Culinary Adventures with Camilla

While I shared the top three most visited posts from you all, I thought I'd put on my thinking cap and share MY favorite bites from the year, too. Top five, in no particular order. Pan-Seared Padròns 13 August 2013 Stuffed Grape Leaves 13 January 2013 Absinthe-Scented Gravlax 25 May 2013 Rhubarb Crostata 9 June 2013 Earthy Braised Lamb Shanks 17 October 2013 Happy New Year! We're ready to tackle new culinary adventures in 2014...and, hopefully, wrap up our long detailed Culinary Adventures Around the World. We've been completely remiss at staying on track with that. Ugh. But it's a new year...new leaf and all that.

As we leave 2013 in our rearview mirror, I thought I'd recap the top three most viewed posts by you, dear readers. My three favorites will be coming soon. Most Viewed Posts of 2013... #3: Elderflower Tomme {Formaggio Friday} 31 August 2013 Though I completely failed on trying a new-to-us cheese every Friday for 52 weeks, we did find some great ones! Maybe I'll be more successful in 2014. #2: St-Germain & Prosecco Cocktail 9 May 2013 Celebrations always call for bubbles. And my bubbles of choice are usually Italian. Mi piace prosecco! #1: Lots of Memories and Lobster Mac'N'Cheese   11 September 2013 In memory of a dear, dear friend who was taken from us far too soon.   I miss you, Zanne.

  adapted from Winter Cocktails  by Maria del Mar Sacasa I have made affogato plenty of times. But I've never spiked it. Wow. Since I was using some homemade eggnog ice cream that we received as a Christmas present - thanks, Jenn! - I swapped out the recommended amaretto for some dark rum. 2 oz dark rum 2 oz dark espresso (my favorite is Illy) 6 oz organic chocolate stout 1 scoop eggnog ice cream Place ice cream in a glass. Pour rum, espresso, and beer over the top. Serve with a spoon. Cin cin! A note on the amounts, I think that Winter Cocktails might have intended that the proportion given serve one person. I split that into two smaller cocktails and it was perfect for us.

A friend invited us to a post-Christmas pie tasting party. What a great idea! This beats a cookie exchange hands down because there were savories. So many possibilities. I left there stuffed but inspired to make some more pies. Soon! We tried...(forgive any omissions!) Savories - shepherd's pie, tamale pie, chicken Provençal pie, onion flan, and my Gluten-Free Veggie Galette with Caprese Topping . Sweets - maple nut-persimmon pie, bitter lemon meringue pie, apple-cranberry pie, apricot-marzipan tarte, Shaker lemon pie, gluten-free and dairy-free pumpkin cheesecake, cranberry linzertorte, pear-marscarpone pie, and my Gingered Calamansi Tart . I tried them all! And there were many, many empty pie pans at the end of the event. I'd call this a success. Thanks for the invite, Bryndie. Let's make this an annual event. What's your favorite pie? Comment below. Or email me at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com. I'd love some new recipes.

When I was invited to a friend's post-Christmas pie tasting party, I responded that I would bring one sweet pie and one savory pie. The discussions began around our dining room table:  What makes a pie a pie?  Sensibly, Riley said, "A pie has no frosting." True . Jake declared, "It's the crust." Okay . And my sweet, Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf asserted, "A pie has a crust...and is low to the ground." Huh. "You know, a cake can be tall; a pie is short." Employing all three of those criteria - no frosting, a crust, and low to the ground - a galette can qualify as a pie. So, I decided to make a veggie galette for my savory 'pie' offering. I had a caprese tart in mind, but one of the things I love about caprese is its freshness. That didn't lend itself to a cooked tart. I settled on a veggie tart with a caprese topping. And since our hostess is mostly gluten-free, I went that route for my  pâte brisée  . Pâte Brisée  ...

On Dylan's food tour, as part of his 3-day birthday celebration, we stopped at a tea tasting room in Chinatown. We tried a multitude of teas, including... ...rosebuds...   ...green tea... ...jasmine green tea pearls... Things we learned: we should only be drinking high quality, loose leaf teas. Green teas have less caffeine than black teas; it's the opposite of coffee where lighter roasts are more potent. And you can reuse tea leaves about 8 times. Everyone wanted to go back to the tea room the following day, but I had so many things planned, we couldn't squeeze it in. So, we have to make another trip up there. Wanna come?

