Behind the scenes in the Everyday Food test kitchen
One area that’s always fun to visit at my 42nd Street offices is the very lovely test kitchen of Everyday Food. This space is usually bustling with activity and with all the wonderful aromas emanating from this room, this is not a place to go to when hungry. The test kitchen is where Food Editor, Sandra Gluck and her staff, work on developing recipes. Once they’re confident that a recipe is a delicious and good one, they concentrate on cross testing - to make certain that it really works without a hitch. This is also the kitchen where all the great recipes published in our magazine, Body + Soul, are developed and tested. Don't forget to check out Dinner Tonight, a fabulous blog from the editors of Everyday Food.
The test kitchen staff – Charlyne Mattox, Senior Associate Food Editor
– Kristen Evans, Senior Food Editor – Susan Streit, Assistant Food
Editor – Sandra Gluck, Food Editor – Emma Feigenbaum, Associate Food
Editor – Kirk Hunter, Assistant Food Editor – missing is Caroline
Wright, Associate Food Editor. Again, please don't forget to look at the Dinner Tonight blog!
A wonderful place to work with lots of windows.
This is an easy kitchen to work in – plenty of work surfaces, lots of burners and ovens, and a large sink area.
Of course, there is a very sizable cookbook library used for reference and inspiration.
This is the office area where Charlyne is busy at work.
More photos of Paw Paw's grandsons -- cute!
Welcome to our 42nd street office
One word: YUMMY. In my next life I want to work there.
Word to the EF Staff: there was a recipe that isn't on the site but printed in the Houston Chronicle a few months ago, White Bean and Olive Salad. I've been eating it for over a a MONTH, it's so good I can't stop making it! I'm buying up all the cannellini beans i can find from my local grocery because I can't get enough of it! PLEASE put it on the site so I can refer people to it and print it. One alteration, I have Zatarain's Creole Mustard on hand, and I use that. Nothing against Dijon, but when I made it, that's what I used and now I don't want anything else.
When you eat this salad, you become ENLIGHTENED!!!
Amy in Houston
Posted by: Amy | July 29, 2008 at 11:45 PM
I just checked out "dinner tonight."
Looks like a great blog.
Posted by: MMC in San Diego | July 30, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Wow its really amazing how many cookbooks you have. I could only imagine reading that many. They are so full of art.
Posted by: ms recipe | July 30, 2008 at 12:48 AM
It's a kitchen in a library! What a wonderful way to cook. Recipes from all over the world are there. Your chefs are so lucky to have the tools to create and create they do!
Posted by: Barbara | July 30, 2008 at 12:55 AM
Rich kitchen with yummy food out there.
Posted by: Elliott | July 30, 2008 at 02:24 AM
How neat is that!
Posted by: Isle Dance | July 30, 2008 at 02:24 AM
Hi Martha, The test kitchen staff certainly does have a fantastic kitchen to do their work. No wonder the recipies in Everyday Food and Body And Soul are so great. All of Sandy Gluck's staff looks very happy and I'll bet they love what they do. I know I love the results of their work. Congratulations to MSLO for the positive 2nd quarter stock report. I saw you and Charles on CNBC today and I want you to know I will always support MSLO in everything that you do. Keep up the great work! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the wonderful things you do for all of us. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | July 30, 2008 at 02:29 AM
That kitchen is amazing! I'm in love with the cookbook collection. I have "lots" of cookbooks and pull them out to read like most people read novels. What a great place to spend a day "working."
Posted by: Robin | July 30, 2008 at 06:19 AM
What a great place to work. That to me would be the perfect job, I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen plus being part of the MSO family. I love all your recipes - keep up the good work.
Ann
Posted by: Ann | July 30, 2008 at 07:23 AM
Love Dinner Tonight...and love that library of cookbooks! Martha, if you're ever recycling old books for new ones or need someone to come implement a cataloging system to organize them...I'm your gal! ;)
Posted by: Melissa | July 30, 2008 at 08:19 AM
More pictures of the "good stuff" please. We want to see the ovens, sinks, dishwashers, things cooking on the stove.
Posted by: Sally | July 30, 2008 at 09:03 AM
It looks like a warm and inviting space. I love the organized chaos of the place. It's like a Woody Allen set.
