FFwD: Tomato-Cheese Tartlets

Woohoo, I am actually posting on Friday! This weekend will be catch up on everyone's blogs weekend, can't wait to see what sort of yummies everyone has cooked/ baked! But onto these tarts, they were so good! I made a few changes, I added some squash, roasted both the squash and tomatoes, and made one big tart. I used a kalmata and garlic tampenade (I was going to make my own, but ran out of time). Wow, this was definitely a repeat, both hubby and I thought it was awesome! Can't wait to make it again!

My pretty slices all ready to roast!

Pricked the heck out of the puff pastry

Ready to be warmed up, so diagonal!

All cut up and ready to eat!

So yummy!

TwD:BwJ: Blueberry Nectarine Pie

I love pie! Especially fruit pies, and this one was awesome! The crust was a definite keeper recipe, I plan on using it from now on, so flaky and good. I ended up only using the bottom crust and folding the edges around the top. The addition of the lemon zest and lemon juice really complimented the flavors and didn't let the pie get too sweet. It worked out really good!

Heating up the fruit

My darling helper, rolling out pie crust!

Dotted with butter, brushed with egg wash, sprinkled with sugar!

Fresh out of the oven!

I served this with some vanilla ice cream and it was perfect, even perfect a couple days later!

Lots of thanks to our hosts this week: Liz and Hillary, they made some beautiful pies!

FFwD: Lemon Barley Pilaf

I had not used barley before for anything other than beef and barley stew, so I was excited to try this. It turned out really good, I had a good amount of liquid, so I decided to treat it like risotto and add in some Parmesan cheese, it added a great taste and thickened it up nicely!

I will definitely use barley like this again, such a quick and versatile recipe!

TwD:BwJ: Semolina Bread

Other than running a bit late on posting, this recipe turned out really good! I had a lot of other stuff to do that day, so the multiple rises worked out fine. The Semolina flour gave the bread an interesting flavor. I cut the salt down a little bit, but not much, and I didn't use a razor blade, just a paring knife and that worked. Both my hubby and I really liked this and I will be making some again soon!

Before rise #3 (I think)

My lovely slashes!

Wonderful with some butter!

Big thanks to this week's hosts, Anna and Renee!

FFwD: Make up Roundup

Well, it has been a couple of weeks, and they have been some crazy weeks! We are finally moved, the weekend we moved, it was the hottest yet and we lost electricity for over 2 days. Yeah, we felt like we were going to spontaneously combust! I have been cooking, but havent' gotten to blog, so today is a make-up day. First up is the Seaweed Sables... they were OK. My husband was not a fan. There was a definite seaweed aftertaste, I think if you like sushi, then these might be for you!

lots of seaweed!

Mixed together

Fresh out of the oven

The next recipe is corn pancakes, not these were really good! Super easy (I had a little helper!) and quick. I also made a squash version also that was also great!

My little angel and his funny face!

Sizzling away in the pan

All kinds of yummy corn goodness!

My final recipe for today was the crunchy ginger cucumbers. One of my coworkers gave me some beautiful cukes from his garden and they worked perfectly! I knew I would like this, but I didn't realize how much, the cukes and just perfect with the ginger, vinegar, and a touch of red pepper. Really refreshing!

Yummy homegrown cukes!

Lovely!

Well that is it for today, I plan on making this weeks recipe this weekend, so hopefully I will link that in a couple days! So happy to be back, hope everyone is doing good, I have missed the blogging and interaction with everyone!

TwD:BwJ: French Strawberry Cake

Well, I am not sure if the genoise worked out the way it was supposed to, but it tasted pretty good. It was a little worrisome to watch it deflate with the addition of the flour. I got 2 layers out of it, it got a beautiful golden brown and the fruit was perfect with it.

 I used a frozen mix of strawberries, blueberries, rasberries, and blackberries.

My mish mash of fruit!

Now, when it came to the whipped cream....well, that did not work out that great. I didn't have any sour cream and only 1 cup of heavy cream, so I substituted yogurt and a bit of milk. Yeah, after 10 - 15 minutes of beating, it still was not whipping up well, kinda became a custard consistency, but it tasted good, so onto the cake it went. Because it was so liquidy, I only put it between the layers and on the top. It smoothed out really well! It ended up being a great dessert for Father's Day!

Thanks to our awesome hosts this week: Allison and Sophia !

FFwD: Lime, Honey and Beet Salad

This was a great salad! I love fresh beets and the little hint of lime with the chives was just perfect. I roasted the beets, peeled the skin, and added everything else. Ended up sitting in the fridge for a couple days (made on Friday, didn't eat till today). The salad was just perfect for the BBQ tonight, great with grilled chicken! Happy Father's Day to everyone!

Sorry, not the best picture, but the salad looked really nice!