Martha Launches New Online Video Series, “Countdown to Christmas”

One of the ways MSLO has reduced expenditures as the company returns to profitability has been to reduce its presence on network television. (As you might guess, producing a daily talk show and taping before a live audience are both quite expensive.) Instead, MSLO promised more web-based programming, along the lines of the Sarah Carey-hosted Everyday Food videos that you can sign-up to receive each weekday in your mailbox. Now, the company has released the first web videos hosted by Martha herself, titled “Countdown to Christmas”. The exciting news about these new videos is that they were shot at Martha’s home in Bedford, NY. NINE recipe videos and SEVEN craft videos have been added to the revamped video hub at the Martha Stewart website. Go visit and enjoy! FOMs: It is like spending the holidays on Martha’s farm! How exciting!

From the Advertising Age website:

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is making an effort to go beyond posting clips culled and repurposed from its hundreds of hours of TV content. The new holiday videos are the first pure, short-form online videos to star Ms. Stewart herself. They include prominent product placement from brands such as Starbucks, Estee Lauder and Truvia. Ms. Stewart incorporates Starbucks, for example, into a craft project where she makes a felt-package for gift cards. “I think they are very pretty,” she says, holding up a Starbucks gift card.

It’s a Wrap: Martha Stewart’s Cooking School has completed taping!

Martha has completed taping her new show for PBS, “Martha Stewart’s Cooking School”. To celebrate, she hosted all involved at a Moroccan feast, or “bisteeya”, at her Bedford home. You can see many photos of the feast, as well as its preparation, on Martha’s blog. In the photo above, from Martha’s blog, Martha, appropriately attired for the evening’s theme, is leading partygoers on a rainy day tour of her farm. What do you think, FOMs: Will you be watching and learning from Martha this fall? I can’t wait!

BTW: If you absolutely can’t wait to learn step-by-step cooking techniques from Martha, you may want to check out the enhanced edition of Martha’s 2008 book, “Martha Stewart’s Cooking School”, (coauthored by Everyday Food Editor, Sarah Carey) available now on iTunes. NOTE: You will need an iOS device–an iPhone, or iPad, or iPod Touch–to view these. Here are the available lessons, in order:

Lesson One: Stocks & Soups
Lesson Two: Eggs
Lesson Three: Meat, Fish & Poultry
Lesson Four: Vegetables
Lesson Five: Pasta, Dried Beans & Grains
Lesson Six: Desserts

The PBS show will be different than these enhanced editions, but these should hold you FOMs over until fall. Enjoy!

From Martha’s blog:

As I mentioned, last Friday evening I hosted a dinner party for thirty guests. We recently finished taping Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, which will be airing on PBS this coming autumn and I’m so excited! This dinner was for people who worked on that show’s production, both from PBS and MSLO.

via A Moroccan Feast at my Home – The Martha Stewart Blog.

Martha Stewart’s Proposed Storage Building is Approved

After an onsite inspection by local officials, the large storage building Martha has planned for her 137-acre Bedford Estate has been approved. It is important to note that not a single one of Martha’s neighbors (including next-door neighbor Ralph Lauren) appeared at a public hearing to voice opposition. We all trust Martha will do the right thing, right?

Myself, I am looking forward to seeing what this large building will look like. We already know the plan is to paint it “Bedford Gray”, the signature color of Martha’s New York estate. FOMs, what do you suppose Martha will store in this large building?

From the Bedford-Katonah Patch:

Wetlands inspectors agreed no special permit was needed for a new 3,200 square foot storage shed on Martha Stewart’s property, following on an April 12 site visit to the site on Girdle Ridge Road.

via Martha Stewart’s Proposed Storage Building Meets Inspector’s Approval – Bedford-Katonah, NY Patch.

Bedford planners to make field trip to Martha Stewart’s estate

Now, we all know Martha’s giant storage building will be gorgeous, right? I mean, one can practically eat off the floor of her stable, which has its own dedicated kitchen, of course! Nevertheless, planners from the Bedford Planning Board will be making a visit to Martha’s home, just to be sure she isn’t planning anything untoward. My question is this: How can I become a member of the Bedford Planning Board?

From The Journal News, Lower Hudson Valley, NY:

Planners have scheduled a field trip to Martha Stewart’s 137-acre estate to be sure that the spot where she wants to put an oversized storage building won’t harm nearby wetlands.

The Bedford Planning Board is considering the celebrity’s application to build a 3,200-square-foot storage building on the border with Ralph Lauren’s property on Girdle Ridge Road, south of downtown Katonah.

The 4-acre zoning in Stewart’s neighborhood limits buildings of this type to 2,500 square feet, so she would need a special permit.

The building would be 25 feet high and finished in metal siding. The color: a shade of gray known as Bedford Ash.

The field trip is planned next week.

via Bedford planners to make field trip to Martha Stewart’s estate | The Journal News | LoHud.com | LoHud.com.

Martha Stewart plans 3,200-square-foot storage building in Bedford

From The Journal News, Lower Hudson Valley, NY:

The lifestyle guru wants to build a 3,200-square-foot storage building on her 137-acre estate, near the property line with her neighbor, Ralph Lauren.

Stewart’s plans were to go before the town Planning Board on Tuesday night. She needs special approval because the 4-acre zoning in her neighborhood allows accessory buildings of no more than 2,500 square feet.

It was not clear whether Stewart herself planned to attend the public hearing, as she has for other applications on her property.

The 25-foot-high building would be set back well off Girdle Ridge Road along a private entrance to the celebrity’s estate. It was not clear what Stewart planned to store in the proposed structure.

The property is in a wooded and well-kept neighborhood south of downtown Katonah that is adorned with stone walls and rural landscapes. It is tucked between the John Jay Homestead National Landmark and the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.

via Martha Stewart plans 3,200-square-foot storage building in Bedford | The Journal News | LoHud.com | LoHud.com.