Martha Stewart knows her meatballs

How do you get your meatballs to blip the radar of Martha Stewart?
She told a recent studio audience that she sent her staff members out and about in New York to taste a basket of meatballs all over the city and report back.
But you don't get meatballs on the Martha Stewart Show solely on the vote of a Stewart staffer.
Ms. Stewart - may I call you Martha? - says she sampled the finalists to select several chefs to prepare their signature meatballs on a show in January.
Good day for me to be in the audience during a recent trip to Manhattan.
We tasted chicken meatballs spiced to present a forkable alternative to the finger licking that accompanies the traditional buffalo wing.
We tasted a family recipe that was nearly as big as a baseball and we tasted a ball with scrumptious cheese injected. OMG. There were no losers.
Sitting in the studio audience of the Martha Stewart Show was a guilty pleasure. I have not an ounce of craftiness in my body. I don't sew. I have no eye for color and design. I can prepare a couple of dinner dishes with limited confidence.
In short, I'm not Martha Stewart.
But darn it, I like her. I like that she is strong and talented and determined and independent and she takes charge and she accepts responsibility.
So, I signed up for a ticket. Easy enough to get. Go to her website - where you also will find information on her new ReMarthable giveaway.
And fill out not just a request but a section about yourself. It's the place the Martha faithful can list their special Martha-esque talents and interests. Despite my lack of any Marthaisms to recount, my ticket request was accepted.
Then a few days later came an e-mail with just a few little instructions. Wear bright colors. Martha likes bright colors, the Audience e-mail confides. OK. Jewel tones. OK. And be on time - which is nearly two hours before showtime. OK. And no photos during filming. OK. And don't haul in your luggage. Ah, those pesky tourists.
What did I learn about Martha Stewart during my few hours in her New York studio? No secrets. No revelations. Just the no-nonsense, all-business Martha Stewart we all see every day.
And that's what I came for. That and the meatballs.
And a cookbook. And a can of olive oil I wasn't sure I could get home in my checked travel bag. But I did.
Nothing short of ReMarthable.

Expecting a super Super Bowl?

Ah, the Super Bowl.
College football has been on hiatus a month. Wrestling is under way. Basketballs are pounding the hardwood. Major League Baseball players are thinking about packing for camp.
It must be Super Bowl time.
Green Bay? Pittsburgh? We'll know Sunday night.
Millions of people will tune in - most for the game, some for the commercials.
While you are watching football with all those millions of people, think of this. More people read newspapers than will be watching the Super Bowl Sunday night.

Cold enough for you?

Did Congress repeal global warming, too?
When we start speculating that winter is going to be mild this year, a blizzard barrels in.
Just in case the first eight inches of snow wasn't enough, Mother Nature added two more Friday.
Notice how nice the storm made those around us? Strangers pulling cars out of snow drifts. The city offering to pick up extra trash bags.
Gives us all a warm fuzzy feeling. Be careful out there.