Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month the #WorldWineTravel group is sharing articles about the wines from Martinborough, New Zealand. Fittingly, our very own Martin - of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog - is hosting. You can read his invitation here . If you are reading this early enough, feel free to jump in on our live chat Saturday, September 24th at 8am Pacific. Follow the hashtag #WorldWineTravel and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. Here's the line-up of posts from the group about Martinborough... Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will be serving up Chicken Salad, Calamarata Pasta, and the 2020 Craggy Range “Te Muna Road” Sauvignon Blanc. Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is Saying Farewell to Summer with a Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc . Terri of Our Good Life is sharing Garlic Parmesan BakedEggplant with an Astrolabe Province Sauvignon Blanc . Our host, Martin, at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog will be pairing Ata Rangi PinotNoir Crimson + Smoked Portobello Mushroom Burger .  2020...

This month I am hosting the #MoviesandMunchies group as we watch  Letters to Juliet . You can read my invitation  here   which includes a brief plot summary. It's really not that much more complicated than that, but it is enjoyable. At least I found it enjoyable! You can read the Risotto all'Amarone that I have already shared this month. Stay tuned for more. I always find movies set in Italy a culinary inspiration. from imdb.com There is a scene in the kitchen of Victor's soon-to-open restaurant when he gushes that he has reinvented the noodle. He keep breaking off pieces and making Sophie taste his "inventions." Ha. The ridiculousness of a person reinventing the noodle stuck with me. I mean, I have a hard time believing that Italian nonne haven't made every possible iteration of a noodle. So, I am just going to share my favorite standard: hand-rolled noodles. I do switch it up by the kind of salt that I use, but why change something that is already fabulous...

  This month, the Movies & Munchies group is watching Big Night . Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting. This is one of my all-time favorite movies. Hands down. We own the DVD and have probably watched it a dozen times. Big Night tells the tragically realistic truth that you can sell amazing food and still go under. This is the story of two recent Italian immigrants - brothers - who own a restaurant called Paradise. Primo, played by Tony Shalhoub, is the talented chef while Secondo, played by Stanley Tucci, tries to keep their restaurant afloat. But Primo is unapologetic in the way he cooks and serves food. Early in the movie, a customer orders risotto and, then, is disappointed that it doesn't come with a side of spaghetti. She tries to order the pasta. When Secondo tells Primo who is ordering the spaghetti, he refuses to serve two starches together. He cries, "She's a philistine!" And suggests that maybe she wants mashed potatoes on the other side...

  Welcome to the July 2022 event of  our #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of  CulturEatz . Here's  her challenge . Turns out that Evelyne was in my neck of the woods recently; I noticed some photos on her social media channel. We tried to wrangle a meeting, but time was short and it didn't work out. Boo. Hopefully next trip! This month, we are sharing recipes from the Libya, here's the #EattheWorld line-up... A Day in the Life on the Farm: Libyan Cheese Dip   Sneha’s Recipe: Tajin Sfinari bil Zaytun/ Libyan Lamb Casserole with Carrots and Green Olives  Palatable Pastime: Maghreb Chicken and Vegetable Stew   Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Macroona Imbakbaka (Libyan Minestrone)   Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Mbakbaka (Spicy Libyan Pasta)   Kitchen Frau: Kufta bin Batinjal (Eggplant Kofta in Tomato Sauce   Pandemonium Noshery: Sharba Libiya - Libyan Mint and Lamb Soup And the Sunday Funday group to which I also belong is ...

  This is the summer of homemade cooking adventures. Well, homemade cooking adventures are  pretty typical of our household. But this summer I am being more deliberate about what I am cooking with R and D. I decided that I wanted to make homemade pasta with them this week. Here's how the conversation went... C: This is a skill you should have, boysies. D: Seriously, Mom. We can buy a bag of pasta at Trader Joe's for a dollar. C: Well, you should make it at least once. R: Exactly once. They were still good sports, rolled up their sleeves, and washed their hands. A quick note: I initially called this 'penne' but my friend who is from Italy and owns a local Italian restaurant saw my photos and said it was 'garganelli.'  I pulled our my encyclopaedia of pasta and learned the differences between penne and garganelli. While both are tube-shaped with diagonal ends, penne is extruded and garganelli is rolled; that difference results in no seam for the former and a...

  I haven't been very good at participating in this group, but my good friend Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm was creating the HTML for the event and messaged me while I was on a hike. So, I threw out a title that fit the theme - Pasta & Greens - knowing what I had at home in the pantry. Done. Thanks for the nudge, my friend! Welcome to the June 2022  Improv Cooking Challenge .  And I haven't been very consistent, but I love the idea of the group, so I will try to be better in the coming months. 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: pasta and greens. Here's what the crew is sharing with those ingredients...  Palatable Pastime: Beef Kimchi Noodles Sneha’s Recipe : Farfalle Pasta With Pesto Alfredo Sauce   Magical Ingredients : Paneer and Spinach Stuffed Shells With Malai  Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Pesto Orzo with Broccoli ...