TwD - Hungarian Shortbread

Hungarian Shortbread with Apricot Jam

Wordpress doesn't like me.  Its not that I'm getting hate mail or anything I just can't sign on to any wordpress sites.  That's a problem since Tuesdays and French Fridays with Dorie are both wordpress.  Sigh...

OK, moving on to the recipe, I'm not crazy about this one.  Its oh so very sweet and I wish I had skipped the powdered sugar on top.   Its just me, right?  The technique of grating the frozen dough was a step I was tempted to skip but I asked myself why am I participating if I don't want to try new techniques?  Isn't that what is at the heart of this whole project?  I'm glad I grated, the texture is amazing.  The lightest shortbread I've ever eaten.

I have to admit the cookies needed to cool more before I cut them but the light was fading and I needed a picture and you know what its like when the light is fading and you need a picture!

I think I'll try these in the morning with a cup of strong black coffee.  Something to cut the sweetness is needed, at least for me.

Our hosts are Cher and 1 Small Kithchen.  Thank you ladies for posting the recipe.

FFwD - Navarin Printanier

Eischens with the Jones'

Two of our oldest and best friends came from Memphis for a visit last week.  I can't begin to tell you the many good times we've had together over the 35 years of our friendship.  Marsha and I were away from home and young mothers together with husbands that walked out the door not knowing where they were going or when they would be home.  At first we turned on the news trying to figure out what was going on in the world and knew our husbands were not far from it.  After a while we didn't want to know.  That's what it was like being an Air Force wife in the 70's.  We went to coffees and meetings and learned to smile and keep our mouths shut...except with each other.  So many times I leaned on her and it was her friendship that helped me make it another day with most of my sanity in tact!

 Is motherhood easier these days?  I don't see the frantic deer in headlights look on young women today that Marsha and I had.  Do today's young moms just know more?  Are they better at mothering than we were?  When my sons talk about their childhood they make it sound like they were raised by wolves. When I told this to my friend she laughed and said, "They were!".  She had girls and I had boys and we had different mothering styles:)

Navarin Paramantier

Oh yeah, the navarin printanier.  Ron really likes lamb.  My husband, Gary, really likes it too.  Me not so much and Marsha not at all!  I think it was fortuitous that lamb stew was on the French Friday plan and Ron was here.  He and Gary loved it.  Ron told me he can't stop thinking about it.  Isn't that why we go to so much trouble to prepare exceptional meals for our loved ones?  "Without a fine meal the crude realities of existence would be unbearable."  That's so true, at least in my world!

I forgot to add the peas and that might be a good thing.  I love peas but they're flavor can be so dominant! Without them the stew was delicate and delicious.  Just about perfect and I'm not a lover of lamb.  This broth could make me a believer.

Visit the French Friday with Dorie website to see what everyone else thought about this!

FFwD - Coconut Friands

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of cooking?  We've been through a crazy time but things are getting back to what we call normal.  A psychiatrist  might call it the dysfunction we're familiar with.....but isn't that what we all call normal?  One thing I know is the old saying "When you have your health you have everything." is so very true and I promise myself to take good care of myself!

I missed the last two recipes but I have now made the Navarin Printanier and the friands.  The asparagus and bacon are on hand and I just need some sardines and I'll catch up this weekend with FFwD but I'm also behind on TwD!   I have to admit you guys aren't very encouraging with most of your sardine rillettes posts!  But my husband likes canned meat/fish products so I'm hopeful!  (I think our daughter-in-law likes my husband in most areas but has confessed to being deeply disturbed by his love of canned meat/fish.)

Coconut Friands

The coconut friands are super easy to mix up.  This is the kind of treat you can whip up anytime you want/need a delicious treat or dessert.  Since I could find only one of my mini muffin pans I baked in batches and added lemon zest to the second batch.  The lemony tang is a great addition but they are fine on their own.  Before baking I sprinkled the tops with a bit of raw sugar for a little sheen and added sweetness.  I think they are just about perfect!

