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.  

FFwD - Salmon with Basil Tapenade

I HATE blogging!  There I got that off my chest.  I like being part of the blogging community but honestly sometimes the blogging part is SO much more difficult than the cooking part that it makes me CRAZY!  I am starting this post again for the THIRD time due to technical difficulties beyond my ability to understand or explain!

Salmon with basil tapenade minus the basil tapenade:(

I'm pissed that I left the tapenade off for the picture because it was really, really good and complimented the fish so nicely....and it was kind of a pain to make because the little oil cured black olives don't give up their pits easily.  As I was cutting out the little devils I was saying this better be worth it and it was!  If you're smart you'd just buy some tapenade from the grocery store and make everything so much easier.

When I went to the market to buy the salmon the farm raised was on sale for $4.99 a pound.  That caused me to stop and think.  Did I really want to pay $12.99 for the wild caught?  I mean the nutrition and flavor are so much better with wild caught (plus no dye) but how do I KNOW its really wild caught and that's quite a price difference.  In the end I went wild and I'm glad I did.  It was worth every penny and the flavor said wild caught!

Our French Friday moderator is on vacation but you can find some of the other sites on facebook.

FFwD - Blueberry-Mascarpone Roulade

Blueberry-Mascarpone Roulade

This is a perfect summer dessert!  Its light, not overly sweet.  You could use any summer fruit.  And the cake bakes in under 12 minutes so you don't run the oven too long, heating up the kitchen.  Bake the cake in the morning.  Prepare the berries and refrigerate them.  Make the filling in the afternoon, assemble the cake, let it chill for a few hours and you have a fantastic dessert that looks and tastes like you worked on it for hours.....and you did...but most of those hours were spent with a book, the components cooling and chilling and setting.

Our French Friday website is unmoderated lately but hopefully we'll be back on line soon! Go to Facebook to see what the other cooks thought!

Happy Friday the 13th:)  Be careful!

Our home away from home!

Do you think I can keep up with French Fridays in a travel trailer using a toaster oven and no fancy pans or equipment?  We'll see and I look forward to the challenge.  We just bought a 27 foot Slingshot and plan to give it a test run next week.  This has been a dream of ours for several years and we've begun making it a reality.  The lure of the open road and all that.......

FFwD - Crunch Ginger Pickled Cucumbers

Crunch Ginger Pickled Cucumbers
Around My French Table

We're off to a great start with our FFwD recipes for July!  These pickles are delicious, light, and fresh, everything you want in a summer side dish.

These pickles are super easy to make.  A little ginger, a bit of vinegar and a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Leave the in the fridge for a couple of hours and voila, your cucumbers are pickles!  I used a hot house cuke and I definitely recommend it.  The milder flavor lets the ginger shine!

A friend and I took a road trip to Memphis to spend a few days with another friend.  I LOVE spending time with my favorite girls!   I made these for our 4th of July cook out.  Everyone enjoyed them and I'm already wanting another cucumber so I can make them again.

My friend decided Memphis has the best margaritas...or at least the best margaritas are at the Jones's house...or wherever Mr. Jones and his margarita shaker might be!

We went to the Peabody to see the ducks, walked on Beale Street and spent time floating in the pool.  The most fun of all, though, was spending time with my friends.  A special few days well worth the 8 hour drive:)

I hope everyone enjoyed the pickles and the 4th as much as I did.  Check out all the French Friday posts!

TwD - Hazelnut Biscotti

Hazelnut Biscotti
Baking with Julia

I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!  We have so much going on here that I didn't get these made in time for posting last Tuesday.  Its okay, though, because I ended up making them while visiting a friend and it was fun to share my baking project!

These were really delicious and easy to make.  They were especially easy since my friend took care of removing the skins from the hazelnuts!  Thank you DeLynn!  Next time I might leave the skins on.  Doesn't seem like it would hurt anything!

I can't wait to make biscotti with other additions.  The possibilities are endless!  Our hosts for this recipe were Jodi and Katrina.  Be sure to go by the Tuesdays with Dorie site and see what the other bakers thought of this recipe!

They were especially delicious with a cup of tea!

