FFwD - Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India

Vegetable Barley Soup with the Taste of Little India

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe is seasoned with garam masala. I don't care for garam masala. Whole Foods sells it in the bulk spice section so I didn't have to buy much. I knew I wouldn't want to cook with it often. In fact, I was prepared to dislike this soup entirely. So, happy surprise! I actually liked it. I don't love it but I like it.

Its easy to make and Dorie suggests starting with 3/4 teaspoon of garam masala. I kept it there and added quite a generous amount of red pepper flakes. Barley isn't something I normally (ever) cook with and the kind I bought needed an hour to cook. Still it was a simple soup that feels good on an already sore throat (allergy season in Oklahoma). I think chicken or beef would be good  in this and I'm looking for a recipe for beef and barley soup to use up my barley. If you have a good recipe would you leave me a link? Thank you!

Snowshoe Bread

To go with the soup I baked nan from a beautiful book called Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. This is a beautiful book of home baked goodies from around the world. Everything I've made from it has been delicious!

I'm behind in my blogging! Luckily my cooking is almost up to date but I've been a bad, bad blogger. I hope to be getting back in the groove. These things are hard to predict though!

Love my little RV!

I have one RV trip under my belt! My son and his wife went with me and I was able to manage everything except loosening one cap to empty the septic system. Once I find a new cap I will be ready to try it on my own. Except for backing. I know, I know! Its kind of a biggie but I'll get it figured out.

Happy spring everyone!

FFwD - Only One of Two Tartines

This week's French Friday assignment was Two Tartines From La Croix Rouge. La Croix Rouge was a fashionable cafe in Paris that is evidently closed. I googled it for info and found a page that said closed. Too bad. It sounded like it had everything going for it!

Tartine Saint-Germain

I skipped the Tartine Norvégienne because we don't like smoked salmon. However, the Tartine Saint-Germain is delicious! Since it is such an easy recipe, more a set of instructions, I decided to make my mayonnaise. The only other time I've done this was for Hélène's All-White Salad and people, we loved it! I mean loved it!

The mayonnaise was my favorite part!

Dorie's mayonnaise recipe is on page 490 of Around My French Table. She says use 1/2-1 cup of oil and 1/4 teaspoon of Dijon or more if you like it more 'piquant' and I do! From the previous mayonnaise I learned that salt and pepper are essential to bring out the flavor of the oil and egg so I used both liberally.  Seriously,  you don't need roast beef or smoked salmon or anything else. I could eat it with a spoon!

Delicious with pickles and grapes. Does that sound weird?

We had this for a late lunch with a glass of wine. I admit I love drinking in the day. It makes me feel like I'm on vacation! Okay I just read that statement. Makes it sound like I'm one step away from a 12 step program.

Don't forget to add salt and pepper to the sandwich. They bump the flavor to the next level!

Its one step forward and one step back on the blog relocation and redo! Yep, that means I'm standing in place! And yes, it is frustrating. I WILL be there by Easter and hopefully sooner!

Go to the French Friday website to see what the other French Friday cooks thought.

FFwD - Garbure From the Supermarket

Garubure From the Supermarket

This was good! Gary liked it and said its a keeper. Reading through the recipe is daunting but, really, once you cook the beans and chop the vegetables its pretty simple.  I used a ham bone that I had and it provided so much flavor that the sausage wasn't necessary. I plan to try this with a pork shoulder next time and see if the sausage adds more to the flavor.

I could find no duck confit. Since I was in Dallas I was hopeful, but unless I wanted to run all over town it wasn't happening. Central Market (my favorite grocery store) said they would have more in about a week. That wasn't any help to me though!

Tasty and I'm glad it makes lots!

We've had beautiful weather here in Oklahoma City but it ends tomorrow and we have snow and ice and 7 degree temps in our forecast. I know many of you are having much worse weather. I am SO ready for winter to end!!!

I'm making progress on my blog redesign. I hope to be up and running in a couple of weeks.

We are cooking our way through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. Click the French Friday link to see what the other cooks thought.

