Good Things by David

There's nothing like freshly-baked bread.  During these past few weeks I've been wanting to bake, but because of flour and yeast shortages at the supermarket, I have not been able to do so.  Finally, as if looking over the horizon onto an oasis, I found yeast at a local supermarket!  Wasting no time in bringing several packets home, I quickly assembled my ingredients for a nice loaf of bread.   Freshly Baked Whole Wheat Bread Bernard Clayton's book, 'New Complete Book of Breads', is my bread baking bible.  In it, there are dozens upon dozens of recipes covering different types of flours, grains and types of breads.  From quick breads to yeast risen breads, there is a little bit of everything for everyone.   Bread Baking Mise en Place I was looking at Clayton's whole wheat bread recipes, and decided to settle on the honey lemon whole wheat, which is found at the beginning of the chapter.   I love deep jars for storing my flours. Each jar

Appraising your collection of Martha by Mail cookie cutters can seem like a daunting process.  After my last post, The Martha by Mail Cookie Cutter Index, I received a lot of feedback from collectors wanting to know more about their burgeoning cache of MBM cookie cutters. One avid reader of the blog, who happens to be a superb cookie decorator, baker and an inveterate collector of Martha by Mail cookie cutters, had been looking into having his collection appraised this past year. Numerous emails went back and forth between the both of us discussing this subject. Really and truly, this prompted me to write up that index which is now officially in the books and easily accessible to all Martha by Mail collectors. I asked James if he would be willing to share his experience with us so that we could make informed decisions regarding our collections.  Thankfully he was gracious enough to answer many questions that I had for him. Thank you, James!  This is invaluable information.

Here is an index of all the sets of cookie cutters that were made and sold exclusively through the Martha by Mail catalog.  Many of you veteran and budding collectors have been asking for this for quite some time, because of the lack of information out there regarding all of the sets of copper cutters.  A lot of time and research went into compiling this list in its entirety, and as such, there are a handful of unknown cutters/product in the SKU number roster.  I had help from several collectors, friends, a lawyer, and even an appraiser (more on that to come).  Thank you! A Selection of The Oversized Martha by Mail Cookie Cutters I have divided the sets into two lists, each organized by product number.  The product number indicates the order in which each cutter was offered/released for sale through Martha by Mail.  One list consists of the large, closed-back cookie cutters that were sold in sets of two, with the exception of the Nordstrom Teddy Bear and the copper trays (noted