Mornings with Martha
As my friend Hoche reflected the other night, it's easier to shift your schedule later (as in, get up later in the morning, stay up later at night) than it is to shift it earlier. It's so true: as much as I love early mornings, when no one else is up except the birds and the first rays of sun, I am finding it hard to drag myself out of bed before 8:30 these days (and sometimes I dally and doze until well after 9). This is due more to work than late-night hockey games; I've been staying up past midnight (and earlier this week, past 3am) most nights trying to get on top of my buglist.
The benefit that I've found in getting up later in the mornings is that I'm still in the house (usually getting dressed and putting on makeup) when Martha Stewart Living is on. She's a little over-the-top for me, but that just means that I can actually continue with my morning routine while she raves about "very, very delicious" peach cobbers and "absolutely stunning" flower arrangements instead of just standing there glued to the TV. I bustle while she gushes, and occasionally I run back to the bedroom to get a recipe or a gardening tip.
Yesterday I just listened from the bathroom to the recipes for fruit sherbet and homemade ice cream cones (courtesy of guest Alice Waters), and this morning I got some tips on what to do with those scary green leaves sprouting up relentlessly in one corner of our garden (use them to frame a rhododendron arrangement). I tuned out the rose-pruning demonstration, since Al does the rose pruning at our (only) house, but I made sure to note the instructions for making fresh chicken tacos at home, in case we ever move away from California and have to make our own Mexican food. I can't wait for tomorrow's "Cookie of the Week" segment; lemon sandwich cookies aren't my favorite, but I love to bake, so I'm a sucker for cookie recipes of all kinds.
Alas, there have been no segments recently on how to make ham sandwiches.