Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Today the Italian Food Wine & Travel bloggers are sharing Italian Easter Wines and Food. Jen of Vino Travels is our hostess. One thing I loved about my Easter in Rome was that it was about the resurrection and not about Peeps and Cadbury Eggs! It was about something sacred. It was about family. And it was about food. Well, maybe it wasn't about food, but food is how I commemorate and celebrate, so it was about food for me. Here's what the #ItalianFWT crew is sharing... Jen from  Vino Travels  features Easter Celebrations in Puglia Camilla from  Culinary Adventures with Camilla  features Il Verdetto di Pasqua +Sella & Mosca Terre Rare Riserva Carignano Susannah of  Avvinare  features Easter Traditions in Rome Jill of  L'Occasion  features 5 Italian Easter Dishes and Wine Pairings If you are seeing this early enough, come join our live Twitter chat on Saturday April 1st @ 11am EST using hashtag #ItalianFWT. Ci vediamo...

You're invited! It's my turn to host  Food'N'Flix   where we watch movies and head into the kitchen and cook or bake or make something based on a recipe they actually make in it or just something we were driven to make after watching it. This month, I've selected  A Touch of Spice* . Truth be told: I haven't actually seen it yet, but I've read about it. And I'm always game for something about food, family, and history. So, I hope you'll join me, watch the movie, and be inspired to whip up something fabulous. A Touch of Spice is a story about a young Greek boy growing up in Istanbul. His grandfather, a culinary philosopher and mentor, teaches him that both food and life require a little salt to give them flavor. Fanis grows up to become an excellent cook and uses his cooking skills to spice up the lives of those around him. Upon leaving reuniting with his grandfather, three decades later, he realize that his own life need a touch of spice!...

This is a sponsored post written by me on b ehalf of  Halo Top Ice Cream .   All opinions are my own. I'll be honest: I've seen   Halo Top Ice Cream * in the freezer section of the store, but I've never tried any. Until now. When I was approached to do product review, I knew virtually nothing about the company or the product. As we made our way through the four flavors the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf and I chose, I learned a lot about Halo Top and, interestingly enough, discovered how differently the four of us view eating ice cream. Oh, the flavors! D and I perused the choices and decided on Pistachio, Chocolate Almond Crisp, Black Cherry, and Sea Salt Caramel. You can view all of the Halo Top flavors here ; our local grocery did have all of them. And, if you're wondering where you can pick up a pint or two - or more -, check out this pint locator . About the Ice Cream... When I saw the numbers on the front, honestly, I had no idea to what th...

Kimchi burgers are a family favorite. So, after D and I finished our loop of the property on the Deuce Coupe, I whipped up these yummies for our anniversary lunch while we waited for Jake and R to finish their rides. Ingredients  makes 6 slightly larger than 1/4 pound burgers  1 pound organic, grass-fed ground beef (we used a 15% fat) 1/2 pound ground pork 2 T ginger syrup 4 cloves garlic  3 T gluten-free soy sauce or tamari 1 T chile sauce 1 t toasted sesame oil freshly ground pepper freshly ground salt Also needed buns (I used a mixture of gluten-free, regular, and pretzel), bell peppers, kimchi Procedure Prepare grill. Combine all but the last two ingredients and the extras. Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions, shaping each into a 3/4" thick patty. Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill on each side until your preferred level of doneness. Grill the peppers and toast the buns, too. ...

I packed this book in my backpack on our snowshoeing adventure because I knew I'd have time to read while they built snowmen or had an epic snowball battle. They did both...and I logged lots of pages. So happy to do some catching up in the  Foodie Reads Challenge  while we were on Spring Break. Snowballs flew all around me while I dug into Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef   by Mark Schatzker.* R took a break from the fight to sit down next to me and have a snack. R: Mom, why do you read books about food all the time? Banana . Steak . It's always about food. C: Well, it's not just about food. These books have history and biology. D: And she likes food. She doesn't like vampires or zombies. On the Page... Steak is a wonderful read. And I can't stop talking about it. On our eleven hour drive home from the mountains, I think I brought it up at least half a dozen times.  Its premise is s...

I've joked that my boys think they live in a restaurant. But, sometimes, I realize that they practically do. "Mom," requested the little Wom yesterday, "I'd like to have chicken and waffles for breakfast for your anniversary."  Okay . So, today, on my seventeenth wedding anniversary, I made him chicken and waffles. But I made them gluten-free so Jake could enjoy them, too. I'm just going to share my recipe for the chicken as I used a gluten-free mix from Trader Joe's for the waffles...and the gravy was an afterthought that I threw together after I discovered that I forgot to pack the maple syrup. So, just use your favorite waffle recipe and your favorite gravy recipe. I'll share mine eventually. Ingredients ¾ C gluten-free baking mix (I used the blend from Trader Joe's) ½ C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 1 t dried oregano 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins (approximately 10 tenderloins) 2 eggs, slightly beaten ...

After a seven mile trek (round-trip) to Tumalo Falls, Jake spotted Atlas Cider Co. on our way home. We swung in and picked up three different ciders from cider houses in Oregon and Washington. I have never seen any of these brews at home, so I was excited to try them. Ever since Jake went gluten-free our beer tasting evenings ended. This was great fun. We bought the Hard Apple Cider from Atlas. We selected the Marionberry Dry Cider from Incline Cider Company ; and our third pick was the Basil Mint Hard Cider from Seattle Cider Company . He poured and we sipped. Sadly, we didn't love any of them and, oddly, we ranked them exactly the same. The top cider was the Marionberry Dry Cider. It was slightly bitter with a hint of sweet. The one we liked second was the Basil Mint which was also slightly bitter, but herby and intriguing. The Atlas cider came in last. We found it too sweet and too weak. It just seemed watery. If we have a chance, we might head b...

As March nears its end, I am logging my first selection for the month. It's not that I haven't been reading, it's just that most of my books this month didn't have a foodie element. I know, that's almost unheard of for me. So, I'm trying to do some catching up in the  Foodie Reads Challenge  while we're on Spring Break. I grabbed my copy of  Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World  by Dan Koeppel* and, while Jake stayed in the house, I took the boys to the pool and breezed through the second half of the book. I had just started it in the morning. On the Page... Bananas are not my favorite fruit, but I'm always interested to learn more about a food's history and biology. After reading this book, I know more about the banana than I ever imagined knowing. Who knew how politically charged the banana industry was?!? A few fun facts that I just learned: the banana tree is actually the world's largest herb; most of us ...