Oh Martha...

I admit it.  I love Martha Stewart.  I can't help myself.  I'm not saying I want to hang out with her or have tea - No, that would scare me near to death.  I'm just saying she's pretty fascinating.

I haven't bought her magazine in ages, but it beckoned to me in the checkout line on Sunday night.  I was feeling all Christmasey... it's cover was all sparkly...I gave in.  Sure enough, it included all sorts of Martha Stewart ridiculousness. 

I found this month's featured dessert to a perfect example of the ridiculousness, so I will re-type some of the article here:

From, "Martha's Famous Croquembouche" - (Which, FYI - means "Crunch in the mouth" in French.  I looked it up)

This French dessert is a showstopper but is easier to make than it looks.  Croquembouche - pate a choux puffs with a creamy filling, dipped in hot caramel, and stacked into a pyramid - is one of my favorite special-occasion desserts.  Sometimes I make a towering one and adorn it with spun sugar, but this year I kept it small, simple, and sweet.  The cookie stars look like ornaments on a tree.
It's not hard to assemble a diminutive croquembouche like this one.  Don't worry about making it perfect - a homeade look is part of its charm.  Use the cookie stars to hide gaps between puffs.  To make the cookies, follow the sugar cookie recipe on page 222, using small star cutters and medium-size ones.  Decorate with royal icing, page 224, and sprinkle the icing with fine sanding sugar; let stand until set.

This is followed by the full page recipe for the easy croquembouche.

In comparsion to this, I would like to share a story from last week.  I made cookies for a baby shower.  I felt a bit guilty that they were so easily made because they used a cake mix.  They weren't exactly amazing, but a minor step above Pillsbury.  The other ladies in attendance were just proud that one of us baked.  This is the reality of 2009.

Photos from Martha Stewart Living.com