Gratuitous pictures of my grandchildren to follow:)

My favorite little lunch partner having pizza his favorite meal. Forever ever he says:)

Our adorable little lady:)

FFwD - Butter and Rum Crepes, Fancy and Plain

I love crepes! I have made them several times, usually with some degree of success. Maybe a few stick or tear when I turn them, but all in all I can count on enough pretty ones to feed whoever is around. I've  even made these crepes a few times. I've left out the citrus. I've left out the rum. I've added both. They are delicious no matter how they were made.

And then I bought a crepe pan.

My new crepe pan!

I seasoned as recommended and had beautiful crepes to serve to my son and daughter-in-law. I filled them with vanilla pastry cream and topped them with melted fig preserves. Delicious and beautiful! Why didn't I take a picture?

So I had a casual dinner party. Dorie's Boeuf a la mode and sautéed green beans were on the menu, crepes for dessert.

A delicious pile of crepe crumbs!

I think I need to work on re-seasoning my pan. I think my flame was too high and then too low. I think I need more practice. But everyone loved them and hopes I will begin a quest to perfect the crepes. The sauce is perfect, as is! However, if your honey is Manuka and not as sweet as some honey, either cut back on the citrus or add a bit of sugar.

At least I got two pretty ones!

Out of the entire batch I had two that were presentable! The quest continues!

Go to the French Fridays with Dorie website to see how everyone else fared this week as we cook our way through Dorie Grrenspan's Around My French Table.

FFwD - Helene's All-White Salad

Helene's All-White Salad

Oh, French Fridayers we lucky Oklahomans can see an END to winter! The rest of you have my sympathy but I am celebrating a break in the cold, ice and snow! Of course, soon I will be cursing the Wind, our next season. In Oklahoma Wind comes after and sometimes during winter.

I liked this white salad but I think I might like it more as a slaw. The celery, mushrooms, Napa cabbage, and Granny Smith apples compliment one another and work best when taken together. Next time I will try shredding or slicing into very small bites. I kept the white theme going with bread and roasted chicken. The salad looks almost colorful in comparison!

This was my first mayonnaise! I loved it and can't wait to try different versions. Mine looks kind of green. That's the California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This was one of the products featured at last year's International Food Bloggers Conference. It has become my go to olive oil. The taste is very fresh and not the least over powering. Try it if you haven't already!

In my world there is lots happening. I have a new laptop, I'm moving and redesigning my blog (trying to resolve my identity crisis! More about that later.) I'll go to Dallas Friday for a while enjoying grand babies, our good friend coming Monday. As Marsha used to say "Life is good."

Go to the French Friday site to see everyone's salad!

FFwD - Paris-Brest

When I think of French pastry I think pâté a choux, fruit tarts, small cakes, croissants. Pâté a choux covers cream puffs, profiteroles, eclairs, gougeres. All delicious and special treats for someone living in Oklahoma.

Paris-Brest

I made my first pâté a choux several years ago, 10 maybe. My friend, Marsha, and I were planning a trip to London and Paris.  Gary's dad died and we invited his sister and mother to come with us. We went to a small patisserie for coffee and pastry every morning while we were in Paris. My sister in law would have a fruit tart. My mother in law would have a scone. Marsha and I had croissants. Every day. Funny I came home determined to learn how to make pastries.  I don't know why I didn't decide to make croissants.

Paris Brest is a pastry made to commemorate a bicycle race that goes from Paris to Brest. The circular shape is reminiscent of a bicycle wheel. Its  pretty easy to make. The hardest part is piping out the pastry ring. If you google it you will see some people pipe inside a cake ring. One Dorista, Christy, used mini tart pans. A ring of some sort helps the pastry to rise up instead of spreading out.  Next time I will use a ring of some type.

The pastry cream is easy to mix up. And all components can be made in advance and put together at the last moment.  I made it while Gary's mother was here and the three of us almost finished off the entire Paris Brest! Two small pieces were still good the next day but the Creme had caused the pastry to loose some of its crispness. Still delicious though.

