Culinary Adventures with Camilla

After some heavy reads that I will get to soon, I picked up The Car Share by Zoe Brisby. This was a quick, breezy read though the characters themselves were not particularly fluffy. Alex (male) picks up Max (female) as part of a ride share. I indicated genders there, because both thought they were meeting the same gender as themselves! In any case, Alex is depressed and is looking for something to take his mind off of his troubled life while Max is headed to a country that allows assisted suicide. And so their car share adventures begin. Maxine is a hoot. She doesn't understand how to order coffee at a fancy cafe. "'I’d like a coffee.' The barista looked puzzled and waited for the rest. Seeing that nothing more was forthcoming, he was obliged to ask, 'What sort of coffee? A latte? Mochaccino? Cappuccino? Frappuccino? Macchiato? With caramel? Vanilla? Soymilk?' Maxine turned to Alex. 'When did it become so complicated to order coffee? What’s all this gibber...

Though bread pudding's roots reach back to Europe as a way to use stale bread, it is its place as a beloved dessert in New Orleans that had me pick it for the dessert at my July demo & tasting at The Quail & Olive this week...and I used fresh bread! Instead of the traditional bourbon sauce, I used the caramel and dark chocolate drizzles by Monin that Anni has in the pantry section of her store. Ingredients makes 12 individual puddings 6 cups bread (I used a soft white), torn into 1-inch pieces 1/3 cup organic dark brown sugar 1/3 cup maple syrup (from Runamok Maple ) 1 cup buttermilk 1 cup heavy cream 4 eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (from The Casa Market ) 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (from Diaspora Co. ) 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (from  Diaspora Co. ) 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated (from  Diaspora Co. ) 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom Also needed: muffin baking dish, parchment paper or muffin cups; sauces for drizzling Proced...

This month several of the #FoodNFlix bloggers are migrating over to a new group called #MoviesandMunchies. Amy of  Amy's Cooking Adventures  is leading the charge for our inaugural month. You can read Amy's invitation:  here . She asked us to watch  Ocean's Eleven . I have already shared A Salad for Saul ; I will write more about the movie when I round up all of my inspired recipes towards the end of the month. This recipe was inspired by the scene where Rusty Ryan (played by Brad Pitt) is teaching movie stars how to play poker. Holly Marie Combs, Topher Grace, Joshua Jackson, Barry Watson, and Shane West all appear as themselves. There are hilarious lines such as not being able to have three pairs in five card draw. But the ultimate ridiculous line was when Topher Grace lays down his hand and triumphantly declares, "Fellas! Fellas! Check this... all... red!" In case you aren't a poker player, a 'flush' is a strategy when all cards are the same suit, ...

  Today the Sunday Funday group is writing about and sharing international cookie recipes. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. This week Wendy is hosting and asked us to post cookie recipes from around the world. She wrote: "I love learning traditions of other countries through cooking and baking. Share a traditional Christmas cookie from somewhere around the World that is special to you and tell us why it brings you fond memories." Here's the line-up... Sneha’s Recipe presents  Cashew Cherry Cookies   Palatable Pastime serves up  Chinese Almond Cookies   Culinary Adventures with Camilla gives us Hojarascas (Mexican Shortbread Cookies)  Mayuri’s Jikoni shares  Karachi Biscuits   A Good Life plates  Mexican Tea Cookies   A Day in the Life on the Farm discovers...

  "Puff pastry bunny ears," you might be asking yourself. "Those look suspiciously like Palmier Cookies." And your suspicions would be correct.  However, I am sharing this recipe for this month's  Food'N'Flix  as Elizabeth of  Literature and Limes  is hosting the group with an Easter-themed movie selection.  She invited us to watch  Peter Rabbit* . You can read her invitation:  here . On the Screen amazon.com I  thought  this movie would be a family-friendly movie to watch on Easter. And it was, but it wasn't really our cup of tea. Being huge fans of the Beatrix Potter books, I think it diverged too much from the original source and that was disappointing.  Also, I found the jokes about food allergies - and ultimately using said allergy as a weapon - in poor taste. We did take a screen break after  Peter Rabbit  and came back to watch  Croods: A New Age  which had us roaring with laughter. So, Easter fa...

Years ago - wow! almost a decade ago now - some of my best friends and I went to an event at a local wine tasting room to celebrate my 39th birthday.  We met the Queen of Quince, Barbara Ghazarian, feasted on some Armenian food, learned to roll Yalanchi Sarma , stuffed grapped leaves, and we picked up signed and personalized copies of her cookbooks.  "Happy quincing," she wrote. It was a great way to ring in my 39th year. And, whenever I see quince in the markets, I usually shriek in glee and scoop up as many as I can without looking like a fruit hoarders. Okay, sometimes I don't care about looking like a fruit hoarder and just buy it all and set to quincing, yes, it's a verb: to quince! Barbara Ghazarian writes in Simply Quince* , "the old-fashioned, long simmer method on the stove top is the only process that develops the characteristic caramel color and full-bodied flavor of the fruit." I have found that to be the case, so almost all of my quince experien...

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here . Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page . We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.  This month the Bread Bakers are making Tear & Share Holiday Breads, a theme chosen by Felice from All That's Left Are The Crumbs . And don’t forget to check out all the amazing breads baked by our talented bakers ~ Baklava Danish Tear and Share Treat Bread by A Messy Kitchen Buttery Soft Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories Cheesy Chicken Chutney Pull Apart Skillet Rolls by Sneha's Recipe Cheesy Tomato Tapenade Party Bread by Food Lust People Love Cranberry Cinnamon Star Bread by Making Miracles Fruit Mince Braided Star Bread by All That's Left Are The Crumbs Gingerbread Spice Christmas Tr...