Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This weekend, the Sunday Supper Tastemakers are posting about Mardi Gras . The name means 'Fat Tuesday,' in French, reflecting the practice of eating rich foods on the last evening before fasting for Lent! Event host Marion of  Life Tastes Good   invited the Tastemakers to "create easy versions of Mardi Gras-inspired recipes such as jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee, king cake, crawfish boils, beignets, muffulettas, and more to celebrate!" Laissez le bon temps rouler! The Other Mardi Gras Creations Appetizers Andouille and Crawfish Pimento Cheese Fries by Soulfully Made Hot Louisiana Shrimp Dip by Sprinkles and Sprouts Mardi Gras Muffaletta Dip by For the Love of Food Piquant Shrimp Balls by Food Lust People Love Trinidadian doubles by Caroline’s Cooking Main Dishes Andouille and Chicken Gumbo by Delaware Girl Eats Bananas Foster French Toast by A Mind “Full” Mom Bananas Foster Baked Oatmeal by Cooking With Carlee Blackened Shrimp Pasta by...

When a rep from Daily Goodie Box * contacted me about reviewing their service, I was intrigued. Three steps required - join, receive, review. That's it. No charge. They didn't even ask for a credit card during the sign-up process. But, from what I could tell, there was also no guarantee that you would receive a box. As soon as I had a login, the rep went in and approved me for a shipment immediately. Though, if you had simply stumbled across the website and signed up on your own, I still have no idea how that process actually works. How do they determine who will receive a shipment? How long does that approval process take? And, more importantly, what do they get out of the partnership with these brands?? So, I waited. Not long, of course. The box showed up within a week. We received items from ten different brands and, surprisingly, all but one were new to us. And all but one were products that we would definitely use. I don't use powder laundry detergent...b...

I had some bananas that I needed to use. Jake asked for banana bread. But, as my oven is still out of commission, I needed the dessert to be no bake and gluten-free. Thankfully I had some gluten-free cookies to make a crust! Ingredients  makes one 9" pie Crust 2 C crushed gluten-free cookies (I used Tate's Gluten-Free Ginger Zinger Cookies) 6 T butter Also needed: tart pan with removable bottom, food processor Filling 8 ounces cream cheese 3 ripe bananas 1 C organic heavy whipping cream 1/2 C organic powdered sugar Procedure Crust Use a food processor to crush the cookies and measure out 2 C. Place the cookie crumbles in a large mixing bowl. Melt butter and pour into cookie crumbles. Use a rubber spatula stir until well-combined. Spoon the mixture into a tart pan and press firmly into the pan. Place crust in the refrigerator for 25 to 30 minutes to firm up. In the meantime, make your filling. Filling Place all of the ingredients in the ...

For years I tried to get my kids to like lamb. I braised it. I grilled it. I roasted it. And for years, they resisted. Now, I'm kicking myself. I lament, "Why did you try so hard? Why?!?"  Since they have grown to love it, there's less for me and Jake...or I have to buy a second rack! Lamb lollipops are one of our favorites because they feel fancy despite being really simple to prepare. Our Valentines' version included a glaze of pear-rosemary jam with large crumbles of Gorgonzola. It went perfectly with our Roasted Beet & Ricotta Gnocchi with Wilted Beet Greens . Ingredients serves 4 as an appetizer (2 ribs per person) rack of lamb with 8 ribs, sliced into lollipops freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper olive oil eight 1/2 t portion of jam (I used a pear rosemary jam) crumbled gorgonzola, for serving Procedure Lay ribs on a plate or parchment-lined tray. Season each side of lamb liberally with salt and pe...

