Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is hosting the French Winophiles this month with a focus on romance. She writes: "February is the month we celebrate Love. It is also the coldest month of the year so maybe that has more to do with the snuggling than Cupid. LOL." She continues, "What wine means romance to you? Do bubbles tickle your fancy? Or perhaps a strong Bordeaux with a steak shows your love. Maybe something from the Sea with a crisp, bright white." If you are reading this soon enough, feel free to join in our Twitter chat on Saturday, February 19th at 8am Pacific time. Just follow the hashtag #Winophiles and be sure to add it to anything you tweet so we can see it. In the meantime, here are the articles planned by the French Winophiles... Susannah of Avvinare is Falling In Love All Over Again, With Champagne. Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles shares "Finding the right wine for Romance…we chose a trip to the Loire".  Camilla of Culinary Adve...

Welcome to the September #SoupSwappers event. Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  started this group and I'm always grateful to have a few more recipes to try. This month, Sneha of   Sneha's Recipe  is hosting and the bloggers are sharing spicy soup recipes  Here's the line-up of spicy deliciousness... Cajun Gumbo with Chicken, Andouille, and Shrimp + 2018 Maricool Muscadet by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Fire Roasted Hatch Chili and Corn Soup by Magical Ingredients Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup  by A Day in the Life on the Farm Make-Ahead Spicy Oktoberfest Meatball Stew by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice Sambrasam by Sneha's Recipe  Sausage, Vegetable, and Bean Soup by Karen’s Kitchen Stories   In the Bowl While confusion abounds about the difference between Cajun and Creole, I found that Cajun gumbo is characterized by a deeply hued roux without tomatoes. I...

Last month,  Food'N'Flix  returned after a brief hiatus. Oh, happy day. I've missed this food-loving, flick-watching group. And this month, the group's creator - Heather of  All Roads Lead to the Kitchen  - is hosting again. You can read  her invitation  here, but she's invited us to watch The Princess and the Frog.* Initially, I put the movie in my Netflix queue because I didn't think my household would be interested in owning a movie about a princess. Remember, I am a permanent resident of Testosterone Land with a husband and two teenage boys. However, I was pleasantly surprised that (1) they wanted to watch the movie with me for this post, (2) they really liked it, and (3) they wanted to own it...or, at least, the soundtrack. I sprung for the movie. On the Screen R mentioned some fact about this being the last hand-drawn Disney movie. I didn't verify it for myself, but it certainly had the look of the older Disney movies...the ones tha...

Today is our third post of April for our Kitchen Matrix Project, named after Mark Bittman's  Kitchen Matrix  cookbook. You can read about the year-long project:  here . This month, Wendy from  A Day in the Life on the Farm  chose the recipes. This week, she selected 'Sautéed Shrimp + 3 Ways'. You can read  Bittman's shrimp recipes online  if you don't have a copy of the cookbook. You'll notice that the sautéed options are: Garlic and Saffron, Fermented Black Beans, and Caper and Olives. Whoops. I didn't read the recipe planner very carefully, opened up the cookbook, and told my trio to pick the shrimp recipe they wanted to try. They selected 'Cajun'. It wasn't until today that I realized that that fell under the broiled list and, so, not one of Wendy's sautéed choices. Yikes. Well, my boys had their hearts set on Cajun, so I went Cajun and just tossed it in the pan instead of in the oven. So...slightly adapted! All the Sautéed Shrimp...

While I am usually excited when their homework projects involve food, I have to admit that I was not exactly thrilled when D announced that he had to make a version of a shrimp boil for Friday morning. What?!?! "It's fine, Mom. I already translated it into Spanish and made the grocery list. You just need to get the ingredients and help me on Thursday night." Thursday night? As in Riley's birthday dinner night?! "Oh, can we get up early on Friday morning and you can help me then?" That might work. "Ooops, no, it won't work. I have to film the cooking and I don't want to be doing it at the last minute." So, after dinner, I cleared the birthday party remnants, put away the leftovers, scrubbed the spots on the tablecloth, started the laundry, and did the dishes... then we started.  Ingredients 2 T spice (we used Slap Ya Mama Cajun Spice because I didn't have any Old Bay) + more for sprinkling 1 ...

This weekend, the Sunday Supper Tastemakers are posting about Mardi Gras . The name means 'Fat Tuesday,' in French, reflecting the practice of eating rich foods on the last evening before fasting for Lent! Event host Marion of  Life Tastes Good   invited the Tastemakers to "create easy versions of Mardi Gras-inspired recipes such as jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee, king cake, crawfish boils, beignets, muffulettas, and more to celebrate!" Laissez le bon temps rouler! The Other Mardi Gras Creations Appetizers Andouille and Crawfish Pimento Cheese Fries by Soulfully Made Hot Louisiana Shrimp Dip by Sprinkles and Sprouts Mardi Gras Muffaletta Dip by For the Love of Food Piquant Shrimp Balls by Food Lust People Love Trinidadian doubles by Caroline’s Cooking Main Dishes Andouille and Chicken Gumbo by Delaware Girl Eats Bananas Foster French Toast by A Mind “Full” Mom Bananas Foster Baked Oatmeal by Cooking With Carlee Blackened Shrimp Pasta by...

Coming up with a menu that included THIRTEEN different Cajun dishes - to celebrate D's 13th birthday - was challenging enough. Then, add to that, all the dishes needed to be able to be cooked - by kids - and consumed within a two and a half hour window. That was a little more challenging. I found a recipe for Maque Choux and knew that would be an easy addition. Maque Choux is a traditional sidedish from southern Louisiana whose name is thought to derive from the French interpretation of the Native American name. Ingredients 4 T butter 2 C diced onions 1 C diced green bell pepper 4 C corn kernels (we used a mixture of white and yellow) 1 C organic heavy whipping cream 1 t fresh thyme 1 t salt 1 t organic dark brown sugar 1/2 t hot sauce, optional (I think that J opted not to include that) Procedure Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until translucent, approximately 5 minute...

Many years ago - before we had D, so R was probably only 17 months old - we went to a Creole restaurant with the Nonni . Nonna ordered hush puppies and told R that he would love them. He had a horrified look on this face and refused to eat them. "No puppies!" he hollered at my mom. She tried to explain that there were no puppies involved. It's cornbread, silly boy. "No puppies! No puppies! No puppies!" Last night we stopped in at Roux Dat (click to read about our first trip there ) on our way home from San Francisco. We told R the story and he jokingly said "No puppies!" and we took these photos for my mom.  "NO Puppies!" One of these days I'll have to make homemade hush puppies. Because, now that he knows there are no canines involved, he loved them. We also ordered Shrimp and Sweet Corn Étouffée... ...Chicken Creole, Jambalaya, and this...I can't remember what it was. But it was delicious!