Culinary Adventures with Camilla

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 ...

Last week was a ridiculously busy week. I mean, crazy. So, I only managed one dinner for our Cooking Around the World Adventure . After my second meeting with the IB consultant for R's high school, we traveled by tabletop to Turkmenistan. And this week isn't looking any better, so I hope to cook at least one country this week. Fingers crossed. from worldatlas.com About Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is one of six independent Turkic states in Central Asia and was once part of the Soviet Republic until declaring its independence in 1991. "It's one of the -stans," said R when D was looking for the country on a map. What's a -stan?!!? "You know Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and -" Turkmenistan! On Our Plates... When I first started researching recipes for Turkmenistan, I didn't find very many that were in English. Then I discovered the Twitter account for One Turkmen Kitchen and was saved! Photo...

When it comes to fruits and vegetables, we embrace the sentiment 'the funkier, the better.' Case in point: the dragonfruit. When I saw them being shipped from Goodland Organics just south of us, I ordered several...along with some caviar limes .  Dragon fruit, also known as 'pitaya', is native to tropical parts of Southeast Asia, Mexico, South and Central America. On the plant, its dramatic and aromatic flower opens after dark and is known as the 'Queen of the Night'. The flesh is comparable to a kiwi or a pear, though I don't think it shares the sweetness, just the texture.  Now, about the post title, they aren't a new-to-me fruit, but I figured they might be new to some of my readers. This is what they looked like in the box... This is what they look like when you slice them open. The seeds are haphazardly distributed throughout the milky flesh. We talked about how they look like kiwis, but even kiwi seeds have a pattern. T...

Some people when faced with a new-to-them fruit or vegetable will run the other direction. The Manns? Nope. We scoop it right up and wonder how we're going to eat it. I'm on the email list for a website - Local Harvest - that assists in my desire for culinary adventure. This week, I ordered some fresh khalal dates from Pato's Dream Date Gardens . Check these out! They're gorgeous. These Mariana dates - in the Khalal stage - are raw, fresh, and not fully ripened. They will soon enter the Rutab  stage as they deepen to a deep gold color. And by the time they reach the Tamar  stage, they'll have a firm chewy sweetness.  I only hope that we can stay away from the bunch long enough to see it through all the stages. Or, I'll have to order more!

The people in the shop probably thought: What is that looney woman doing...taking photos of the pasta sticks?!? But I have just never seen this and loved the idea! We were at a coffee shop in Point Reyes Station at the tail-end of our 10-day camping trip and R pointed these out to me. "Look, Mommy!" he exclaimed. "They use pasta to stir instead of cutting down trees." I think this is pretty cool. What a great idea. I'll implement this soon.

We always celebrate with Italian bubbles. New Year's Eve 2015 was no exception. Here's my first flute of prosecco... We love to end our year on a culinary high note. Feasting at La Balena definitely qualifies. So, we booked a table - for our Capodanno dinner - shortly after Anna, Emanuele, and Chef Brad opened their doors after their two week hiatus. Many of their new menu items reflects their recent trip to Italy. I'm jealous that they went to Italy, but my tastebuds are grateful. We also had lots of fun with their new cinghiale cap while we waited for our food. We started with a trio of Bruschette . From left to right - burrata with sea salt and olio nuovo; cavolo nero and wild boar salumi; chicken liver toscano and gorgonzola. This dish - Animelle - was a first for all of us. I've heard of sweetbreads, not be to confused with sweet breads, but I've never tried them. Sweetbreads are offal or organ meats. When I saw them on the menu last ...

D had planned to serve a sea urchin soup for his birthday dinner. Here's the original recipe for his Spiced Coconut-Sea Urchin Soup . Our usual go-to for urchin told us that their order comes in on Thursday and it wouldn't be good on Tuesday. But Ms. Shiho went out of her way to check with some fisherman friends of hers. No luck. I called a fish place on the commercial wharf that sometimes has it. No luck. So, our last resort was Monterey Abalone. I thought: we'll just clean two fresh ones and change the menu to "sea urchin- flecked soup." But those hopes were dashed, too, when they told us that there wouldn't have any available to January. D was so, so sad and very disappointed. But, always my sunny boy, he concluded, "it's okay, Mom, we just have to change the menu for tonight, but I'll make urchin soup for my friends in January."

I can't remember how we got onto this mission, but halfway into the evening, we attempted to open a wine bottle with only a shoe and a wall. Here was our inspiration: click here . Guess what? It worked. The bottle was intact and the cork was out. It did render the wine disturbingly aerated.

There is something that I love about the Bay Area. Okay, there are many things that I love about the Bay Area. But, perhaps, one of my favorites: the food. No surprise there, right?!? So, when I knew we were going to be up in Palo Alto for the weekend, I did some reading and picked a few places to try. Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of Mind of a Chef , but I had ramen on the brain. [Yes, I am actually going to admit this aloud!] When I go to an ethnic restaurant, if there are actually people of that ethnic background (or close) there, I take that as a good sign. Because, you know, I would never frequent a Filipino restaurant unless it came remarkably close to my grandmothers' food. Every single table was packed and there was a line-up of customers at the door...and each table had at least one Asian.  It lends a little cred to the food, in my mind. This is not the cook-in-the-microwave kinda ramen that you shoved in your mouth between classes in college...