Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  This month, I am hosting the Food'N'Flix group as we watch and -  hopefully - get inspired into the kitchen by Spirited Away . This is definitely out of the range of movies the group usually watches, but I hope that the other gals join the fun. On the Screen   imdb.com I had never heard of this movie until my boys purchased it on Amazon. They have long been fans of Studio Ghibli movies though I have never watched any of the movies with them. However, the first time they watched it, both commented that I should suggest it to my foodie movie group. I largely ignored that suggestion until I was reading through a list of top twenty-five films that food lovers have to watch. Okay. I was convinced and offered to host it for our foodie, movie-watching group this month. For those unfamiliar, as I was, Hayao Miyazaki is the Japanese animator, writer, director, producer, and filmmaker whose work with Studio Ghibli has resulted in creative and influential animated films, including...

July is National Pickle Month! And, as we all know, I'm a little pickle obsessed. I have pickled everything from blueberries and pumpkin to radishes and ramps . So, I invited some blogging friends to join me in kicking off the month. Here's the pickle line-up... The Beard and The Baker: Quick Spicy Pickles Karen's Kitchen Stories: Jalapeño Pickled Eggs A Day in the Life on the Farm: Gardiniera Savory Moments: Quick Pickled Radishes Lemon Blossoms: Pickled Jalapenos (Taqueria Style) Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Quick Pickled Radishes with Black Peppercorns Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Pickled Quail Eggs Pickled Quail Eggs  I had received some quail eggs from friends and was excited to pickle them. Another friend said that she had tasted pickled quail eggs recently. I piped up, "I have some quail eggs!" Of course you do , she said. Ingredients 12 quail eggs 1 shallot, peeled and slice...

We headed to Malawi in our Cooking Around the World Adventure tonight. Malawi is located in Southern Africa, east of Zambia and west of Mozambique and is slightly smaller than Greece. Chichewa is the most common language spoken in Malawi though English is also used in business and government. The flag consists of 3 colors: red, representing the blood of Malawian nationals who freed themselves from the British colonial empire; black, representing the color of their skin; and green for nature and vegetation. In the middle there is a white sun as a sign of hope. Sweet potatoes (called mbatata ) seem to be very common. I had toyed with the idea of making  mbatata biscuits but opted to just roast some sweet potatoes instead. Cabbage Ndiwo 3 C greens*, chopped 1 small onion, chopped 1 T olive oil 2 small tomatoes, chopped 1 cup water salt to taste Saute onions in oil until tender. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer over medium heat for 5...

During my amuse bouche menu planning, I had grand plans to make Oeufs Mimosa (Deviled Quail Eggs).  So I located the eggs at a local Asian market and boiled them, thinking that I would whip out the eggs and make them on the spot during the party.  Well, let's just say that I had more going on that I anticipated in getting all the food out of the kitchen and onto the table.  I ended up having two friends peel the eggs and served them simply with a roll in pink Himalaya salt.  Delicious, one-bite, but definitely not what I had planned.  Still, I think I would serve them again exactly the same way!