-Andrew
Posted by: Andrew Ritchie | July 30, 2008 at 09:09 AM
Many thanks to Sandra Gluck and her staff for making Everyday Food magazine the best little food magazine ever! Little in size but BIG on content. I can almost smell the different aromas coming from all the fabulous recipes they create every month. I've been enjoying many of them since issue #1 in 2003.
I don't eat a lot of red meat but if I do decide on a steak sometime soon, I'm going to make the Tomato, Ginger, and Chutney topping to go along with it. It's in the July/August issue on page 111 for anyone interested. There are two other toppings as well.
Dinner Tonight is a great blog! Thanks for the nudge since I kind of missed seeing it on the left side of this page. Oops. Trish
Posted by: Trish | July 30, 2008 at 09:22 AM
What a wonderful kitchen. I would have loved to see their food storage/pantry as well as their utensils and pans storage for some inspiration. No doubt it's neat, orderly, and a pleasure to work with.....Who does the grocery shopping?
Posted by: Renee DeGroat | July 30, 2008 at 09:29 AM
To Amy in Houston, we'll be sure to add that recipe to the site. In the meantime, be sure to check out Dinner Tonight!
http://blogs1.marthastewart.com/dinnertonight/
Posted by: Regan | July 30, 2008 at 09:53 AM
Thanks for the little peek, I love the behind the scenes shots. I think I need those shelves for all my cookbooks. I like your French section. The Anne Willan new book is excellent and Julia Child of course. Great references when I made French food all of July to coincide with the stops of the Tour de France.
http://realnobodyslikeus.typepad.com
Merci!
Posted by: Claudine | July 30, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Sandra, You and your staff are TERRIFIC! If you ever need a job down South for a Doctor and two teenagers, and a starving sister (me) please let me know!!!
Posted by: Nan Ashby | July 30, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Wow, Martha! I would just love to come and work for you and your staff in the test kitchen! My hobby is testing and inventing new recipes, but my kitchen is not as beautiful and as well-stocked as yours! It looks like it would be a snap to cook anything in the world. And all the cookbooks lining the walls is incredible!
Posted by: LINDA FISHER | July 30, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Martha, your staff and work atmosphere is what some people dream of. I always look forward to updates on your work environment. Thanks to all for being an inspiration.
Posted by: sushi2 | July 30, 2008 at 12:45 PM
We're so glad that everyone could get a peek into our kitchen. A big welcome to you all!
Posted by: sandygluck | July 30, 2008 at 01:19 PM
Ha! Counters are made to be cluttered, it seems. I love it that there's something sideways in the bookshelf. If I had all that space I'd find a way to fill it in. I guess I've got a bad case of horror vacui. I'll go on a jag for a certain dish and when I move on to something new I have half bottles and jars of this or that ingredient or condiment in the fridge or elsewhere for seeming eternity. What do you all do? Throw it out or give it away? My friends who really cook have a lot of this stuff around. I guess I don't really hang with people who live in "model" homes, though those clear countertops are something to be desired.
Posted by: Julie W. | July 30, 2008 at 01:55 PM
I had no idea how much you all would like to see the details--but thanks for the inspiration. We're lucky to have a great space and such a creative environment! Martha comes by often, camera in hand, so we'll have her take some more shots sometime soon. Meantime, we'll shoot some detail pix for the Dinner Tonight blog, too! Would love to hear what you're craving for dinner tonight.
Deb Puchalla
editor in chief, Everyday Food
marthastewart.com/dinnertonight
Posted by: Deb Puchalla | July 30, 2008 at 02:37 PM
That's a great looking kitchen. What a great place to work and cook- at the same time.
It doesn't seem like a great idea to keep books so close to the heat, grease and moisture of lots of everyday cooking.
I suggest a separate research room.
Posted by: maurdel | July 30, 2008 at 04:19 PM
I subscribe to the Everyday Food magazine and watch the program, including Everyday Baking,every Saturday. It would be a good thing if there were some reference to the paraticular issue in which the recipes on the show can be found. I now have the magazines AND some recipes on 8 1/2 X 11 paper ina notebook. Redundant, huh?
Posted by: Rick Tedesco | July 30, 2008 at 05:08 PM
Martha, my girlfriend wants me to find the pattern for the hat you made today on your show. I just don't know where to find it. she runs a sewing class for 10/12 year olds and thinks that it would be a great project for them Thanks "Barbara Cooney'
Posted by: Barbara Cooney | July 30, 2008 at 07:25 PM