Winter is dragging on for all of us it seems! Snow is predicted for Oklahoma on Tuesday! Ugh....
Go to French Friday with Dorie website to see what everyone else thought about it.

FFwD - Christine's Simple Party Soups

Christine's Simple Party Soups

This French Friday is one of the simplest we've done. Basically you boil peppers, asparagus and broccoli, individually,  in chicken broth with zucchini. Then you blend it up, in the food processor for me. What could be easier, right? Well it is easy but it still wasn't worth the effort. I added hot peppers and spices and it still wasn't very good. My family wouldn't move beyond a taste and I felt the same. It all ended up in the trash. That's a French Friday first! The red pepper soup showed the most promise but even though I halved the water it wasn't very good.

Enriched White Bread

At least we had good bread!  One of my 2014 goals is to bake more bread and I'm off to a good start. How can you go wrong with Peter Reinhart though? I've baked many of his breads from bread The Bread Baker's Apprentice and plan to bake them all. I started with a simple enriched white bread since it has been a while since I baked artisan bread. I'm eager to continue my quest!

The French Friday website is where you'll find everyone's links.

FFwD - Dressy Pasta "Risotto"

Dressy Pasta Risotto
Not a very good photo:)

Dorie says this isn't really a risotto. I guess its called that because the macaroni is cooked in enough broth to mostly absorb into the macaroni instead of the traditional boiling water that is then drained. Fancy mac and cheese is a more accurate description but I like the method and don't object to calling it risotto.

We really enjoyed this. I served it with a salad and bread and it was a delicious dinner. Everyone liked it and the left overs were good the next day too!

Gary having leftovers!

I hope your 2014 is off to a good start! Mine is. Our granddaughter made her appearance in the world today! She is beautiful and mama and baby are fine! To double my pleasure I'm staying with Mr. B while his parents are in the hospital. We went shopping for a present and B chose a bib with flowers.  He seems as in love as the rest of us.....except he'd really like his mama and dada to come home!

AJ trying on my Santa hat as we drive Christmas Eve

Visit all the French Fridays with Dorie blogs to see what everyone else thought. I bet they loved it too!

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 - 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.

FFwD - Chestnut and Pear Soup + Muenster Souffle Make UP

This soup is not pretty! I guess that's why Dorie didn't include a picture and I don't blame her! Actually, I didn't know what to expect from Chestnut and Pear Soup but its good. Kind of earthy and kind of sweet and more depth of flavor than I expected.  Gary didn't share my favorable impression. He is, however, impressed that we continue to try making soups out of things that shouldn't be soup. His words, not mine. I came close to chopping off the tip of my pinky while slicing onions! It is SO hard to keep a bandaid on the end of your finger!!!

The Muenster Souffles became Camembert Souffles and they are delicious! Really good with the soup too. My bechamel was too thick and lumpy the first time. So I remade it. I had to crack 5 eggs to get 3 eggs cleanly separated! It wasn't my best day in the kitchen!

This little bundle of sweetness could care less about my kitchen troubles. Give him a piece of peanut butter toast and an apple and he's happy! He makes me happy too!

All the Doristas trials, tribulations, and successes can be found at French Fridays with Dorie.

FFwD - Compote de Pommes + Hurry-Up-And-Wait Roast Chicken

I've gotten behind on French Friday cooking and posting. Hopefully, I will catch up in the next couple of weeks. I lost my friend almost two weeks ago and I'm struggling to move on with my life. I will get there...I just need a little more time.

Compote de Pommes

This weeks Compote de Pommes (French Applesauce) was simple and delicious. I served it as dessert with whipped cream. I've never served applesauce with whipped cream and it was a revelation! Gary and I each had two servings and on the second one I layered the whipped cream with the applesauce and it was even better! I used an assortment of apples left in the fridge and it came out perfect!

