Culinary Adventures with Camilla

It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' November 2020  event. W e are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , to   share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month.  And this month, Wendy herself is hosting. She asked the bloggers to share recipes with smoked fish. " Do you ever serve fish or seafood for Thanksgiving?  Many people enjoy Oyster Stuffing in their turkey or shrimp cocktail as an appetizer.  Share a seafood or fish dish that complements your turkey or perhaps even replaces the traditional turkey."  Here's the November 2020 line-up from the #FishFridayFoodies. I cannot wait to try these recipes... Cheesy Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers  from Food Lust People Love Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs  from Palatable Pastime Cracked Crab with Lemongrass, Black Pepper, and Basil from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Shrimp Mini Quiche Appetizers  from Karen's Kitchen Stori...

Wild foxglove in a canyon in Big Sur / photo by Jake Mann This post is doing double-duty! I love being able to kill two birds (that is two assignments) with one stone. Debra of Eliot's Eats is hosting our bi-monthly reading group Cook the Books . You can read her invitation here . And, if you'd like to join the fun, the posts aren't due till the end of September, so you still have time. Then, for our Lit Happens book group, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm picked the same book:  Recipe for a Perfect Wife  by Karma Brown.* That is not a cook-from-the-book kind of group, but I usually am inspired into the kitchen by anything that I read or watch. And I love being able to consolidate posts, especially since I wasn't loving the book anyway. When you have a novel that includes physical abuse, deliberate lies and omissions between spouses, and spousal rape (sorry for that spoiler!), I am frankly surprised that I finished the book at all. But I did. ...

National Soup Swap Day is being hosted by Kate of Kate's Recipe Box . She wrote: "The third Saturday in January is National Soup Swap Day! Bring your favorite soup to the virtual soup swap!" There is no link list for this event, so please check out her Pinterest Board ! Even though I live on the very temperate central coast of California, and the temperature is consistently between 45 and 65 degrees, I still have a soup season. Soups are easy to make; can be made ahead of time, if needed; and are simple to multiply for large groups. Some of my favorites - that are in our regular soup season rotation - include... Kimchi Soondubu Jjigae (Kimchi-Tofu Stew) Laksa Noodle Soup Aash-e Reshte Then I have soups that are less typical on our table, but tasty nonetheless. These might be highly seasonal or include specialty items I can't get regularly. Think Ling Ngau Tong (Lotus Root and Nut Soup), Salmorejo de Conejo , Chilled Watermelon and Rosé S...

Time is flying by this year. Our #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of  CulturEatz , is a lively group of adventurous cooks and eaters.   You can read more about the  challenge . And this month Evelyne wrote: "We have not been to Asia for a while, let's take a culinary tour of Cambodia!" Years ago we went to a Cambodian restaurant (read that post  here ), but I never attempted to make any recipes for myself. This month, for Eat the World, since Evelyne picked Cambodia for our tabletop destination, I put on my thinking cap... Check out all the wonderful Cambodia dishes prepared by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld.  Click here to find out how to join  and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us! CulturEatz: Cambodian Green Mango Shrimp Salad   Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Somlar Machu Ktiss (Cambodian Hot and Sour Coconut Soup)  Palatable Pastime: Grilled Cambodian Beef...

When I was preparing for our annual family camping trip last month, I started asking friends for book recommendations because between the hikes, the canoe rides, and family meals, I tend to spend several hours of the day in my hammock! And someone recommended  Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.* So, I bought a copy. On the Page I really enjoyed this book - so much so that I slowed my pace of reading towards the end because I didn't want it to end. There were so many threads of stories from a fishing village in Korea to Japan and to America and back to Tokyo. However, I also found the story incredibly tragic. Pachinko is a sprawling saga that spans almost eight decades. It begins with Sunja, a teenager, who runs a boarding house with her widowed mother. She meets a fish broker who seduces her, gets her pregnant, and, then, tells her that he has a family in Japan. Her reputation is preserved when a missionary staying in the boarding house offers to marry her and raise the ch...

Welcome to the March 2018 version of  Improv Cooking Challenge . This group is headed up by Nichole of  Cookaholic Wife . The idea behind Improv Cooking Challenge: we are assigned two ingredients and are challenged to create a recipe with those two things. This month's items: blueberries and lemongrass. An InLinkz Link-up It's not quite time for blueberries yet; we love when we get to go blueberry picking in Harkins Slough ! Thankfully, the markets have some pints albeit expensive ones. Blueberry and Lemongrass Chutney-Glazed Chicken Thighs Ingredients  serves 12 Chutney 1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced olive oil 1 pint organic blueberries 1 cinnamon stick 1" knob fresh ginger, peeled and grated 1/2 t fresh lemongrass, minced 1/4 C organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed 3 T vinegar (I used an aged balsamic) 1 t fresh herbs (I used a mixture of mint and thyme) 1/2 t salt juice from 1 organic lemon (I used a Meyer lem...

Every time we have ribs for dinner, we chuckle about this story. D was about three-years-old at the time, riding in the cart with me at the grocery store. He asked me about the rack of ribs in the cart, pointing, "Mommy, what are those?"  Ribs , I answered.  His chubby fingers went to his side and he declared, "These are my ribs!"  Yes, that's true.  Horror contorted his little face and he whispered, pointing into my shopping cart, "Whose ribs are those?!?"  Not a person's , I assured him.  "Then who?" he demanded. He knew meat came from a living animal. But, I suppose, ribs were a little too recognizable. Now he loves ribs, but we still tell that story every time they're on our table. The marinade on these ribs were inspired by the flavors in some of our favorite Vietnamese dishes. Well, it has a lot of Asian-inspired flavors. It was tasty! Ingredients 1 medium shallot, finely chopped 2 lemongra...

It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' September event. We are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , to   share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month.  This month, Sneha of Sneha's Recipes is  hosting. Here was her challenge to the group: " Let's Stuff some fish with any ingredients you can think of, make it spicy or mild just what you would like to enjoy with your family and friends. Any fish that is stuffed will do whether shellfish or fillets." Last month, I made Bánh Mì Xíu Mai (Spicy Meatball Bánh Mì) for R's belated birthday celebration lunch and I wanted to make something with a similar flavor profile. And I had some fresh market squid, so I decided to stuff them. Ingredients 1 pound cleaned squids ( How to Clean Squid ) olive oil paprika sea salt Filling 1/2 lb ground pork 1 t fish sauce 1 t freshly ground pepper 1 t organic granulated sugar ...