Culinary Adventures with Camilla

One of the great things about being part of the food blogging world: Every once in awhile, a blogger that I know and love publishes a cookbook. That's the case for Susan of The Wimpy Vegetarian . Susan and I have posted in #SundaySupper together as well as #BreadBakers and #SRC (Secret Recipe Club) when that was still active. So, when I saw that she was writing a cookbook, I offered to test some recipes for her. She didn't end up needing my help, but I immediately ordered a copy of her book - The Simply Vegetarian Cookbook: Fuss-Free Recipes Everyone Will Love by Susan Pridmore* - as soon as I was able. It was released at the end of July, so you can order it and get a copy for yourself. Fuss-Free and Fabulous The subtitle to Susan's cookbook is "Fuss-Free Recipes Everyone Will Love." She's too modest to do so, but she could have claimed "Fuss-Free and Fabulous Recipes...".  I found the organization of the book appealing in its simpl...

This month the Italian Food, Wine & Travel - #ItalianFWT - blogging group is traveling to Valle d'Aosta.  Follow along the journey with my other V aldostano  fans .  You can also chat with us live this Saturday morning at 11am EST on Twitter at #ItalianFWT.  Hope to see you there! from lifeinitaly.com To Valle d'Aosta Nestled in the Alps, Valle d’Aosta is a unique region of Italy as it's isolated by the mountains and highly influenced by its French neighbors. While many Valdonstani people speak all three languages, Italian and French are the official languages with Valdôtain being a common local dialect. The Other #ItalianFWT Offerings... Vino Travels  – Swept away to the Alpine region of the Valle d'Aosta Culinary Adventures with Camilla  - Pluot-Glazed Duck Legs and Les CretesTorrette 2011 Rockin Red Blog  - Over the Hills and Far Away Enofylz Wine Blog  - Veal Ribs with Fontina with Valle d'Aosta Torrette Superieur #I...

In an effort to make all of my holiday gifts this year, I invited some of my favorite foodie bloggers to share recipes for hand-crafted edibles. Over the course of the twelve weeks, we'll be sharing recipes that you can make at home to give to friends and loved ones. We hope you'll follow along for inspiration. You can find out more information, including the schedule:  here . This week, we're continuing our homemade libations - here's the first installment that kicked off the series,  Libations, Part I  - and here we are at Part II. Thanks to these fabulous, cocktail-serving gals for these creations: Amy of  Amy's Cooking Adventures  made  Lemon Vodka Marinated Blackberries Terri of  Christmas Tree Lane  shared  Tipsy Cherries Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  posted her recipe for  Citrusy Cocktail Onions Camilla of  Culinary Adventures with Camilla  crafted Homemade Bitters, an Old-Fashioned, ...

Wine Pairing Weekend - #winePW - happens on the second Saturday of the month. And this month - August - Christy of  Confessions of a Culinary Diva  is hosting. She asked us to head to Portugal. Click to read her invitation:  here . I decided to go with two food-wine pairings because I wanted to make something with two iconic Portuguese wines: Vinho Verde and Port. Wine Pairing Weekend Bloggers Be sure to check out what my fellow bloggers have come up with for Wine Pairing Weekend jaunt to Portugal! Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla is sharing “Vinho Verde Caldeirada with Pluot Port Granita” Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva pairs “Poco Do Lobo Arinto with Seabass” Constance from Vinhos do Alentego is featuring “ Alentejano Black Pork with Clams ” David from Cooking Chat shares “Grilled Pork with Portuguese Potatoes and Kale” Jade of Tasting Pour is pairing “Vinho Verde with Caldeirada” Jeff from food wine click s...

When one of my best friends invited us over for dinner, and said that it was a birthday celebration for her mom, I offered to bring something for dessert. I wanted to use the gorgeous and amusingly-named Dinosaur Egg pluots and asked for her vote: frangipane tart, galette , or flaugnarde . She asked for clarification on the flaugnarde - I said it's basically a clafoutis but not with cherries - then she opted for the frangipane tart. Perfect...because that's what I was leaning towards anyway. Dinosaur Eggs are pluots - a hybid of an plum and an apricot - and a hit with almost every kid I know. For the name alone. But the taste is amazing, too. And since we noshed through all of the ones in my fruits bowl this week, I handed my dad some cash and asked him to pick up a bag-full for me at the farmers' market while I was at work on Friday. When I picked up the boys and my dinosaur eggs, I asked my dad, "Do you remember from which farm stand you got these?" Bla...

One of Dylan's summer goals: cook more with Mommy. So, today we hit the farmers' market and picked up fruits with the idea of making some summer jams. *Note: we were trying to make some jam that we could share with Grandma, my mother-in-law, who can't eat sugar. So, I picked up Stevia and - as the package directed - used it cup for cup. Yuck. For the second batch, I halved the sugar. Still yuck. For the third batch, I halved it again. It was tolerable. So, I don't really like the way these jams turned out - only because of the Stevia. Use sugar and these would be stellar!* Step One: Wash, dry, and chop your fruit. Step Two: Infuse your liquid. I use 1 T dried flower petals to 1 C boiling water. Let steep for at least 3 minutes. Strain. Step Three: Cook your jam. To make the jam, place the fruit, liquid, and sugar into a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Continue to cook, stirring the jam constantly, for about 15 minutes....