Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Melon pie? When we were at the market, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf walked up with a Golden Delicious melon - it's a yellow honeydew in case you've never seen one - and announced that we should make a pie out of it. "I don't know, Sweetheart. Let me think about that for a little bit. I don't think I've ever cooked a melon. We normally eat it fresh." Mom, just make it happen. He insisted impatiently.  I know you can come up with something good. I couldn't decide if I should be flattered or annoyed by the little kitchen troll. But, as he knew he would, he got me thinking. I decided to try a custard pie with brûléed slices of the melon on the top. While I'm pretty sure this wasn't what he had in mind, he did like that he got to use my butane torch! Fun, fun, fun. We started with a custard pie... Ingredients For the pastry... ½ C dark rye flour  ½ C all-purpose flour ¼ t sea salt 1 ½ t organic granulated sugar ...

I'm on Orphan-detail again today for the  Secret Recipe Club  and I am  so  excited about having been introduced to Anne of  Authentic Simplicity . Anne writes: "I'm just a simple stay-at-home-mom trying to keep it all together without losing my sanity... or going over budget." You go, girl. That was the toughest job I ever had. Now my boys are in school, so I'm back to work. But not much has changed with the keeping my sanity and staying within budget parts of my life though. I loved what I made from her blog. She had a series of posts called ' Simple Sides ' during August of 2011. All of those recipes looked amazing. Once it starts to warm up a bit, I will give her corn salad and her mango salad a try. Those both seem fabulous heralds to the summertime. I picked her  Refreshing Melon Salad  to serve as dessert tonight. 1 C coconut milk juice and zest of 1 blood orange 5 C melon (I used a honeydew and a half of a cantaloupe) 1/4 C ...

I had picked up two cantaloupes and they were sitting in the fruit basket. Riley asked me, "Mommy, can you make jam out of cantaloupes." I don't know. I don't see why not. So, I set out to give it a try. And Riley was more than happy to use his new trumpet juicer to help me with the lemon juice part. 2 ripe cantaloupes, deseeded, skinned, and cubed 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise and seeds scraped out 1/4 C freshly squeezed lemon juice To make the jam, place the fruit and sugar into a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the vanilla bean seeds and pod. Continue to cook, stirring the jam constantly, for about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the lemon juice. Hold the jam at a constant simmer, checking frequently to make sure the jam isn’t scorched at the bottom of the pot. After 15 minutes, check to see if your jam has set by running a wooden spoon down the middle of your jam. If the jam leaves...

Yesterday Jake and I hosted our annual dinner party for the HOGS (Happy Omnificent Gourmet Society). This fun group of eight couples takes turns creating a festive event, usually, with a theme. We decided to kick it ol' school by making everyone play kickball - in our Che Cazzo! kickball tournament. Che Cazzo! is an Italian cuss-phrase that translates - roughly to WTF! - although it's literal meaning is about balls. In any case, it launched me into serving up a feast with foods that were round. Truth be told, we didn't make it to nine innings...not even close. We called it quits after two, but did work up quite an appetite. And glasses of cherry-chardonnay sangria helped to ease the pain of pulled groin muscles, bloodied knees, and bruised egos. To kick off the dinner, I served a trio of skewers - with mostly round elements. Skewers galore! I. Mozzarella Ciliegie + Mini Heirloom Tomatoes + Fresh Basil Leaves II. Strawberries + Feta Cubes + Mint Leaves ...