Hurry-Up-And-Wait Roast Chicken

Roast chicken was just what we needed for an easy comfort meal. I liked the technique of turning the chicken (although I admit it wasn't easy and involved props to hold it in place) to ensure even cooking. I through a few potatoes and carrots into the pan and we had an easy and delicious dinner.

This post participates in French Fridays with Dorie. Join us as we cook our way through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table.

FFwD - Salad Nicoise

Elk crossing

Life has been hectic since I returned from Seattle and The International Food Bloggers Conference. Our son from Dallas arrived the day after I did, my sister from California later in the week, and our rowing club's biggest regatta is this weekend, along with Gary's birthday! I can hear my mom saying 'you can rest in the grave':) My mom was full of sayings. When I was younger it could be annoying. Now I smile at how often I hear her expressions in my head.

We shared our delicious salad with our good and frequent French Friday friends. The addition of a Whole Foods to our city makes last minute entertaining a breeze. I ran by and picked up a couple of cheeses, good crackers, and a few small cakes to share. This easy salad and a couple of good bottles of wine made for a fun and impromptu dinner party.

Salad Nicoise

This is a French Fridays with Dorie post. Join us as for year four as we cook our way through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table.

FFwD - Tuna-Packed Piquillo Peppers

I'm tired everyone. I've been up so long that I can't even calculate how long I've been up.  Yes I'm that tired. But I'm happy.  I'm content.  And I'm stimulated. I have so much to process. I have to sit alone with things and let my experiences percolate. Tonight I met Dorie and 'The Original Dorista', her husband, Michael. I also met several of the Doristas I've been cooking with in this fun and challenging project, French Fridays with Dorie. The evening was such a pleasure!

I'll have more to say as the @IFBC progresses and I get some sleep. It just seemed kind of sacrilegious to not get my post up for this particular French Friday when I am with Dorie and so many of the Doristas. 

I wish I could have found the Piquillo  peppers but I didn't and I ended up using red peppers that were just bell peppers in water. Still, this was good.  I recently bought olive oil infused with Tuscan herbs and I used that for the olive oil to add flavor since I didn't have the piquillos that Dorie says are slightly smoky and sweet. Heating them intensifies all the flavors and with a nice baguette made an easy and delicious light supper. 

I can't figure out how to put in links on my iPad. I think I'm just too tired to think about it! You all know where to go to find all the  French Fridays with Dorie posts. 

IFBC Baby!

Sorry everyone but I live in Oklahoma. When we hear something like IFBC its assumed to be a sporting conference of some sort so I can't help but yell 'IFBC Baby!' Just as an experiment I tried telling a few fellow Okies about IFBC in Seattle. They immediately think its about basketball but that's a long story and only professional basketball fans would get it. When I say no, their brains go straight to college sports and then a worried, puzzled expression spreads across their faces. Is there a new conference they haven't heard of? Are they out of the loop? Is there something happening in sports that they are unaware of? Rodeo? International Federation of Bucking Critters?

Okay, I know its not nice to tease people too much but as a foodie living in Oklahoma I take my shots where I can.

IFBC is actually The International Food Blogger Conference. This year it will be held in Seattle September 20-22, 2013.  It will be my first food blogger conference ever! I'm kind of nervous but I'm more excited.

I've participated in this group called French Fridays with Dorie since December 2011. We are cooking our way through Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around My French Table. I've never met any of the other cooks and 17 of our members will also be at the conference! On top of that Dorie Greenspan herself is the keynote speaker! On top of that she is going to meet with us as a group! I know! It just gets better and better! If you are attending the conference you will know us by our fabulous French Fridays with Dorie tote bags created by Trevor the Clever (that's kinda catchy, isn't it?) at Sis Boom Blog.

I've beaten myself severely (mentally, emotionally, but not physically) for not doing the things I told myself I would do with my blog. I feel I let myself down and its made me cranky and not want to do anything with my blog. Why are we humans so complicated and contrary? But I have now determined I WILL use this conference to learn and I WILL come home and USE what I have learned to make my blog the reflection of me that I want it to be. I won't go into the fact that it is a reflection of my current state of mind and............didn't I just say I won't go into that? Oh I am afraid I reveal too much......

