Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Fall might just be my favorite season. Not that the seasons here on California's central coast are very pronounced. While I love the pop of Spring wildflowers and lazy days of lounging in a hammock during Summer vacation, this season brings out my hankering for two distinctly Fall things: truffles and Barolo. And this month, Jill of L'Occasion is hosting the Italian Food Wine Travel bloggers as we post about our Favorite Italian Wines for Fall. Read her invitation here . If you are reading this early enough, feel free to join us for a Twitter chat on Saturday, September 1st at 8am (Pacific time). Or you can read the conversation at your leisure anytime by searching for #ItalianFWT. The Line-Up Marcia at Joy of Wine reveals  Lacrima – The Aromatic Jewel in La Marche’s Crown . Jeff at FoodWineClick! gets real with his directive to  Finish Up the Rosato, It’s Barolo Time! Jennifer at Vino Travels introduces us to  Badia a Coltibuono: Beginnings by Monks in Gaiole

I picked up a copy of Crazy Rich Asians  by Kevin Kwan* after hearing the author interviewed on NPR about the movie adaptation. I figured: if I'm going to see the movie - because after hearing the interview, I definitely wanted to see it - I'd like to read the book first.  Now that I've read it...eh...I'm not sure that I'll see the movie. And I am absolutely not going to read the remaining books in the trilogy. While I loved the way the book opened, it devolved into a sort of retro television soap opera featuring an all-Asian cast. Do you remember the show Dynasty?! Well, all that drama, except set in Singapore. But the ball gowns, the mansions, the mistresses, the jewelry, the drama, and the family feuds were all there. Additionally it's over 500 pages. Five. Hundred. Pages. I kept asking myself, "Is this necessary?" The writing grew repetitive and the story tedious. On the Page Rachel and Nick are professors in New York who have been dat

Here we are at the fourth, and final, August post for our year-long #KitchenMatrixCookingProject; you can read more about that project  here . Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  selected our recipes this month and she is wrapping up the month with proteins - fish and chicken. This week, we're focusing on paillards. Paillards are boneless cuts of meat that are pounded flat. I had to look that one up when Wendy picked this. I had never even heard that term before this challenge Here's what everyone else made... An InLinkz Link-up Chicken Pizzetta Paillards So, this isn't one of Bittman's recipes, but his Chicken Parmigiana Paillards got me thinking: what about using pounded chicken as a base for a mini pizza? And, so, my Chicken Pizzetta Paillards were born. So easy. So tasty. I did go a little far off the reservation this week, but I'll definitely be back to try more of his recipes. The Beef Paillards with Capers and Watercress sound

Debra from  Eliot's Eats  is our   Cook the Books   hostess for this round (August-September 2018); she chose  Sourdough: A Novel  by Robin Sloan.*  If you want to join us, posts aren't due till the end of September. You have plenty of time...read Debra's invitation here . So, let me start with this: I read this book twice. It's a quirky, breezy read and both times I raced through it in just a couple of hours. But I didn't really care for it either time. More on that in a bit. I first read it back in February when I didn't love it, but thought that I would be inspired to finally tackle making my own sourdough bread. I had over six months after all. Then, I read it again on our annual family camping trip in July to refresh myself on the story and mentally prepare for attempting to make my own sourdough when we returned from the wilderness. Flash forward another month and I have still not tried to make a sourdough starter much less a loaf. But let's

When I was looking for a ramen cookbook, I flipped through several of them before purchasing this one -  Ramen: Japanese Noodles and Small Dishes  by Tove Nilsson.* I will say that cookbook appeal is very personal. Some readers might prefer beautiful photos where others desire a well-told story. I tend to like a mix of those. But what drew me to this book is that everything needed for a bowl of homemade ramen was included - from the broth to the toppings and even the noodles. Okay, so I didn't end up making my own ramen noodles. However, trust me, I have that on my to-do list now! But, with Nilsson's book as inspiration, I made a  Homemade Ramen Broth with pig trotters and chicken paws ; I pickled eggs in soy sauce; and I ended up with a delicious version of Nilsson's Tantanmen Ramen.  For this culinary creation I needed pig trotters, pork bones, and ground pork. Thankfully, I know a pig farmer; he and his Bacon Bus come to town once a month. You can read abou

I make this every year, but this year I decided to give it a new post and a new name because my parents ( Nonna and Nonno , or collectively the Nonni , to the boys) were essential in getting me the walnuts for this year's concoction. Last year my mom had asked me about the Nocino I served at Thanksgiving. It's made with green walnuts, I explained. And she responded that she had a friend with a walnut tree...and he told her that she should come pick as much as she wanted. Well, that sure beat me trespassing (I don't!) or buying them online (I do!).  So, before school started earlier this month, Nonna, Nonno, and my boys headed over to their friend's house and pick a ton of green walnuts. And I mean a ton. Not two thousand pounds, obviously. But do you see D's basket? At least three of those! A ton. Now I have eight gallon-sized jars being made into nocino in time for Christmas and one gallon-sized jar of pickled green walnuts which will be a

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kobza Wines. Wine samples were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. I spoke to Ryan Kobza several years ago. Back then, he wasn't making his own wines. So, I was thrilled to have stumbled across a few bottles at Whole Foods last summer. And, then, this summer, he emailed me and asked if I might be willing to taste and pair his current releases: his Rosé, Riesling, and Red Field Blend. Absolutely! Kobza says that what he's trying to do is make approachable food-friendly wines. "To that end, our wines tend to carry more acid, less alcohol and are not intended to overwhelm at the table," he shared. "Rather, they are a compliment to daily life." I have to admit that I love his approach to wine - as both compliment and complement to daily life. For us wine isn't necessarily a celebration drink. Certainly we celebrate with wine. But I enjoy wines that add layers of fl

I have read a lot about ramen because we adore it. Not the instant ramen that comes in styrofoam cups (actually, do they even still sell those?!?) or the ones that have a powdered mix to make the broth by just adding boiling water. I'm talking about actual ramen. Real ramen.   We love going to ramen noodle houses where the broth has been simmering for days and most of the patrons do not speak English. One of our favorite ramen spots is in Palo Alto. The Bay Area is not too far, but it's not close enough to run up for a quick lunch. So, I was determined to learn to make my own. And what makes amazing ramen, in my book, is delicious broth. I am not a stranger to making homemade broths and stocks, especially during the Fall and Winter. But I haven't ever made an authentic broth for homemade ramen. I read about Tonkotsu broth, made with just pork and water. But the version that intrigued me the most was one that included pig trotters, chicken paws (why do they

  This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sprinkle Pop, a  #ChristmasCookies sponsor. I received complimentary product for the purpose of review and recipe development, but all opinions are honest and they are my own.  This page may contain affiliate links. I'll start with this: I'm a sprinkle novice. I mean, I've purchased sprinkles before, but I haven't used them often enough. Clearly. But, when Sprinkle Pop* signed on to be an event sponsor for a December event, I selected the sprinkle collections I wanted to use and waited for the shipment. And when they arrived, I jumped right in.  I had an idea of what I wanted the cookies to look like and made a batch of simple sugar cookies; I covered the top with the sprinkles - before baking. Needless to say, the cookies flattened, as I expected, but the sprinkles melted, unexpectedly. Whoops. They tasted good, but they weren't pretty. And, in my mind, the whole point of sprinkles is pretty! S