Culinary Adventures with Camilla

For the final course of our Christmas dinner, I served my favorite festive sweet - gingerbread with lemon curd. And I paired it with Donkey & Goat's Pinot Gris. In the Glass Donkey & Goat's 2016 Ramato Pinot Gris is skin-fermented which resulted in a vivid salmon color . The wine smells like peaches and sea salt; and while it is light-bodied it's exotic and almost meaty. This wine, like many of Donkey & Goat's creations, is not for the faint of heart, but, like all of Donkey & Goat's wines, it's fascinating. On the Plate Ingredients Gingerbread 1-1/4 C butter, plus some for greasing unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting pan 1 C unsulphered molasses 1 C organic granulated sugar 1/3 C ginger syrup 1 T ginger paste 1 t dried ginger 2-1/2 C flour 1 C ground almonds 1 T baking powder 1 C sour cream 2 eggs organic powdered sugar for serving Lemon Curd 1 C fresh lemon juice 4 t fre...

For this round - our December-January selection - of  Cook the Books , the book selection was chosen by Debra from  Eliot's Eats . She chose  Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome  by Crystal King.* You can read Debra's invitation in the book announcements:  here . On the Page I first read this book on our ten-day camping trip last July along the Eastern Sierras. I swung in the hammock, breathing in the clean mountain air, and devouring King's book. Actually, I read a lot of books during the trip, but this was the first...and my favorite. Then, in preparation for this event, I read it again. Let me start with this: I love this book. What's not to love, right? Food, history, love, passion, betrayal, and ancient Rome. I became enamored by ancient Rome when I studied Latin in high school. And that passion was only flamed more when I lived in Rome for a year after college. Visiting those sites, walking among the ruins...I get misty-eyed just thin...

This was the second course for our Christmas dinner. You can read a bit about the tasting and planning here . Though this wine wasn't on the tasting menu for the day, Kelsey poured us a taste when we started talking about lamb lollipops. And I knew she had a winning combination. In the Glass This is the 2016 Grenache Noir from the El Dorado appellation. This is a lighter bodied red which makes it extremely food-friendly. I like that it's mineral-driven and simultaneously soft and playful. Light and fruity with hints of berries at the forefront, the flavor deepens with each sip to reveal more complex fruits - think pomegranate or tart cherries - with just the right amount of fresh herbs. On the Plate Lamb lollipops are a family favorite. To complement the earthy tannins in the wine, I decided to go with a coffee and garlic rub with a bit of dried thyme. Ingredients serves 4 as an appetizer (2 ribs per person) rack of lamb with 8 ribs, sliced...

Last week, for D's 14th birthday, we headed up to the San Francisco Bay Area for a quick one-day adventure. But, because it can't all be about him, I squeezed in a stop in Berkeley at one of our favorite vintners Donkey & Goat . I had hoped to finally meet Jared face-to-face after years of emails, but he was out doing family things with his kids. 'Tis the season for fun and family! I'll meet him one of these days, I'm sure. But, over the course of an hour or so, Kelsey guided us through a tasting and helped me plan out our Christmas dinner with Donkey & Goat pairings. We ended up with three courses and three wines. In the Glass After tasting the chardonnay, Jake said, "I see this with chicken and waffles!" Kelsey and I hesitated, tasted again, then both agreed. One pairing down. The 2016 Linda Vista Vineyard Chardonnay was made with grapes that enjoy both the cooling influence of the Bay and the warming sunshine of Napa Valley...

  This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bob's Red Mill . I received complimentary product for the purpose of recipe development, but all opinions are honest and they are my own.  This page may contain affiliate links. We have decided to detox from sugar. I shouldn't laugh, but Jake came out yesterday morning and said, "We have a major problem." Then he proceeded to tell me that his so-called 'fat pants' were tight. I tried not to laugh and used it as an opportunity to get him to give up, or at least cut waaaay back on, sugar.  So, this morning, instead of pancakes with maple syrup - or some other sugary breakfast - I decided to try my hand at a breakfast bowl made with whole grains, greens, and savory yogurt. I'll admit: I got a few groans, but I liked it! And they'll adjust. What the Freekeh? You may be asking yourself, "What in the world is freekeh?" As part of a shipment for a grains around the world...

For years I've been screaming about reading labels. Both my kids read labels. My husband is less vigilant, but he also doesn't do a whole lot of food shopping. So, as we prepare to launch into a sugar detox in January, I thought I'd write some posts about this journey. The first thing is this: just because it doesn't read 'sugar' doesn't mean that it doesn't have added sugar. Sugar has aliases. Seriously. A good rule of thumb is to look for any words that end in -ose. Keep an eye out for any ingredient with the word 'syrup'. Here are 50 of the most common aliases for sugar (sources include prevention.com, organicauthority.com, and womenshealthmag.com)...   Barley malt Beet sugar Brown sugar Buttered syrup Cane juice crystals Cane sugar Caramel Corn syrup Corn syrup solids Confectioner’s sugar Carob syrup Castor sugar Date sugar Demerara sugar Dextran Dextrose Diastatic malt Diatase Ethyl maltol Fructose Fruit juice...

Every year the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf and I make a Bûche de Noël for his birthday cake. When I found out that my cousin was hosting our big family Christmas celebration on D's birthday, I emailed her: That is D's actual birthday. Any chance you might be able to make him a cake?  Don't think that's a completely odd request. While she's an engineer, she bakes for fun and, sometimes, as a side job. She readily agreed. I certainly didn't expect her to make him a bûche. But she did...because she's an awesome auntie.  She made chocolate bark, marzipan pinecones, and meringue mushrooms. And she even had candles to make it the full birthday experience. It was so beautiful and so tasty. And, best of all, he felt so celebrated. It's tough to have a birthday so close to Christmas. I just appreciate when friends and family make the effort to make him feel special. Thanks, Tiffy!

When I read that December's Fantastical Food Fight theme was eggnog, I might have done a little dance of joy. Maybe a medium dance of joy. We love eggnog in my house. I mean, we just did an Eggnog Tasting . And, in case you don't want to click and read the results: Humboldt Creamery's Organic Eggnog was the winner in the 'sipper' category - that is to say straight from the carton with nothing added; Straus Family Creamery and Clover Organic eggnogs were the winners when we mixed them with booze. And both Jake and I preferred SNAP liqueur to rum in our nog. I love the Fantastical Food Fight coordinated by Sarah of  Fantastical Sharing of Recipes . For more information about the event, click  here . I haven't been very good at participating, but this month, I couldn't resist. We were given the challenge of making a recipe with eggnog. So. Many. Possibilities. An InLinkz Link-up Double the Eggnog Cookies I decided to m...