Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with a Locavore Feast I hosted .  Some ingredients were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. No dinner party is complete without a few fresh salads, I say. And for a recent Locavore Feast, I wanted to use the wildflower honey from Carmel Honey Company in a hearty salad with greens from Serendipity Farms.* Ever grateful that two of my favorite purveyors donated to this fundraising dinner. Ingredients Strawberry Vinaigrette 1 C strawberries, stemmed and quartered 1 T honey  5 T red wine vinegar  1/3 C olive oil  1 t salt  1/4 t black pepper Salad greens, thinly sliced (I used the Braising Greens Mix from Serendipity that included kale and chard. Feel free to use less hearty greens if you wish) fresh strawberries for garnish freshly ground salt, as needed freshly ground pepper, as needed crumbled cheese, optional (I forgot to add this. Whoops!) ...

This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with a Locavore Feast I hosted .  Wine samples and some ingredients were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. To kick off my Locavore Feast, I wanted to create a cheese board, using honey from Carmel Honey Company and pairing it with wine from Donkey & Goat.* I am so grateful that two of my favorite purveyors donated to this dinner. I included Red Hawk, a triple-crème aged cow's-milk cheese with a washed rind; a fresh chevre rolled in edible flowers; salami; fresh raspberries; and a honeyed baked brie. The honeyed brie was a little less than picturesque, but it was a hit...and a delicious match for the wine. Honeyed Baked Brie Ingredients one 6- to 8-ounce brie, slightly chilled (I used a goat milk brie) 1/3 C chopped cashews 1/3 C chopped dried apricots 2 T honey + more for serving crackers or baguette slices for serving also needed: parchment paper and ...

When we went to the Carmel Honey Company presentation at Earthbound Farm this weekend, they hosted a honey tasting. That's always my favorite part! Beekeeper Jake's mom made some waffles and we tasted them with four different kinds of honey. Clockwise from the top left: meadowfoam, sage, wildflower, and orange blossom. I love how different they look...and taste! We went back multiple times to taste the different honeys. While R declared his favorite is still orange blossom (it's been that was for years no matter how many different kinds I present to him), D and I thought that the meadowfoamn honey was the most unique. I found it muted and sweet with hints of caramelized custard and a hint of burnt sugar. Kinda like a crème brûlée . My favorite! D said it was more like a toasted marshmallow. So we bought a jar and spooned it over vanilla ice cream for dessert. Delish!

Yesterday morning there was another great event at Earthbound Farm: Jake, the 13-year-old beekeeper and owner of Carmel Honey Company , was talking about bees, honey, and beekeeping. Since my Precise Kitchen Elf is interested in having bees here at our new house, I figured it was a great way to keep him interested.  I had met Jake when I interviewed him a couple of years ago. It's wonderful to see how much his business has progressed! He's quite impressive and a font of knowledge about bees. He spoke about the plight of bees, explained the politics of the hive, extolled the benefits of honey, and - the best part - let us taste his honeys. So awesome. After the talk, we wandered through the garden and looked for bees. They were everwhere, but there were tons buzzing around the flowering oregano. I'm not sure I was completely successful. While R was excited about the bees, he was actually more intimidated about beekeeping after hearing Jake...