Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month the Italian Food, Wine & Travel - #ItalianFWT - blogging group is celebrating Fall in Italy. Jill at  L’occasion  invited us to gather around the harvest table and share thoughts of autumn, food, wine, and traditions. You can follow along the journey with my fellow #ItalianFWT bloggers.  You can also chat with us live this Saturday morning at 11am EST on Twitter at #ItalianFWT.  Hope to see you there! The #ItalianFWT Line-Up Mike from  Undiscovered Italy  writes about the  Montefalco Vendemmia Festival Martin from  ENOFYLZ Wine Blog  prepares  Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant and 2013 Josetta Saffirio Barbera d’Alba Gwendolyn from  Wine Predator  presents  Easy Fall Fun Flavorful Food with ItalianWines from a Castle Jeff from  FoodWineClick  gives us his  Top 5 Reasons to VisitPiemonte in the Fall Michelle from  Rockin Red Blog  is  Celebrating Italian Ha...

A local brewpub - Peter B's Brewpub - turns twenty! Okay, they turned twenty last week. But I am finally getting around to posting this. You can read the piece I wrote for Edible Monterey Bay:  here . So, for the birthday party, I rallied two friends and dragged my trio along for a dinner at the brewpub. "Mom," asked the little one incredulously, "we're having dinner at a bar?" Well, it's a brewpub. And they have food. They actually have really good food. "Okay." Always up for some adventure, Jake and I both ordered new-to-us brews. I ordered their Cracked in the Rye which is described as a full-bodied IPA. I typically steer clear of IPAs, but with only 45 IBUs, I was curious. It starts with an almost sweet caramel flavor, but there is a lingering spiciness from the rye malt and the pink peppercorns. Jake still thought it was too hoppy, but I enjoyed it. That evening they were running a birthday special: their Dancin...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Social Nature . All opinions are my own. As summer wanes and we move away from tomato season (boohoo!), I look for my best jarred or canned options. Truth be told, I have been steering clear of canned anything after I read about BPA in the lid liners. But, these - from Muir Glen - caught my eye. I'll try anything with San Marzano tomatoes. Really. I will. Discovering that the cans were made with BPA-free liners was a bonus! Additionally, Muir Glen is certified organic and Non-GMO Project Verified...all good reasons to have my patronage! San Marzano tomatoes are named for San Marzano sul Sarno, a small town near Naples where farmers first cultivated these in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. They boast fabulous, concentrated flavor. Muir Glen took those tomatoes and grew them in California where they processed them from field to can in less than 8 hours. To showcase their deliciousness, I used them - as is, meaning w...

This sponsored post is written by me in conjunction with the  The Book Club Cookbook  for the second installment  of their new food blogger party feature. All opinions are my own. Here we are in the second month of the new food blogger party feature on  The Book Club Cookbook website  and I'm excited to be part of this event. This month's title is   Soup Swap   by Kathy Gunst .* You can check out details about the #SoupSwapParty:  here . I actually hadn't planned on posting a second #SoupSwapParty recipe, but after a disappointing ramen dinner at a new local restaurant - armed with Gunst's new cookbook - I headed into the kitchen to whip up her Short Rib Ramen. I write "whip up" but my homemade beef stock took two days to make. It was a process. But it was so delicious that I currently have more bones simmering in stock for a take-two. I was  so  excited to hear about a new ramen joint downtown. We love ramen - rea...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Moms Meet . All opinions are my own. I'll just start with this: I don't typically take vitamin supplements; I prefer to get vitamins and minerals through whole foods. However, I'm not opposed to vitamin supplements and so, when the opportunity arose - through my association with  Moms Meet  - to try  MegaFood   products, I was intrigued by their company.  Their stated mission  to produce superior whole food supplements for those who care about their health and well-being resonates with me. The company started in 1973 (the year I was born!) and through the years they have grown and adapted, keeping their company informed and current with customers' needs. An example: in 2013, they  self-verified that all of their ingredients are free of GMOs. Additionally, they  support third party Non-GMO verifiers such as the Non-GMO Project and have elected to obtain this verification for ...

After I emailed a reminder to the guys to turn in their timesheets, one of the owners of the company emailed me back: "I'll trade you: my timesheet for strawberry panna cotta." Ummm....okay.  Yes, I really am that easy to sway into the kitchen for a culinary adventure. My husband joked that I was reinforcing bad behavior of turning in timesheets late; I reminded him that he would get to take a panna cotta to work for lunch, too. I didn't have any strawberries, but I did have some instant espresso powder that was beckoning. So, espresso panna cotta it was.   And I laughed when Greg posted to social media: "Espresso panna cotta to go with my coffee for breakfast... #yesplease #myofficemanagerisbetterthanyours #sooooogoood @culinary_cam."  Love the hashtags, especially the second one!  Panna cotta is so easy to make. I don't know why I don't do it more often. Ingredients  makes eight 2-ounce servings 1 envelope gelatin 1...

One of my good friends makes amazing butter chicken. Really outstanding. It's sort of legendary in our circle of friends.  D will come home, gushing that his friend - her son - brought butter chicken for lunch. In the lunchroom, her butter chicken holds the highest value. And K leverages it well in their mid-day food bartering. "I think you need to give me one more strawberry since it is butter chicken." She even brought some over last year on April 26th which is Jake's birthday and he opted for that instead of the dinner I had planned. No worries...I have thick skin. And, over the years, all of us have asked for her recipe. She finally assented and printed out copies for us in June. It has taken me this long to actually make it. I bought the chicken this weekend, but time got away from me. Then, yesterday, I swore that I wasn't going to turn on the stove - it was 95 degrees in Monterey - but the boys insisted. This is my version with slight ...

On Friday I bought fresh edible flowers from  MEarth . And, while I made this on Friday, I haven't had a chance to post it till tonight. Before Friday I had never heard of Monarda, also known as Bee Balm. Some reading indicated that I could use it anywhere that I would use Earl Grey tea. So, I decided to infuse some milk with the blossoms and make a milk pudding with it. Ingredients 5 eggs, separated into whites and yolks 1-1/2 C whole milk 1/4 C organic heavy cream 1/4 C organic granulated sugar 2-3 Monarda blossoms + more for garnish 6 to 8 t caramel sauce (I like the one in this recipe ) also needed: a rimmed baking dish to hold your pudding dishes or ramekins Procedure Place the milk and sugar in a small saucepan. Float the monarda blossoms in the pan. Heat the milk slowly - just until small bubbles appear at the edge of the pot. Whisk to dissolve sugar. Let steep for 10 minutes. Strain the blossoms out and set aside. In a lar...