Anyhow IFBC is going to be fabulous and I can't wait to meet new people, see new things, and have new experiences!  Did I mention I'm going to meet Dorie?

FFwD - Duck Breasts with Fresh Peaches Catch Up Post

Oh my! So far behind I'm not sure of the best way to catch up.  Ignore the past and start with today? Do a sweeping post that covers everything from the last several weeks? Or should I cover each week in its own post? I think I'll just get started and see where it leads!

DragonCon 2013

To begin with...Dragon Con! I went to my first sci fi/fantasy convention over Labor Day. Atlanta's Dragon Con is a gathering of over 50,000 science fiction and fantasy fans. My husband went last year (see the fun things one can do after retiring) and convinced me to go this year. We've already made plans for next year and we're looking around for other Cons we can make!

This is just a small taste of the craziness! We participated in trying to seize the Guinness record for the most number of Star Trek uniforms in one room. We didn't make it but there were over 900 Trekkies gathered, one of them 3 months old!

No Duck Chicken Breasts with Peaches

French Friday a month ago was Duck with Peaches.  I cooked it, photoed it, but didn't blog it! I couldn't find duck breasts so I used chicken and it was really good. We shared it with good friends around their pool. I love summer and eating by the pool! This is a great dish for carrying to friends.  Just be careful not to over cook the meat (which I did just a tad) since it will need to be reheated!

I also took Tzatziki which was excellent with fresh vegetables. Our garden had produced an abundance of squash and cucumbers. Now our garden is producing nothing!

Taztziki

One of my sweet daughters in law had given me these delicious little chocolate shells for Christmas and I finally used them. Wow! Super easy and super delicious! I must find more! I filled them with chocolate mousse from Whole Foods then topped with a little cream, a raspberry and some pistachios! I still fantasize about them!

Heavenly Bites


I'm getting frustrated! Why won't Blogger let me go back to the left margin? Errrrrr!  Moving on.......That's enough for one post. Think its time to get a cup of coffee and relax for a minute. I have a love/hate relationship with technology! Who doesn't, though? Right?

Well I ended up not blogging what I thought I would so had to go back and change the title of the post! I WILL get caught up! Maybe not this morning though...

This post participates in French Friday with Dorie.  Follow our adventures as we cook our way through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French TAble.

FFwD - Make Up Day - Gougéres

Hello Friends! I hardly know where to begin this post. So much has been happening in my life lately and there is so much happening in the next few months.

Gougéres

First, my gougéres. They are delicious. I think this was one of the early French Friday recipes and I actually thought I'd made them but what I made was the goat cheese mini puffs which also uses a páte á choux, though it is slightly different.  I used a combo of cheddar and pepper jack and next time will use more pepper jack.  The little pepper kick is wonderful!

Anyhow, they are super easy to make and wonderful to eat. We ate several (can I call six several?) and I have a bag in the freezer ready to bake at a moments notice. I love having ready to bake items in my freezer!

I need to post about the past couple of FF recipes. I've cooked, photographed but not posted. Come on Lola/Guyla! Get with the program! So much to do...so much I want to do...so much I'm not getting done!

I had my son, daughter-in-law and grandson for an entire week! Is there anything better than having your grown children return home? I don't think so! And my SON is returning next week for a couple of days. More good news...we have a baby girl joining our family in January! As my clever daughter-in-law put it "a little PINK with our beloved blue". Happy, happy, happy!

I have reached my goal weight! The Fast Diet is the perfect plan for us. Now I'm trying to figure out how to maintain but I'm pretty sure it doesn't include 'several' gougéres with my drink every evening.

Happy Friday everyone! Life is good! This post participates in French Fridays with Dorie. We are a dedicated group of fun loving home cooks cooking our way through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. There is still time to join us!

