Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Welcome to the September 2018 version of  Improv Cooking Challenge . This group is headed up by Nichole of  Cookaholic Wife . The idea behind Improv Cooking Challenge: we are assigned two ingredients and are challenged to create a recipe with those two things. This month's items: tomatoes and cheese. That seemed pretty simple. Those two go together so well. And, as it turns out, as part of our Cooking Around the World adventures - we're were on Vatican City and you can read a little bit about why they picked Argentinian dishes on our Pionono de Coco Y Dulce de Leche post - D selected Provoleta as an appetizer. It appears I neglected to post the recipe. Well, then...this is the perfect time to share. Before I get to that, though, please take a look at the others' tomatoes and cheese creations. An InLinkz Link-up Having never heard of this, I deferred completely to the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf who made the shopping list and did all the cooking. I a...

As part of  our Cooking Around the World adventures   - we're on Vatican City and you can read a little bit about why they picked Argentinian dishes on our   Pionono de Coco Y Dulce de Leche  post - D selected Choripán as the main dish. Choripán is Argentina's national sandwich and it's easy: grilled chorizo, sweet rolls, red sauce, and green sauce. In the past, we've made the red sauce as a pico de gallo . This time, D made a red pepper pesto.   Ingredients   serves 4  with 2 choripán per person 4 chorizo links (we did a mixture of spicy and not spicy), sliced in half and butterflied open 8 pan de leche rolls Red Pepper Pesto 2 organic red bell pepper, deseeded and finely chopped 1/4 C organic cilantro leaves, chopped 1 T hot sauce (we used a fermented kimchi Sriracha) 1 T red wine vinegar freshly ground salt, to taste freshly ground pepper, to taste Chimichurri 1/4 C parsley 3 T  red ...

Well, we are definitely crawling through the last of our  Cooking Around the World Adventure . But, we're moving ahead and cooking from Uzbekistan today! That will wrap up the 'u' countries and leave us with just over half a dozen countries. I will finish this before R goes to college. I will finish this before R goes to college. I will finish this before R goes to college. Actually, I am going to try and wrap up this lingering project before he finishes 10th grade! How about that?! from worldatlas.com Fun Facts About Uzbekistan There are only two 'doubly landlocked' countries in the world. A 'doubly landlocked' country refers to a country that is landlocked by other landlocked countries. Uzbekistan is one; the other one is Liechtenstein. With all the talk of  proper and improper gender interactions in the news, we found this interesting. In Uzbekistan, handshakes are only acceptable between men. Decorum dictates that you greet an Uzbek wo...

Well, this summer wasn't very productive in regards to our  Cooking Around the World Adventure . But, we're moving ahead and cooking from Uruguay today! from worldatlas.com About Uruguay... Here are some interesting facts we learned...  'Uruguay', in the Guarani language, refers to the Uruguay River and means ‘river of the painted birds’. The river starts in Brazil and ends in the Rio de la Plata Basin which forms the water border between Uruguay and Argentina. In Uruguay, cows outnumber people four to one. There are only 3 million people while there are 12 million cattle. In 2009, Uruguay became the first country to provide every school-aged child with a free laptop and wifi access. Uruguay has one of the highest literacy rates in the world with 98.1% for adults. Gramajo Just a note: this dish was such a hit, the boys requested that I add this to our breakfast rotation; they like it more than they like  Chilaquiles . Ingredie...

As we are recovering from the end-of-school mania, we are able to focus more on our  Cooking Around the World Adventure . I haven't finished blogging about our Ukrainian dinner - it was not a hit - but we forged forward with the United Arab Emirates and both dishes were amazing. from worldtravels.com About the UAE... Here are some interesting facts we learned...Founded in 1971, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. 'Emirate' means 'state or province ruled by an Emir.' And 'Emir' means 'commander' or 'ruler' in Arabic. Dubai is the most populated Emirate with over a third of the UAE population. I found two things fascinating about its population: (1) it's youthful; more than 50% of the population is under 25 years old. And (2) it's largely an ex-pat community; only 13% of the people living in the country are c...

May is a brutal month when I am constantly over-scheduled with the boys' schools and work. Needless to say, we haven't checked off one country per week as planned for our  Cooking Around the World Adventure . But we can cross Uganda off our list! Slow and steady...we'll finish this project. Eventually. from worldatlas.com About Uganda... Uganda is a landlocked country that lies just above the Equator in East Africa. Its landscape envelopes the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains as well as the immense Lake Victoria. D read that its wildlife includes chimpanzees, hippos, as well as rare birds. Just over 35 million people inhabit the country and the official languages are English and Swahili.  On Our Plates... I initially planned to make three dishes, but I was running late and didn't have time to stop for plantains. So, I only managed to serve two dishes from Uganda: Chicken Luwombo and a Bean Stew. Luwombo is a ubiquitous dish that is found at most tra...

I am already having a crazy week; it's Spring fund drive time. Enough said. But I get to be around these kids and their enthusiasm and love of their school is infectious. Still I am determined to stick to my schedule of traveling by tabletop to at least one country per week with our Cooking Around the World Adventure . So, here we go to Tuvalu. from ontheworldmap.com Some Facts... Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Australia and Hawaii. Its closest neighbors are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Comprised of three reef islands and six true atolls, Tuvalu has a total land are of less than 10 square miles! The small island of Nanumea played a significant role in the World War II when it served as the bomber base for the Allied Forces defending the Pacific basin. 'Tuvalu', the name, refers to the country’s eight traditionally inhabited islands though there are nine islands that make up the country. For ...