These were from our friend's robot-themed birthday party. Nothing really to say here except this: if you offer kids vegetables and fruits, they will eat it. If you make the food fun, they will devour it. Thanks, Pia, for making birthday party fare fun and healthy!

We never get close to the Ferry Building without going in and spending an obscene amount of money on tasty salted pig parts and cheese! Caseophiles all. It's probably a good thing that Cowgirl Creamery isn't closer to me; I'd just have to sign my paycheck over to them each month. The boys grabbed a number and waited, impatiently, for their turn with the cheese specialist. "Number five?" one of them called. "Right here," declared Dylan, waving his number. "I'd like to try a bleu cheese, please," said the Wombat. She looked at him skeptically, then glanced over his head at me. I nodded. She shrugged and began to point out a few bleus. He asked, first, for the Colston Bassett Shropshire Blue. Though he did try the other bleus she offered, we took home a wedge of the Shropshire. Shropshire Blue is a cow's milk blue cheese from the United Kingdom and is, technically, a cross between Stilton and Cheshire. The dist...

A couple of weeks ago I opened up a package from Quirk Books with a few cookbooks to test and review.* Perfect timing...the holidays seem to be party after party after party. So, I delved first into  Tiny Food Party! by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park who are the creative forces behind the blog Spoon Fork Bacon . The book is divided into four delicious sections: Tiny Snack Party - Adorable Appetizers; Tiny Dinner Party - Itty-Bitty Entrees; Tiny Dessert Party - A Little Something Sweet; and Tiny Cocktail Party - Darling Drinks. While many of the recipes might already be part of your party-food repertoire, Teri and Jenny add their own flair to make the dishes fantastically original. For instance, they kick up caprese skewers a notch by drizzling it with a balsamic glaze; and they give deviled eggs a special twist by adding kimchi. Who would have thought?!? For me, a winning cookbook is one that has multiple recipes that intrigue me, one whose recipes I actually try, and on...

After our field trip to the Ferry Building, in San Francisco, and my shopping spree at Boccalone , I tried to figure out what to do with my sanguinaccio, blood sausage. I have no idea what possessed me to pick up a package; I had Andrew Zimmern's voice in my head, urging me to be a little bit adventurous, I guess. So, I did some reading and loved the suggestion of pairing the blood sausage with something oceany and salty. Boccalone has a recipe for sanguinaccio  + oysters on their website. But since oysters are hit and miss for me - sometimes I have an allergic reaction and sometimes I don't - I usually avoid them. I took their lead, however, and went with sanguinaccio + scallops. My Vadar's Darkside Towers were one of the things I brought to a post-holiday Star Wars brunch. To start, I poached the sausages for 20 minutes. Then I browned them on the stove until they were crisped on the sides. Then I let them cool slightly and sliced them into thick coins. ...

Have you ever been to the Ferry Building in San Francisco? If so - and you're not a vegetarian - you might have seen Boccalone . Their tag line is 'tasty salted pig parts.' No joke. So, if you don't eat pork, look away. Now. But if tasty salted pig parts float your boat, read on. They have a glass case that basically screams: look at me. Hanging salumi...I wanted every since piece! Every. Single. Piece. I'm not kidding. But I restrained myself and ended up with sanguinaccio ... ...Orange & Wild Fennel Salame that we sliced up on a post-Christmas cheese platter... ...and, lastly, guanciale - salt-cured pork jowl - that I used in my Strozzapretti alla Carbonara . I'm in love. Now I just need to figure out if they ship! Or I need to create an excuse to get back up to the City.

 If you aren't quite sure what a calamansi is...it's a tiny citrus that's popular in Asia. It's also called 'a golden lime' or 'a Chinese orange.' And it packs a sour, sour punch. My cousin gave me a bag full from her aunt's tree on Christmas, so I decided to use it in one of my pies for the pie party we're attending this afternoon. Crust 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 C powdered sugar 1/2 t ground ginger 3/4 C butter 3 T cold water Preheat oven to 350. Place flour, powdered sugar, and ground ginger into a mixing bowl. Rub in butter till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in water until the mixture forms a ball. Press the dough into a tart pan, with a removable base, and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. In the meantime, make the topping. Filling 4 eggs 1 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 1/4 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 t baking powder 1 T candied ginger, chopped 1/3 C fresh calamansi juice To make th...