FFwD - Dieter's Tartine

You take one look at the list of ingredients and just know this is good! How could it not be?  Its the middle of summer here so tomatoes are fresh and delicious.  Recently, while visiting our grandson in Dallas, we had Armenian cucumbers. The skin is thin and mild and there are no seeds to speak of.  They are similar to an English or hothouse cucumber but a bit more flavorful.  I was happy to find them at our local Farmer's Market.

Dieter's Tartine

I just toasted baguette slices and spread them with goat cheese.  I had some in the fridge that needed to be used and in the interest of cooking what I have I used goat cheese but I will look for fromage blanc another time.  Very occasionally I see it at the cheese store.

Since my basil plant is going crazy I used basil instead of chives and I couldn't pass on the olive oil.  Everything was fresh and delicious and I can't wait to make it again. These could be a great light lunch but since we ate most of a baguette and a roll of goat cheese I'm not sure it was a diet lunch!

And then......we had pie! I found This great recipe recently at the Taste of Home web site. I used the tart dough recipe to make a pie crust for a cherry, peach and blackberry pie! To. Die. For. This is my new go to recipe for a crust.

I hope all the French Friday cooks had a good week.  Don't forget to head over and check out everyone's blog.

FFwD-Mediterranean Swordfish with Frilly Herb Salad

Several  (10?) years ago celebrity chefs went on talk shows telling us to stop eating swordfish.  They had been over fished and there was a danger of us eating all the swordfish in the sea so we needed to stop eating them and allow their numbers to come back to a sustainable level.  I stopped eating swordfish.

About the time I might have considered eating it again we were warned of high mercury levels in large predatory fish. Swordfish are near the top of their food chain so they are high in mercury, but safe to eat once a week.......unless you are young, or pregnant or nursing and then you should avoid it all together. Something about being told there is poison in my food but I'm the perfect age for my body to handle it that puts my appetite off.

And here we are at French Friday and swordfish. I'll admit to a slight panic. The moral issue has been resolved. Swordfish numbers have rebounded and as long as we are eating harpoon caught from Canada and the North Atlantic or East Pacific we are purchasing fish caught in a manner that causes minimal damage to other types of sea life.  Mercury in swordfish is unavoidable. Just don't eat too much of it.

Mediterranean Swordfish

So for the first time in many years I bought and prepared swordfish. The deliciousness helped me to forget abut the mercury. Swordfish really is a perfect fish...firm, not too fishy, everything we usually want in seafood (except that pesky mercury).

We loved it! The only thing I would do differently is sub some arugula for half of the parsley in the frilly herb salad.  It had a tad too much bite. But all in all it was a big hit at my house!  Usually after cooking fish inside we are spraying lysol for a couple of days trying to get rid of fishy smells.  Not with swordfish!

This posts participates in French Fridays with Dorie. Happy Friday everyone!

FFwD - Whole Cherry Clafoutis

Yippee! I'm on time. I think it's the first time in 3 weeks!  Life has been busy, good busy mostly.

Whole Cherry Clafoutis

I like clafoutis! I've never made one myself but I have a friend who makes them.  Hers are more cakey than this one, though, and a bit less eggy. This was good and easy to prepare. Egg custard with cherries is what Gary said. "What's not to love?" I have to agree. I debated the pit issue, to remove or not remove. I decided to follow the recipe and leave the pits. Next time I think I'll remove them though.

The only issue I had was it wouldn't set!  I had to cook for 18 additional minutes! What's up with that? My oven temp is accurate, or my thermometer and over gauge say the same temp at least. When I googled the issue there are several posts out there about clafoutis not setting.  Hummm......

While searching I came across this wonderful LA Times article about a blind Clafoutis baker in France.  Its worth a click and a read!

I'm caught up on cooking!  I made the socca and while its good right out of the oven I wasn't crazy about it. Now what to do with a bag of garbanzo flour?

Socca from Veaux Nice

The wheat berry and tuna salad was a big hit! I'll make this again as we love tuna and this was a nice change.

Wheat Berry and Tuna Salad

We are deep into summer here in Oklahoma!  I wish a nice rain and a cool breeze for everyone.  Happy French Fridays with Dorie everyone!