Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Granita is a frozen dessert that I remember mostly from Sicily. It may have been available throughout Italy, but I remember sitting in piazze  all over Palermo, eating granita, and talking about our next day's adventure. I don't remember that gloriously cool rush of icy sugar from when I lived in Rome. Granita is a dessert that is amazingly simple and flexible. Use any watery fruit. Use any citrus. I whipped this one up after a long weekend up in the redwoods where we camped for my husband's 40th birthday. I needed a dessert for his real birthday dinner, but I didn't feel like baking anything...and I had three mini watermelon that I had forgotten to slice up for the party. It was perfect. Ingredients 4 C seedless watermelon, cubed (I used one mini watermelon) 1/2 C organic granulated sugar juice from one organic Meyer lemon  tequila for serving (you can leave out the tequila for a non-alcoholic, kid-friendly version) Procedure Purée all i...

This month, I'm hosting Food'N'Flix . I chose Chef* and invited bloggers to join me in watching it and heading to the kitchen. Click to see my invitation: here . What a treat! This month we had quite a crew show up at the virtual  Food'N'Flix  banquet table. It's always nerve-wracking to host an event and just hope - and pray - that other bloggers join in the fun. Otherwise, you're just sitting there. Alone. With just your dish to eat! Thankfully, I had tons of participants - with sweets, pasta, stew, soup and seven versions of a Cuban Sandwich. That's right. Seven. It's nice to see so many familiar faces around the table. And it's especially nice to see some new face this month. Thanks, all, for joining in the fun! On to the dishes... Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm served up a bowl of Spaghetti Aglio e Olio . Wendy writes " Pasta Aglio e Olio is a wonderful, comforting easy dish to throw together and I can see a che...

Earlier this month, I participated in a blogging event - a Virtual Mad Men Finale Party , hosted by the authors and publisher of The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook. * Here's their recap of the event . It was a great, great fun. And, to make it even more so, they had prizes and door prizes for the participating bloggers. Judy Gelman, one of the authors, dropped me a line right after the event to let me know that I would be getting a box full of retro candy. Sweet! When it came, the inside box read "Sugar Memories." I refrained from peeking, deciding to save it for my husband's 40th birthday camping trip. We opened it this weekend under the redwoods. And it  really  was all about sugar memories.  Friends picked up different pieces and commented, nostalgically, "I remember eating this at my grandmother's house." Or "Oh, these were my favorite when...." There were candies that most everyone knew. And there were candies that no one rem...

I don't know how I totally missed that Peter B's Brewpub was holding another recipe contest - its 1st annual Wing Sauce Competition. Details on their facebook page . Thank goodness for friends who watch out for me! I am always up for some culinary adventure in the form of recipe development, especially a recipe that involves beer. Ummm...heck, yeah. Count me in. I had never actually made chicken wings before January of this year, thinking that I had to fry them. And, well, I don't fry. But, after a blogging friend levied a challenge to come up with a great wings recipe, I experimented and mastered that crispy delicious goodness in the oven. No frying necessary. For this recipe, I needed to include a Peter B's brew. I wanted to use a seasonal beer and tasted their Nitro Milk Stout. At least that's what the waitress called it. According to their facebook page, it's officially the Sumpin' English Maple Milk Stout. It's brewed with English ale...

This easy breakfast treat came from my #BrunchWeek recipe development with a few sponsor ingredients; I used chocolate chips from Pacari Chocolate , in the scones, and vanilla bean paste from Nielsen-Massey , in the glaze. I also had some coconut flour and almond flour from Morning Pep that I needed to use and review. Enjoy these. We surely did. I will double this recipe next time as the boys were vying for seconds and I only had two more scones...and three hungry boys! Yes, I do include my husband in that "boys" count. Ingredients Scones 1 C almond flour (I used  Morning Pep *) 1/2 C coconut flour (I used  Morning Pep *) 1 t baking powder 4 T butter, cubed 1/4 C local honey 1/2 C almond milk (I used vanilla unsweetened) 1 t vanilla paste (I used  Nielsen-Massey *) 1  egg 1 C sliced fresh banana 1/2 C chocolate chips (I used  Pacari Chocolate *) 1/2 C shredded coconut Glaze 1 C organic powdered su...

