Culinary Adventures with Camilla

It's time for the  Secret Recipe Club 's fifth Monday theme reveal . And this month, it's all about Fall Dishes. Autumn means bonfires, roasted marshmallows, pumpkin spice everything, and dishes that warm you from the tips of your toes to the tip of your nose. Though this event can be cross-group, this month I was assigned to Julie at  Little Bit of Everything  who is in my SRC group. I was excited to show her a little bit of love this month. Julie identifies herself as a 50 something midwesterner who loves to cook, travel and garden. She collect spoons, building on a collection started by her mom. Her blog, she shares, is a creative journey through her 100+ volume cookbook collection, newspaper and magazine clippings, newly found recipes and baking groups.  With the theme being Fall Dishes and with the weather turning colder, I had soups on the brain. Julie has some fantastic soups. I thought about making her  Slow-Cooker French Onion So...

It's time for Group B's October 2016 for the  Secret Recipe Club . This month I was assigned to Tracy at  Pale Yellow . Tracy is an informal science educator/curriculum specialist by day, baking blogger by night. In early 2014, she transitioned her blog to include more small-batch recipes and real meals. She says she is not a recipe developer, not a baker for hire (although if you ask her nicely, she does take orders), and not blogging to quit her day job. She's just here to show love and feed the people who are important to her. I perused her blog and fell in love with her Palomas ; her Spicy Lemonade intrigued me; and I adored that she called her Pumpkin Bread sexy. Yes, pumpkins can be sexy! I loved the look of her  Coffee Marshmallows  and her  Onion Jam Pizza . But, in the end, I decided to make a version of her  Eggplant Pizza . Pizzette di Melanzane slight adapted from  Pale Yellow 's  Eggplant Pizza We...

It's time for Group B's September 2016 for the  Secret Recipe Club . This month I was assigned to Maxcie at  Why I Am Not Skinny . She is a South African food blogger who lives in Belgium. And, I think, she has the best, most honest name for a food blog!! She succinctly writes what I've always thought, but never articulated: we all spend a lot of time around food. "We celebrate major occasions (Birthday’s, Graduations, promotions, religious holidays like Easter & Christmas, etc) with food. We raid the fridge when we are sad…  or bored… or just because it is there! We meet friends for breakfast, brunch, coffee, lunch, drinks and dinner…." So, so true. Her blog is her "happy outlet to reminisce over meals, recipes, restaurants and general food gathering experiences… " and share them with us. Thank you, Maxcie! Perusing her recipes, I came up with several that I have marked to make for later. As always, the number of entrees or appetizer...

It's time for Group B's June 2016 for the  Secret Recipe Club . This month I was assigned to Nicole at  I am a Honey Bee .  She's new to my group and I was excited to explore her blog. Before I get into her recipes, here's a little about Nicole. She goes by Nic more often than not, but call her Nicki and you are going to be ignored. Her day job is at an architecture firm and she loves details and construction. She writes: "I cook. I bake. I design. I clean. I don’t sleep enough." She also has some random fun facts that made me smile...or at least pause! Tulips are my favorite flower Mine, too! The bridesmaids in my wedding carried tulip bouquets. I hate olives. All kinds. Hmmm...you lost me here. If I had to pick just 1 way to have my eggs for the rest of my life it would be Eggs Benedict.  I'm with you on this one. I correct people’s grammar in my head. Okay, okay, I often say it out loud in response to TV reporters/analysts. All the t...

It's time for Group B's November 2015  Secret Recipe Club   reveal. This month I was assigned to  Morsels of Life   which is written by CJ. Her cooking philosophy is pretty simple and straightforward. She reports: "I like using everyday materials and easy to prepare (aka lazy aka efficient) methods. Maybe it’s the engineer in me, but I’m a fan of efficiency." She admits that she doesn't use exact measurements when cooking, but she lists them as a way to get an idea of how much she used.  And this sentiment, I really like - "Generally, if you like something, use more; if you dislike something, use less, substitute something else, or just eliminate it altogether. You’ll probably be fine." She has some great How-Tos posted on her blog, including  how to cut a mango , how to chiffonade , and how to cut a pineapple . I am a sucker for any kind of slaw, so I was tickled to see that CJ has an entire series on cole slaw, including basic cole sla...

It's time for Group Cs  Secret Recipe Club   October reveal. I know, I know...I'm in Group B. But this month I get to post a bonus recipe from  It's Yummy to My Tummy , who was left out of Group C's reveal earlier today. I enjoy getting to meet new-to-me bloggers. So, I was happy to hop over to Group C for the day. Heather is the culinary force behind  It's Yummy to My Tummy .  She shares that her little blog helps to organize her thoughts and experiments as she uses baking and cooking to de-stress. She writes, "As my little girl and boy says, 'mommy, it's yummy to my tummy.'" That's sweet. My little critics now say things such as, "Mom, I think this would be better with lime instead of lemon." Or "It's not quite right. Good effort, though." Case in point: my Not-There-Yet-Samosas . Looking through Heather's blog, there were many yummy to my tummy recipes that I hope to try soon. How about her Swe...

It's time for Group B's August 2015  Secret Recipe Club   reveal. This month I was assigned to  Oh! You Cook!   which is written by Dena. I love her description of herself: "Librarian by day, blogger by night, and author of The Everything Kosher Slowcooker Cookbook." And, though I am not kosher, I really love her tag line: "Proving 'kosher' and 'delicious' are not mutually exclusive." I don't have a slow cooker or I would have picked up a copy immediately. In case you want a copy, I'm including an affiliate link at the bottom of this post. I considered making her Israeli Beet Dip because I've been on the hunt to make a garbanzo bean-free hummus kinda dip. My little one is allergic to garbanzo beans and loves hummus. I thought about her Lion's Head Meatballs because that is a family favorite. Here's my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf's version: Lion's Head Soup . I always chuckle at his caveat whenever we...

