FFwD - Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines and Basil

Port St. Joe
August 2012

My birthday at the beach with the entire family!  Does it get any better than this?  Surely not and yet it was and is a very difficult thing for me to adjust to being 60.  I'm not sure yet why other than the obvious that I'm getting old.  I don't really mind being older, though; in many ways it beats being young.  Partly its disappointment in myself.  I haven't turned out the way I would have liked.  Guess that's one good thing about 60, I'm not too old too change......I hope!

Warm Scallop Salad
Around My French Table
Dorie Greenspan

I didn't really get the 'salad' aspect of this recipe so I decided to turn it into a salad.  Instead of plating the components side by side I mixed them together with the scallops on top.  We loved the lime dressing with the corn and nectarines.  The tomatoes were lost in the shuffle.

This recipe is a keeper except for the fact the scallops were $24.99 a pound!  I have to admit they were absolutely delicious and worth every penny!  Fresh and sweet!  And I live in Oklahoma!  Thank you Whole Foods:)

The downside?  The next day my house still smells like scallops!  Not so nice today.

Check out all the French Friday posts!

TwD - Blueberry-Nectarine Pie

Blueberry-Peach Pie ala Baking with Julia

I'm about to put a whole lot of angst onto one little recipe but this pie caused me to reconsider my participation in TwD.  What am I doing and why am I doing it?  I have an excellent pie crust recipe I've been using successfully for years and yet because of my participation in cooking groups I try others with varying degrees of success.  Why?  I guess the point is to grow as a cook by experiencing new recipes and techniques but when its a chore instead of a joy its time to step back.

I didn't enjoy this recipe.  Perhaps I did some mis-measuring on the crust as I've read other blogs that loved it.  It was too short for me and difficult to work with, almost a shortbread.  And why the cake pan?

The filling was fussy.  Why make a simple syrup to soak the berries?  I've made tons of pies with peaches or nectarines and blueberries, add a little lemon and put the fruit in the crust, mix sugar and flour, and top it with another crust.  Easy.

We love pie and this was a good one if not a pretty one but I can make one just as good and twice as easy.  In the future I'll be more discriminating in following the recipes.  I know many of the other TwD cooks use their experience and knowledge and often stray from the recipe and I'm going to do the same.

Guess I'm just a slow learner:)  Our hosts for this recipe were Lizzy and Hilary and they both had great success with the recipe which they give on their blogs!  See what all the other Tuesday with Dorie bakers thought of the recipe.