Not FFwD and This Isn't Socca Vieux

For me life gets in the way of French Friday from time to time. Many of the French Friday cooks are so organized that they rarely miss a post. If they have company coming or they're taking a trip it's no problem for them. They get the cooking done, the blog written and post it first thing on Friday! I. Am. Not. That. Person. I have decided to forgive myself and move on.

This week I'm in Memphis with my sweet mother-in-law. She lives with her daughter who is on vacation so I'm staying with her for part of the week. she is a great and kind lady but does NOT understand my love and devotion for cooking but she does love eating the results! I don't have garbanzo flour and I don't want to run around looking for it.

For dinner tonight we had a delicious lemon pepper pasta mixed with leftover chicken and a few things my dear friend gave me.....she even gave me the lemon pepper pasta! Life is good!

I would include the usual link to the French Friday with Dorie web site but I don't know how to do that on my iPad. Sorry!

FFwD - Back of the Card Cheese Bread

Summer has come to the plains!  We went from monsoons to heat.  Has Oklahoma become tropical?

Back of the Card Cheese Bread

This recipe is very easy and very adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand.  Four eggs make this bread more like a cake!

I didn't have tapenade so I used pesto.  I had a drawer full of end pieces of cheese of unknown varieties.  There was a piece of parmesan and a little cheddar, though.  That much I know.  I had a few olives and a bit of roasted red pepper.  It was a mishmash of stuff that came together perfectly.

I took it to a going away party for a friend who has retried and is going to try out different places to see where she wants to live.  She's going to Mississippi first.  What an adventure!

And, yes, this bread is wonderful with a glass of white wine!  I like Honig Sauvignon Blanc.

Check out all the French Friday cooks!

FFwD - Strawberry Tartine and Anne LeBlanc's Pistachio Avocado

Fresh Fruit Tartine

You know this is good as soon as you hear the ingredients.  Strawberries, bread, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar.  Fruits and berries are so fresh and delicious right now.  We're eating tons of everything we can get our hands on and its surprising how good everything is.  That's why I couldn't stop at strawberries but had to try this with peaches and blackberries too.  They are all delicious!

A friend gave me a bottle of chocolate balsamic vinegar and it was perfect for this fruit tartine.  I can't wait to make it for her!

Anne LeBlanc's Pistachio Avocado

Dorie says this is more a list of ingredients than a recipe and she's right but who knew avocado and pistachio was such a wonderful pairing?  I've been looking for pistachio oil for weeks and couldn't find it but I read on the FF board that many people were making it. That was my plan but since I didn't get my act together (something that occurs with alarming regularity!) and get it done I was left winging it!  I  still plan to make the pistachio oil one of these days!

I have a bottle of chili infused olive oil that I drizzled on the chopped avocados and sprinkled toasted pistachios on top.  Add salt and voila, delicious!  Gary wrapped it in a flour tortilla and loved it.  We'll do this one again!

Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and concern for we Okies through the crazy weather of the past couple of weeks.  The El Reno tornado came much closer to us than the Moore tornado had and we experienced some flooding.  We've come out okay and had decided to take up the carpet in the den anyhow!  The flood just got us moving!  I did not know it could rain so hard.  Hopefully, bad weather is behind us for this season.  Its been exhausting!

You can check out all the French Fridays with Dorie results!