Culinary Adventures with Camilla

"Mom," said the Precise Kitchen Elf, "I signed up to bring lemon squares for my English class potluck on Thursday." Okay, remind me to get everything out for you on Wednesday. So, last night, he took a break from studying for finals to make a triple batch of lemon squares. One batch went to his potluck; a second batch went to work with Jake; and the final batch stayed home.  I haven't tried them, but I got an email from Jake's boss that read: "Your lemon bars..... Nailed it! The ratio of lemon to crust is perfection. Truly made my morning. Thank you!!!!!"  Ingredients makes two 9" x 13" pans Crust 4 C flour 1 C organic powdered sugar 1-1/2 C butter (3 sticks), cold and cubed 2 to 3 T cold water 2 to 3 T limoncello or gin (or more water if you don't want to use alcohol) zest from 2 organic Meyer lemons ground almonds, as needed Topping 8 eggs 2 C organic granulated sugar 1/2 C flour

It's hard to believe that I have never posted a recipe for my favorite pie. But when I came home from the 8th grade camping trip with leftover Meyer lemons that we had grabbed from my mom and dad's tree, I decided it was time to remedy that. Now, I love a lemon meringue pie in all its variations, but my favorite is when it's made with Meyer lemons. In case you're not familiar with these beautiful citrus, here's a little bit about them. Meyer lemons were first introduced to the United States - from China - in the early 1900s by namesake Frank Meyer. A cross between a lemon and a mandarin (orange), the fruit has smooth, golden skin that can be as deeply hued as a farmhouse egg yolk. The rind is thin and the amount of juice contained inside is astounding. Additionally, the juice lacks the acidic bite of a regular lemon though it's big on sweet and tart. It's an amazing flavor. Ingredients  makes one 9" pie Crust 1-1/4 C flou

Today is our final May post for our Kitchen Matrix Project, named after Mark Bittman's  Kitchen Matrix  cookbook. You can read about the year-long project:  here . This month, I chose the recipes and went with a Latin theme. So, we have worked with masa; we made salsa; we braised carnitas. And so on...you get the idea. Next month, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories selected our recipes. Stay tuned! This week I chose Ice Pops + 12 ways, but couldn't decide what to make. I love the idea of ice pops because you can customize them and it's not as time consuming as making homemade ice cream. If you don't have a copy of the cookbook, you can read his versions online . I wanted to make a few different versions, but time got away from me and I opted to make ice pops with Mexican Agua de Jamaica . It seemed to fit the theme...and I did make half of them boozy by adding a splash of tequila to the mix. In case you're curious, Bittman has fruity ice pop suggestions

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a black thumb. You know, as in can't keep any plant alive, or the polar opposite of a green thumb. Thankfully, D and Jake can grow things and both were really interested in sprucing up our back patio. So, as our afternoon project, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf and I set out to plant a container garden. We have sunlight and we have sand. So, everything needed to live in pots with good soil. And he told me that everything has to be edible..."otherwise, what's the point?!" Okay. He picked Lemon Boy tomatoes... Chives, oregano, purple leaf sage.... We also have two kinds of zucchini, eggplant, lemon cucumbers, basil, thyme, and two kinds of mint. He watered everything while explaining the process to me, Ms. Black Thumb. Then he put up netting to keep the birds out of his plants. Hopefully the garden will flourish and we'll be picking all summer long. If nothing else, it was a b

When fellow #Winophile Jill of L'Occasion reminded The French Winophiles that May 25th was Languedoc Day and because sponsors have been so generous with previous Languedoc events*, I wanted to give them a shout-out and pull together a round-up of previous Languedoc pairings to share. But I was offline - chaperoning an 8th grade camping trip on the 25th - so this is tardy. Je suis vraiment désolé . Languedoc Wines Once a source only for inexpensive, bulk wine, Languedoc is showing its ability to make fantastic terroir wines at affordable prices. As France's largest wine region, the Languedoc is home to an array of climates and wine styles. Typically considered red wine country, there are small amounts of rosés - particularly from Cinsaut, Syrah and Grenache - and an increasing number of whites made including Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, and local varieties such as Picpoul and Clairette. It has certainly won my heart with its breadth and depth of choices. Pairings

Horchata was the other drink that Team Mexico prepared for their camping dinner. Awhile back, I was teaching a class about Rice Around the World and my co-teacher is from Spain. When she saw that I was making  horchata  for class, she was perplexed because in Spain  horchata  is not made with rice; it's made with a kind of nut. So, she didn't know how that was applicable to our class. Since her husband is one of the 8th grade teachers, so I asked him about their horchata while the kids played games before heading up the hill to set up camp. He explained about horchata de chufa . We found the translation as 'tiger nut.' But what I had prepared to make is the Mexican version...with rice! I did the first part of the process at home, but one of the students finished it up and got it ready for serving. Also, I did quadruple the recipe below to serve the masses. Ingredients  serves 10 1 C uncooked rice (I used organic long grain rice) 1 C boiling water 2

This sponsored post is written by me in conjunction with the  The Book Club Cookbook  for the virtual supper party  feature for The Lost Family . All opinions are my own. The Lost Family Supper Club A bunch of food bloggers are gathering - virtually, anyway - to share thoughts and inspired recipes ahead of Jenna Blum's June 3rd release of her new novel, The Lost Family . I was tickled to have been invited and love seeing familiar blogging friends -  Wendy , Amy , and Sarah just to name a few - joining in. Also very happy to meet some new bloggers as well, including  Beth , Emily , and Pam . And, I was so, so thrilled to be introduced to a new-to-me author that I already have a few more of her books on order. I can't wait to read more of her work! Click here for more information about the virtual supper club. From the Author One of the things I love about these virtual parties is, obviously, getting to read the book early and share my thoughts and - even bet