While Martha Stewart and fraternity life are not often associated with one another, University of Wisconsin junior Brian Nagle believes the two are a perfect mix.

So much, in fact, that Nagle, a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, e-mailed the home and garden magnate to thank her for "making college life easier" through Stewart's recipe and cooking advice presented on her new lifestyle and cooking show, "Martha."

In his letter, Nagle mentioned he once cooked a batch of meat loaf for his fraternity house using a recipe he got from Stewart's program.

But Nagle didn't expect the letter to eventually lead him and his fraternity to a featured appearance on that very show.

"Guys used to tease and poke fun here and there about me watching the show," said Nagle, who has been a member of Delta Tau Delta since the spring of last year. "But that stopped once I made the meat loaf. Now everyone is like, 'It's kind of good he watches it because he gets good ideas on how to make us food.'"

According to Nagle, the show's producers "liked the idea of a fraternity brother cooking for his fraternity" and asked him to prepare another meal for his house using a different Stewart recipe.

The producers wanted Nagle to take pictures of the whole meal — a meatball dinner prepared by Nagle in less than 30 minutes — and to send them in for use in an upcoming show.

Nagle and his Delta Tau Delta brothers taped the episode April 13, and their episode will air today at 11 a.m. on NBC.

"Everyone is really excited for this," Nagle said, adding he got the call from the show's producers Wednesday that the show would air. "Everybody's really pumped to be on the show [today]."

Brandon Sieglaff, president of Delta Tau Delta, said many of the fraternity's members plan to watch the show together and hoped the event will help present UW Greek life in a "different light."

"We're excited to get the UW Greek community some positive feedback," Sieglaff remarked.

Nagle said he does not plan to pursue cooking as a career, but rather enjoys it just as a hobby.

While Sieglaff said he and his fraternity brothers sometimes tease Nagle about his hobby, they appreciate the brownies he brings to the fraternity's chapter meetings.

"The meatballs were amazing, too," Sieglaff added. "Brian is an awesome cook and a real excellent guy."