FFwD - Should be Dilled Gravlax But Its Make Up Pumpkin Gorgonzola Flan Instead

Gratuitous Mr. B Photo with his Parents:)

Christmas is over and The New Year is almost here (bringing our granddaughter with it). I am a maker of lists, plans, goals and resolutions and have only just started thinking of 2014 and what I want for the year. I can recycle many of my plans from 2013. I fell short in several areas!

Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flan

I knew gravlax, even if dilled, would NOT be eaten at my house so instead I opted for a make up post and made Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Flans. This was an early French Friday selection, November 2010. I went back to see what everyone thought of the recipe and it got mostly favorable reviews. Betsy, I didn't add enough salt either. I was surprised by how much it needed! Tammy said it tasted like autumn which is what my mother-in-law thought too. We all enjoyed it!

One of my Christmas presents was a White Balsamic with Pear and Cranberry Vinegar. I used it to make Dorie's Everyday Vinaigrette! Delicious!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday! 2014 is almost upon us. Its time to take stock and move forward. I plan to begin the new year with a clean refrigerator! How about you?

This is French Friday with Dorie post. Join us as we cook our way through Dorie Greenspan's book Around My French Table.

FFwD - Recipe-Swap Onion "Carbonara"

2 #s of onions ready for the steamer

I seem to be stuck in a pattern of cooking but not blogging! Maybe after the holidays I will get back into the schedule. No, maybe after the arrival of our granddaughter on January 3rd! We are excited to meet her and also to see what kind of a brother Mr. Adorable will be to Miss Adorable! We predict he will be Extraordinary! 

Spaghetti and Onions Carbonara

For this week's French Friday recipe I went the spaghetti route. After a day of baking I wanted a quick and delicious dinner and this was perfect....in my opinion....an opinion not shared by Gary! Gary of 'will eat anything' fame didn't like this! He ate a bit and then went for leftovers! He said he's finally found something that bacon should NOT go on! Unbelievable! His sweet mother is with us and she thought it was good and cleaned her plate. I think she was as surprised by Gary's reaction as I was! Bacon, onions, cream and cheese over pasta? What's not to love?

Merry Christmas to all! Stop by the French Friday page to see everyone else's experience with the recipe!

FFwD - Mme. Maman's Chopped Liver

Mme. Maman's Chopped Liver

This week's French Friday recipe was dreaded by some Doristas. Many of them do not like liver. Others had never purchased and prepared liver at home. I venture they are not from the south. Liver and onions and fried chicken livers were standard fare for most southerners in the 50s and 60s. Then came cholesterol and liver moved to the forbidden list. Kind of like coconut and coconut oil. Ahhh progress.....

At any rate we love liver and we love pates. So this was perfect for us. Pate was on our Thanksgiving menu. I made a recipe from Southern Living's Thanksgiving issue. It was good but not as good as Dorie's recipe. The Southern Living one was served with Cranberry Pecan Chutney. Now that was good! Its become our favorite cranberry recipe.  I've even canned some. I just add the pecans when I open the jar.  You should try this. Its easy and delicious!

Cranberry Chutney

Back to chopped liver. If you like liver you will love this. If you don't like liver this won't change your mind. This is one of my favorite recipes to date. Its easy to make and elegant to serve. Its also good on white bread as a sandwich and so much better than any liver product you buy at the grocery. Loved it!

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. So much to do. So little time. I wish you joy. And peace.

Remember, you can find all our thoughts on chopped liver on the French Friday website. Follow us as we cook our way through Dorie Greenspan's marvelous book, Around My French Table.

FFwD - Orange-Almond Tuiles

Orange-Almond Tuiles

These delicate little cookies caused quite a stir on the P&Q page! The dough/batter mixes easily enough but from there its all down hill. I refrigerated over night, two nights actually and measured the little balls with a teaspoon. So far all went well. Things got tricky when it came time to remove the little sh--s from the cookie sheet! Last time I was at Williams Sonoma Outlet (yes Virginia, there is an outlet) in Memphis I bought a sharp edged metal spatula and I was feeling somewhat cocky about it. I thought I had the perfect tool for this job! I did not have the perfect tool. So I let them cool on the sheet a little longer. Then it was back in the oven. Then I scraped/mangled a few off. Draping them over the rolling pin was no easy task as I have a big old fashioned one and I think these need to go over a French style.

All in all these weren't worth the effort for me and I didn't even finish cooking the dough/batter.  My sweet mother in law and I nibbled on them while we worked on her Christmas cards.  We are excited to have her stay with us for a few weeks. This lovely lady has Parkinson's Disease and struggles as the disease robs her of herself but she pushes on with courage and dignity. We feel honored to have her in our home.

The day was not lost thanks to Trevor. He posted on facebook that it was the 80th anniversary of the end of Prohibition! Gary and AJ and I celebrated with a Manhattan:)

AJ wants a Manhattan too!

All the French Friday cooks can be found here. As we cook our way through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. Stay warm Doristas and thank you for the condolences in the loss of my friend.