Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I recently breezed through The Restaurant by Pamela M. Kelley,* finishing the book one evening after I had done and put away all the dishes. So, it's not a particularly deep or difficult read. But it was a nice way to spend the evening. On the Page photo from amazon.com I have already mentioned that it wasn't a particular deep read. But it was well-written albeit predictable. A grandmother passes away and, in her will, leaves a restaurant that no one knows she owned to her three granddaughters.  "My girls, I know this will come as somewhat of a shock, but I am the sole owner of Mimi’s Place and have been for forty-three years, since I won the restaurant in a bet. A game of poker actually, but that’s too long of a story to go into here. As you know, Mimi’s Place is special to me and always has been" (pg. 34). They must, however, work in the restaurant for a year or the restaurant will belong to the head chef. It was mildly amusing that none of the three women have...

One evening last week, Jake and I sat down to watch something on Netflix after the boys went to bed. Falling Inn Love  popped up as a suggestion and I was in the mood for a silly romantic comedy. He obliged. On the Screen It definitely fell into the silly little rom-com category. Meet Gabriela, an upwardly mobile young urban professional, who lives in San Francisco and has a penchant for environmentally friendly buildings and renovations. On a lark - after far too many glasses of white wine - she enters a "Win an Inn in New Zealand" contest by writing a 400 word essay about why she wants to win an inn. And, the following morning, she discovers that she's won. So, off she heads to New Zealand where she meets local hottie Jake when her luggage rolls down the hill and collides with his truck. You guessed it, right? The inn isn't all is was chalked up to be. Read: disaster of a building. And hot guy Jake is - you see where this is going, right? - the best contract...

I love the Fantastical Food Fight coordinated by Sarah of  Fantastical Sharing of Recipes . For more information about the event, click  here . This month, she challenged us to make candy! She posted: " Our theme for the month is: CANDY. Your recipe must be a CANDY recipe. This can be hard candy, fudge, toffee, truffles, taffy, etc." I sent her a quick note back, "Just wanted to confirm this is for MAKING candy, not using already made candy, right?" Correct . Okay. Thinking cap on! I'm not a big candy fan. But I have made fudge and truffles; though I guess I'm wrong in not considering them candy. That train of thought took me to Italian Torrone and I remembered that friends had brought me some honey from Spain this summer. I have always wanted to try to make  Turrón . I found two versions - Turrón de Navidad and  Turrón de Jijona - and loved the idea of a soft nougat. That would be the latter. The honeys they gave me were Tomillo (th...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dixie Crystals, a #ChristmasSweetsWeek sponsor.  I received complimentary product for the purpose of review and recipe development, but all opinions are honest and  they are my own.  This page may contain affiliate links. Welcome to the fourth day of #ChristmasSweetsWeek! Much gratitude to Terri of  Love and Confections  and Christie of  A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures  for coordinating this amazing event. Not only did they keep all of us bloggers organized, but they lined up some great sponsors. Please visit  my kick-off post  for information about the prizes and to enter the giveaway. You may also enter at the bottom of this post. Beverages Puerto Rican Coquito from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures Frozen Salted Caramel White Russians from Blogghetti Gingerbread Salted Caramel Coffee Martini from Daily Dish Recipes Hot Buttered Caramel Apple Cider Mix from Tip Garden Salted C...

For the first  Food'N'Flix  of 2018,  Amy at  Amy's Cooking Adventures  hosts as we watch Wreck-It Ralph*.  Here's  her invitation . On the Screen I know I've seen the movie before, but it's been awhile. Thankfully, we actually own this one. When I remembered Amy's Food'N'Flix pick, I had the boys pop it in on New Year's Eve. Then we had some fun with candy. Lots and lots of fun. But I'll get to that. Wreck-It Ralph, the title character, opens the film with this... My name's Ralph, and I'm a bad guy. Uh, let's see... I'm nine feet tall, I weigh six hundred and forty-three pounds. Got a bit of a temper on me. My passion bubbles very near the surface, I guess, not gonna lie. Anyhoo, what else? Uh... I'm a wrecker. I wreck things, professionally. I mean, I'm very good at what I do. Probably the best I know. Thing is, fixing's the name of the game. Literally. "Fix-It Felix, Jr." So yeah, natura...

This post written by me on behalf of the sponsors of #AppleWeek.   Products for recipe development and review were provided; prizes were donated for the giveaway,  and this page may contain affiliate links. #AppleWeek is drawing to a close! Boo.  Carlee of  Cooking with Carlee  arranged this amazing event for you. Click to read about the giveaway prizes and to enter for a chance to win:  here .  And today, day five of #AppleWeek, here's what we have in store for you.  We hope you've been duly inspired this week. Apfelstrudel Recipe (Apple Strudel from Scratch) from House of Nash Eats  Apple and Onion Cornbread from A Day in the Life on the Farm  Apple Butter Cheesecake from The Redhead Baker  Apple Chicken Stew from Jolene's Recipe Journal  Apple Cider Dark & Stormy from The Crumby Kitchen  Apple Mincemeat Pie from Palatable Pastime  Apple Oat Quick Bread  from The Chef Next Do...

When you didn't plan anything for dessert and your Sugar Pig (yes, he knows I call him that) asks for something sweet... Toffee is always easy. I always have butter and sugar in the house. Then I just stir in whatever else I can find and call it good. It's so simple. I don't event use a candy thermometer. Ingredients 1 C butter 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 T finely ground coffee 1/4 C pistachios Procedure Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, combine the butter and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until it becomes a dark amber.  Note: If you've never made toffee, there will be times when it looks as if you're doing something completely wrong. It'll look frothy and foamy. But keep cooking and it will eventually look like a cohesive caramel. You cook it just until you start seeing dark streaks where the sugar is beginning to scorch. R...

Deb of  Kahakai Kitchen  is hosting our  October  Food'N'Flix   event; she  asked us to watch   - or rewatch -   Beetlejuice.  Here's  her invitation . Deb writes, " I'll be the first to admit that it is not the foodiest of films, but based on the creative Halloween fun we had with Hocus Pocus last October, it seemed liked the perfect pick. I just watched it again for the food and while not plentiful, it can be found--on the kitchen counters, Chinese (Cantonese) food in boxes, coffee, tea, and alcohol, the prepping of produce for the famous dinner party with a gnarly shrimp cocktail for starters. Plus, knowing the creativity of this group, I have no doubt you will find inspiration in the colorful set, crazy sculptures and monsters, and even the Calypso music."  On the Screen... I haven't seen this movie since I was in high school. Probably. Here's a quick synopsis in case it's been awhile for you, too. A young couple in...