Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Earlier this year I came across a book by George Mahood when I read Not Tonight, Josephine: A Road Trip Through Small-Town America . Find my thoughts about that book in my post - Road Trip Food + Jake's Scrambled Eggs . In any case, that cemented my admiration of Mahood's writing and when  Free Country: A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain  by George Mahood* popped up in my Kindle suggestions, I ordered it immediately. On the Page This is another hilarious travelogue of Mahood's; this time he recounts biking from Land's End in the southern tip of England where he and his friend Ben started off with only their Union Jack boxer shorts. No clothes. No shoes. And, definitely, no bikes. They were relying solely on people's generosity to get them from one end to the other. "'We started this morning at Land’s End in a pair of boxer shorts and we have to get the entire way without spending a single penny.' 'Ok?' replied the man ...

When Sue of  Palatable Pastime   reminded me of the theme of this month's #BakingBloggers - British Baking - I knew I  had  to join in and experiment with a version of Jammie Dodgers. She wrote: "Bake up a British recipe (English, Scottish or Welsh), your choice of sweet or savory." Whenever I have a choice of sweet or savory, I almost always lean savory. But I've had these cookies on my to-make list for years. I figured it was time. First, though, the other British-inspired recipes... Bread & Butter Pudding by Sneha's Recipe Chocolate Chip Scones by Jolene's Recipe Journal Eccles Cakes by Caroline's Cooking English Granary-Style Bread by Karen's Kitchen Stories Fat Rascals by Palatable Pastime Jammie Dodgers by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Mini Toad in the Hole by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking Raspberry Bakewell Tarts by Pandemonium Noshery Salmon in Puff Pastry by Reviews, Chews & How-Tos Strawberry Dark Chocolate Shor...

I had some leftover sausages from the dish I was going to make for Carnevale. And I wanted to try something new (to us). I remember seeing a photo of Toad in the Hole and decided to give it a go. The origin on the dish's name - Toad in the Hole - is somewhat disputed. The explanation that resonates with me: it resembles a toad sticking its head out of a hole. This was a hit for seventy-five percent of the family. The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf said: "It's too eggy - and there isn't enough flavor." But, heck, it was easy. And, for the record, I thought it had plenty of flavor. I read several different version of this recipe before coming up with this process. Note: this is my variation; it's not ultra-traditional. Ingredients cooked sausages (ours were chicken andouille - remember...I wrote non-traditional!) butter for greasing pan 1¼ C milk (I used whole milk) 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1 C flour (I used a white whole wheat) freshly ground salt fr...

I have always known that the day after Christmas is Boxing Day in the UK, Australia, and other Commonwealth nations; what I didn't know was what that meant. Honestly, I despise that sport, so I never took the time to read up on the holiday. Today that changed when a friend, on a social networking site, wrote about Boxing Day. When I realized that it's actually a day about goodwill and generosity - when wealthy people in Britain would give a box, with a gift, to their servants - I decided we would honor that with a British dish for dinner. Okay, you know me, it's more like a British- inspired dish. In the end, my cottage pie would probably be unrecognizeable to a real Brit. Oh, well. It was delicious. I learned, in my recipe hunt this afternoon, that the term 'cottage pie' is used when the meat inside is beef and 'shepherd's pie' refers to a lamb-based dish. The meat pie is topped with a potato crust and baked till the peaks are slightly browned. Not ...