The Holidays, Martha-Style
Stewart is famously an early riser, so it is not surprising her Thanksgiving-day routine begins at 5 AM. Linens and décor are set up days before (holiday decorating officially starts right after Halloween in Stewart’s homes); she changes menu items every year but makes sure to include all the traditional dishes. “And I always stuff the bird. Since my daughter, Alexis, and other guests are vegetarian, we also try to make a stuffing that is a meal unto itself.”
Stewart’s Christmas menus so elaborately turn tradition on its head that even top chefs are likely to scheme and plot for an invite. She recites the elements of one dinner: “a salty country ham for hors d’oeuvres, wasabi caviar and daikon canapés, pheasant potpies with black truffle and root vegetables, bucanti with brown butter capers and anchovies, seared pheasant breasts with endive Meunière, and cream puffs with warm chocolate sauce for dessert.”
Christmas 2011 promises to be memorable for Stewart beyond what she serves at the table, because it’s her first grandchild’s first Christmas. Stewart recently made several updates to the Lily Pond estate to welcome the eight-month-old baby. “Jude has her own bedroom with a crib and a little changing table,” says Stewart, who assembled the crib herself, although the project took two days. “It was horrifying. The directions were not correct,” she says emphatically.
Despite Jude’s tender age, Stewart is eager to introduce her to a Martha kind of Christmas. “At my house, there’ll be at least 20 trees, so she’ll get into the Christmas spirit, I am sure. I don’t know what Alexis is contemplating in terms of decoration, but definitely my house will be all for Jude. This year each room will have a tree and a theme, blown glass or pine cones.”
As if all of this is not reason enough to celebrate, Stewart will also raise a glass at year’s end to mark the seventh season of The Martha Stewart Show (the second to appear on Hallmark Channel), which premiered in September. And in yet another example of Stewart’s brilliant ability to synergize, the set featured a new kitchen—one she designed, of course, in this instance for a Home Depot kitchen line (there are 13 different kitchen styles). “We thought of every detail to make creating in the kitchen easier,” Stewart says. “Wonderful brackets, open shelves, quiet drawers, and hidden refrigerators. We even have permanent grooves in the countertops to create a drying area.”
As for the near future, there are more kitchen designs in the works and, now, with a granddaughter for inspiration, perhaps a line of nursery items and cribs (undoubtedly with clear instructions). In fact, Jude is likely to factor into much of Martha’s far-ranging activities in the coming years. Going forward, she says, “It’s all for Jude.”
