Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month, Sue of  Palatable Pastime  told the Baking Bloggers that for September "join us for a bit of fun on September 9th as we post recipes using potatoes (any type). The only requirement is that baking be performed somewhere in the recipe." Here's the #BakingBloggers line-up... Baked Cajun Potatoes by Anybody Can Bake Baked Potato Skins with Paneer and Veggies by Cook with Renu Easy Savory Sweet Potato Muffins by Recipe Pocket Egyptian Sanyet el Batates by Pandemonium Noshery Hasselback Fondue Potato Bake by Food Lust People Love Italian Potato Cake (Gattò di Patate) by Karen's Kitchen Stories Oven Roasted Garlic Potatoes by Palatable Pastime Quiche with Potato Crust by A Day in the Life on the Farm Roasted Befteki and Potatoes by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Salsa Potato Stacks In Muffin Pan by Sneha's Recipe Wizarding World Roasted Potatoes by Simply Inspired Meals Roasted Befteki and Potatoes I was looking for a lo...

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller * has been on my bookshelf since I finished Circe by the same author. You can read my thoughts on that book here . But this weekend I picked up The Song of Achilles  and read it in almost one sitting. On the Page This is a familiar story for anyone familiar with the Western literary canon, but unlike the traditional telling, The Song of Achilles  looks at The Iliad  and the Trojan War through the eyes of Patroclus, Achilles' lifelong companion. But you know the story: Paris steals Helen from Menelaus and that launches a thousand ships to wage war on Troy. During the conflict, Agamemnon, Menelaus' brother, steals a slave girl from Achilles. The greatest warrior that ever was refuses to fight for the Greeks any longer, so Patroclus dons Achilles' armor instead and is slain by Prince Hector of Troy. Achilles kills Hector and drags him around the walls of the city. Then Paris kills Achilles. The difference in this re-telling i...

I have long been a fan of Lidia Bastianich since I stumbled across her cooking show on PBS when we lived in Oklahoma in the early 2000s. So, when a friend lent me a copy of  My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich* , I was thrilled to dig in. On the Page I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, reading it late into the evenings after the boys went to sleep and early in the morning before I had to get up and make breakfasts and lunches for the family. I had not idea that she was one of the ethnic Italians who was stuck behind the iron curtain in Yugoslavia. Or that she and her family escaped and lived in a refugee camp for two years before the United States began accepting refugee applications. Eventually, they immigrated to New York before settling in New Jersey. Hers is truly the American dream; from coming to America not speaking the language to helming a veritable restaurant empire, Lidia illustrates the values of family, hard ...

This is a dinner that I made for the Frydenholm Mortensens when we invaded their abode in Ry, Denmark over the holidays. I had been reading - and was duly inspired by - Edward Lee's Buttermilk Graffiti.  I am not going to comment too much on the book because it's a bookclub pick for later in the year. Just know that it's not the first time I'm reading this book. I doubt it'll be the last. I've been a fan of his since Mind of a Chef  and his recipes and sentiments are timeless. I picked this recipe because it looked as if it had a lot of flavor. And it would be easy to do between our visits to museums and the copious board games we were playing. Also, I write 'inspired' because a true Pollo a la Brasa  is slow-cooked over charcoal. This version was roasted in the oven. But the flavor profile remains. I did leave out a few ingredients as we didn't want it too spicy for little palates. In my mind, the Green Ají Sauce made this dish. I ...

Excerpted from A Couple Cooks |  Pretty Simple Cooking: 100 Delicious Vegetarian Recipes to Make You Fall in Love with Real Food  by Sonja Overhiser and Alex Overhiser. Copyright © 2018. Available from Da Capo Lifelong Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Back in February, I hosted a  Pretty Simple Dinner Party  to celebrate the release of  the cookbook  A Couple Cooks - Pretty Simple Cooking: 100 Delicious Vegetarian Recipes to Make You Fall in Love with Real Food  by Sonja and Alex Overhiser.* Then I participated in Take Two in August . Now, as we head into Fall, Sonja and Alex have launched their monthly Pretty Simple Cooking Club. Well, jumping into that was a no-brainer. I already have the book and I have enjoyed all of the recipes I've tried so far. There don't seem to be any rules for this club. They send out the recipe picks; we cook, post, and share. Done! This month, they selected: Gre...

Welcome to the September 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: tomatoes and cheese. That seemed pretty simple. Those two go together so well. And, as it turns out, as part of our Cooking Around the World adventures - we're were on Vatican City and you can read a little bit about why they picked Argentinian dishes on our Pionono de Coco Y Dulce de Leche post - D selected Provoleta as an appetizer. It appears I neglected to post the recipe. Well, then...this is the perfect time to share. Before I get to that, though, please take a look at the others' tomatoes and cheese creations. An InLinkz Link-up Having never heard of this, I deferred completely to the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf who made the shopping list and did all the cooking. I a...

Today I'm harkening back to the days of the Secret Recipe Club with a blog swap called #FoodBloggerLove coordinated by Allison of The PinterTest Kitchen . And I was excited to receive the blog of  Chef Sarah Elizabeth . Our paths have crossed before in different events such as Food'N'Flix, but I was thrilled to be able to explore her posts in more depth. Chef Sarah Elizabeth is actually a chef - classically trained, not like many of us home cooks turned food bloggers - as well as a food stylist and photographer based in Orange County, California.  She has a series on her blog called the ' Family Dinner Book Club ' where she creates a menu, based on a book, that children can help prepare. I love that focus of getting kids into the kitchen. She's a woman after my own heart there. Find Chef Sara Elizabeth: on the web , on Facebook , on Pinterest , on Instagram , and on Twitter .  Her Bitter Astronaut Cocktail made me chuckle and I almost whipped...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of   Charles Viancin . *   All opinions are my own. Here we are on day three of our Summer Equinox Progressive Picnic. Read more about the event and enter the giveaway:    here  or below. Today I am sharing two recipes for a salad course - one sweet and one savory. This is the savory course and I found inspiration at one of our weekly farmers' markets.    The boys picked golden beets, dandelion leaves, carrots, and summer squash; I was inspired by some organic lemons for an easy summer dressing. You can read my thoughts about the  air-tight lids   by Charles Viancin in my Summer Fruits with a Black Currant-Rosemary Drizzle post. They are such a great alternative to using disposable plastic wrap to get your salad from the kitchen to the potluck table. The Giveaway The giveaway runs from June 19th and ends on June 26th, 2017 and is open to US residents only....