FFWD Week #47: Cafe Salle Pleyel Hamburger

This was a delicious, delicous hamburger, but I had trouble taking a good photo of it. I also made quite a mess eating this hamburger, but it was SO good! I must admit, this is the first time EVER that I have made hamburgers! I've eaten plenty of homemade burgers, but they have always been made by lovely and talented friends and family. I think this was a good start to my hamburger making career =) The Red onion marmalade was really good, and the sundried tomatoes in the burger worked very well, as did the parmasean. I skipped the capers and cornichons. This recipe is definitely one of my favourites that we've made so far! By the way... the photo above is an Arbutus tree, I love them!

Happy National S'mores Day!

S'mores are... Scrumptious Melty Outdoorsy Remarkable Easy Summery Heehee =) I had grand plans of concocting an amazing s'mores dessert, but what I ended up with was less than I had hoped for. I made a s'mores pound cake, adapting a recipe I found for a graham cracker pound cake. It turned out okay, but not great. However... we have s'mores cookies! These were one of my first posts and remain one of my favourite cookies EVER! The recipe is here! And of course, the original. The s'more - can you really beat a s'more? Best eaten around a campfire with friends on a warm summer evening. Hope that's in the forcast for you!

FFWD Week #43: Citrus-Berry Terrine

I wasn't so sure about this one, but decided to give it a go anyway. I made a quarter of the recipe in my mini loaf pan, but I think I added too much fruit, as it turned out more lumpy than smooth. This was pretty though, and tasty. Glad I gave it a shot!

FFWD Week #42: Coconut-Lemongrass-Braised Pork

After a long time away I am finally back on the French Fridays with Dorie bandwagon - thank goodness! I don't believe I have ever cooked anything with Lemongrass before, it smells wonderful! This recipe took some time to make, but was simple enough. And most importantly, it tastes great =) I loved the onion in this, I definitely think that vegetables work well with the pork; I used onions and carrots. I did not have cardamom or coriander seeds and so was forced by my own thriftyness to use the ground spices that I did have. I can only imagine that using the seeds would have made the dish that much better.

FFWD Weeks 38, 39, 40, 41...

...were not made in my kitchen. Oops. I've been a BAD French Fridays with Dorier, and have missed the following four weeks: Week 38: Mozzarella, Tomato and Strawberrry Salad Week 39: Chunky Beets and Icy Red Onions Week 40: Salmon and Tomatoes en Papillote Week 41: Cold Melon-Berry Soup I don't even have any excuses, at least none that are any good! I did make Warm Weather Vegetable Pot au Feu for a second time though, does that give me any points? A point? But I'm jumping back on the train I tell you, I will cook more French food - and I will cook it this week!

All Good Things

Usually when I see a recipe online that catches my eye, I bookmark it, sort it into its category in my favourites bar, and, well, forget about it. But sometimes, sometimes I just have to make something, and soon! Such was the case when I saw these Gooey White Chocolate Fluffernutter Cake Bars on Picky Palate. Cake, White Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Marshmallow Cream - what's not to love? I couldn't wait to make them! These bars are delicious! However, they are more caramely in flavour than peanut buttery, so if you are looking for a peanut butter bar, search elsewhere. But for a sweet, addictive treat, these are for you!!

Lions, and Tigers, and Zebras... and Giraffes!

My lovely roommate is moving away and there was a goodbye party for her this weekend. She loves all things animal print so I made animal print cookies for the party. I am often asked what is my favourite thing to bake, and I always say, "Ummm, everything?!" But really, decorating sugar cookies is pretty, no, very, high on the list. You might notice that the animals have no faces... I am not very good at decorating faces, and am pretty sure that if I had tried, my animals would look mighty weird. So, we have faceless animals. Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads out there!