Homemaking Tip—A Stiff Upper Lip

With all her talents and perfections, Martha Stewart has mastered a stiff upper-lip. She can burn something, look straight into the camera, smack her lips and say, “Delectable.” I’ve watched her do it. One time she pulled a piece of chicken from the frying pan that was positively burnt—the piece that the mother in the family would have gotten. While the rest of us would have secretly tried to scrape the burnt layer into the sink or cover it with a sauce, Martha convinced us that although the recipe was not a “blackened,” “charred,” or “peppered” one, the chicken piece was done to perfection.

Since seeing that episode, whenever I cook something less than appetizing I think, “Delectable!” and serve it with a forced air of confidence. A stiff-upper-cooking-lip is probably "the good"-est thing Martha has ever taught me.



**Disclaimer. I probably should mention the time that Cali added 1 cup of mustard to tuna casserole and tried to pull it off with a stiff-upper-lip. When we sat down to supper, the other kids asked her why it was so yellow and smelled funny. She airily waved their skepticism aside with her fork. After the blessing on the food (and it did need one) she took a big bite with an exaggerated, "Yuuummmmmmm." The rest of us took a little bite. I don't remember what we had for supper that night, but it wasn't tuna casserole because a stiff-upper lip can only cover so much, and a cup of mustard is too much.