Culinary Adventures with Camilla

   This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Quail & Olive . Complimentary product was provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links. However, all opinions expressed here are my own.   I learned something new today and thought I'd pass along my culinary enlightenment. I wanted to play with these co-pressed olive oils from  The Quail & Olive * to make some citrusy Easter cookies for this weekend and started to do some reading about the products.  I had always thought that these oils were infused. Nope . These are co-pressed which means that - at the time of milling - the grower take the olives and whatever is being used for flavoring and mills it at the same time! These aren't infused and don't use an essence; they use the real fruits. Wow. So, I decided to use the Lemon Olive Oil , Lime Olive Oil , and Blood Orange Olive Oil . The Blood Orange is the newest line-up from the Sciabica family in Modesto. Fresh blood ora...

I adore citrus curds. It's not just the sweet and tart combination, which I love, but they are so pretty and remind me of Easter eggs. I thought it fitting to whip up some Spring-hued curds for this weekend. I am not sure what we'll be slathering these on - brioche or biscuits are a possibility - but I wanted to share the process since you have time to make your own before this weekend's festivities. The ingredient list is the same for each, so I'll just share the proportions and process one time...with photos of the three different kinds that I made this time around: blood orange, Bearss lime, and Meyer lemon. These are not processed or preserved, so use the curd within a week. Ingredients makes approximately 3 cups of curd 1 cup freshly squeezed citrus juice 1 cup organic granulated sugar 6 eggs 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) salted butter Also needed: balloon whisk; clean jars with lids; plant-based food dye, optional* *I used a splash of plant-based green food dye for the ...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Melissa's Produce . I received complimentary product for the purpose of review and recipe development, but all opinions are honest and they are my own.  This page may contain affiliate links. Welcome to this year's #FreakyFruitsFriday event. The Halloween before last, I noticed that  Melissa's Produce *  had a section on their website for ' Freaky Fruits .' I really wanted to showcase recipes featuring those fruits, so I reached out to my contact at Melissa's and he agreed. This year, I emailed him, again, and he agreed, again. Woohoo. As the produce boxes started arriving, I realized that we had waaaaaaaay more produce than I could feature in just three Fridays in October. So, I decided that I would create some additional recipes and call it 'recipe testing.' The boys helped me brainstorm some ideas. You'll see most of these on the blog in this month. But, as I wrote, this is one of ...

This month Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen posted an invitation in our Food'N'Flix   Facebook group that she was hosting an event over at Fandom Foodies . Okay, I have never heard of that site, but I adore Heather's blog and she's always taking part in fun events. So, I hopped over and checked it out. Yep. Sounded like fun: find inspiration from any of the X-Men movies or comic books* and come up with a recipe. You can read Heather's invitation: here . Sounded like fun. So, I was in. View the round-up: here . On the Screen... If you're unfamiliar, the X-Men are genetic mutants. They are individuals born with special adaptations who have pledged to use their powers to protect both the mutant and the human races. I looked through our DVDs and talked to my resident X-Men fans to see what we should watch. We talked about the originals...then all of the spinoffs. Finally, I decided that I wanted to do something with a Japanese bent based on...

We adore cheesecake in this household. So, that was my dessert of choice yesterday. While we warmed up after a drippy hike and watched movies this afternoon, I experimented with a cheesecake that had two of my favorite ingredients: blood orange and saffron. Too bad my timing was waaaaay off. This takes a minimum of 10 hours, including chilling time. And ideally it takes more. As it was, I couldn't slice into this until 9 o'clock in the evening. Whoops. The boys will get to try it today...and Jake and I enjoyed it last night with a cordial of saffron liqueur, Liquore Strega . Cheers! Crust 3 C crushed graham crackers 1/2 C (one stick) butter, melted 2 T organic coconut sugar zest from one organic blood orange Mix all of the ingredients together until moist clumps form. Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a springform pan that's been wrapped in foil. Chill crust while preparing filling. Filling 3 - 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature 3/4 C or...

Before I start this post, I want to say that I made a HUGE mess. It was a gigantic, sticky, tasty mess. I had good intentions and my components were all perfect. But, when I tried to put them all together...let's just say, 'ugly' would be a generous description. I originally titled this post 'Gingo-Mars' but after I made them, they became Mess-omars. Caroline from Caroline Makes  is hosting  Food'N'Flix  this month. And her pick -  When Harry Met Sally  - is one I've probably seen fifty times. No exaggeration. Maybe more. When I was in high school, my best friend, Jenn, and I would make apple pies on Friday evenings and watch it ad nauseum; we were real party-girls, can't you tell?!? Click  here  to see Caroline's invitation to her movie selection. Please, forgive the long, long, Dostoyevsky-long post. This is one of my favorite movies of all time! So, one night, I pulled out my DVD and Jake and I watched it again. I had a notepad and ...