Earlier this month I posted a product review of Petoskey and Pine . Now they are offering one of my lucky readers the chance to win! I just want to add that I enjoyed the products so much that I have already placed an order for - and received - some goodies for my mom and my mother-in-law. Petoskey and Pine will be raffling off a gift box that comes with two bars of soap, one candle and one lip balm.  These items are packaged beautifully for gift giving nestled in decorative boxes and wrapped up with a bow...just in time for Mothers' Day! And Petoskey and Pine will also be giving away a gorgeous bar of soap on a wooden soap dish tied up and ready to be presented with a flower attached. There are two of those prizes available. So, you have three chances to win!! Here's the blogging review crew. You may visit any of our blogs to find a thoughts about the products.* Amy of  Amy's Cooking Adventures Camilla of  Culinary Adventures with Camilla Nicho...

This weekend we had a birthday party dinner - under the redwoods - for my husband. He's finally 40! Because we were camping, I decided that I wasn't going to lug a birthday cake to the woods. I have done that. It's not as easy as you would think. But the boys both insisted that Daddy needed something to hold his candles. Really?!? I decided to bake some candle-holding brownies. And I wanted to use the coconut flour I received from Morning Pep .* A friend asked, after seeing this photo: how many people does it take to light all of Jake's candles?! A lot, apparently. And there weren't even forty candles. There were only 36 in the box. Whoops. Ingredients makes two 8" round pans 2/3 C coconut oil 1 C cocoa powder 12 eggs 1 C coconut sugar 1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk) pinch of salt splash of pure vanilla extract 1 C coconut flour (I used  Morning Pep ) 1/2 C chocolate chips (I used  Pacari Chocolate * ) Pr...

I wanted to give an extra shout-out to the lovely Lauren De Vine of  Lauren De Vine Beverages   for these Prêt-à-Fête cocktail starters. I ordered two four-packs from her CSLDV last week to take with me to the redwoods for Jake's 40th birthday party. I adore having creative friends. Love it! I love that Lauren's creations come pre-portioned in mason jars for easy transport and easy serving! This week, the flavors were Spring-y and bright. Perfect for ringing in a new decade. I received the strawberry fennel shrub with lime juice and zest. Lauren wrote that it would be "great with tequila" and it was. We also had the tangerine, lavender, and Big Sur citrus blossom. I poured in some prosecco and it was an instant hit. We sipped, shared, toasted, and enjoyed. My only regret: I should have ordered more. Next time...

This week's #SundaySupper event is being co-hosted by Marlene of  Nosh My Way  along with Cindy Cindy's Recipes and Writings . They have chosen a tropical theme.  I immediately started humming Aloha Oe while I mentally listed the possibilities. We haven't been to Kauai in far too long. I thought about the daily sunshine markets; I remembered the smell of beans roasting at the coffee plantations. I even considered burying a whole pig over hot coals. Ha`aheo ka ua ina pali, Ke nihi aela ka nahele E hahai ana i ka liko, Pua ahihi lehua o uka Aloha Oe, Aloha Oe, E ke onaona noho ika lipo A fond embrace, a hoi ae au, Until we meet again. O ka halia`loha i hiki mai, Ke hone ae nei ku`u manawa. O oe no ka`u ipon aloha, A lo ko e hana nei. Then I realized that we were in Costa Rica much more recently. I dreamt of the funky tropical fruits we bought at every roadside stand... ...and the guava tree across the street that we p...

This month, I'm hosting  Food'N'Flix . I chose  Chef*  and invited bloggers to join me in watching it and heading to the kitchen. Click to see my invitation:  here . I had seen the movie several times before I selected it. But - in advance of this post - I popped it in and grabbed a snack, a pen, and a pad of paper. On the Screen The basic plot: Chef Carl Casper, played by Jon Favreau, is a chef in a high end restaurant. After a dramatic conflict with owner Riva and restaurant critic Ramsey Michel - played by Dustin Hoffman and  Oliver Platt, respectively - Casper leaves that job and starts his own business...in a food truck.  I considered making some of the dishes from the beginning when Casper was trying to reinvigorate the tired menu that Riva embraces. Casper made spot prawns in a curry-carrot purée, garnished with radishes and a roast squab with pickled red onion, chilis, gochujang, and soy vinaigrette.  I thought about re...

For the main dish on our tabletop travel to Sweden, D and S made some Svenska Kottbullar , Swedish meatballs. So easy, so tasty! I decided to share the recipe over at Curious Cuisiniere when Sarah asked if I would be willing to share a cultural recipe. Sure thing. Thanks for asking. Visit Sarah's blog: here . She has some amazing recipes. And you can see my post, for her: here .