Culinary Adventures with Camilla

As I move ahead in my  Foodie Reads Challenge  this month, I dove into  Kitchens of the Great Midwest   by J. Ryan Stradal.* On the Page... I picked up this - and six other foodie reads that caught my eye - when I was at a bookstore with two of my best girl friends this past weekend. The gal I've known for almost thirty years rounded the corner before the cash register, noticed the stack of books under my arm, and just started laughing. What? I demanded. You know I'll read all of these...probably before summer vacation.  "I know you will," she said. That afternoon, I went home, curled up on the couch and dug into this one. I read half of the book before meeting up with my cousin and her family for dinner; I read the second half when we came home. So, while it is a quick read, I can't say that I really enjoyed it. Instead of a complete story, this is more a series of abrupt vignettes from throughout Eva's life. We are introduced to her pa...

So, one of the premises of our Cooking Around the World Adventure: explore different countries by cooking a traditional meal. As we are wrapping up the 'F' countries with a tabletop trip to France, I half-heartedly suggested escargots. The response was not enthusiastic. My husband said he'd strike - only for that one meal, of course; my usually agreeable Dylan said, quite tepidly, "ohhhhhhh, okay, Mommy"; and Riley gave me a disapproving look and didn't say a word. "What do you think of when I say 'France'?" I queried. I have never heard them answer in such unison before: "Pastries!" they hollered. Oh, brother! I suggested quiche . No. Coq au vin . Nope. We all agreed on French Onion Soup. onions thyme butter beef boullion pink Himalaya salt white wine bread, sliced (I used some day-old ciabatta) gruyère Peel and slice 3lbs of organic yellow onions. Cook onions, thyme, and salt in butter in a 4- to 5-quart heav...