Culinary Adventures with Camilla

It's time for Group Cs  Secret Recipe Club   October reveal. I know, I know...I'm in Group B. But this month I get to post a bonus recipe from  It's Yummy to My Tummy , who was left out of Group C's reveal earlier today. I enjoy getting to meet new-to-me bloggers. So, I was happy to hop over to Group C for the day. Heather is the culinary force behind  It's Yummy to My Tummy .  She shares that her little blog helps to organize her thoughts and experiments as she uses baking and cooking to de-stress. She writes, "As my little girl and boy says, 'mommy, it's yummy to my tummy.'" That's sweet. My little critics now say things such as, "Mom, I think this would be better with lime instead of lemon." Or "It's not quite right. Good effort, though." Case in point: my Not-There-Yet-Samosas . Looking through Heather's blog, there were many yummy to my tummy recipes that I hope to try soon. How about her Swe...

I'm on Orphan-detail today for the  Secret Recipe Club  - for someone in Group D - and I am thrilled to be cooking from  I am a Honey Bee . What a fun, new-to-me blog. Nicole writes: "I love details and construction. I cook. I bake. I design. I clean. I don’t sleep enough." I'm right there with her. I definitely don't sleep enough. One of the reasons I always volunteer to help out an SRC orphan is to meet new foodie bloggers. This week I was lucky enough to meet Nicole - or Nic as she is called more often than not. She warns, "But call me Nicki and you are going to be ignored." I so get that. I am Camilla or Cam. But Cami is reserved for a select group of people - and only because I can't get them to stop. There are so many recipes I love on this blog. I really love that she did an entire year of pies . Seriously. A new pie every Friday for the entire year of 2014. As soon as I see peaches at our farmers' market, I am baking her Streus...

It's time for Group B's  Secret Recipe Club   December reveal. This month I get to post a bonus recipe from  Cookaholic Wife , who was left out of Group A's reveal last week. Nichole is the Cookaholic Wife who writes: "Nothing makes me happier than feeding people." What a great, succinct formula for happiness. And it's one that I wholeheartedly embrace. We recently moved into our new-to-us house - after too many years in a postage stamp-sized townhouse. And I happily sent out an email to our close friends that since we have a dining room again, I'm ready to start hosting dinners again. They are all excited. I realized, as I perused her site, that I have cooked from her blog before...when I was part of Group A. I had made Nichole's Famous Crab Dip, Camilla-Style . This time I went for a recipe that I could share at a seasonal sips and nibbles party this past weekend. I swapped out for ground pork because that's what I had; I left out...

It's time for Group B's  Secret Recipe Club   September reveal. This month I had the pleasure of cooking from two blogs. We never want anyone left out of the fun and games. So, I am whipping up a recipe from Morsels of Life  tonight. Looking through her archives, I realized: she loves her slaw...and I am ready to try all of them. Here's her  Jicama Slaw ,  Cranberry Walnut Slaw ,  Tex Mex Coleslaw ,  Shrimp Coleslaw , and  Asian Coleslaw . When I saw CJ's Basic  Coleslaw , I knew I'd found my recipe. I love getting a good, basic recipe from which I can adapt. And I loved learning something new; I've eaten a lot of slaw, but I never knew the etymology behind the term. CJ shares: The term 'cole slaw' came from the Anglicization of ' koolsla ,' short for ' koolsalade , a Dutch term meaning cabbage salad. And that’s cole slaw in its most basic form. It’s a salad mainly consisting of raw, shredded cabbage and some sort of dressin...

It's time for Group C's  Secret Recipe Club   August reveal. Due to a totally bizarre snafu in our assignment sheet, this month Heather of Fit Mama, Real Food was left out of the Group B linky. I'm cooking this week to make sure that she doesn't stay an orphan. Heather is wife, mama, group fitness instructor, and healthy home cook. She is all about real foods. "What do I mean by real foods?" she writes. "Ones that nature made which I then turn into meals. We eat just about everything in our family, just in natural forms." That's a fantastic food philosophy. If I had any marionberries in my fridge, I would have made her Vanilla Scented Marionberry Custard Oats . I will definitely be making her Sweet N Salty Olive Oil Granola soon, too. But, for tonight, I decided to whip up a quick soup. Here's her version:  Cream of Celery Soup . I made a couple of changes - skipped the onion powder, added garlic, added fresh herbs, and used ...

