Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Last year I saw a post from one of my favorite bloggers - Wendy at  A Day in the Life on the Farm  - and I realized that they've been having a muffin party for years without me. LOL. I emailed the host, Stacy of  Food Lust People Love  and got the scoop: "...last Monday of the month and no themes. We've been baking together since August 2015! Only one rule, you must use the muffin method (folding wet ingredients with dry - no creaming butter and sugar, etc.) to bake muffins."  I wasn't very good about joining in this year, but this month, I couldn't resist. This is the December #MuffinMonday line-up... Blueberry Orange Muffins from Food Lust People Love Chocolate Clementine Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm Cranberry Apple Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal Egg Nog Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories Samosa Muffins from Magical Ingredients 'Tis the Season Muffin...

I love the Fantastical Food Fight coordinated by Sarah of  Fantastical Sharing of Recipes . For more information about the event, click  here . This month, she challenged us to make gingerbread! If you've followed me through any holiday season, you know my family is a little gingerbread crazy. I mean just look at my husband's gingerbread house! Yes, those are lights inside. Me? I have a gingerbread scarf that comes out this time every year... The boys always help with some version of gingerbread cookies. One year D made Chewbacca Gingies for his Secret Santa buddy. R helped me decorate the Krampus Gingerbread Minions . I already have two new gingerbread recipes in the works, including Gingernuts, inspired by BBC's Sherlock , and a Gingerbread Layer Cake with Bourbon Frosting that will be on the table for one of my best friend's birthdays this weekend. But the one gingerbread recipe that makes an appearance every single year, however, is Gingerbr...

HomeLife Magazine published my Kruidnoten (Ginger Nuts) recipe in their December issue's "It's Cookie Time Again!" piece. Here's a link to the recipe on my blog . You can also see Peppermint Snowball Cookies from my blogging pal Katrina at Baking and Boys ...and a Chocolate-Kissed Gingerbread from Sarah. I don't know her, but her cookies look delightful.

As we have already cooked a Dutch dinner, I'm simply reposting those recipes and counting it as our tabletop travel to the Netherlands during this Cooking Around the World Adventure . Quick background: I lived in Holland for three years as a kid. I went to pre-school and kindergarten there. I spoke Dutch fluently; well, fluently for a five or six-year-old. And I thought that I really was Dutch. I lamented my black hair, brown eyes, and weird name; I wanted to look like my friends. I swore to my mom that when I turned eighteen I was going to dye my hair and legally change my name to a Dutch name. Thankfully, that was a fleeting fancy. I am very happy with my dark looks and unusual name now. But I still have my  klompens  and I still put carrots and celery in them for Sinter Klaas on Christmas Eve. And I still love, love, love, love, love my tulips. So, despite realizing that I am not Dutch, Dutch traditions still hold a dear place in my heart. For dinner...  Voori...

I love meeting new bloggers and it's always a bonus when they love what they've cooked from my blog. Meet Kate from Food Babbles . She adapted my Vanilla Bean Pannekoeken to create her Strawberry Vanilla Bean Dutch Babies . Love it! Photo from Food Babbles ' Strawberry Vanilla Bean Dutch Babies post, 2/4/2013

In France, this is called mimolette - or Boule de Lille - as it is traditionally produced around the city of Lille, France. This is a Dutch version which is called commissiekaas . The story goes that King Louis XIV was searching for a native French product to replace the very popular Dutch Edam. To differentiate it from Edam, he had it colored orange with annatto seeds. Dutch cheesemakers took it right back and created their own "mimolette." Made with cow's milk, it has a grey crust which is the result of cheese mites intentionally introduced to the surface of the cheese! As it ages, its taste changes. A young  commissiekaas tastes vaguely like parmesan and it somewhat soft. I prefer it with a harder texture and a stronger flavor. This piece, that I picked up at the Cheese Shop, reminded me of hazelnuts. Though we savored this in small chunks, I'm thinking about getting another piece and doing something with chocolate and hazelnuts. If I do, you'll see i...