Martha is the anti-Julia. Consider the extent of their respective powers. If you have read the paper or turned on the television in the last year or so, you have probably caught a glimpse of the WASPy good looks, the affectless demeanor, the nacreous perfection of her world. You may even know the outlines of her story. To read Martha Stewart is to know that there is no corner of your domestic life that cannot be beautified or improved under careful tutelage none that should not be colonized by the rhetoric and the discipline of quality control.
Convenience is the enemy of excellence.
Some take days to make. But they are recipes that will produce the very best results, and we know that is what you want. Martha is a kitchen-sink idealist. She scorns utility in the name of beauty. But her idealism, of course' extends no further than surface appearances, which makes it a very particular form of idealism indeed.