We added the tradition of making hoe cakes on Presidents' Day to our culinary repertoire several years ago when the boys read  George Washington's Breakfast  by Jean Fritz.* I love connecting history or a story to what we're eating; the boys seem to enjoy it, too.  This year, we couldn't find the book. I don't know if it's still packed or if we donated it to the school. But they still remember the story. Our Hoe Cake Breakfasts Through the Years They loved, several years ago, when Jake brought in the garden hoe to show them where the person would have cooked the cake.  Hoe Cake Breakfast v.2011 On the Page... George Washington Allen knows a lot about his namesake - from the names of his dogs to the size of his shoes. But he doesn't know what George Washington ate for breakfast. He is determined to find out...and his grandmother promises to make the dish if he figures it out. On the Plate... This is the first year that I made my hoe...

As February moves past its half-way mark, I am forging ahead with my renewed  Foodie Reads Challenge . I picked up a copy of Envy of Angels  by Matt Wallace* after I saw it mentioned in last month's Foodie Reads collection. On the Page... 'Delightfully demented.' Those are not two words I would typically string together, but they seem an appropriate label for this book. Readers follow two cooks down a rabbit hole in this kitchen fantasy that feels like a dark, twisted carnival. It's good fun. Lena and Darren are recruited as the two newest line cooks for Sin du Jour, a catering company who only has one client. "'Sin du Jour has a single client. That client is a branch of the United States government. However, it ain't any branch  you'll ever hear about on CNN or read about on Twitter or whatever-the-hell. It's a branch that deals with...it's like  diplomatic service, except it works with things...folks...like you saw today.' ...

With R at robotics till 7 o'clock on Valentines' Day, D and I had plenty of time to make a nice family dinner. We served it just as soon as they walked in the door. To make them pink, I added some beet puree to my ricotta gnocchi. I used the beet greens in the sauce. And the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf was a great help in rolling the gnocchi. We put on some Fleetwood Mac and went to town. Ingredients Gnocchi 2 to 3 small red beets with greens attached (I actually used all 6 beets for the dinner, but only 2 to 3 in this recipe) 1⁄4 C olive oil freshly ground salt 2 C whole-milk ricotta 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1-1⁄4 C gluten-free flour + more for rolling 1 C grated Pecorino Romano + more for serving dash of grated nutmeg freshly ground pepper Sauce 3 to 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 1 to 2 C beet greens 2 T olive oil 2 T butter 2 T aged balsamic vinegar + more for drizzling Procedure Roasted Beets Separat...

As February moves past its half-way mark, I am forging ahead with my renewed  Foodie Reads Challenge . I picked up a copy of Murder in the Generative Kitchen  by Meg Pontecorvo* after I saw it mentioned in last month's Foodie Reads collection. On the Page... While the concept is interesting, I was more than a little disappointed with the execution of the book. Set in the not-too-distant future, we are introduced to the Vacation Jury Duty system where sequestered juries enjoy an all-expenses paid vacation while watching the trial via virtual reality. This particular jury is enjoying their civic duty in Acapulco, Mexico, far from their hometown of Chicago. The case? A woman is accused of murdering her husband by using her high-tech generative kitchen. "'On the night of her husband's death, no other person came near that kitchen while Mrs. Ellis mde dinner. And the evidence will show that the presence of cyanide in Mr. Ellis's food was no accident: the adv...

Here we are at the February 2017 event for The French Winophiles, a wine-swilling, food-loving group started by Christy of  Confessions of a Culinary Diva  and, now, jointly coordinated by Jill of  L'occasion   and Jeff of  Food Wine Click . Here's Jill's full invitation for this month:  here . The French Winophiles are headed to Corsica which is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Italy, southeast of the France, and just north of the Italian island of Sardinia. In fact, the closest I've been to Corsica is when I was camping on the cliffs above Spiaggia Rena Bianca  on the northern tip of Sardinia; I could see Corsica across the water. But that was as close as I came... from bbc.com The Wines of Corsica Due to its proximity to Italy, Corsica's winemaking traditions and its grape varieties are Italian in origin though viticulture on the island can be traced back as far as the 6th century BC. The three leading grape varieties ...