Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This month for our Lit Happens book club, Amy of  Amy's Cooking Adventures  picked  Stargirl  by Jerry Spinnelli.* Though that is not a cook-from-the-book kinda group; I always find some kind of inspiration to create an edible of some kind! But first, the book... On the Page This book is a celebration of individuality and nonconformity set in a time - adolescence - when popularity and inclusion rely on conformity. Narrator Leo Borlock tells the tale of Stargirl Caraway's arrival at Mica High School where the tacit rule is: do not stand out under any circumstance! "We wanted to define her, to wrap her up as we did each other, but we could not seem to get past 'weird' and 'strange' and 'goofy'. Her ways knocked us off balance. A single word seemed to hover in the cloudless sky over the school: HUH?" (pg. 11). Stargirl was born Susan, then, she explains her evolution during her interview in the Hot Seat, a school-produced program. ...

Happy New Year and welcome to the fifth installment of the Winter Warm-Up Drink Series hosted by Ellen of  Family Around the Table ! I missed last week due to a crazy schedule, but there's one more that I have planned. Can't wait to share. Cheers. Sips to Warm You Up Aquavit & Tonic by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Cinnamon Cookie Butter Latte by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks Peppermint Bark Hot Cocoa by A Day in the Life on the Farm Vanilla Coffee by Our Good Life Vietnamese Coffee by Palatable Pastime About Aquavit I am sharing an Aquavit & Tonic because, while I love a good Gin & Tonic, aquavit has become my new favorite spirit. And since I just posted a recipe for Gløgg (Danish Mulled Wine) , pictured above, I knew I needed a new recipe to share. But I wanted to start with a quick primer on aquavit. Despite how long Scandinavians have been making and drinking aquavit, it's largely unknown outside of those countries. It's such a ...

I have cured salmon before, but one day when we were at a robotics competition I saw someone curing salmon with beets. Sorry! No one was curing salmon at the robotics competition, but staying in a hotel is the only time I can watch the Food Network since we don't have any television stations at home!  Now I can't remember who it was or what show it was on, but I loved the resulting color. So, I decided to give it a try myself. I simply adapted a previous salmon curing recipe that I love. Ingredients 1 C coarse sea salt 1 C raw turbinado sugar 1 t ground black pepper 1 organic beet, finely grated 3 springs fresh thyme aquavit (a Scandinavian alcohol flavored with caraway seeds and star anise) 2 pieces of wild-caught salmon, well matched in size and shape, if possible Procedure Mix the salt, sugar, pepper, and beets together. Divide into thirds. Spoon a third of the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap and place one of the salmon pieces on top of it, ...