Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Years ago, at the tail-end of my time in Italy, I traveled to Lìpari, an island off the coast of Sicily, and rented a cottage on a farm. Everyday the family left me different things in a basket by my door - fresh tomatoes one day, garlic another, and freshly laid eggs on the next. It was glorious to make dinner each night with something from their farm. On the second to the last evening I was there, I was sitting outside with a glass of wine, crusty bread, fresh cheese and beautiful, sun-kissed tomatoes from the farm.  Signorina!  came a voice from the main house. I put down my glass and walked toward the house. The farmer's wife asked me if I would like to watch them make tomato sauce that evening. Vieni fuori alle due, d'accordo? Come outside at 2 in the morning, okay? Okay. At two in the morning, I pulled on some jeans and a sweater and walked out in the chilly morning air. It was a full moon though I don't know if that was significant in this family ritual, or if...

Yesterday was  Food Day 2015 . Last year, my piece - Dining Table as a Nexus for Change - appeared on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution website. And, since Food Day 2014 occurred during my Eat a Rainbow cooking class at school, my students and I made Blue and Purple Foods . When our #FoodDay2015 dinner party fell through yesterday - BOO for sick kiddos! Hope they're feeling better!! - I changed course to plan a dinner at home. This year's theme: towards a greener diet. To that end, I decided to highlight and cook from our High Ground Organics CSA box. First a little bit about why I am a CSA subscriber. Organic Schmorganic. Organic fruits and veggies are available in virtually every grocery store in town. So, what's the appeal of a CSA box? Right around the same time the Slow Food movement began to coalesce, the popularity of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) began to rise. CSAs are a popular way for us, as consumers, to buy locally-grown, organic, ...

If you follow my blog, or know me in real life, you'll know that my littlest one, my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf, loves wombats. I don't really remember when his fascination with wombats started, but it's been several years. He has a stuffed wombat - you know how other kids have stuffed teddy bears? - and his nickname is 'The Wom'. When we go on outings, just the two of us, it's 'Mom and Wom Time.' So, when my Wom announced that yesterday was National Wombat Day, I knew we had to do something to celebrate. D: Mom, tomorrow is national wombat day C: What does that mean? D: We have to have a party to celebrate wombats- R: And EAT wombats!??! D: Noooooooooo... I talked him into celebrating one day late, because yesterday I was running in three different directions and wouldn't be able to do the meal justice. He agreed, then finagled a cake out of the deal. So look out for a chocolate wombat-SHAPED cake. Slightly Non-Traditional...

  The Villa in Sicily  by Elise Darcy recently came up on my Kindle as a suggestion and that dangerous one-click-to-purchase did me in. But I'm so glad I did though as I enjoyed this book. It wasn't particularly deep or thought-provoking, but it was set on Sicily and had a cast of interesting characters. And that pretty much means I will love it! Josie's mom has recently passed away and she discovers - in a locked drawer in her mom's office - a journal and a plane ticket to Sicily. Josie decides to take that trip and try to figure out more about the two sisters in the journal. The book has lots and twists and turns, unexpected - and some expected - romantic capers. there is even a Mafia sub-plot that isn't too frightening. It's a fun afternoon diversion. And, with any book set in Italy, food is abundant. When one of my favorite Italian street foods is mentioned, I couldn't help but make a batch. Josie "found a street vendor a little way along the seafro...

Elizabeth at  The Lawyer's Cookbook   is hosting this month's  Food'N'Flix  event. We watched, or rewatched as the case may be,  Hocus Pocus.  Click to see  Elizabeth's invitation . On the Screen... I have never actually seen this movie. But it was rated PG, so I put it in the Netflix queue and sat down with the boys when it arrived. This was a good one-timer for us. It was fun, but I don't think we'll become the family that watches this every Halloween. The basic plot: three witches are hanged in Salem, MA, 300 years ago. Their bodies are cursed. Flash forward. The witches are trying to exact their revenge on two little kids in present day, well, present day when the movie was made. There is a lot of witches fly around on brooms - and vacuum cleaners - and the cat can talk. It's mayhem and madness all stirred together in a confusing cauldron with a lot of hysterical shrieking. Lots. But the sisters' antics did make me smile every ...

  Today the Sunday Funday group is writing about and sharing Roman recipes. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group.  This week, Sue is hosting. She wrote: "Choose a recipe that is Roman or Italian to celebrate the month of August and pay tribute to the 1st Roman Emperor, the namesake of August." Here's the line-up... Authentic Italian Meatballs by Making Miracles Herbed Whole Wheat Piadinas & A Sandwich by Sneha’s Recipe Honey Glazed Pork Loin by Amy’s Cooking Adventures Lasagna Bolognese by Karen's Kitchen Stories Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe by A Day in the Life on the Farm Spaghetti Carbonara by Palatable Pastime Supplì al Telefono and a Quintessential Roman Pasta by Culinary Adventures with Camilla If you've been following my blog for awhile, you'll know that I lived and w...

  This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dineen Vineyards . Complimentary wine was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. However, all opinions expressed here are my own.   I used to purchase  Supplì al Telefono  from my neighborhood  rosticceria  in Rome probably more often than I should admit. They're delicious and easy to eat while on the go. And I was always on the go in those days. Around other parts of Italy, they are called Arancini  or 'little oranges.' Supplì al Telefono , literally means  supplì  'to the phone.' Odd name, perhaps, until you think back to the days when phones had cords. Yes, younguns, phones used to have cords! Inside the supplì are molten bits of mozzarella cheese; when you bite into them and pull away, the melted cheese is long and stringy, resembling a telephone cord. Like this...  Supplì  is a great dish to use up leftover risotto. Use whatever risotto you ha...