Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  I know that there is a lot of chatter about whether it's inappropriate to wish people Happy Memorial Day. It's a solemn day, right? Yes, it is. Memorial Day is an American holiday - observed on the last Monday of May - that honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.  But, as I see a growing trend to have celebrations of life that are full of  color instead of funerals that are draped in black, I am opting to celebrate what those who have died for our country are preserving: our freedom. So, if you're in the camp where happiness on this day is not proper, please scroll on by. This Memorial Day, I am joining a group of online foodies for #MemorialDayBakes. The guidelines included having fun, challenging ourselves, and trying new techniques. Inspired by a recipe in  American Cake  by Anne Bryn, I thought I'd try my hand at a cake with 'boiled white icing.' I'd never heard of that. Turns out it also goes by 'Italian meringue'...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Torani  and may contain affiliate links.  All opinions are mine alone. I recently received a bottle of a brand-new product from Torani* - one of their puremade syrups. I've long been a fan of Torani and used their syrups in my Hot Caramel Apple Cider , Lavender Panna Cotta , Guava Gin Fizz , and more. As I mentioned, this Puremade Syrup from Torani is a brand-new product; it will be available to customers shortly. But I love that Torani Puremade Syrups contain: no artificial preservatives; no artificial colors; no artificial flavors; and no GMOs!  I decided to let the boys decide who they wanted to use it. 'Hot Vanilla!' resounded around the dining table. "We love Hot Vanillas, Mom!" they hollered. I know. I know. When they were younger, we went to a breakfast spot and I always let them order - and share - one hot vanilla. Now we don't eat out as much, so we make these at home. You could also c...

Happy New Year and welcome to the third installment of the Winter Warm-Up Drink Series hosted by Ellen of  Family Around the Table ! For the next four Fridays, now, we'll be featuring winter drinks guaranteed to warm you right up! Stay Warm With These Sips Apple Spiced Tea by Jolene’s Recipe Journal Hot Tea Toddy by Our Good Life Hot Vanilla by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Mexican Coffee by Family Around the Table Mocha Hot Chocolate by Books n’ Cooks Small Batch Vanilla Cinnamon Cold Brew Latte by The Baking Fairy S’mores Latte by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings Tom and Jerry Cocktail by A Day in the Life on the Farm Hot Vanilla I am almost loathe to call this a recipe. But, when I talked to my boys about hot winter drinks, 'Hot Vanilla!' resounded around the dining table. "We love Hot Vanillas, Mom!" they hollered. I know. I know. When they were younger, we went to a breakfast spot and I always let them order - and share - one...

Here we are at the September Soup Saturday Swappers event. Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  started this event and, every month, I get a new array of soup recipes to put in my to-try pile. And this month, Sid of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking is hosting as we explore soups featuring potatoes. Sid writes, "Share your favorite soup that contains potatoes. Baked, Mashed, Red, White, Russets, Sweet.....as long as they play an important enough role in the soup that it wouldn't be the same soup sans potatoes." I thought about all of the soups I love with potatoes: Spring-Kissed Seafood Chowder , Spinach Chowder , and King of Soups . But all of those were cold-weather soups and we are enjoying a warmer than usual Indian summer. So, I decided to make one of my favorite chilled soups for the event. But first, here's what the other bloggers made... An InLinkz Link-up New Potato-Corn Vichyssoise inspired by Laurey Masterton's   The Fresh Honey Co...

Today is our second May post for our Kitchen Matrix Project, named after Mark Bittman's  Kitchen Matrix  cookbook. You can read about the year-long project:  here . This month, I chose the recipes and went with a Latin theme. So, last week, we made salsas. This week, we're working with masa. And so on...you get the idea. The #KitchenMatrixCookingProject Masa Creations An InLinkz Link-up This recipe isn't one of his, but I haven't made tamales in a long time and this is one of my family's favorites: tamales. I decided to make a variation of   maiale al latte  - Italian pork in milk - as the meat filling.  Pork braised in milk has s a delicate texture and flavor and the milk slowly evolves into a rich sauce of curds. Okay, it's not particularly photogenic, but it is delicious! Milk-Braised Pork Tamales Milk-Braised Pork 2 lbs skinless, boneless pork roast 1/2 C sliced onions 1/2 C chopped celery olive oil 2 C organic ...

This recipe is intended for readers 21 years and older.  Please drink responsibly.  This post is sponsored in conjunction with #BrunchWeek and may contain affiliate links. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of #Brunchweek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.  Cheers to the kick off of the 2018 edition of #BrunchWeek!! Many, many thanks to Terri of Love and Confections for wrangling all of us bloggers and courting the wonderful, generous event sponsors who are supporting the event. You can follow along as I'll be posting every day this week. And you can also join in the fun by entering the massive giveaway Terri lined up for us. Click for more information and to enter: here . Before I get to my celebratory libation, please take a look at what the #BrunchWeek Bloggers are creating today! BrunchWeek Beverages: Cà Phê Trứng (Vietnamese Egg Coffee) from Tara's Multicultural Table Cold Brew with Hazelnut Simple Syrup fro...

I finally got around to this book in my 'to read' stack: The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure by Shoba Narayan.* Actually, this was my second time reading it. The first time I read it, earlier in the year, I didn't realize it was a true story. Going through it again - with that lens - I found it much more enjoyable. Though the first time through, I did like it as well. In The Milk Lady of Bangalore , Narayan immerses us in the culture, customs, myths, religion, sights, sounds, smells, and flavors of her homeland. Narayan was born in India, immigrated to the United States as a child, and returns to Bangalore with her husband and two daughters so they can be closer to grandparents and experience their heritage first-hand. This is a charming read about the clashes and resolution of ancient and modern traditions. For instance, the book opens with Narayan moving into her new apartment in Bangalore. She gets a cow to walk through their house. "My uncles...

I was reminded of this book when I read Cara Nicoletti's Voracious  last week, so I tracked down a copy of In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak.* And we read it, as a family, over the weekend. Jake said it looked familiar, but I don't remember owning it. Though we do have Where the Wild Things Are  in about six different languages and even had a Wild Rumpus for R's 6th birthday! How I miss the days when I dressed them up as book characters...now we argue about the existence of Big Foot, discuss whether you can actually create a perfect circle mathematically, ponder how we know what we know, and they talk about programming languages that are Greek to me. Controversy The boys remembered that I had a DVD of In the Night Kitchen  and they thought it was creepy when they were little. Maybe we only viewed it once, because I don't remember it at all. I'll have to dig it out and watch it. In the Night Kitchen has been censored in several states...