Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Welcome to the February event for The French Winophiles, a wine-swilling, food-loving group coordinated by Christy of  Confessions of a Culinary Diva . We've made it around France. And by c licking on the following regions you can read my recipe post that includes the #winophiles round-up as well. So far, we've traveled - by tabletop and goblet - to  the Loire Valley ,   Corsica ,  the Southwest ,  Languedoc-Roussillon ,   Côtes du Rhône ,   Bordeaux ,   Champagne , and  Burgundy . To Alsace Today we're headed to  Alsace. And, after this, we'll be going back through the regions with a little bit more differentiation in that region. Fun! I love this group! And I'm having so much fun exploring wines and recipes that are unfamiliar to me. from winefolly.com Alsace, due to its location on the border of Germany and France, has been subject to a series of political tug-of-wars for years and years. Here's what I mean: ...

Here we are at February's #thebookclubcookbookCC event. It's hard to believe that we only have five more months in this year-long journey to explore - and cook from -  The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors  by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp.* Judy, Vicki, and their publisher,  Tarcher-Penguin ,  have provided the hosting bloggers with copies of the book plus copies to giveaway each month of the project. Woohoo. Incredibly generous. This month Ashley at  Cheesecurd in Paradise  has selected  The Killer Angels  by Michael Shaara.** Click to read  Ashley's invitation . She shared the recipe for Civil War Cherry Apple Cobbler with Sweet Vanilla Custard. On the Page... I remember reading this book in AP U.S. History in 11th grade. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, this historical novel The Killer Angels has been touted as an incredible recreation of ...

Remember that we kicked off Fish Friday Foodies last month. We're a group of seafood-loving bloggers, coordinated by Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm . In the interest of eating healthier in 2016, we'll be sharing fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month. Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies?  We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month.  To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517@gmail.com. Visit our  Facebook page   and  Pinterest page  for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas. This month, Stacy of  Food Lust People Love  is hosting. And theme she picked for chilly February is seafood stews and soups of the world. Think bouillabaisse, bourride, cioppino, caldo de mariscos, courtbouillon, chowder, bisque, Mae-un tang, Shui Zhu Yu, Tom Yum, and more. Stacy urged us: Let's take a world tour together one comforting hot bowl at a time!  I ...

For awhile now, I've referred to these as Kaffir limes. You can click here to read a brief intro . This is what they look like on the outside. This is what they look like on the inside. And this is what their leaves look like. Aren't they cool?!? This post is to explain why I will be referring to these as Makrut limes from now on. I recently discovered there is some controversy about the name 'kaffir'. Not being an Arabic speaker, I can only accept what I am reading. Apparently 'kaffir' means 'infidel' or 'non-believer'. And it's largely used as a slur. Okay, enough said. A lime by any other names...well, they are still as aromatic, unique, and gorgeous as before. But I now call them by their religiously-neutral name! If you're curious what I've made with Makrut limes, take a look! Makrut Lime Macaroons Makrut Lime-Coconut Cod Makrut Lime Sugar Cookies Curry Cauliflower Soup

In this short month - and a crazy one at that - I haven't had a chance to knock out very many books for the  Foodie Reads 2016 Challenge . But this is the one that I have read, throughout several evenings this week, while sipping a cup of tea: Culinary Tea: More Than 150 Recipes Steeped in Tradition from Around the World  by Cynthia Gold and Lise Stern.* My boys and I are huge tea-lovers. Huge. We love Tea Tasting in Chinatown . My little one doesn't leave for his early algebra class without a stainless mug full of tea. And my husband just recently started brewing his own kombucha. More on that soon because it's amazing. And, truth be told, cooking with tea isn't new to me. I've poached pears in Earl Grey , folded mint tea into shortbread , made Matcha Ice Cream , used Earl Grey in brownies , marbled eggs in black tea , and poached cod in green tea ...just to name a few. Lapsang Souchong adds smokiness to dishes without using, say, bacon! But Culinary...

Welcome to my first post in 2016 with the  Improv Cooking Challenge  hosted by Lesa of  Edesia's Notebook . I missed last month somehow. Whoops. But I had to get my act together this month because I was the blogger who picked the ingredients. The idea: we are assigned two ingredients and are challenged to create a recipe with those two things. February's chosen (by me!) ingredients: Tea and Honey. I decided to share a sweet treat. But, it's not too sweet and it is completely unique. I made a version of this that wasn't a hit with everyone in the household. Jake objected to the ginger syrup I used. So, I figured I'd make them with honey this time. "Big improvement," he assented. He still didn't admit to loving them, but I'll take it. A few notes about matcha green tea.  Matcha is "powdered tea." Unlike drinking other tea when you infuse the tea leaves in water and, then, strain out the leaves, with matcha, you are drinking the fi...

If you're Italian, you probably know who Befana is. If you're not, she's a good witch who brings presents to kids on Epiphany - January 6th. So, yes, I lie to my kids not only about Santa, in December, but about Befana, in January. I'm sure there's a special place in hell for this sort of parental deception. Last year, R had been asking for a new tortilla press; his old one is aluminium and has some corrosion on it. I told him to just use parchment paper so our food doesn't touch the corrosion. But, behind the scenes, I found one made of wood and "Befana" left it for him. Funny side note: he actually said, "Mom, I know you're not Befana because you told me I didn't need a new press. Befana disagrees with you." Okay. So, one night a few weeks ago, at already 30 minutes beyond his usual bedtime, we had this conversation... "Mom, I need to bring 35 tortillas to Spanish class tomorrow." What??! It's...