I'm on Orphan-detail today for the  Secret Recipe Club  - for someone in my own group - and I am thrilled to be cooking from Searching for Spice . One of the reasons I always volunteer to help out an SRC orphan is to meet new foodie bloggers. But, in this case, I've been reading Corina's blog for a little while now. So, I was doubly happy to help out. Corina, like me, loves using spices and discovering new ones. Some of her favorite recipes are curries, stir fries and spicy salads. And as a mom of two, like me, she doesn't have time to spend hours in the kitchen and many of her recipes are quick and easy to make. A woman after my own heart. If you haven't have a chance to explore her blog, do! There are so many recipes I love on this blog. On my short-list: Cassoulet with Confit Duck , Tepsi Baytinijan , Lamb Rogan Josh , and Piadina . Today, pressed for time with this orphan rescue, I opted to do her Chicken Cafrael . It's a completely new-to-...

I  thought that I was on Orphan-detail today for the  Secret Recipe Club . Turns out she wasn't an orphan after all, but I decided to cook and post anyway because   I am  so  excited about having been introduced to Karen of Lavender and Lovage . What a lovely blog! One of the reasons I always volunteer to help out an SRC orphan is to meet new foodie bloggers. And Karen is definitely one to follow. She divides her time between North Yorkshire and South West France, where most of her time is spent food writing, food styling and photographing. She grows most of her vegetables and all of her own herbs, specializing in old-fashioned and seldom used herbs. And she hosts regular French and seasonal cooking workshops in her specially designed kitchen. Wow! How I wish I lived closer. I would definitely find my way into one of her classes. Speaking of those old-fashioned and seldom used herbs and ingredients, I was intrigued by her Blue Blossom Salad - greens with...

I'm on Orphan-detail again today for the  Secret Recipe Club  - for a Group C orphan last week! - and I am  so  excited about cooking from Eat Laugh Love  - a cooking and baking blog written by Denise. One of the reasons I always volunteer to help out an SRC orphan is to meet new foodie bloggers. I had never come across Denise's blog and I, happily, lost several hours of my life perusing and drooling over her recipes and posts. I love that she has a culinary to-do list . Me, too. I just haven't published it. Maybe that's a good 2014 project! There was no doubt in my mind what I was going to make from Denise's blog. Soup. The weather was turning colder, the skies were gloomier, and she has an amazing variety of soups from which to choose. The Best Lentil Soup Ever . Cream of Celery . Healthy and Heavenly Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo . SuperFoods Soup . And more. Seriously. If you need some soup-pot inspiration, check out this blog. In the end, I decided t...

It's the first Monday of the month which means one thing:  Secret Recipe Club  reveal for Group A. While I was assigned - and cooked from -  An Italian Cooking in the Midwest , there was some mix-up and one blogger was left without a partner. So, I stepped up to rescue the orphan. Meet Wendy from The Weekend Gourmet . She has a ton of recipes that I want to try, including her No-Stress Lemon Panna Cotta , but I needed to cook and blog tonight to make sure she gets into the hop; so I couldn't make a recipe that requires overnight chilling. Bummer. But I have it bookmarked for another time. Not only did this give the boys dessert mid-week - yes, they were super excited about that - but it offered me the chance to do some reading about fruit desserts. I've heard the term 'cobbler', 'crisp', 'crumble', and 'brown betty.' But if you asked me to differentiate them, I'd have to shrug my shoulders and smile. No clue. According to Wh...

I'm on Orphan-detail again today for the  Secret Recipe Club  - for a Group B orphan last week! - and I am  so  excited about cooking from Join Us, Pull Up a Chair - a cooking and baking blog written by Heather. One of the reasons I always volunteer to help out an SRC orphan is to meet new foodie bloggers. Actually, in this case, I've been reading Heather's blog for a little while; but it's nice to explore it in more depth for something to cook for my family. There were several of Heather's recipes that I considered - Braised Short Ribs over Creamy Cheddar Cheese Polenta , Beef and Bleu Cheese Tart (oh! so many of my favorite words in that one), Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce , and she even has a Hummingbird Cake (I've been searching for a recipe for that). But I decided to look for something for which I had all of the ingredients in my fridge and could make for dinner quickly. Eureka! Here we go...here's what I made... Chicken, Artichoke, and Arug...

