Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I needed candied rose petals for the birthday cake tonight. So, I posed the question on facebook - Anyone local to me have any organic roses in bloom? - and Belle answered. I stopped by her house on my way home from work last night and picked up a few roses in various shades, from an inky bordeaux to a vibrant azalea to a delicate icy pink. She even gave me a few extra - for the learning curve. Thank you, Belle! Then I snagged a brand new paint brush from Jake's studio. Yes, it was new. And, yes, I did wash it and thank him profusely. Candying rose petals isn't like candying citrus. This is tad more delicate. But the results are gorgeous. It's well worth the effort. And if you happen to have a helpful kitchen elf, rope him (or her) into helping you. Ingredients organic rose petals 1 egg white organic granulated sugar Procedure Beat your egg white in a mixing bowl until soft peaks form. Place granulated sugar on a saucer. Using a clean brush, coa...

We brought D's Pasticiotto [click title for the recipe post] to our friends' house for dinner. It was a hit!  For the adults, they got to sip some limoncello with their slice. Nice job, Wombat.

D recently discovered Cake Boss on netflix. Needless to say, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf has been bugging me to make a cake all weekend. At least he prefaced it with this: "I want to make a cake that tastes good...not like the ones that they make in Carlo's Bakery, Mom." Ahhh, sweet boy. I think he was appalled when he saw them cover styrofoam in fondant just to make something look right. He, first, went through Perfect Cakes by Nick Maglieri, then he pulled the  Booze Cakes  cookbook I reviewed off the shelf and picked a recipe. I promised to help him make it kid-friendly. Candied Lemon 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 C water 1 C thinly sliced organic lemons Place the water and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved. Lay the slices in the syrup so that they are all flat and all submerged. Simmer until the rind is softened and translucent in places. Approximately 5-7 minutes. Remove from the syrup with a slotte...

Every so often, the boys ask if I can teach them how to make something. D recently requested saffron rice. Sure thing! This may not be a traditional recipe, but it's tasty. He also whipped up a curried veggie soup to go with it. 2 C uncooked medium grain brown rice 3/4 t crushed saffron threads 3 T butter splash of olive oil 6 whole cardamom seed pods 4 whole cloves 3 cinnamon sticks 1 onion, peeled and diced 3 C organic chicken stock, boiling 1 teaspoon salt Soak the rice in cold water for half an hour or so. Soak your saffron threads in 2 T of boiling water. In a large flat-bottom pan, melt the butter in a splash of olive oil. Add the spices - cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon - and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. They'll begin to let off an amazing aroma! Add in the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Stir in the rice, coating them completely with the butter and oil. Cook over low heat for about ...

"It's Befana Day!" hollered the Wombat when he climbed out of bed at 5:35am. I was in the middle of my third 1-minute plank and sweat was pouring from my brow. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.... I hissed. People are still sleeping. "You're not sleeping, Mommy." True. Just be quiet, okay? He came downstairs clutching our tattered copy of The Legend of Old Befana , curled up under a down blanket, and watched me finish my workout. As soon as I was done, he burst, "Mommy, I need to check and see what Befana brought for us!" Okay. According to Italian folklore, Befana is a woman on a broomstick, enticed by gifts of wine, who brings treats for all the girls and boys on the eve of the Epiphany. A baking, tipsy witch. Sounds like my kinda gal. So to usher in the Epiphany AKA Befana Day in our household, I baked some brioche - recipe post to come! - and we slathered it with homemade marscarpone and Aunt Jenn's cherry jam. But Dylan was only concerned with w...

As part of Dylan's May the Forks Be With You brunch , we made some kebabs, calling them Obi Wan Kebabis. I made one savory and one sweet. Actually, the boys did. And they have the skewer pricks on their fingers to prove it! SWEET = fresh blueberries and blackberries SAVORY = Sesame Gluten-Free Soy Meatballs  + Balsamic Glazed Butternut Squash (it's the same process with squash instead of pumpkin) + Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

When the family festivities continued, they wanted to do a dinner at my aunt and uncle's timeshare. And they asked if the enthusiastic kitchen elf would make something. He immediately declared, "I'm going to make Lion's Head Soup for them, Mommy." And he did. He brought his own utensils, my pots, and the ingredients. It was a hit! I think the family was impressed with his culinary prowess. 2 lbs ground meat (we used turkey) 1/2 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, diced 4 shallots, diced 2 T gluten-free flour 2 T minced ginger 2 T minced garlic 4 T minced cilantro 1 bunch collard greens 1 C roughly chopped oyster mushrooms 1 bunch baby onions with greens, sliced freshly ground pepper 6 T gluten-free soy sauce 4 T toasted sesame oil 8 C organic chicken broth 1. Wash and dry the greens. Cut crosswise into 1/2" strips. 2. In a medium bowl, combine the turkey with the onion, garlic, shallots, ginger, and 2 T cilantro. Mix ...

