Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Nielsen-Massey . I received complimentary product for the purpose of review and recipe development, but all opinions are honest and they are my own.  This page may contain affiliate links. Nielsen-Massey I have long been a fan of Nielsen-Massey products and was thrilled to be approached to create some recipes with their products. I usually have - at least - a handful of their extracts and other products in my cupboards at a time! Many I've received for past events in which I've participated, but their intense purity of flavor and extraordinary quality have made me a dedicated, paying customer as well. Nielsen-Massey Vanillas has been crafting the world’s finest vanillas and flavors since the early 1900s. And each of Nielsen-Massey’s all-nature pure flavors are crafted with premium ingredients, sourced from around the world and chosen to meet the utmost quality standards. From lemon to peppermint to coffee or cho...

This sponsored post is written by me on behalf of  VinegarTips . All opinions are my own.  You’re heard of the five French Mother Sauces, right? Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Sauce Tomat, and Hollandaise are the five sauces. It's said that every cook should have these in their culinary wheelhouse. Once you know how to make them, you can customize them for your dishes. Years ago I took a sauce class and I can honestly say that I use variations of all of them. All the time. Well, I feel the same way about vinegars. You need to have a variety of them at the ready for creating delicious dishes in your kitchen. Also, by "a variety of vinegars" I do not mean balsamic vinegar with all the fancy infusions you can find these days. Don't get me wrong: I have bottles of fig balsamic, lemongrass white balsamic, and many, many more in my cabinets, too. But, in this post, I am going to share with you what I believe are the five essential  vinegars for ...

I've been mildly obsessed with elderflowers recently. So, as we were driving to our first campsite - during our 10-day camping trip around northern California - and I spotted the distinctive puff of creamy-hued flowers, I made a mental note to go pick some and make elderflower soda. My mother-in-law and I hiked up the hill and liberated some flowers from their roosts. Then it was back to camp we went. Elderflower Soda Ingredients 2 C elderflowers, large stems removed 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 C cold water sparkling water for serving ice for serving Procedure Place elderflowers, sugar, and water in a container with a tight-fitting lid. Shake, shake, and shake some more until the sugar is dissolved. Let stand for at least an hour to let the flavor of the flowers permeate the cold syrup. To Serve Place 3 to 4 Tablespoons of syrup in the bottom of a cup. Fill with sparkling water. Add ice, if desired.

Seasoned with sassafras, sarsaparilla and a variety of other herbs and spices, the ingredient list for homemade rootbeer is daunting. But I finally got around to amassing what I needed. The boys were so excited. And it was perfect for our 'Putting Down Roots' Thanksgiving menu. Ingredients 1/2 C sassafras root bark 1-1/2 t sarsaparilla root extract 1 T licorice root 1 t ground ginger root 1 T dandelion root 1 hop flower 2 kaffir lime leaves 2 T birch bark 1 t juniper berries 1 cinnamon stick 10 C water 1 C organic cane sugar 1/2 C fresh whey* Procedure *First you have to make the whey. It took about an hour for me to get 1/2 C of whey from my plain yogurt. I've read to leave it overnight, but I just did it till I got what I needed for the recipe. Line a colander with cheesecloth, then spoon your yogurt into it. Let drain. Place all of the ingredients - up to the water (on the list above) - in a large souppot. ...

We're not usually soda drinkers, but when I saw Taylor's Tonics at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, I was instantly intrigued - candy cane, eggnog, gingerbread, and cranberry sodas. Those I could drink. But we were distracted by our Boccalone and Cowgirl Creamery stops and I never went back to that cooler where I saw the tonics. So, when Dylan spotted them in the cooler at Happy Girl Kitchen last night, I didn't hesitate to pick up the mixed four pack Holiday Fizz Collection . Today, for our new year's day picnic, we tried them out! The flavors were fresh but intense. The pine was potent in the Cranberry Dream - at least to me and Dylan while Jake and Riley could barely discern it. But the clear winner for our family: Gingerbread House. While this won't turn us into soda drinkers, they were a nice, festive beverage for our almost-the-end-of-the-holidays picnic. Still, I love that they are craft-brewed and (mostly) local. Santa Cruz and San Francisco...