Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with the  Consorzio of Prosecco Superiore DOCG. Wine samples were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links Let me start with this: I have always adored Italian bubbles. So, when Nicole of Somm's Table put out that the Consorzio of Prosecco Superiore DOCG was offering sample bottles to participate in a recipe contest, Certo! was my immediate answer. Not long after, I received a bottle of Le Contesse Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Extra Dry and began considering a pairing...or two. Let's start with a little primer about Prosecco...  DOC vs. DOCG from cartizzepdc.com There are two classification labels for Prosecco - DOC and DOCG. On the map, above, you can see that the green area is the DOCG; the brown is the production area of DOC.  DOC is the acronym for  Denominazione di Origine Controllata  while DOCG means  Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garan...

  For the October-November selection of  Cook the Books , Simona from  Briciole  invited the group to read  Cooking with Fernet-Branca  by James Hamilton-Paterson. You can read what she wrote here . Join the fun, if you wish, because you still have almost two months before the deadline. I'll start with this: I don't really have a sense of humor. I kept shaking my head as I read this, especially the recipes, and thought, "This has to be a joke, right?" Then I ran some of the passages by my trio who all just said - satire! Fine. Still, this is one of the strangest books I've read in a long time. Cooking with Fernet-Branca  tells the story of two expatriates. Gerald is an English snob and amateur cook who makes his living as a ghostwriter; Marta is a composer from an organized crime family in a (made up?!?) former Soviet Republic country. They are next door neighbors living on a mountaintop in Tuscany and appear to despise each other despite their constan...

For the August-September selection of  Cook the Books , Debra from  Eliot's Eats  invited the group to read  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  by Lewis Carroll. Read  her invitation  and join the fun, if you wish, because you still have more than a month before the deadline. I knew that I had read the book in college for one of my literature classes, but when I read Debra's invitation and she mentioned the Salvador Dalí illustrations for the book, I was excited about re-reading it.  I had seen some of those prints at a museum in San Francisco. And, though we have the largest Dalí collection on the West Coast at a museum here, I've only been once and I don't remember if they have any of those. But I do remember really liking them. My favorite is "The Mad Tea Party"... from amazon.com I excitedly dug into the book, but within two dozen pages, my enthusiasm had waned. Maybe my patience with nonsense is thinning as I get older. I found this a mind-bog...

Yesterday we sat down and made a list of foods to make and eat in the last couple of weeks before the boys leave for school. The first thing out of Jake's mouth: crispy chocolate chip cookies! And since he was heading out for a mountain biking adventure with some guy friends, I whipped up a batch. I packed up one dozen for the bikers and left a dozen for my house.  Truth be told: I don't have a sweet tooth. So, I didn't try these. But I am always testing and tweaking to make improvements and these got moans of appreciation and approval from my trio. These are buttery, crispy on the edges with an abundance of chocolate chips. Also, since there is no chilling time, these are in your hand in less than half an hour! Ingredients  makes 2 dozen cookies   1-1/2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 10 Tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed 2 Tablespoons maple syrup 1 large egg 2 Tablespoons heavy cream 2 teaspoons pure vani...

  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...

After almost twenty-four years together, Jake knows I get a little creative with my ingredients. In fact,  all  of my friends joke that I can't make anything plain or basic. Ever. Case in point: I can't stand to make plain rice krispie treats; there's always a twist. Fine, they're right. So, when I was trying to decide on some sweet treats, that might include mushrooms, I eagerly eyed a package of dried candy cap mushrooms that I had just picked up at The Quail & Olive. I have ground them up to make  Candy Cap Macaroons   and to use them in   a crumble topping   before. I pulled out my coffee grinder to do something like that again.  Then I found a recipe that rehydrated the dried candy caps, cooked them in butter, and used them in the cookie like that.  So, I started with  that recipe  from Bedford Winery. I swapped sugars, used coffee extract, and skipped the nuts but added nut flour. I also saved the mushroom water, made a syrup, ...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of L'Ecole .  Complimentary wine was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links.  However, all opinions expressed here are my own.     If you're been following my blog, you'll know that I'm doing a series of monthly posts in collaboration with  L'Ecole Winery .* A group of us participate in a virtual tasting with their marketing manager, the winemaker, and the general manager and discuss timely topics. This month, we are talking about #MerlotMe month and pouring two of their Merlots. L'Ecole's Columbia Valley Merlot This will be the first wine I'm sharing that wasn't really poured as part of a pairing. I was sent two Merlots from L'Ecole, both the same vintage: the  2018 Columbia Valley Merlot  (their Heritage label) and the 2018 Walla Walla (their Estate label). The Columbia Valley is blended from four different AVAs - Walla Walla Valley, Candy Mountain, White Bluffs (pending...