Culinary Adventures with Camilla

So, I know that corned beef and cabbage isn't a traditional Irish dish. I've known that for years, but it didn't stop me from making it and filming the process for the Culinary Cam YouTube channel . Still, it''s true: Irish people don't eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, or really any other day of the year. Though, I discovered that the Irish did actually make corned beef because their salt taxes were lower. It allowed corned beef to become a great Irish export as it traveled well all over the world, even as far as the West Indies.  I can't be too surprised really that Irish people don't eat this.  I mean most Americans would swear up and down that spaghetti and meatballs is a traditional Italian dish; having lived in Italy for over a year, I can honestly say that I never once saw - or cooked - spaghetti with meatballs.  Spaghetti, yes.  Meatballs, yes.  But together, no, definitely not. Still this realization doesn't stop me from ...

I love this newish group that shares recipes on Sundays. The Sunday Funday blogging group is low stress, just a great group of gals that I am happy to blog alongside. 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. For this week's Sunday Funday, Rebekah of  Making Miracles  is hosting the group holiday side dishes. She wrote: "With Christmas and New Year's just around the corner, what are some of your favorite Holiday meal side dishes you enjoy year after year, or something new you've always wanted to try?" Here's line-up of holiday side dishes to inspire you... Charred Green Beans with Cranberries and Crisped Onions by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Chicken Lapeta by Sneha's Recipe Creamed Spinach Gratin by Karen's Kitchen Stories Festive Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad by Palatable Pastime Golden Marquis Potatoes  by Food ...

For my girls' holiday party, my jolabokaflod , I made a cookie platter for dessert and decided to paint the sugar cookie hearts like the Icelandic flag.  I don't use a lot of food coloring because I don't like the chemical aspect. So I was really tickled to find a set of  natural  food dyes. I love that the green and blue were made with spirulina extract and the yellow made with turmeric. That's definitely my kinda dye. But, I have a caveat: they don't stay true to color when they are heated. For instance, the red is a beautiful carmine hue...until you heat it...because it's made with beets. I tested it and it went from red to purple, which was not what I had in mind. Whoops. And everyone commented that the colors fade in the sunlight. So, these aren't as vibrant as colors made with Red No. 40 or Blue No. 1, but I love that they are naturally derived! I no longer bake with these, but they are great and vibrant in icings. I don't know...

When I read about  jolabokaflod , I was immediately enamored. My inner bookworm wiggled with glee and I sent off an email to my girlfriends suggesting that we have one as our annual girls' holiday party. I offered to host! In case you haven't heard of it, it's the Icelandic tradition of giving, receiving, and then reading books on Christmas Eve. Just before Christmas, the gals came over and we exchanged books and chocolate, ate, drank, and caught up on happenings that we miss when we are all ensconced in our separate daily lives. I've been friends with these girls for over three decades. I love that we all still manage to be part of each other's lives after all this time! We kicked off the feast with pickled herring, olives, cream cheese, smoked salmon, cucumber salad, and delicious bread from Chef Ron at Ad Astra Bread Company . For the main dish, I served  Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Meat Soup). That recipe will be coming soon, but it was a hearty warm...

We love baking holiday cookies. It's a family affair since the boys were old enough to wield a rolling pin. Today, the Sunday Supper Movement crew waves good-bye to Thanksgiving and goes full-speed ahead into holiday baking. We even had The Cookie Jar pinterest board to inspire you. Today, though, here's our cookie platter. Enjoy! The Sunday Supper Cookie Jar Adaptable Marshmallow Bars by Get the Good Stuff Alfajores by Curious Cuisiniere Amaretto Apricot Oatmeal Cookies by Magnolia Days Amaretto Balls by Palatable Pastime Brown Eyed Susans by A Day in the Life on the Farm Chewy Gingersnaps by That Skinny Chick Can Bake Chocolate – Pear Biscotti by What Smells So Good? Chocolate Crinkle Cookies by The Bitter Side of Sweet Coffee Cake Cookies by Pies and Plots Cowboy Cookies by Party Food and Entertaining Cranberry Orange Rugelach Cookies by My Imperfect Kitchen Dark Chocolate Mint Cake Mix Cookies by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes Espresso...

I've decided that I am going to give handmade holiday gifts this year. You can follow my hashtag #handcraftededibles from now till December as I madly whip up things for friends and family. When I took a poll, friends all voted for edibles - or drinkables. So, I'm starting now. I'll be bottling up some Meyer lemon bitters for lucky cocktail crafters that I know. Our Meyer lemon tree is producing like crazy. I might have some limoncello in the works soon, too. The bitters formula seems pretty simple - bittering agents plus flavoring agents plus alcohol. Cheers. Ingredients peel from 2 organic Meyer lemons 6 white cardamom pods 1/2 t whole cloves 1/2 t coriander seeds one 1" piece of ginger, peeled and cut into strips 1 t birch bark pieces 10 ounces vodka Procedure Place all of the ingredients in a jar. Make sure that the spices are submerged. Cover with a lid and place in the cupboard. Shake gently everyday. Let steep and infuse for two to four ...

