Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Inspired by girlichef 's Shrunken Heads in Spiced Cider , I asked my resident artist if he would be willing to carve some apples for me. He agreed. No questions asked. Then I discovered that the hostess for our annual Halloween dinner and festivities planned to serve hot cider when the kids came back from trick-or-treating. So, I asked her if I could float some shrunken heads in her cider. Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd utter. She agreed. No questions asked. I suppose my friends and family are all accustomed to my constant motion and themed madness. Ingredients large apples water  juice from 1 or 2 lemons Procedure Fill a large mixing bowl with water and stir in the lemon juice. Place it near your carving station. Peel and carve into your apple. Once you're happy with your heads, place them the lemon water to keep them from oxidizing. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. When you're ready to bake and shrink, place the...

Ackk! I never realized that was still sitting in my drafts folder. Sorry. Last month I hosted a 10-day blogging event for which Maple Leaf Farms Duck  and  Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices *  were sponsors. While I made this during that event, I haven't had the chance to share the recipe until now. Feel free to use whatever ground meat and herbs that you have. Ingredients 1 pound ground duck (I used  Maple Leaf Farms Duck ) 1 leek, trimmed and diced 1 T minced garlic (I used  Gourmet Garden Herbs & Spices ) splash of olive oil 1/2 C organic chicken stock 2 C cooked rice 1 T basil (I used Gourmet Garden) 1 t oregano (I used Gourmet Garden) 1 beaten egg 1 C shredded parmesan cheese, divided 6 to 8 peppers, depends on the size of the peppers Procedure In a large, flat-bottom pan, saute the leeks and garlic in a splash of olive oil until they soften and begin to caramelize. Add in the ground duck and cook completely. ...

A little while back I was contacted by some media folks who offered me a bottle of  Sauza 901 .* Why not? I mentioned it to some friends on our last camping trip in September and they all had the same question: Where is it? Whoops. I hadn't brought it. So, for our annual Halloween camping trip last weekend, I packed the bottle, some skull shot glasses - that seemed festive -, organic limes, and some Himalaya salt. I had many willing tasters around the campfire that evening. Thanks, guys and gals! About Sauza 901... At first I thought this might be just another celebrity endorsement...and typically I steer clear of those. However, it appears Justin Timberlake traveled to Jalisco, Mexico and actually took an active role in creating his own tequila several years ago. This triple-distilled tequila is the result. Its name: 901 refers to his hometown area code in Memphis. That's kind of a nice detail. Tasting... I didn't muddle it up with too many ot...

I love this quick mayo-less slaw. So easy. So tasty. Ingredients 5 T olive oil, divided 3 T white balsamic vinegar 2 T prepared yellow mustard 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced 1 purple cabbage, thinly sliced Procedure Whisk together the first three ingredients. Stir in the fennel and cabbage. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let stand 10 minutes before serving, stirring occasionally.

This is a dish that I have made many times with all sorts of cruciferous bites. But last week when my 'Eat a Rainbow' class was focusing on blue and purple foods for Food Day 2014 , I bought a purple cauliflower. So, it got this tasty treatment... Ingredients 1 head of cauliflower (you can substitute broccoli or romanesco, too) 2 T peanut butter or almond butter 1 t soy sauce 1 t rice wine vinegar 2 T olive oil freshly ground pepper Procedure Blanch cauliflower quickly so that it is still crisp. Drain and set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients until they are smooth and well-combined. Add in the cauliflower and toss to coat.

While you already know that we are pumpkin fiends, this - beautiful seasonal delicata from our High Ground Organics CSA - is probably my real favorite squash. And I really love that it's three ingredients beyond the squash and about thirty minutes in the oven. Ingredients delicata squash olive oil freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper Procedure Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Halve the delicata and scoop out the seeds. Destem, then slice into 1/4" to 1/2" wide pieces. Lay out the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until the squash is softened and beginning to caramelize. Serve immediately.

I know that I write about food all the time. This is a kitchen blog, after all. But what I don't do is think about writing books about food, specifically books for kids. But, nudged by a good friend, and thinking that it's a good exercise along the Food Revolution Day lines, I took the pledge and registered for PiBoIdMo 2014 . That's Picture Book Idea Month. So, for the 30 days of November I'll be brainstorming ideas for how to talk to kids about eating their fruits and veggies...why it's important. You can follow those forays at The Maker Manns , if you like. And, if anything comes of my picture book for kids - about eating a rainbow or whatever direction I go - I'll shout it from the mountain tops.

