallet closed.

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Emeril, author of Emeril 20-40-60: Fresh Food Fast, taught us how to make this recipe on Martha’s Show!

Emeril’s Skillet Cast Iron Corn Cake & Cherries Recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 6 TB yellow cornmeal (Martha mentioned using white cornmeal or mesa too, which I think would be a lovely change of pace!)
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 2 TB butter
- 2 bags (10 ounces) frozen cherries
- 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:
1.  Heat your 10″ cast iron skillet in a 350 degree oven.
2.  Mix together your dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, baking powder, salt and cornmeal.
3.  In another bowl, whisk the milk, olive oil, lemon zest, eggs and egg yolk.
4.  Mix 3/4 cup sugar and whisk some more.
5.  Mix the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients.  Don’t over-mix!
6.  Put 2 TB of butter into your warmed cast iron skillet and melt it all over the surface of the skillet.
7.  Pour the batter into the buttered skillet and bake for about 25 minutes.
8.  To make the stewed cherries, cook over high heat the cherries, lemon juice and 3/4 cup sugar.
9.  Cook the cherries for 10-12 minutes.
10.  Once the cake has cooled for a few minutes, cut the corn cake into triangles and garnish with stewed cherries.