Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I can make caramels. I am pretty darn good at making caramel sauce. That process I have perfected; maybe it's because it doesn't require a candy thermometer. But making caramel candies - wrapped in wax paper - that are a uniform size and the perfect texture...I'm not as good at that. Thankfully a foodie friend of mine suggested I go to the caramel tasting for a local business called Bread & Butter Caramels. The owner was unveiling her 2016 flavors. Though I never ever go out on Black Friday, I am happy to support Small Business Saturday. The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf and I waited for a lull in the rain before heading out with shopping bags and an adventurous spirit. We walked into the hosting store and I recognized the business owner and confectioner behind Bread & Butter Caramels. Lauren Palminteri. Turns out that years and years ago, she took a summer school class I taught. She was in high school and I am pretty sure that was the first year that I taugh...

Our final international treat for our Global Dessert Tasting menu, based on  Global Table Adventure's new year's food suggestions  - is a nut candy from the Caucausus Mountains in Georgia. Normally we quickly eat a dozen grapes to accompany the strokes of the clock at midnight - in Spanish, or Portuguese, style - but this year, we'll be  getting our 'grape' on with churchkhela , a Georgian grape confection. While Sasha's recipe looks fantastic, I wanted to simplify and find a recipe that used grape juice instead of me having to puree and drain grapes overnight. I still needed 3-4 days for it to dry. And since we're an anti-walnut household (don't ask!), I went with pecans. Ingredients 40 pecans, approximately 6 C grape juice 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 1 C flour Confectioners' sugar Procedure I didn't have a needle. But I always have sterling silver jewelry wire. So I improvised and threaded my "nee...