'Tis the season. Yesterday I had a moment of clarity about the Spirit of Giving. My 10-year-old was wandering around CostPlus World Market, looking for the last of his Secret Santa gifts. His buddy has been in a few of my Friday afternoon elective classes and, apparently, they talk about food and cooking a lot. So, D had some ideas of what he wanted to get, including measuring spoons, spices, and a spatula. He had a budget of $7 because he had already spent $3 on other days' gifts. Let me set the stage: It was raining. I had just finished a class at the library and was tired. I just wanted to get home to work on other things. I was tempted to rush him into a selection. But as I listened to him, questioning which one his buddy would like more, searching to see if there was something better, and staying within his budget I realized: he was focusing on what someone else would really want and need. His gift would be thoughtful. And THAT is the spirit of giving.  So, ...

Today is R's class holiday celebration. They'll be making evergreen wreaths, creating holiday cards, and sharing some of their favorite cookies. R started off wanting to make my Mint Chocolate Madeleines . He donned his Santa hat and went to work.  But we were out of peppermint extract. So he decided to make Almond Joy Madeleines, using almond extract and shredded coconut. And he wanted to make them gluten-free since one of his best friends can't eat gluten. I still haven't mastered the art of converting gluten recipes to gluten-free; it's not a one to one - or cup for cup - no matter what they say. So, our texture is a little off, but he's happy that his friend can eat it. Ingredients makes 4 dozen madeleines 1-1/2 C organic butter plus some for greasing pan 2 C organic granulated sugar 4 large eggs, at room temperature 4 T dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chips or chunks 1 t organic chocolate extract 1 t pure vanilla extract 1 t organic...

If you've been following me for even a little while, you'll know that I'm not much of a sweets gal. I bake and make sweet treats all the time - because I live with three self-professed sugar pigs. However, I rarely eat the sweets I make. Since we're now fully-entrenched in holiday cookie season, I wanted to try to create a savory-ish cookie that we could all enjoy. Eureka! I did it...and this is so, so easy. The only thing: it barely made 18 cookies. So, next time, I'll double - or even triple - my proportions. I will also try a gluten-free version of these for a party tomorrow. Ingredients 1 C flour (I used an organic pastry flour) ½ C sliced almonds (feel free to substitute for any kinds of nuts) ⅓ C organic powdered sugar ⅓ C tahini (sesame paste) ¼ t rosewater ¼ C butter, cold and cubed ½ t salt (I used some vanilla salt) 2 T black sesame seeds 2 T organic granulated sugar Procedure Preheat oven to 350° F. Place flou...

This week the #SundaySupper crew is sharing budget-friendly holiday recipes. I adore holiday meals and traditions. And I really love recipes that don't break my wallet. This recipe that I'll share today fits both bills. I have several friends from Denmark and when one of them came to stay with me and my husband during the holidays many, many years ago, she shared with us the tradition of  Risalamande.  Risalamande  is a traditional rice pudding eaten on Christmas Eve in Denmark. There are two traditions surrounding this delicious, budget-friendly dish. First,  Risalamande  is left as a bribe - to persuade the mischievous nisse (elves) to be kind to them. Second,  Risalamande  includes a single whole almond. Whoever gets the lucky almond wins a prize. Typically, in our family, the prize is a marzipan pig! Risalamande is often served with whipped cream and a warm cherry sauce. I love this recipe because you put it all in a bowl, steam it i...

We're not usually soda drinkers, but when I saw Taylor's Tonics at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, I was instantly intrigued - candy cane, eggnog, gingerbread, and cranberry sodas. Those I could drink. But we were distracted by our Boccalone and Cowgirl Creamery stops and I never went back to that cooler where I saw the tonics. So, when Dylan spotted them in the cooler at Happy Girl Kitchen last night, I didn't hesitate to pick up the mixed four pack Holiday Fizz Collection . Today, for our new year's day picnic, we tried them out! The flavors were fresh but intense. The pine was potent in the Cranberry Dream - at least to me and Dylan while Jake and Riley could barely discern it. But the clear winner for our family: Gingerbread House. While this won't turn us into soda drinkers, they were a nice, festive beverage for our almost-the-end-of-the-holidays picnic. Still, I love that they are craft-brewed and (mostly) local. Santa Cruz and San Francisco...

A friend invited us to a post-Christmas pie tasting party. What a great idea! This beats a cookie exchange hands down because there were savories. So many possibilities. I left there stuffed but inspired to make some more pies. Soon! We tried...(forgive any omissions!) Savories - shepherd's pie, tamale pie, chicken Provençal pie, onion flan, and my Gluten-Free Veggie Galette with Caprese Topping . Sweets - maple nut-persimmon pie, bitter lemon meringue pie, apple-cranberry pie, apricot-marzipan tarte, Shaker lemon pie, gluten-free and dairy-free pumpkin cheesecake, cranberry linzertorte, pear-marscarpone pie, and my Gingered Calamansi Tart . I tried them all! And there were many, many empty pie pans at the end of the event. I'd call this a success. Thanks for the invite, Bryndie. Let's make this an annual event. What's your favorite pie? Comment below. Or email me at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com. I'd love some new recipes.