Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Though I still haven't felt the chill of autumn in the air here on California's central coast, we are sharing recipes with Fall's darling - the apple. Christie of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures wrote: "Fall is just around the corner, but apples are coming into season. From sauces and breads to salads and side dishes, apples are completely versatile." I am looking forward to getting all sorts of new apple recipes with an entire week devoted to apples next month. But, for now, let's kick off apple season!  Apple Cider Old Fashion by Cheese Curd In Paradise Apple Coffee Cake by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks Apple-Stuffed Delicata Squash by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Baked Pork Chops and Apples by That Recipe Easy Apple Buns by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures Glazed Apple Pie Bars by Art of Natural Living Pork and Apple Kebabs by A Day in the Life on the Farm Sourdough Apple Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories We share Recip...

Every year we go Halloween camping with some good friends. And the kiddos trick-or-treat between the our group's campers and campsites. What fun! This year I decided to whip up some spiced hot chocolate mixes and hand those out from our tent. Ingredients makes 14 mason jars full 16 ounces unsweetened cocoa powder 16 ounces organic dark brown sugar 16 ounces organic granulated sugar 2 T ground sage 1 T ground cinnamon 1/2 t fleur de sel Procedure Mix all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until well-combined. Scoop into jars. Easy peasy!! Here are our happy campers... To make hot chocolate: Add 3 heaping T to 4 to 6 ounces of hot milk.

Hi and welcome to day 4 #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri of  Love and Confections . We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day. 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder. Come back every day for #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on  Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board ! Day four of #PumpkinWeek is upon us and I wanted to share an eternal favorite: spiced pumpkin butter. Are you asking "Why the Danish flag? Is pumpkin butter Danish?" One of my favorite memories surrounding making pumpkin butter was with my best friend from Denmark when she was here visiting for a few months during the holidays and we thought they would make nice, shippable presents to her friends and family back...

When I walked into a local market with a friend of mine this afternoon, we both paused and inhaled deeply. She embarked on a search for that delicious scent and I went to grab a few of the things I needed to get. "I found it!" she declared, coming to find me and gesturing towards a bin of guava. So, I walked over and plunked half a dozen of the fragrant fruit into my basket. After my boys devoured half of the guavas, I decided to make an adaptation of this easy Banana Mousse . I'm going to head back to the market tomorrow to scoop up a few more. This was as delectable as it was easy. Ingredients 2 C organic heavy whipping cream 1/2 C organic granulated sugar 3 ripe guavas 1/2 t ground cinnamon Procedure Destem and chop your guava into cubes. Place the pieces in your blender along with the sugar. Puree until smooth. Press the guava pulp through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. I ended up with about 1 C smooth guava puree. In a large ...

Ingredients 1 C heavy whipping cream 1/2 C organic raw turbinado sugar 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder 1 T ginger syrup 1/4 t ground ginger 1 t ground cinnamon Procedure Place all of the ingredients in your ice cream maker and process according to your machine. Ours took about 30 minutes to come to a soft, gelato-like texture. Spoon ice cream into a container and freeze for at least an hour before serving. 

"Mom," R commented, "you have never made chocolate ice cream." True. I usually stick to the fruity flavors. So, we fixed that...and he declared it the best chocolate ice cream he'd ever had! As far as the name - Chocolate Mousse - R said that it was just like frozen mousse. He loves mousse. D disagreed that it was the best ever, but admitted, "It's not too bad, Mommy." Ingredients 1 C heavy whipping cream 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder 1 t ground cinnamon Procedure Place all of the ingredients in your ice cream maker and process according to your machine. Ours took about 30 minutes to come to a soft, gelato-like texture. Spoon ice cream into a container and freeze for at least an hour before serving. 

Bolstered by his Pickled Green Tomato Adventure , Dylan plunged head-long into creating his very own pear jam. I reminded him of our Pear-Vanilla Bean Jam , our Pear-Rhubarb-Rosemary Conserve , and told him we could do a version of our Apple Butter ...with pears. But, in true foodie fashion, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf decided to do his own thing. Actually, he wanted to do a Pear-Curry Jam. I steered him away from that for the night. Maybe when a smaller batch is at stake! Here's what he made... 10 pears (liberated - with permission, I hope! - from the neighbor's yard) 2 C organic granulated sugar 1 C water juice from 1 lime 1 T ginger syrup 1 star anise 1 green cardamom pod, crushed dash of ground cloves dash of ground cardamom 2 dashes of ground nutmeg 2 dashes of ground cinnamon 1 t pure vanilla extract Place all of the ingredients - except the juice from the lime and the ginger syrup - in a large flat-bottom pan. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and sim...