Two things my soon-to-be-10-year-old wanted for his birthday: to visit the Star Wars exhibit at the Tech Museum with his friends and have a tasting party. Food is really, really important to that kid. I'm not quite sure where he gets that. Kidding, of course! So, we booked the Tech and I set out to create a menu with Star Wars ties. Here's what we came up with... I'll be posting recipes soon. Stay tuned!

When Dylan came home with his Secret Santa assignment, he declared: "I'm going to bake him cookies. Red ones. Because red is his favorite color." I explained that would require food coloring - or beets - so he opted to make them peppermint. Riley's comment made me laugh - "you know that peppermint is green, right?"  But Dylan was adamant. He retorted, "The candies are red...and white!" I love his note: "Happy Holly Days." That actually makes sense. 1 C butter, softened ½ C organic granulated sugar 1½ C organic coconut sugar 2 eggs 1 t peppermint extract 1 t pure vanilla extract 2¾ C white whole wheat flour 1t baking soda 1½ t baking powder 2¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars in a mixing bowl until lightened and fluffy. Add eggs and extracts and beat for another minute or two. Fold in baking soda, baking powder, and flour with a stiff spatu...

This morning when we were at the market, Riley asked if I would make a pumpkin pie today. I agreed. And he handed me a Japanese kabocha squash. Can you use this? Okay. I roasted it and made  pumpkin puree . This afternoon I had the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf help me. The Crust 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/4 C ground almonds 1/2 C powdered sugar pinch of salt 3/4 C butter Mix the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt; rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in 1 teaspoon of water with a fork until the mixture forms a ball. Roll out between two pieces of parchment paper. Press gently into a pie pan. Chill in the freezer until ready to bake. The Pie 3 C  pumpkin puree 1 C heavy cream 3 eggs 1/3 cup ginger syrup 3 T organic brown sugar ground cinnamon ground cloves ground nutmeg pure vanilla extract Just a note, Dylan is a spice fiend...and he doesn't measure. He just adds spices until it smells the way that ...

Bolstered by his Pickled Green Tomato Adventure , Dylan plunged head-long into creating his very own pear jam. I reminded him of our Pear-Vanilla Bean Jam , our Pear-Rhubarb-Rosemary Conserve , and told him we could do a version of our Apple Butter ...with pears. But, in true foodie fashion, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf decided to do his own thing. Actually, he wanted to do a Pear-Curry Jam. I steered him away from that for the night. Maybe when a smaller batch is at stake! Here's what he made... 10 pears (liberated - with permission, I hope! - from the neighbor's yard) 2 C organic granulated sugar 1 C water juice from 1 lime 1 T ginger syrup 1 star anise 1 green cardamom pod, crushed dash of ground cloves dash of ground cardamom 2 dashes of ground nutmeg 2 dashes of ground cinnamon 1 t pure vanilla extract Place all of the ingredients - except the juice from the lime and the ginger syrup - in a large flat-bottom pan. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and sim...

Yesterday I picked up my kids - from my parents' house - and Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf had a box full of green cherry tomatoes and pockets full of pears. Mom , he gushed, I want to make pickled tomatoes and pear jam tonight!  Well, we were busy last night, so I stalled him. But his enthusiasm hasn't waned, so tonight is the night. First up: pickled green tomatoes from my parents' friend's garden. I found several different version of this recipe and melded a few together for my own batch. I accidentally forgot to add in a few tablespoons of sugar, but I found several pickle recipes without sugar. So, I didn't fret too much. firm green cherry tomatoes (we had enough to fill 8 half-pint jars) 2-1/2 C water 2-1/2 C white vinegar 1/2 C garlic salt 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved whole coriander seeds 8 bay leaves Bring water, vinegar, and salt to boil in a non-reactive saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes. In the meantime, poke a hole with a toothpic...

We are plowing ahead in our Cooking Around the World Adventure , taking full advantage of longer summer evenings and lack of homework and a schedule. I have to catch up on the blogging part of the process, so forgive me as I skip ahead a few countries. It's just that this meal rated so highly with my boys, I figured I'd go here first. But, I need to write a disclaimer. Throughout this adventure, my goal has been to teach the boys about different countries and their culinary traditions; it has not been about creating wholly traditional dishes. We improvise. A lot. And that was another goal - to give my kitchen elves some creative license, to experiment with herbs and spices, to get inventive. And, boy, did Kitchen Elf 2...he went to town with this dish. Let's start with the country: Montenegro . For much of the 20th century Montenegro was a part of Yugoslavia; from 2003 to 2006 it was a component of the federated union of Serbia and Montenegro. That explains why w...