Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  My Grape Wedding  by Laura Bradbury continues the love story between Laura and Franck. In this book, after the spontaneous proposal in Nepal, they are planning their wedding in Burgundy while she struggles with her law degree at Oxford. Not only are they overcoming time constraints in planning the wedding, but they have obstacles in the form of requiring Catholicism classes for Laura, losing their venue, losing their priest, and so much more. If you have ever planned a wedding, I am sure you can relate. I certainly did! But, as with my wedding, all works out in the end for Laura and Franck. Spoiler alert, I know. This passage made me laugh aloud. When Franck admitted that the point of the wedding to celebrate... "'Of course,' Franck continued, pointedly ignoring my foot digging into his calf. 'To celebrate our love with our friends and our family in Burgundy. With lots of wonderful wine and food. Escargots, boeuf bourguignon, une pièce monteé, jambon persillé—' I...

"Next week, we're eating snails," I announced to my Bizarre Foods class. Little did I know how much of an adventure it was going to be. First, I remember seeing escargot in many stores - Safeway, Cost Plus, the commissary - the last time I bought them. But this week, they were nowhere to be found. The checker at Safeway told me that they hadn't carried them in a long time. Boo. But my dad finally located a can at Nob Hill in Pacific Grove. Thanks, Dad. Second, my mom couldn't find her shells. So, I found escargot dishes and put a couple on hold at Sur La Table. But a friend offered me hers. Sweet. I love my little village. All set... Escargot, French for 'snail', is a cooked land snail. Escargots are usually served as a starter in Portugal, Spain, and France. May 24th has been designated "National Escargot Day" in the United States. We're a little bit early, but oh well. The verdict: meh. I was able to get ten out of twel...