I hope you had a happy 4th of July and that your summer is going well:)

FFwD - Corn Pancakes

Corn pancakes

We have a special occasion recipe in our family fondly called Funeral Corn.  Its the dish my aunt always takes to the bereaved for a funeral supper and over the years we adopted funeral corn as the name instead of corn casserole like she calls it.  

When Gary tasted these corn pancakes he said, "MmmHmmm!  Tastes like funeral corn!".  I didn't expect to like these, thought they'd be bland.  Instead they're delicate.

I added the kernels from an ear of fresh corn for the texture and freshness.  We topped the pancakes with a dollop of sour cream and a salsa made of avocado, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime.  We loved these and will have them again and again. 

I'm kind of obsessed with ice cream lately so for dessert I made strawberry frozen yogurt from 

David Lebovitz.  Perfect ending!

Don't forget to check out all the 

French Friday cooks!  This is another wonderful recipe from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan!

FFwD - David's Seaweed Sablés

David's Seaweed Sables

What is there to say about seaweed in a sweet cookie?  When biting into it the first taste is the sweet butter cookie flavor, then the saltiness kicks in.  After that its kind of a 'what was that?'   My husband says some ingredients should NOT be mixed.  My friend and frequent French Friday taste tester said they were interesting, she kind of liked them.


Toasted nori is hard to chop by the way!  I ended up using scissors and didn't get the pieces as small as I would have liked.  After slicing the cookies pink Himalayan salt was sprinkled on top for color and crunch.

 I don't think I'll be making them again.  They might be trés chic in Paris but just don't play with the Oklahoma cocktail party crowd!


See what the other French Friday cooks have to say!

TwD - French Strawberry Cake

French Strawberry Cake

This recipe was a lesson in fear.....coping with it.....avoiding it.  I swear, I think I need to stop reading the P&Q section of our TwD website.  I'll admit it.  After reading some of the P&Qs I was nervous.  I feared the genoise!

...and with good reason!  Genoise batter is a bit of a diva.  She has a list of demands that must be met!  We didn't use the traditional bain marie to heat the eggs so when I took the eggs out of the fridge I left them in a bowl of warm water a bit longer than usual so they were nice and comfy warm.  I double sifted the flour, sugar, salt combo then sifted it into the egg and sugar.

My biggest concern was when I opened a new bag of grocery store brand sugar the crystals were large.  I mean they were huge.  I mean they didn't go through the sieve I was using as a sifter.  Since I had no other sugar I pressed on and I think it did have an impact on the cake texture.

The beat eggs tripled, the flour folding was accomplished and I considered leaving out the melted butter.  After researching the web I learned that's an American addition and the rest of the world doesn't usually use it.  Then I decided I'm American, the recipe calls for it, fold IT in!  I did and all still went well.

I was gratified when the batter filled the pan almost to the top!  Maybe I would have a tall lovely cake.  Maybe the cake goddess was toying with me.  The cake fell!  But it left a nice rim that I filled with strawberries and topped with whipped cream.

It was a hectic evening and the kids came for dinner (red beans and rice) and I didn't get a good picture.  The cake was so much sturdier than I expected.  Not delicate at all once baked.  We liked it and I'll make it again but this time without the butter!

Thank you Dorie and Julia for pushing me out of my comfort zone!  Our lovely hosts for this recipe are
Sophia and Allison.  You can find the recipe on their blogs.  All the other Tuesday bakers can be found at the TwD website!

FFwD - Honey Lime Beet Salad

I love beets!  I didn't know that I love beets until Dorie showed me how good they are when we made the Icy Beet and Onion Salad last year.  Until then all I'd had was the canned stuff, and they're not very good.  Nothing like a fresh beet cooked at home.  I guess you could say that about most foods though.

Honey Lime Beet Salad

The Pioneer Woman's grilled flank steak accompanied the salad.  The marinade was a bit too salty and next time I'll use low sodium soy sauce.  All in all it was a delicious meal topped off with Toasted Coconut Ice Cream from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop.  Wonderful!

The Perfect Scoop - Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

You'll want to check out what all the French Friday cooks thought of this week's recipe!