Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month, the French Winophiles are looking at the red wines of Provençe. Payal of  Keep the Peas  is hosting. Provençe, a region in southeastern France that borders Italy and the Mediterranean, is renowned for its olive groves, pine forests, and lavender fields. And when you think of wine, you typically think of Prove nçe Rosés...at least that's what comes to my mind first. So, it was nice to get a prompt to look at the red wines of the region. If you are reading this early enough, feel to jump in on our live Twitter chat. We'll be meeting on Saturday, February 20th at 8am Pacific time. Just follow the hashtag #Winophiles and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. Here's the group's line-up. These will be live between Friday and Saturday of the event. Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla presents Provençal Pork Stew + Clos Cibonne Cuvee Speciale Rouge 2019. Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares Beef Daube Provencal with a Ban...

Somehow  A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France  by Georgeanne Brenna n* ended up on my suggested Kindle reading list. It's not a mystery, really; the book is right up my alley - personal memoir, set in another country, and rife with food! And Amazon's algorithms are usually right on, disturbingly so. This 'buy-it-in-one-click' thing is truly dangerous! It's still less expensive than physical books...and until my library opens back up, this will suffice. However, I still prefer real paper and books that I can touch and smell. On the Page image from amazon.com I was not familiar with Georgeanne Brennan's work, but I was immediately drawn into her book as she begins describing her family's adventures of moving to Provence in the 1970s and starting a traditional fresh goat cheese business.  A Pig in Provence  is part travelogue and personal memoir. But it's really a love letter to Provence and all its foods....

Murder à la Carte  by Susan Kiernan-Lewis* is actually the second book in a series. Though I read the first two in order, I ended up inspired into the kitchen out of order! This book picks up where Murder in the South of France  leaves off. On the Page Maggie Newberry and her French newly reformed criminal boyfriend, Laurent, leave Atlanta, Georgia (her hometown) to relocate to a mas (traditional French country home) and vineyard that he has just inherited in St-Buvard, a completely fictional village, Provence, France.  Their plan is to spend a year in France, harvest the grapes, make some wine, then decide what to do with the land and the house. They quickly discover that the property was the scene of a grisly murder of four during WWII. The motley crew of characters include Maggie who almost flat-out refuses to learn the language or the customs of her new country (as someone who has lived in other countries, this grated on my nerves. Just try!); Laurent...

I like bubbles. And, despite three decades of avoiding anything pink, I really embrace anything in the the girly hue. It probably has something to do with being a permanent resident of Testosterone Land. I am totally outnumbered. All. Of. The. Time. So, when I saw this sparkling rosé, I bought a bottle. I should have picked up two bottles! Hailing from the Cote d’Azur region of Provence, this can't bear the name Champagne, but it has all the drama and elegance of a great bottle of sparkling wine. I already mentioned that it's pink. But it's not a timid hue. It's rich, vibrant, and beautiful.  The visual appeal is easily matched on the nose. I got strawberries and roses. Then you taste it and you're in bubbly bliss. Made from France's three most famous rosé grapes - Syrah, Cinsault, and Grenache - it has a perfect balance on the palate. My favorite part: it's refreshing but not too sweet.

Welcome to second event for a fledgling group - The French Winophiles - coordinated by Christy of  Confessions of a Culinary Diva . Here's her initial plan... We start with the Regions first and then move to the Appellations. The proposed schedule, based somewhat on the seasons is as follows: June 20 - Loire Valley (click for my post: here ) July 18 - Provence or Corsica August 15 - Southwest September 19 - Languedoc-Roussillon October 17 - Cote due Rhone November 21 - Bordeaux December 19 - Champagne January 16 - Burgundy February 20 - Alsace I love this group already! And I'm having so much fun exploring wines and recipes that are unfamiliar to me. To Provence So, today, the crew is heading to Provence. wikipedia.com Provence is a region in southeast France. Its name derives from what the Romans used to call it:  la provincia nostra , meaning our province; it was the first Roman province outside of Italy. Wine has been produced in ...

Wine Pairing Weekend - #winePW - happens on the second Saturday of the month. And this month - July - Michelle of Rockin Red Blog is hosting. She asked us to celebrate either America's Independence Day (July 4th) or France's Bastille Day (July 14th). So, American food + American wine or French food + French wine. Bloggers' choice. Click to read her invitation:  here . I decided to go French with a Rosé from Provence. In My Glass The Cave de Saint-Roch-les-Vignes Côtes de Provence Rosé I selected had a lovely pink - almost salmon - hue. So pretty! And it was equally appealing to the nose with a mélange of muted florals and bright citrus. On the palate, it had good acidity with a medium finish that I attributed to the 50-50 Grenache and Cinsault grapes. The subtle sweetness was a lovely flavor foil to the saltiness of my dish. In the Middle of the Plate...  To go with my wine from Provence, I decided to make a Provençal tapenade to put on top of a f...