Culinary Adventures with Camilla

A few months ago a friend asked if I would be willing to go in on donating a dinner to a local auction. I agreed. All I needed to do was secure the wine donations and come up with a menu and the recipes. Done! I am going to keep the menu a secret for now, but wanted to thank the donors for making this a success. I will be cooking with CSA goodies from High Ground Organics in Watsonville.... And we'll be pairing wines from Scheid Vineyards in Greenfield, Halter Ranch Vineyard in Paso Robles, and Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley. Stay tuned for the menu and recipe posts from the event which is happening tomorrow night. Very excited.

I've been meaning to explore Halter Ranch Vineyard since I was introduced to their wines through David of Cooking Chat ; he's the brains behind the monthly Wine Pairing Weekend - #WinePW - event when a group of food loving winos (or are we wine loving foodies!) share pairings with a certain theme. In any case, Halter Ranch graciously sent a few of us wines to pair during our October 2014 event. I ended up making a Pumpkin Lasagna + Halter Ranch's Côtes de Paso . Then I ordered two of their dessert wines for my Thanksgiving sweets pairing; I poured Halter Ranch's Vin de Paille & El Pecado   with a spiced parsnip cake and bittersweet cremeux, respectively. These have all been great and well-received pairings. So, when friends mentioned they were heading down to Paso to do an errand, I booked a tour and tasting for us. We were fortunate enough to have Ray to ourselves and he deftly guided us around the property, the winery, and the cave. Then he led us t...

After I was introduced to Halter Ranch Vineyard during October's #winePW when I posted a food-wine pairing of Pumpkin Lasagna + Halter Ranch's Côtes de Paso , I've been a fan. I was determined to pour one of their wines for Thanksgiving. But I couldn't decide between their Vin de Paille and El Pecado. So, I decided: two dessert wines means two desserts! I knew my sugar pigs would enjoy that.   Vin de Paille means “Straw Wine” in French. This could be a dessert on its own with its honey vicosity and aromas of sweet florals and ripe stone fruits. Halter Ranch suggests that Vin de Paille  pairs well with caramel macaroons, peach crumble and vanilla ice cream. I served it with a Spiced Parsnip Cake . It was a hit! The second Halter Ranch I poured was their El Pecado , a Port-style dessert wine. This intense dessert wine whose name translates to “The Sin” in Spanish is sinfully good. Made from late-harvest estate Syrah grapes, El Pecado is intensely sumptuo...

The second Saturday of the month is one of my favorite days. Do you know why? Because it's our #winePW - Wine Pairing Weekend - reveal. I love it. How can you not adore bloggers who love food and love wine. It's a fantastic event from which I always make a wine shopping list. And this month, I'm hosting. Fun, fun, fun. The theme I selected: Fall fruit pairings. Here's  my October #winePW invite . Think apples, pumpkins, quince, and more! There's no question which Fall fruit I featured, right? It’s the time of year when "pumpkin" and "pumpkin spice" gets tossed into everything from a four dollar coffee confections to hand cream, and from every baked good imaginable to seasonal ales. Don’t get me wrong, I am right there on the pumpkin wagon. A couple of years ago I devoured so many pumpkin dishes that I had an allergic reaction. I'm not kidding...unfortunately. So, now, throughout pumpkin season, I limit my pumpkin culinary creation...