Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I wanted to give an extra shout-out to the lovely Lauren De Vine of  Lauren De Vine Beverages   for these Prêt-à-Fête cocktail starters. I ordered two four-packs from her CSLDV last week to take with me to the redwoods for Jake's 40th birthday party. I adore having creative friends. Love it! I love that Lauren's creations come pre-portioned in mason jars for easy transport and easy serving! This week, the flavors were Spring-y and bright. Perfect for ringing in a new decade. I received the strawberry fennel shrub with lime juice and zest. Lauren wrote that it would be "great with tequila" and it was. We also had the tangerine, lavender, and Big Sur citrus blossom. I poured in some prosecco and it was an instant hit. We sipped, shared, toasted, and enjoyed. My only regret: I should have ordered more. Next time...

I know that I have said this before - but I wanted to give an extra shout-out to the lovely Lauren De Vine of Lauren De Vine Beverages - I love having creative friends. Love it! Yesterday Lauren delivered some CSLDV goodies to my office: a jar of her Charred Citrus-Cardamom-Maple and a jar of her Spiced Syrup which has pumpkin, persimmon, raw chocolate, and ancho chile. Such unique and delicious combinations. Instead of making coffee this morning, I brewed some Assam black tea and stirred in a tablespoon of the Charred Citrus-Cardamom-Maple. What a great, fresh pick-me-up. I haven't tried the spiced syrup yet, but I will. Thanks, as always, Lauren. I hope your Thanksgiving travels are safe and feasts amazing.

After going to the Inaugural Commonwealth Wednesday at Carmel Belle - and meeting the creative drink maven Lauren De Vine - I've been meaning to order from her CSLDV. That's 'Community Supported Lauren De Vine'! Well, I finally did order. Woo hoo. Woo hoo. Last Friday, before leaving for Palo Alto so the kids could attend Stanford Splash! , Lauren brought me a quart of her cucumber, rose, lemon, thyme spirit base and a quart of her Fall Stone Fruit Sour - a local spiced stone fruit shrub, citrus, sage. I carried them with us and brought sparkling water for the kiddos and a sparkling wine for me and Jake. Look at her adorable packaging: yellow stattice and handwritten labels. As if I needed more reasons to love her. I appreciate that Lauren provides serving suggestions and alcohol and non-alcohol pairings. We tested both bases and were wildly impressed with the depth of flavor in the bases. The flavors melded together effortlessly yet wer...