Long before the Im-Clone scandal and her jailhouse stint, Martha Stewart had critics. In fact, a number of her irritated Westport neighbours made a mocking version of Martha Stewart Living, entitled "Is Martha Stewart Living?" and which purported to include such things as recipes for making your own water from scratch involving molecular fusion.
The main criticism seems to have been that no normal person, sans Martha's army of helpers and artists and photgraphers and stylists, could hope to do many of the things that were featured in Martha's magazine. Being a type A person I didn't really subscribe to those beliefs...I mean, why wouldn't I spend a few hours on sunday knocking up my own oatmeal, lavender and honey soap? It seemed a perfectly reasonable proposition to me. Still does.
In this month's magazine, the diva of domesticity has managed to include instructions for a craft that should make even the most intrepid of her accolytes cringe in fear....chocolate-filled easter egg shells.
These eggs were not easy to make. They are not charming or sweet. They are the devil's own easter eggs. They are the ultimate craft for the incurably insane. Even though they are filled with Callebaut chocolate, I never want to see one again as long as I live.
The creation of a dozen of these heinous little treats involved several scorched hands, headaches, offensive mounds of laundry and more headaches. The coating of every surface of this kitchen....
with scorching, sticky, molten chocolate. If ever there was a need to warn Martha fans that "you should not try this at home...." this is it.
As you can see from the photo, we managed to get far more chocolate on the outside of the eggs than the inside. While I'm sure martha would have had an assistant carefully cleanse each egg shell with cotton swabs dipped in organic lavender water, we just licked ours clean. No sense in having all that melted chocolate go to waste.
This was just so rich -- and truthful -- that I had to call my husband over to see it. I explained how much I love your blog for its artistry and skill ... and then showed him "Martha Lied" and the truth-in-pictures. I had watched the little MS segment about the too-easy-to-be-true filling of eggs ... and thought, "Yeah, right." Now I know if you couldn't do it, it would have been impossible for me! xoxo
Posted by: mireille | April 17, 2006 at 03:29 PM
laugh out loud hysterically funny
i too had to call my significant other over to witness this
i just happened to have the mag next to me, so i could show what they were "supposed" to look like
either way, i think your idea of licking them clean sounds WAY more fun!
awesome post!
Posted by: ann | April 17, 2006 at 05:38 PM
I enjoyed seeing that!! It's so not what we'd see from her magazine or show.
Posted by: sandy | April 17, 2006 at 06:26 PM
ohooujbuo
Posted by: ubgijk | April 17, 2006 at 09:31 PM
LOL, I remember flipping through that article a few days ago, thinking Martha and her band of merry Whatever-They-Ares had really gone ove the edge this time, and dismissing it completely from my mind. Three cheers to you for actually undertaking this insane project. And a million cheers for writing such an entertaining post about it! Love the licking of the eggs. : )
Posted by: farmgirl | April 17, 2006 at 09:55 PM
I seriously considered trying that...now I'm happy I didn't!
We made your lavendar-lemon game hens for Easter (and Zarah and Martin), and they were big hit...thank you!
Posted by: Stephanie | April 17, 2006 at 10:20 PM
They made us make candles in egg shells at school so I know what it's like! So nice to hear the TRUTH sometimes, thanks!!
Posted by: ilva | April 17, 2006 at 11:29 PM
Why, oh why did you not tell us you had pre-licked them before serving them to us? ;)
Posted by: Heat | April 18, 2006 at 09:12 AM
OMG, that's hilarious! The opening photograph says it all...
Posted by: elise | April 18, 2006 at 10:02 AM
Sorry Heat. Did I mention I'm now laid up with strep throat? Ha.
Posted by: Lyn | April 18, 2006 at 10:03 AM