Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month the Italian Food Wine Travel bloggers are focusing on Italian sparkling wines with Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog at the head. You can read Martin's invitation:  here . If you're reading this early enough, please join our chat on Twitter – whether you posted or not.  We love visitors and happily chat and answer questions. Simply follow the   #italianfwt   hashtag on Twitter this Saturday, December 1st at 11am ET/8am PT. The Rest of the Bubbly Group Here’s what’s my fellow #ItalianFWT wine and food writers will be sharing! Lynn of Savor the Harvest suggests  A Medley of Italian Sparkling Wines . Jeff of FoodWineClick! want us to Sparkle Your Dessert with Moscato d’Asti . Jen of Vino Travels ~ An Italian Wine Blog pairs  Spaghetti with Clams and a Flight of Adami Prosecco . Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will be dishing up Italian Bubbles + Lasagna Bianca. Wendy...

I have cured salmon before, but one day when we were at a robotics competition I saw someone curing salmon with beets. Sorry! No one was curing salmon at the robotics competition, but staying in a hotel is the only time I can watch the Food Network since we don't have any television stations at home!  Now I can't remember who it was or what show it was on, but I loved the resulting color. So, I decided to give it a try myself. I simply adapted a previous salmon curing recipe that I love. Ingredients 1 C coarse sea salt 1 C raw turbinado sugar 1 t ground black pepper 1 organic beet, finely grated 3 springs fresh thyme aquavit (a Scandinavian alcohol flavored with caraway seeds and star anise) 2 pieces of wild-caught salmon, well matched in size and shape, if possible Procedure Mix the salt, sugar, pepper, and beets together. Divide into thirds. Spoon a third of the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap and place one of the salmon pieces on top of it, ...

Simona from  Briciole  is our   Cook the Books   hostess for this round (October-November 2018); she chose   The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South  by Michael W. Twitty .*  You can read Simona's invitation:  here .  Talk about waiting till the last minute...the posts are due today. Yikes. I have had this book since Febuary, but didn't pick it up till October. And to date, I still haven't finished it. On the Page Let me start with this: I thought I would love this book. I mean: food +  history + recipes = my kinda book. Usually. And I have long admired Twitty when I've heard interviews on NPR and read pieces about him. But I had a really tough time getting through this book.  Actually, I already admitted that I didn't finish it. I tried though. I really, really tried. I carted that book with me to multiple robotics competitions, even leaving other books at home so that ...

This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with the December #WinePW event. Wine samples were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. I know it's cold and rainy, at least it is here on California's central coast this week. I know that Rosés are typically thought of as warm weather wines. But when I saw that locally caught Dungeness crab was our share this week from our CSF Real Good Fish , I put this bottle of Schäfer Organic Dry Rosé 2017 on the chill. I had received it as a sample from Winesellers, Ltd. for our December #WinePW event*. For that post, I talked friends into hosting a German dinner and showing me how to make schweineschnitzel and spätzle; I made the sauerkraut and brought over five bottles of wine. Prost! This Schäfer Organic Dry Rosé 2017 - from Rheinhessen, Germany - is made from estate-grown organic Pinot Noir grapes. While light-bodied and delicate, it boasted a silky mouthfeel and some invigorati...

In September,  Food'N'Flix  returned after a brief hiatus. Oh, happy day. I've missed this food-loving, flick-watching group. And this month, my friend Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  is hosting. You can read Wendy's invitation  here , but she's invited us to watch  A Man Called Ove.*  I had never heard of the movie or the novel that inspired it, but Wendy's enthusiasm is contagious. I watched the movie three times before returning it to Netflix...and I ordered the novel. I'm looking forward to snuggling into a beanbag with a mug of Glögg , Swedish mulled wine, and the book. Soon! On the Screen We've seen this story countless times before: an old curmudgeon's gloomy life is brightened by an unforeseen person or string of events. That is the certainly the case of Ove. But our familiarity with that story line doesn't change the fact that A Man Called Ove  is disarmingly charming with its understated, dark humor. The movie open...

For close friends and family, birthday celebrations are all about requests. For instance, R always asks for Birthday Crêpes  for breakfast and a Baked Alaska for dessert. D get a Bûche de Noël for his birthday. So, when I asked two of our friends whose birthdays are only a few days apart if I could make them one dinner, they agreed. And it didn't take long for them to agree on lasagna. Really? Okay. I usually use five different cheeses. One of them asked, "You make it with seven cheeses, right?" Another upped it to twelve cheeses. Hmmmm...I was able to get it up to eight for this version. And, because the boys had promised to make Nonna lasagna (she paid them!), I had my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf and my Precise Kitchen Elf make all four pans. I did nothing but the dishes. Quite a deal! Ingredients  makes 1 pan; we quadrudpled this to have enough for the dinner, leftovers, and Nonna's order 1 onion, peeled and diced 5 to 6 garlic cloves, peeled and cru...

As part of my German wine pairing dinner, Undine made her Spätzle and showed me how.  These noodles are traditional in Germany, but especially in Baden-Württemberg which is in the southwestern part of the country and encompasses a cultural, historial, and linguistic region called Swabia. The origin of the word Spätzle comes from Swabian meaning 'little sparrows' from the pointed tip that resembles the beak of a bird. Grateful for generous friends who not only cook for me but share their recipes. Danke , Undine! Ingredients 1-1/2 C flour 2 eggs 3/4 C water (she uses a little less) couple pinches of salt freshly ground nutmeg 3 to 4 T butter parsley for serving Also needed: microplane and, if you can, a  Spätzle maker Procedure Place eggs in a bowl and beat until well-combined. Add in flour and grate fresh nutmeg over the top. I asked her how much; she responded, "You can never have enough nutmeg." Okay. Whisk to combine into a l...