I'm on Orphan-detail again today for the  Secret Recipe Club  and I am  very  excited about having been introduced to Jen at Jen's Journey . Not only does she have gobs of recipes, she writes about motherhood, homeschooling, marriage, and her life in general. Looking through her recipes, I was reminded how much I love spiced nuts...and how easy they are to make. I happened to have many cups of almonds from a friend's orchard, so that made my decision an easy one. These were adapted from the Jen's Spiced Nuts recipe. I went a little wild with the spices, making more of a Moroccan-inspired version. And, since I had a ton of nuts, I tripled her recipe. 3 egg whites 6 C nuts 1 C organic sugar 2 T Moroccan spice blend* salt to taste Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg whites until soft and foamy. Combine all remaining ingredients except the nuts; whisk into egg white. Stir in nuts until well coated; spread mixture in single layer onto an baking pan lin...

I'm on Orphan-detail again today for the  Secret Recipe Club  and I am  very  excited about having been introduced to Kate at Kate's Kitchen . Kate succinctly writes about why we all learned to cook. Probably. At least it's true for me, too: I live to eat and because I love to eat, I've learned to cook. Looking through Kate's blog, I settled on her Bacon Sage Pasta Sauce  because I can never say no to something with bacon. Then she added sage. What a winning combination!   Bacon Sage Pasta Sauce Adapted from Kate's Kitchen 2 T olive oil 3 T butter 36 fresh sage leaves 6 slices bacon 2/3 C wine oak-aged beer 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 large zucchini or 2 small, diced 1/2 lb pasta with ridges (I used radiatore) 1/2 c coarsely grated parmesan reggiano freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper Bring your water to a boil, then keep on a simmer while you make the sauce. Gently heat about 12 sage leaves in the olive oil ...

I'm on Orphan-detail again today for the  Secret Recipe Club  and I am  so  excited about having been introduced to Julie at Little Bit of Everything . She writes that her blog is a creative journey through her cookbook collection which is over one hundred strong! I need to be more diligent about using my cookbooks, too. Right now, they are just expensive, albeit gorgeous, dust-collectors. Yikes. Looking through Julies's blog - and what goodies were showing up in my CSA box this evening - I settled on her oven-roasted broccoli . The other two recipes that I considered were her savory caramelized onion-sage-cheddar muffins and her penne with sage-brown butter . Soon! Oven-Roasted Broccoli Adapted from Little Bit of Everything 1 bunch broccoli, cleaned and trimmed 2 T olive oil 2 cloves garlic, crushed freshly ground sea salt freshly ground black pepper 1/3 C panko bread crumbs 1/2 C shredded Parmesan Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the broccol...

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 ...

While I love participating in the  Secret Recipe Club , I really dislike when other bloggers orphan their assigned partners. That's not what this is all about; this is about being a community and doing what you say you're going to do! So, in those cases, I am always game for stepping in and rescuing an orphan blog. Today, I had the pleasure of meeting and cooking from Baking and Creating with Avril . Avril writes to share her love of baking - and cooking - along with other crafty ventures. Creativity in and out of the kitchen bring her joy. Me, too! I've been craving dessert for the past few days and decided that this was the perfect reason to crank up the oven and toss some flour around. I started with Avril's recipe for Apple Crostata  and made a few changes. I used pears instead of apples, reduced the sugar, and added ground cardamom. I also skipped the crumb topping and the vanilla ice cream. But I will, as she did, serve this for breakfast tomorrow. 1 C fl...

Every now and then, somehow, there are some bloggers whose Secret Recipe Club partners flake out and don't cook or post. It's a horrible feeling to be left out, so when that happens, the group organizers put a call out for some quick cooking. I was happy to step-in today and help make sure that The Savvy Kitchen  was no longer an orphan. Amy writes that cooking is her hobby and that her goal is to have her blog be an outlet for all the new recipes she tries as well as a compilation of her family's favorite dishes. There were so many of her recipes that I wanted to try, but as I needed to cook and post tonight I decided to try her Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic  since I knew that I had asparagus in the crisper. Funny thing: we love asparagus, but I have never roasted it. We've steamed them. We've blanched them. And we've grilled them. But we've never put them in the oven. How strange is that? Tonight we remedied that oversight and will be roasting...