Culinary Adventures with Camilla

No matter what your political lean, Becoming by Michelle Obama* is a candid memoir that will leave you in awe of this articulate, elegant, and accomplished former First Lady. On the Page This has been on my bookshelf for several weeks - maybe months. And on the Labor Day holiday, I picked it up and retreated to a chair on the patio. Between cooking meals for the day, I read and read and read some more. When the sun went down, it was still sweltering inside my house. I retrieved my booklight and continued to read on the patio until it was time for bed. She's articulate. We know that. She's Ivy League-educated - Princeton undergrad, Harvard law - but her parents insisted on proper language. On one family vacation, she recounts: "At one point, one of the girls, a second, third, or fourth cousin of mine, gave me a sideways look and said, just a touch hotly, 'How come you talk like a white girl?' The question was pointed, meant as an insult or at least a cha...

Today Christie from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures has us celebrating National Grilled Cheese Day. I've posted several fun versions in the past: Gluten-Free Grilled Cheese  and  Grilled Gruyère on Rye with Crisped Sage and Pink Lady Slices ;  Queijo Coalho (Brazilian Grilled Cheese)   is a little less than traditional, but still one of our favorites! The Others' Cheesy Offerings Bacon Brie Paninis by Bear & Bug Eats Butter Poached Lobster and Smoked Gouda Grilled Cheese by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures Cajun Tuna Grilled Cheese by Cindy's Recipes and Writings Grilled Cheese and Pepper Sandwiche s by Jolene's Recipe Journal Grilled Guacamole and Cheese by Palatable Pastime Mexican Molletes by Caroline's Cooking Open-Faced Grilled Caprese by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Open-Faced Grilled Caprese  Whenever I set about creating a 'grilled cheese' we have a robust debate about what that really looks like. Long ago w...

Bánh mì  is a Vietnamese term for all kinds of bread, derived from bánh (bread) and mì (wheat). But, more often than not, it refers to the baguette which was introduced by the French during its colonial period. But when we say it, we're usually referring to the Vietnamese sandwiches that my boys adore. These sandwiches combine French ingredients such as baguettes, pâté, and mayonnaise with native Vietnamese ingredients such as cilantro, cucumber, pickled carrots, and daikon. "Mom, can you make bánh mì for my birthday party?" Sure can.  And I love that it's not even a question in my mind that the kids he invited will eat it! "And can you make them with meatballs?" Okay. R had invited some of his closest friends to join us at the Mt. Madonna Range for a very belated birthday celebration; his birthday was in June. Then we planned to come back home for a lunch.  Bánh mì  could be done mostly ahead of time, so it was the perfect po...

I made these loaves -  Bird Seed Bread - for the #BreadBakers' March event. See the bottom of this post for more information about this great bread baking group. Our hostess this month is Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories . And she picked SEEDS for this month's theme. I opted to make a seeded loaf with black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and chia seeds. Ingredients 1 T active, dry yeast 1 T organic granulated sugar 3/4 C warm water 1 1/2 C organic plain yogurt, whole milk 3 T honey 2 T hazelnut oil 1 t freshly ground salt 1 T black sesame seeds + more for garnish 1 T white sesame seeds 1 T flax seed meal 1 T pumpkin seeds + more for garnish 1 T sunflower seeds + more for garnish 1 T chia seeds 1 T ground almonds 1/2 C  rolled oats 5-1/2 C whole wheat pasty flour olive oil Procedure Place warm water and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Float active d...

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess and run with the help of Heather of girlichef , which runs smoothly with the help of our bakers.  Our host this month is Renee from Kudos Kitchen by Renee , and our theme is Pumpkin. For more bread recipes, visit the #TwelveLoaves Pinterest board , or check out last month's tempting selection of #TwelveLoaves Apple Breads! This was my first time making and using a biga, also called a poolish. It takes a little bit longer, but made for a softer crumb. Delicious...and worth the effort! Ingredients makes 2 loaves Biga (a pre-ferment) 3 1/2 C bread flour 2 C water, room temperature 1/2 t instant dry yeast Whisk all the ingredients together and allow it to stand for at room temperature for between 6 and 36 hours; mine fermented for over 24 hours. The biga will begin to ferment, getting gassy and bubbly. You'll use 1-1/2 C biga for this bread recipe. The remaining big...

It's the first Monday of the month which means one thing:  Secret Recipe Club  reveal for Group A. This month I was assigned to Cookaholic Wife , a blog written by Nichole. I picked my recipe almost immediately - because I love a good story. I decided to make the recipe that launched her down her road towards cooking and foodie blogging: Nichole's Famous Crab Dip . As she tells it... "The first time I remember cooking something (other than eggs or Ramen), I was 16. My boyfriend at the time mentioned that he wanted crab dip for his birthday. I knew I didn't have enough money for us to eat a full meal at the restaurant with the best crab dip, so I decided I'd make my own. I researched recipes and combined ingredients from three of them together to create what I've come to refer to as Nichole's Famous Crab Dip. Everyone loved the crab dip and it gave me the confidence to start making other recipes." Hot Crab Dip adapted from A Cookaholic Wife...

' Se prendre pour un bûcheron .' The phrase just popped into my head when I saw this cheese. He thought he was a lumberjack. What?! Where did that come from? Sort of like when I had Jake listening to Italian CDs before our trip in 2001. I remember he sat straight up in bed one night and said - with perfect pronunciation, I might add - ' Dove posso parcheggiare la macchina ?" I burst out laughing when he asked, "What did I say?!" So the CDs were sort of working. But since he wasn't going to be driving while we were there, asking where he could park the car wasn't really a useful phrase to know. ' Bûche ' means log in French and is the root word for the name of this log-shaped French goat cheese. Bûcheron is a lumberjack, I think. My French is rusty.  It's made near Sevre et Belle in the Loire Valley of France. Each slice provides a glimpse into the ripening process for this soft cheese. In the center, the crumbly, chalky...

This month Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen , selected Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin for our Cook the Books project. I tucked the collection of essays into my backpack on a family vacation in July and breezed through the book while I saw in a row of strangers and my husband sat with our two young sons. For anyone who has ever flown with children under the age of ten, you know what a luxury that was for me! I didn't have to field the constant chatter - "Mommy, when are they bringing the drinks?" "Mama, may I have ginger ale?" "Why does Dylan have more pretzels than peanuts in his snack bag and I have more peanuts?" "Is this the correct position for crash position?" I finished the book in the time it took for our plane to travel from San Jose, California to Seattle, Washington. About ninety minutes. Needless to say, I loved the writing, loved her sentiments, and was truly saddened to read that she died, unexpectedly at...