Happy, happy me to be posting again:)  Go to French Friday with Dorie to see how everyone else did with these little jewels.  Loved them here!!!

FFwD - Crab and Grapefruit Salad

Shrimp and Grapefruit Salad

I'm struggling to find the words to tell you how much I like this salad!  I've served it twice, once made with crab and again made with shrimp.  If I lived someplace with easy access to fresh, delicious crab I'm sure that would be wonderful but here in land-locked Oklahoma what I bought was expensive and mediocre.  And yet the salad was good.

For a quick and easy supper with friends I served it with precooked shrimp.  I put it together in under 20 minutes, I'm getting that good at supreming citrus!  Did I say to add avocado as Dorie suggests in her bonne idee?

For the one and a half tablespoon of olive oil I used chili infused olive oil for a little kick.  We've already had it twice and this summer I'm sure it will be a regular at our house.

When visiting family recently in Tennessee Gary's amazing aunt gave us 4 pounds of pecans.  These are pecans she picked up off the ground under her friend's tree and cracked and froze.  Can you believe someone would be so kind and generous?  We are so fortunate to have this nice lady in our lives!

Pecan Tart ala Aunt Ellen
Don't forget to go to the French Friday website and see what the other cooks thought!

FFwD - Cocoa Sables

Loved these cookies!  I added chopped white and milk chocolate that was leftover from a Tuesday with Dorie cooking project and they were delicious!

I made two rolls as directed in the recipe and put one in the freezer.  While you can slice still frozen its hard, really hard and works much better if you let the dough thaw in the fridge for a bit.

Having treats in the freezer that can be pulled out at a moments notice makes me feel like I have this home making thing figured out!  Easy and delicious.  My favorite combo!

Check out the other French Friday cooks at French Fridays with Dorie.  I hope everyone liked this as much as I did!

TwD - Irish Soda Bread - Baking with Julia

Irish Soda Bread is good and its easy to make!  You don't need specialty ingredients, unless you consider buttermilk a specialty ingredient and I don't but then I keep it in my freezer in one cup containers.  After years of throwing away unused buttermilk I had an 'aha' moment and realized I could freeze it!  I have used the dried buttermilk powder with good results but  I have a prejudice against dried milk products.  Maybe I need to get over that...

Cathy and Carla are our hostesses this month and you can find the recipe on their blogs.  All of the bakers in Tuesdays with Dorie have interested stories to tell so check them out!

This made a nice breakfast bread and I used the rest of my apricot lekvar from our rugelach experience.

Spring has come early to Oklahoma and we are loving it!  I have potatoes planted but I'm afraid I've waited too long to get my other cool weather veggies planted.  We've had storms the past couple of days but this morning everything is wet and beautiful.  Could our drought be ending?  We're hopeful!

FFwD - Cheese Souffle

Cheese Souffle - Not a good picture!  

"I thought it would be good."  That's what my husband had to say about my souffle!  Where do you go from there?  We're visiting family in Memphis so I did my French Friday cooking in my sister-in-law's kitchen.  I thought I would wow her and my niece and my mother-in-law with my cooking skills.  Thankfully, my niece's boyfriend, Jeff was also there.  He was the only one who liked it.  Thank you Jeff!

Jeff felt Frenchiefied!  I've decided Jeff's a keeper.  I'm not sure about the rest of them:)

The recipe is good.  Maybe I needed a stronger cheese.  I used Emmentaler.  I think the souffle was good.  You can see it had good rise!  Maybe if I'd served it with a nice salad for lunch.  Maybe we needed more wine. They wondered if sugar would help....

 It was a beautiful evening in Memphis.  The redbuds and dogwoods are in bloom.  A few of the azaleas too.  Its good to have time with family.  Next time I'll make them hamburgers!

Maybe the souffle was more appreciated in other French Friday kitchens.

FFwD - St. Germaine-des-pres Onion Biscuits

Onion Biscuits

An easy recipe!  A pleasure since I've had a few challenges lately, some IN the kitchen some not!  Its kind of surprising how mild the onion flavor is in these.  I've made them twice and enjoyed them both times.  And they freeze so nicely.  After cutting the biscuits out I froze them on a cookie sheet then bag them up and bake as needed.