For this month's  Food'N'Flix ,  we watched, or rewatched as the case may be,  The Terminal.  Evelynne, at Cheap Ethnic Eatz , is our hostess this month. Click to see  Evelynne's invitation . This post contains an affiliate link for the DVD at the bottom. This is a movie - like last month's selection - that I haven't seen in many, many years. On the Screen... This is the story of Viktor Navorski (played by Tom Hanks), a traveler from Krakozhia, who lands in New York and finds himself stranded in the airport terminal. While he was en route , his country went to war and the government was overthrown. The result: Krakozhia no longer exists and, as a man without a country, Navorski's travel visa has been canceled. He can't leave the airport because he has no official documents; he can't be deported because he has no official documents. Talk about a double-edged sword. So, he's stuck. That's all of the story I'll spoil. ...

Another festive 'recipe' for Halloween. It's less of a recipe - it's your basic caprese salad; it's more of a presentation... Ingredients mozzarella balls mini heirloom tomatoes fresh basil, chopped olive oil fleur de sel to taste Procedure Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Serve on a platter with some toy eyeballs as "garnish."

Remarkably - maybe for the first year ever - I didn't bring anything made with pumpkin for our annual Halloween camping potluck dinner. This year, I went for the macabre. There's no real recipe. Just get a skull prop. Wrap with plastic wrap wherever food is going to touch the skull...just to be on the safe side. Cover with your favorite charcuterie. I used prosciutto, coppa, and various salami. It was as tasty as it was disturbing (to some)! Happy Halloween!

Every year we go Halloween camping with some good friends. And the kiddos trick-or-treat between the our group's campers and campsites. What fun! This year I decided to whip up some spiced hot chocolate mixes and hand those out from our tent. Ingredients makes 14 mason jars full 16 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder 16 ounces organic dark brown sugar 16 ounces organic granulated sugar 2 T ground sage 1 T ground cinnamon 1/2 t fleur de sel Procedure Mix all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until well-combined. Scoop into jars. Easy peasy!! Here are our happy campers... To make hot chocolate: Add 3 heaping T to 4 to 6 ounces of hot milk.

Hello and welcome to day 6 and the end of #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri of  Love and Confections . We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day, tomorrow. 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder. Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on  Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board ! And for this final day of #PumpkinWeek I decided to (re)post a recipe that my 12-year-old, AKA the Precise Kitchen Elf, made for Thanksgiving last year...and throughout the entire winter. It's a family favorite. Thanks to Terri, of  Love and Confections , for hosting this fun, pumpkin-filled week. I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did. Ingredients The Crust 1-1/2 C w...

Today is Food Day 2014. You can read my piece for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day on his website ( there ) or on my own blog , but my lesson plans for my six week Eat a Rainbow cooking class dovetailed nicely with today's focus on food awareness and eating real foods. There were a lot of memorable moments from today's class, but one of my favorites. R grabbed half of the purple cabbage; we weren't using that part. "Do you have to cook it?" he complained. "Can't I just eat it like that?" Go for it.  We made a Crimson Coleslaw and Ube Mochi Cake [recipes to come].  I also brought in raisins, a graffiti eggplant, purple cauliflower, a lavender infused chocolate bar, blue corn chips, and blueberries and blackberries. And they had some great answers to the question: "Why is healthy food important?" So very proud of these kiddos. We have a break next Friday for Halloween, but we'll wrap up our six ...

Hi and welcome to day 5 of #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri of  Love and Confections . We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day. 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder. Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on  Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board ! For this fifth day of #PumpkinWeek, I have a funny story. Last year, my then 9-year-old had a pet pumpkin. He had gotten it at a market at the beginning of the month and it slept on his pillow and watched him do his homework. One day I jokingly threatened to cook his pumpkin. I  was  joking, but D was not amused. So, needless to say...when I served this dish, the first thing he did was run to his ro...

Hi and welcome to day 4 #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri of  Love and Confections . We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day. 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder. Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on  Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board ! Day four of #PumpkinWeek is upon us and I wanted to share an eternal favorite: spiced pumpkin butter. Are you asking "Why the Danish flag? Is pumpkin butter Danish?" One of my favorite memories surrounding making pumpkin butter was with my best friend from Denmark when she was here visiting for a few months during the holidays and we thought they would make nice, shippable presents to her friends and family back...

Hi and welcome to day 3 of #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri of   Love and Confections . We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day. 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder. Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on  Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board ! On this, the third day, of #PumpkinWeek I decided to whip up a pumpkinized (yes, I'm coining that phrase this week) version of a madeleine. I had never had a madeleine, much less baked one, before I did a cookbook review for   Quirk Books  of  Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake and Share  by Barbara Feldman Morse. Click to read those thoughts: here . But now that they are soli...