The lifestyle icon also dishes on her surprising hobby and favorite easy meal
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg celebrate the release of her 100th book in 2024
Martha Stewart’s name has been synonymous with elegant living for decades, and at 83, she’s busier than ever, taking on a variety of exciting projects and winning over a new generation of fans. One of the most surprising of these projects has been promoting BIC’s EZ Reach lighters alongside none other than Snoop Dogg.
“Snoop and I were asked about three years ago to design our own lighters,” Stewart recalls. “Both of us really loved the idea. Snoop’s are very Snoop-y and they have portraits of him on them, and mine are very elegant, with faux stone and faux bois and florals. We also did some funny commercials—in the one that’s out now, we’re hosting a dinner party and Snoop’s using it for his cannabis, while I’m using it for table decor.”
On April 17 (just in time for the unofficial weed-centric holiday of 4/20) in West Hollywood, the brand will host the BIC EZ Reach Supper Club, in collaboration with Snoop Dogg’s weed line SWED and featuring creative flourishes inspired by both Stewart and Snoop. At the dinner, guests will get to enjoy a variety of flaming and flambéed dishes and a cannabis-infused mocktail.
Ahead of the event, Martha Stewart spoke to Woman’s World about her enduring friendship with Snoop, her evolution as a media personality and the surprising food she loves to make from scratch.
Woman’s World: How did you and Snoop Dogg become such good friends?
Martha Stewart: He was on my show years ago. I was probably one of the first daytime hosts to have rappers on my show because I thought it was a genre of emerging music that was pretty important—and it’s not just music, it’s also poetry. Snoop came on my show a couple times, and a lot of other rappers came on as well.
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg in 2017Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty
That’s how it started, and then I sat on a panel of roasters at the Justin Bieber roast for his 21st birthday, and Snoop sat next to me, and we rekindled our friendship. We were there for eight hours and had the best time rehearsing. He was smoking all day long, and both of us did very well in the roast. A producer noticed that we were congenial and asked us to do Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, which ended up running for three seasons.
We work well together, and we’re such an odd couple that people really enjoy it. I have a house in conservative Seal Harbor, Maine, and the only person people want to see at my house is Snoop Dogg! He hasn’t even come by yet, but he will one of these days.
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg at the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber in 2015Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty
WW: Having written so many cookbooks, do you have any fun hacks or recipes you make most regularly at home?
MS: I make my own yogurt every single Saturday. I love homemade yogurt. You get a gallon of fresh milk and bring it to a boil, turn it off, cool it a little bit and stir in your yogurt starter—I use my yogurt from the week before. Then you cool it while wrapped in a great big heavy blanket overnight, and the next day you chill it. If you want it Greek style, you put it through a cotton strainer, and then you have yogurt all week long. Everybody in my house loves this yogurt. I’ve been serving it with blackstrap molasses, which is very good for energy.
Food
WW: What’s your favorite low-effort, high-reward meal?
MS: In my book, Martha: The Cookbook, which just came out last autumn, there’s a salmon recipe that’s just fresh, beautiful salmon brushed with honey and mustard. You put it in the low broiler and just grill it for about six minutes, and it’s done. It’s one of the best ways to serve salmon.
Entertainment
WW: Given your lifestyle brand and work across different media, you helped to set a foundation for influencers before that was even a term. What has that journey been like for you?
MS: I was influencing people by television, and I believed in synergy early on, before anybody else did. I think I synergized the print world via magazines and books with the very lively world of media. Social media didn’t exist then, but there was radio and television, and that was more like social media than the magazine world.
In 1982 I wrote my first book, Entertaining, and it became so popular because it was the first book that really incorporated a story, fabulous recipes and beautiful photography, and it was a book that every single homemaker needed and wanted, and that’s what I based it all on, that need and want.
Martha Stewart poses in the kitchen in 1976Susan Wood/Getty
Once social media came around, I was on Twitter when it started. Jack Dorsey was a friend of mine, and when he started Twitter, I just glommed right onto it. I loved that medium, and then came Instagram and TikTok and all those other things.
I’m now becoming a Substack user. I love it because that’s where the old media is coming alive again. It’s where you’re getting your good writing and hearing from authors that you used to read in Vanity Fair and all the other good magazines. It serves a very good purpose, and it’s absolutely brilliant new media. I try to keep up with what’s around me and become powerful in that medium, whatever it is.
Martha Stewart shows off her BIC EZ Reach LighterBIC EZ Reach Lighters
WW: It also seems like you’ve been winning over a lot of younger fans recently, and Entertaining is being reissued after a resurgence on TikTok. What do you think led you to reach this new fanbase?
MS: It’s because of my Netflix documentary from last year. It’s a very truthful depiction of a very exciting career and life, and people didn’t know the whole story. It doesn’t tell everything, but it has a lot, and kids especially glommed onto it. Boy, did they love this documentary, as did many, many women.
Martha Stewart at the New York premiere of Martha in 2024Kevin Mazur/Getty for Netflix
WW: Where do you find inspiration?
MS: I get inspired everywhere. I was just at QVC for a 24-hour stint doing Today’s Special Value for my new fashion line with them, and I had two-and-a-half hours for lunch, so we jumped in a car and drove over to Longwood Gardens, and had the most delicious meal. They have a real gourmet restaurant.
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The director there is fantastic, and then he took us on a walking tour of the new conservatory and the old conservatory. They have over a million visitors a year there, and I felt so inspired seeing the fineness and the beauty of the plant material. I wrote a blog post on Longwood Gardens, and then that in turn will inspire people to look at plants in a new and different way. That’s how I keep fresh.
Martha Stewart at the Macy’s Flower Show in 2008Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic/Getty
WW: With such a packed schedule, what do you do to unwind?
MS: There’s not too much time to relax, other than to get into the shower or bath and then go to bed, but I have a lot of animals, since I live on a farm. I have horses, donkeys, chickens, peacocks and geese, so I say goodnight to all my animals. I also have my dogs and my cats. I just got two new cats who are adorable. They’re fantastic. Being around my animals helps me unwind.
Martha Stewart with her cat in 1980Arthur Schatz/Getty
WW: What’s a fact about you that might surprise people?
MS: I’m an artist. I have a studio, and I’m going to do some creative artwork inspired by my granddaughter, who is a very good artist. She’s 14 years old, and she’s been doing arts and crafts for a long time. I’ve been thinking I better get into it, and I have many projects that I’ve semi-started but haven’t finished, so I’m going to work on finishing some of them. I’ve been working with eggshells and making sculptures with them.
WW: You’ve just passed the milestone of publishing 100 books. What do you have coming up next?
MS: I’ve been writing my autobiography, which will be very funny and interesting and different. I’m working on that actively. I’m also working on a skincare line with a very good dermatologist, and it’s going to be fantastic.
