Culinary Adventures with Camilla

After some heavy reads that I will get to soon, I picked up The Car Share by Zoe Brisby. This was a quick, breezy read though the characters themselves were not particularly fluffy. Alex (male) picks up Max (female) as part of a ride share. I indicated genders there, because both thought they were meeting the same gender as themselves! In any case, Alex is depressed and is looking for something to take his mind off of his troubled life while Max is headed to a country that allows assisted suicide. And so their car share adventures begin. Maxine is a hoot. She doesn't understand how to order coffee at a fancy cafe. "'I’d like a coffee.' The barista looked puzzled and waited for the rest. Seeing that nothing more was forthcoming, he was obliged to ask, 'What sort of coffee? A latte? Mochaccino? Cappuccino? Frappuccino? Macchiato? With caramel? Vanilla? Soymilk?' Maxine turned to Alex. 'When did it become so complicated to order coffee? What’s all this gibber...

I really wasn't cognizant of how much the boys motivated me to cook - multiple dishes, appetizers, and even desserts. Now that it's just me and Jake, a salad has sufficed for dinner and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was all I made for lunch the day after we dropped off R. Yikes. I am in need of empty nest cooking motivation! Jake wanted to invite a departing co-worker over for dinner and it was a great reason for me to create multiple dishes in one evening. It turns out the friend never showed up - he had broken his foot! - so we had lots of leftovers and I delivered dinner to my parents the following day. The last time Andrés came over for dinner, I served a Kimbap Sushi Hybrid along with Hawaiian Saimin. When I asked Jake what I should make, he said... Butter Chicken Done. Here's  a previously posted Butter Chicken recipe .  Palak Paneer Whenever I make Indian food, my favorite is Palak Paneer . But for the centerpiece of the table, I decide to make a biriyani. Us...

  This month, the Movies & Munchies group is watching Big Night . Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting. This is one of my all-time favorite movies. Hands down. We own the DVD and have probably watched it a dozen times. Big Night tells the tragically realistic truth that you can sell amazing food and still go under. This is the story of two recent Italian immigrants - brothers - who own a restaurant called Paradise. Primo, played by Tony Shalhoub, is the talented chef while Secondo, played by Stanley Tucci, tries to keep their restaurant afloat. But Primo is unapologetic in the way he cooks and serves food. Early in the movie, a customer orders risotto and, then, is disappointed that it doesn't come with a side of spaghetti. She tries to order the pasta. When Secondo tells Primo who is ordering the spaghetti, he refuses to serve two starches together. He cries, "She's a philistine!" And suggests that maybe she wants mashed potatoes on the other side...

Here we are for the August World Wine Travel event. Deanna of Wineivore is hosting. You can read her invitation here . She has us looking at sparkling Australian wines as well as wines from Tasmania.  If you are joining us early enough, jump in to a live conversation with us on Twitter. Follow the hashtag #WorldWineTravel and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. Here's the line-up of the articles for this event...  Lori is tasting Tasmanian Sparkling and Egg Rolls at Exploring the Wine Glass Camilla showcases Tasmania + Hawaii: Celebrating with an Island Wine and Island Eats at Culinary Adventures with Camilla Jeff shares how we can Discover Rutherglen Stickies at Food Wine Click! Robin pairs  Sparkling Wine from Jansz Tasmania and a Tassie-inspired seafood curry pie at Crushed Grape Chronicles Kat has a Surprise! South Australia Pét-Nat is on the Rise at The Corkscrew Concierge Susannah explores Tasmanian Chardonnay at Avvinare Deanna pops an...

For the September French Winophiles' event of 2022, I am inviting the #Winophiles crew to explore indigenous or typical grapes from France with me. The twist: find a bottle of French grapes that are cultivated and made into wine somewhere else around the world.  Let's look at French varieties made into wines around the globe. Here are a few examples: Cinsault but made in Chile; Sémillon from Australia; or Négrette made in California.  Be creative. You can even do a comparison if you wish.  The bottles photographed above are a 50% Cinsault blended with Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and a Spanish Alicante Bouschet. I know, I know, Spain isn't on a different continent from France. Just jump in with a French grape made anywhere other than France. I can't wait to share a white Carignan from Mexico soon! Details for participation This #Winophiles September 2022 event is Saturday, September 17th, 2022. Are you ready to jump in and participate?...

  This is the August #TheCakeSliceBakers event. Since this is only my third event this year, I'll recap what we are all about... In this group, we are given a selection of three cake recipes. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes! Follow our  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Pinterest   pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details. The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called  The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends . This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want...

Jeff of  Food Wine Click!  is hosting this month's edition of the French Winophiles. You can read his invitation  here . We are looking at low-intervention, organic, biodynamic wines from Languedoc. If you are reading this early enough, feel free to jump in our our live Twitter chat on Saturday, August 20th at 8am Pacific time. Follow the hashtag #Winophiles and be sure to add it to anything you tweet so we can see it. Here's the line-up of articles for this event... Camilla shares The Concept of Lutte Raisonnée and Braised Pork Paired with a Frémillant at Culinary Adventures with Camilla Wendy shares An Edible Cheeseboard and a Crisp Rosé from Languedoc at A Day in the Life on the Farm Jane shares Languedoc Corbières Rosé with Salade Nicoise at Always Ravenous Robin shares Languedoc – does it need to find itself? at Crushed Grape Chronicles Jill shares Try These Organic Languedoc Wines at L'Occasion Gwendolyn shares her Languedoc post at Wine Predator...Gwendolyn Alle...

If you follow my blog regularly, or my social media, you'll know that we spent some time on the Hawaiian island of Oahu this summer - for our first family vacation since 2018. And you would also know that I like to read books that take place wherever I happen to be vacationing. I shared that I read all fifteen books of A Murder on Maui  series in my post Fifteen Books of Poe and a Shave Ice Addiction ; I had read the first four while we were on the island and on the plane ride home. On the plane ride there, I read the four books in J.E. Trent's Hawaii Adventure  series. Jessica Kealoha, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, hails from Hawaii where her father's side of the family is in law enforcement and her mother's side is in the Japanese Yakuza (organized crime). After her father dies under mysterious circumstances, Jessica returns to the Big Island to support one sister who has just been diagnosed with breast cancer and another sister who manages the f...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Selefina spices. Complimentary product was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. However, all opinions expressed here are my own. When a contact from  Selefina * asked me if I would like to sample their new line, I looked through the website and let her know which of their products intrigued me. One that I ordered was their dried Hibiscus Petals . We don't drink a lot of soda in our household. But when we do, I usually make the syrup and add sparkling water. That's it! In this case, I decided to make a hibiscus simple syrup and drop a candied hibiscus in the bottom of the glass for a garnish And this syrup process is easily doubled or even tripled if you want to make more at one time. It keep in the fridge for awhile. I honestly am not sure how long as it never lasts long in my house. Hibiscus Simple Syrup 1 cup organic granulated sugar 1 cup water 1 Tablespoon dried hibiscus petals Place all of th...