Martha Stewart Living November 2019

A LOT OF EFFORT goes into Thanksgiving—and for good reason; it’s a time to come together and celebrate. Over the years, however, I’ve refined my approach to enjoy this holiday even more. I used to tackle it by traveling, making last-minute lists, turbo-shopping, and ultimately delegating too little and taking on too much. (My pie-to-people ratio was comical.) I’d cook, bake, and stir the day into a blur, and when I finally sat down to dinner, I felt happy and relieved, yet also a little what-just-happened? I realized I was missing out on the whole “relaxing with family” part. The truth is, I (like so many of our loyal readers and Martha fans) love all the chopping, stirring, blending, whirring, setting, and arranging, just as much as indulging in the fruits…

WHY NOT? PEEP A LEAF When cooler temps send a golden ripple across treetops, a drive on the Great River Road—a 10-state National Scenic Byway hugging the Mississippi River—becomes a glorious getaway (experiencemississippiriver.com). Pull over at Pere Marquette State Park, in Grafton, Illinois, to stretch your legs on a Technicolor hike. Or take in one of these seasonal vistas. BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY Trees lining this 469-mile Appalachian attraction go scarlet in succession, highest-elevation first. Cruise past a cascade of sunset tones. blueridgeparkway.org LOGAN CANYON SCENIC BYWAY This northern-Utah path shows off the varied terrain of Cache Valley, from limestone formations to rolling farmland, and peaks at an overlook of bright-turquoise Bear Lake. visitutah.com CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY Protected natural zones along this winding waterway (visible from Routes 154, 82, and 434) stay vivid well into November. ctrivervalley.com ON OUR BOOKSHELF In…

Although there are many sites online where you can find delicious recipes (including ours, of course), I believe that having a wide range of cookbooks is essential, both for inspiration and as an invaluable and practical resource. While I do keep duplicates of my most referenced books on shelves in my main kitchen, I recently decided to create a bright and beautiful library for my volumes, in the dining room of the Maple Avenue house on my farm in Bedford. This is my place to dream up new dishes and flip through old favorites, like my 1961 first edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle (which can now fetch upwards of $700); South Wind Through the Kitchen, by the famous English food…

1 FRINGED SKIRTS Snip a yard of fringe trim from the crafts store into seven-inch pieces, poke a hole at each end with an awl, wrap them around rolled-up napkins, and secure with screw-back brass clasps. 2 SHELL CELLARS Gather small sticks that lie flat, and hot-glue two walnut halves onto each. Fill them with salt and pepper, and place them around your table—one for every two people. 3 STARRING ROLLS Forgo the usual communal basket, and treat all your VIPs to personal bread boards. Add a ramekin of butter, so they can lay it on as thick as they like. 4 CHIC CIRCLES A leather washer used in bike repairs is the thing of beauty here. Just attach a leather cord to the ring using a lanyard hitch, and knot the loose ends around a napkin. DIY…

Kit Out Cabinets To double your storage in deep cabinets, add pull-out drawers. “We installed four, and they changed our lives,” says Living home editor Lorna Aragon. “You can reach things in back without having to take everything out.” At the holidays, that means grabbing the stockpot or turkey platter won’t feel like a spelunking expedition. Available in wood or metal, the sliding drawers come in a range of sizes to fit standard cabinets. Measure and mark the sides, factoring in the height of the items you’ll store; use a drill to attach the glides; and pop in your new space savers. Reach for the Top There’s a time and a place for plastic wrap, but let’s be real: In the heat of the moment, it’s more likely to stick to itself (and…

GREENTREE HOME CANDLE, Treadwell, New York When these two married artists collaborate, creative sparks fly. Trained as a painter, Jenifer Green had an epiphany in 2000 after seeing her woodworker husband, Don, craft a set of maple and cherry candleholders for his home line. We can’t put just any tapers in them, she thought, and set out to make her own from a material as beautiful and natural as hardwood. She found it in beeswax, “a renewable resource with a slow, clean burn.” Today, the Catskills-based couple work in tandem: Jenifer sources striking objects—bamboo from her sister’s Hawaiian town, her mom’s apothecary bottles—and Don casts them in silicone molds. She hand-fills them with the wax, and together they help set the world aglow.…