Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I came across a jar of organic coconut oil at Trader Joe's and thought I'd give it a try. What I didn't realize was that I should have melted the oil to use it as I would any other oil. Instead I used it as a solid fat, more like a butter. It was no less tasty, but it was harder to manipulate. Next time. First I halved, deseeded, and roasted a butternut squash. Then I created a squash puree to use in the breads. 1 ½ C organic brown sugar 1 t ground cinnamon 1 t ground nutmeg ½ t ground ginger ½ t ground cardamom 2 eggs ¼ t baking powder 1 2/3 C flour 1 t baking soda ½ C (melted) coconut oil ¾ t smoked sea salt ½ C organic yogurt 1 C butternut squash puree Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Put in greased mini loaf pans or muffin tin. Bake at 325 degrees for 75-90 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

 Remember that scene from Shrek ... "You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits. Parfaits are delicious. You never go up to somebody and say 'Hey you wanna go get some parfait?' They ain't gonna say 'Hell, no, I don't like no parfait.'" Donkey is right on the money with that sentiment. Seriously who doesn’t like a parfait? Layer after layer of deliciousness? I mean, c’mon. Well, we love parfaits. I served this parfait with our applesauce-cacao nib muffins this morning. plain organic Greek yogurt honey raspberries cacao nibs

I'll admit it's not unusual for me to create a dinner to match a cocktail. Remember the Cuban dinner because I wanted to make mojitos? Or the South African soiree because I had found a bottle of marula liqueur?!? But what I have never been able to say is that I cooked a meal to match my tablecloth. Until today, that is. When I met a friend for lunch this week, she brought me a gorgeous tablecloth from Dubai. But the cloth itself hailed from Iran. So, I set out to find an Iranian recipe that I could cook with what I had on-hand and serve it on my tablecloth. I chose nagisi koftay because, to be completely candid, I liked that the name of the dish comes from the resemblance to the narcissus flower when the ball is cut open. Okay, I don't really see the flower resemblance, but it is pretty - a meatball wrapped around a hardboiled egg, simmered in a fragrantly spiced tomato-based sauce. I took some liberties on the the traditional spices since I didn't have turmeric...

I decided the make some zucchini bread for the first day of school. This is so easy and just as tasty cold as it is warm. 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 C chestnut flour 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 t sea salt 1 T baking powder 1 t baking soda 1 t ground cinnamon 1 t ground nutmeg 1 t ground cardamom 1/3 C coconut milk 1/3 C organic plain yogurt 1/2 C milk 2 eggs 3 T olive oil 1 T pure vanilla extract 1-1/4 C grated zucchini 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chip Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together all wet ingredients. Mix all dry ingredients. Mix until just moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into a prepared pan. Bake until golden brown (approximately an hour) and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.

So I had one last roasted beet - from my CSA box - and decided that I would whip it into a smoothie for breakfast. Dylan took a sip and asked, "Mommy, are there beets in here?" "Yes," I admitted. "Cool. Thanks for the smoothie." Love that kid! 1 peeled roasted beet 2 C frozen cherries 1 C plain frozen yogurt* 1/c milk season to taste with honey or ginger syrup *You could add any ice cream, but I like the Trader Joe's Brand "Plain Frozen Yogurt - Pleasantly Tart with Active Cultures." Yes, it actually has all of that on the carton.