It's time for Group B's May 2015  Secret Recipe Club   reveal. This month I was assigned to  Grandma Loy's Kitchen . Loy was assigned to my blog last month when she made  Rhubarb Curd . I was excited to return the favor. Loy writes: "I am a 70 something wife, mother, and grandmother. I have a wonderful hubby whom I have been married to for 50 years,3 children and 3 grandchildren. Besides cooking, I enjoy knitting, sewing and quilting. I read cookbooks like novels, love to experiment in the kitchen and spend way too much time reading blogs." I love her short description of her blog: "recipes old and new, tried and true collected for over 50 years." And she does have a wonderful selection of recipes from which to choose. But it was her selection of rhubarb recipes that really tickled my fancy. She has Rhubarb Streusel Shortbread Bars ,  Bumpy Rhubarb Cake , Rhubarb Dream Bars , Strawberry-Rhubarb Banana Smoothie , Rhubarb and Minute Tapioca (a gues...

It's time for Group B's March 2015  Secret Recipe Club   reveal. This month I was assigned to  Family, Food, and Fun , a blog written by Rebekah. This was a hit. I served it to celebrate the lunar new year, the year of the goat, a few weeks ago.  Gong Xi Fa Cai! Rebekah and Grant have five kids, two furry babies, and five feathered friends. She cooks and bakes from scratch because she really wants to provide the best possible future for her kids through a healthy and well-balanced diet. I love her main food philosophies: 1. If my grandparents couldn't have eaten it when they were kids (1920's), we don't need to eat it either (ie, boxed, packaged mixes, high fructose corn syrup, aspertame and other artificial sweeteners, msg, partially hydrogenated oils, etc) 2. If the ingredient list includes items my third-grader can't read or pronounce, we don't need to be eating it. So true, Rebekah. I had a lot of fun perusing your blog this m...

It's time for Group D's  Secret Recipe Club   January reveal. This month I get to post a bonus recipe from  simply.food , who was left out of Group C's reveal last week. Nanya lives in the United Kingdom and started  simply.food  in October 2008. She shares: "I love spending time in the kitchen, creating and styling my dishes so that they can be captured on camera and of course eaten. I have a passion for food props and I adore authentic crockery. My cupboards are exploding with tea towels, crockery of all shapes and colours and many home made props." I'd love an afternoon in her cupboards. I realized, as I perused her site, that I have cooked from her blog before...sort of. Three years ago, I took part in her Flavours of Singapore Challenge when I made Gajar Halwa , carrot halwa. Here's Nanya's  Carrot Halwa . Her blog provided several options for a dessert to go along with our lamb curry. I thought about her Singapore Coconut Milk Pud...

Welcome to a special  Secret Recipe Club   reveal: the Cookie Carnival. I was assigned to   Little Bit of Everything ,  penned by Julie. I was just assigned to Julie's blog for our November reveal when I focused on her soup recipes. So, it was nice to take a little bit more time to explore the sweets on her blog. I picked these cookies because, well, I loved the name. And when I asked my husband what he wanted for Christmas he said a compost bin. I had been thinking the same thing! Okay, we're weird...I know. But we just moved into a new-to-us house - after being in a postage stamp-sized rented townhouse for three years after the real estate bubble imploded here in California. So, we're both excited about composting for our garden again. Compost Cookies Slightly adapted from  Little Bit of Everything 's  Compost Cookies Ingredients 1 C butter 1 C organic granulated sugar 3/4 C organic light brown sugar 1 T ging...

It's time for Group B's  Secret Recipe Club   December reveal. This month I get to post a bonus recipe from  Cookaholic Wife , who was left out of Group A's reveal last week. Nichole is the Cookaholic Wife who writes: "Nothing makes me happier than feeding people." What a great, succinct formula for happiness. And it's one that I wholeheartedly embrace. We recently moved into our new-to-us house - after too many years in a postage stamp-sized townhouse. And I happily sent out an email to our close friends that since we have a dining room again, I'm ready to start hosting dinners again. They are all excited. I realized, as I perused her site, that I have cooked from her blog before...when I was part of Group A. I had made Nichole's Famous Crab Dip, Camilla-Style . This time I went for a recipe that I could share at a seasonal sips and nibbles party this past weekend. I swapped out for ground pork because that's what I had; I left out...

It's time for Group B's  Secret Recipe Club   December reveal. This month I was assigned to Famished Fish, Finicky Shark ,  penned by Saundra who writes: "Since I was a little girl, about 5 years old, I’ve been literally obsessed with cookbooks.  I could look at pictures of meals from magazines and books for hours.  My grandmother even cut out recipes for me, which I have to this very day!" That's so awesome. I recently found a binder of clipped recipes from college and my kids were excited to see what I was cooking way back then. Saundra admits that she is her most relaxed and creative self when in the kitchen. In honor of her middle child who was diagnosed with autism in kindergarten, Saundra has a section of her blog dedicated to Autism Feature Recipes . These are recipes that are specifically made either Gluten Free, Dairy Free, GFCF (gluten-free casein-free) to prevent any probably food allergies which may cause behavioral issues.  There ...