Dorie's right, they make a delicious nibble with champagne or a cocktail and can be ready at a moment's notice.  In my fantasy world,  friends, fascinating people all, stop by for stimulating conversation and cocktails.  I turn on the oven and pop in either these onion biscuits or Dorie's Mustard Batons, two of my favorite Dorie recipes because they are easy, tasty and freeze and bake so easily.

And of course, I have fabulous cocktails at all times. How can I be an amazing hostess without a fabulous cocktail?  My current favorite drink is a wine cooler.  This one is made by adding a splash of ginger ale and a splash of orange juice to an inexpensive cabernet.  The recipe called for simple syrup but I like to coat the rim of the glass with raw sugar instead.  A party in an instant!

That's what's going on in LolaLand.  Stop by French Fridays with Dorie to see what's happening in the rest of the world!

TwD - Rugelach - Baking with Julia

My husband joined the Air Force after college.  His first assignment after pilot training was at Beale AFB in California.  It was a long way from home.  Gary and I were in our early 20s and very naive.  On his first day of in processing a very nice major befriended him and showed him the ropes.  The major, Norm and his wife, Lori, became our good friends and mentors.  They made being so far from home much nicer and eased us into the Air Force way of life. And Lori taught me how to make Cream Cheese Cookies.

Lori's Cream Cheese Cookies

This has been our favorite cookie ever since.  The dough is much like the rugelach dough in Baking with Julia.  The cookie dough is rolled after chilling and cut into whatever shape you desire.  Put a dollop of your favorite jam, fold the dough over the filling and bake.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool and enjoy!  Which we did with Norm and Lori again and again.

After many years and many moves and a divorce (them, not us) we lost contact with Norm and Lori.  A couple of years ago Lori found me and our friendship picked up right where we left off.

 Sadly we didn't have much time together.  Lori was sick and died last year.  Many times we talked about meeting again but she lived in North Carolina and I lived in Oklahoma and it wasn't until her daughter called to say Lori was in the hospital and wasn't going to make it that I hurried to see her.  Her daughter said "Mom open your eyes and see who I brought you."  Though she was in a drug induced state she opened her eyes and saw me.  Tears fell, hers and mine.  She didn't look at me again and died the next day.

Prune Ruglach 

These wonderful rugelach brought all that back to me.  The dough is easy to make.  I used the food processor and mixed the dough like a pie crust.  Next time I'll use the mixer and cream the softened butter and cream cheese like a cookie dough.  Still it wasn't difficult and it came together easily using a technique known as fraisage, smearing the dough against the countertop using the heel of your hand.

I made prune and apricot lekvars and both were delicious!  I think the prune is my favorite though. The filling was raisins, figs, and apricots.  I rolled and sliced one batch and the other I made into crescents.  Both worked easily and held the filling quite nicely.

Apricot Rugelach

I love this baking group and this cookbook.  We are in our 2nd month and I've learned so many new things.  The hosts for this recipe are Jessica and Margaret.  Stop by TwD to see what everyone experienced with this recipe.

FFwD - Roasted Salmon and Lentils

Roasted salmon and lentils

It has been 37 years since I cooked lentils and I thank Dorie for bringing them back into our lives!  I was a young bride and my husband was going through pilot training in the Air Force.  We had never had lentils but I found a lentil soup recipe and served them to my husband the night before a big flight.  We weren't aware of the potential digestion issues and all I'll say is he survived he but told me to NEVER serve him lentils again.  And I didn't.  Until now.  And he loved them.  Still he has bad memories of his previous lentil experience so didn't eat too many of them.  Tomorrow we'll know if this can become part of our regular dinner rotation or if its a once every 37 year meal!

We both loved this!  I have a chile pepper infused olive oil that I used to coat the salmon before roasting.  So very, very delicious!

Stop by to see what all the French Friday cooks thought of this recipe.