Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Welcome to the November 2019 version of  Improv Cooking Challenge . This group is headed up by Nichole of  Cookaholic Wife . And I haven't been very good about participating, but I love the idea of the group, so I will try to be better in the coming months. The idea behind Improv Cooking Challenge: we are assigned two ingredients and are challenged to create a recipe with those two things. This month's items: pears and dairy. Here's what the crew is sharing... Sour Cream Pear Pie by Pandemonium Noshery Pear Hand Pies by Cookaholic Wife Pear and Port Cheese Spread by Palatable Pastime Burrata and Bartlett-Vanilla Bean Jam Crostini by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Poached Pears In Cinnamon & Red Wine With Ice Cream by Sneha's Recipe Caramelized Pear and Brie Rolls by A Day in the Life on the Farm Burrata and Bartlett-Vanilla Bean Jam Crostini  When I was brainstorming at the table about what dairy would go well with pears, the boys vote...

To celebrate the end of a successful school year, we took the boys to our favorite restaurant, La Balena . We've long been friends with the owners, Emanuele and Anna. And I love that I always come away inspired. One of the first dishes we tried was Burrata with Anchovies. So simple and yet so amazing. I think that's the way food should be. Well, most food. It lets the ingredients speak for themselves. And on the summer solstice, I recreated the dish for us. It's not a really a recipe. But I'll share it, in the hopes that it will inspire you to try it for yourself. Ingredients serves 4 as an appetizer 4 balls of burrata 4 anchovies, cured and packed in oil olive oil freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper toasted bread, optional (I served it without at home) Procedure Place burrata on a serving plate or platter. Top each burrata with an anchovy. Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately.

This week, Ellen of  Family Around the Table  and Christie of  A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures  have us sharing recipes for the grill. This is one of my favorite blogging weeks of the year! I love prepping food and handing it off to Jake to grill for me. BBQ Grilled Corn on the Cob by The Spiffy Cookie Brown Butter Blondies by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks Calico Beans with Hamburger by Cheese Curd In Paradise Creamy Patriotic Blueberry Jello Fruit Salad by Daily Dish Recipes Easy White Bean Salad by Caroline's Cooking Grilled Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Burrata Platter by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Grilled Pineapple Salsa by Food Above Gold Grilled Pork Thai Bowl by A Day in the Life on the Farm Grilled strawberry shortcake by Our Good Life Grilled Tuscan Chicken Flatbreads by Cindy's Recipes and Writings Grilled Vegetables with Whipped Avocado Feta Dip by Kate's Recipe Box Herb Grilled Lobster Tails by Family Around the Table Honey Citrus...

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...

Wendy, of  A Day in the Life on the Farm ,  is hosting our March  Food'N'Flix  event. We're watching, or rewatching as the case may be,  A Walk in the Clouds.*  Click to see  Wendy's invitation . You still have plenty of time to join in the fun. On the Screen... It's been awhile since I've watched this movie. But I own the DVD, so, one night after the boys were all asleep, I popped it in. Set, mostly, in a Napa Vineyard called Las Nubes  - 'the Clouds' in Spanish -  A Walk in the Clouds is a fiery romance, rife with passion and longing. Directed by Alfonso Arau, this film reminds me of the unabashed romance in another of his movies, Like Water for Chocolate . Both have a mystical element of true love that cannot be fettered by things such as marriages of convenience. The movie opens with Paul Sutton - played by Keanu Reeves - returning home from the war to a wife he doesn't really know. "Let me guess," says his friend as they...

I love cherry season. And when we aren't eating them by the handful, I'm usually trying to come up with savory ways to eat them. Remember...I don't have much of a sweet tooth. For this last day of Hot Summer Eats , I'm sharing a relatively simple, cherry-laden appetizer. Casabella , one of our event sponsors, sent me a cherry-pitter. So, I gave it a whirl. You can win one of your own, and two other Casabella kitchen gadgets,  at the giveaway . Ingredients Roasted Cherries 4 C fresh cherries 1 T organic raw turbinado sugar 1 t Caribeque's Island Thyme Herb Seasoning* 2 T aged balsamic vinegar 1 t lemon zest  4 crushed cloves of garlic 1 T olive oil To Serve burrata crackers olive oil salt Procedure Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Pit your cherries. We did a pit-off between our new pitter, our old pitter, and a stainless steel straw! Place cherries in a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Spoon the c...

Bacon S'mores  launched this month. And I sent them a three-part post, pairing cheese with (wait for it, no, it's not wine!)...BEER! Click to see the second post of the trio: Creamy Burrata and a Pear Cider . And, if you missed the first post, here it is:  bleu and a smokebeer . Beer and Cheese. Yes, Please! Would love to know if you try this. Comment below...or email me at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com.

For some reason, I couldn't locate prosciutto di parma when I was shopping for the Pair of Pumpkins Baby Shower . Strange. So I swapped out bresaola , an air-dried, salted beef from the Lombardy region in Italy. Because bresaola is not only rubbed with salt - but spices, including cinnamon - I think it was an even more perfect pairing for this appetizer which is a twist on my Burrata-Prosciutto-Pear Jam Bruschetta . The 4 Bs =  Bresaola + Burrata + (Pumpkin) Butter + Bread Burrata  is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside is a mixture of mozzarella and cream. In Italian  burrata  means "buttered." I used a vanilla bean-pumpkin butter for the top, sprinkled the tray with a mixture of chopped cilantro, parsley, mint, freshly ground pink Himalaya salt, and freshly ground pepper. So easy and so flavorful!

*Full Disclosure: I received a complimentary, advance copy of this book  - Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever -   from the publishers for the purpose of reviewing it.* When I first received the package from Quirk Books, giddy excitement washed over me as I tore open the envelope. I eagerly flipped through the pages, enthralled by Shauna Sever's prose and entranced by Leigh Beisch's photographs. I longed to reach into the pictures and pluck out a treat.  Then I got to work, surrounded by vanilla beans and vanilla extracts, and my enthusiasm transformed into sheer panic: What was I thinking? How could I possibly agree to review a cookbook? I can't follow a recipe to save my life! I rarely read a recipe, make a grocery list, and head to the store. I am always adjusting, based on what I already have in my cupboards. I use cookbooks as a jumping off point. But I decided that I am not alone. I am certain there are other home cooks who do as I do. We own cookbo...