Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Today, Ellen of Family Around the Table asked the Festive Foodies to share some red, white, and blue recipes ahead of Independence Day. I thought I'd try my hand at a red, white, and blue chia pudding...without the food coloring, of course.  So I considered what I could use that would make the liquids red and blue. Funny note, when I served these, my husband joked, "What's with the brown, white, and grey chia?" But, once he tasted it, he was a fan. First, here's what the rest of the crew is sharing... American Pride Cookies by Jolene's Recipe Journal Cherry Berry Buckle Cake by Cookaholic Wife Firecracker Marshmallow Pops by Family Around the Table Firecracker Roll by A Day in the Life on the Farm Patriotic Pudding Firecrackers by Daily Dish Recipes Patriotic Red, White, Blue Cupcakes by Girl Abroad Patriotic S'mores Brownies by Amy's Cooking Adventures Red White and Blue Burger Bites by Cindy's Recipes and Writings ...

The roasted quince elevates this chia pudding - that we eat all the time - to a new Autumnal high! The boys actually asked for seconds, even after they ate their Dragonfruit Waffles . It's so easy, too.  Ingredients 6 T chia seeds 1 C almond or hazelnut milk (here's my homemade hazelnut milk ) 1 C water 1 T honey (I used a wildflower honey from  Kimes Apiary  in Watsonville) 1 t pumpkin pie spice 2 quince Procedure Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash the quinces to remove their downy coat. Pat them dry and place them in a baking dish . Bake for one or two hours - baking time will depend on the size of the quince -  until they're soft to the touch. Mine took about 90 minutes. Allow to cool. Pour the milk, water, and honey into a large jar. Add in the chia seeds and the spice. Cover with a lid and shake to combine. Let sit in the refrigerator - to chill and thicken - overnight. To serve, spoon chia pudding into individual bowls. Peel quince, if...

I was recently contacted by the marketing department at Epicurex LLC with an offer to receive and review their Cocozia 100% Organic Coconut Water*. Sure thing. My family loves coconut water. In fact, we currently have two other brands in the fridge. Why not try a new one? No matter which coconut water we're drinking, we always compare it to the coconut water you sip from the actual fruit. That's to what they all aspire, right?  This is one we had in Costa Rica [see right] after we visited the Arenal. Whenever we can get fresh coconut water, straight from the coconut, we do. Until our next trip to the tropics, however, we try various brands of organic coconut water available to us. Coconut water - in case you're unfamiliar -  is the clear liquid in the center of young, green coconuts. It's very different from coconut milk or coconut cream which is made by soaking the flesh from older coconuts in water. Coconut water is, and should be, virtually unprocessed. To th...

Get ready...I'm about to show my age. Do you remember these popsicles? On the rare occasion that my mom and dad gave me money for the ice cream truck on a hot summer afternoon, these are the popsicles I would get.  I didn't eat chocolate at the time, so I always opted for this one. My friends and I would hear the music coming around the housing development, grab our coins, and sprint over to the truck from whichever front yard we were playing in. We would crowd the ice cream man, waiting impatiently for him to pull our selections out of the cooler. Then we would plunk ourselves down on the curb and greedily devour our summertime treats.  I whipped up this 50-50 chia pudding for breakfast this morning and was instantly transported back to those summers with these flavors.  My boys were intrigued, but each played with their serving, adding in more orange juice. R preferred the 70-30 ratio while D said that 60-40 was his preference! So, we got in a goo...