Culinary Adventures with Camilla

   This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kobrand Wine and Spirits in conjunction with their  #TurkeyDayRosé   event.  Complimentary wine was provided for this post  though no other compensation was received. This page may contain affiliate links. " Now the little rooster was all alone with the dead little hen. He dug a grave for her and laid her inside. Then he made a mound on top, and sat on it, and grieved there so long that he too died. And then everyone was dead."  ~  The Death of the Little Hen The Death of the Little Hen(s) AIX 2019 Rosé If you have been following me through any holiday season in the past, you'll know that I don't roast turkeys for Thanksgiving. Truth be told, I don't roast turkey for any holiday. But this year, with our socially distanced feast that was only for the four of us plus a masked delivery to my parents, I decided that Cornish game hens were the way to go. My family joked that I was making turk...

If you, like me, have leftover roasted poultry from Thanksgiving, this is an easy way to use that up and give it a different look. Since we are still sheltered-in-place and didn't have a big Thanksgiving feast, I opted to roast Cornish game hens as an individual sized main dish.  The boys joked that these were turkeys for elves or hobbits. Okay. And since we had such a large menu, we ended up with lots of leftover hen meat.  Ingredients serves 4 2 cups cooked Cornish game hens, shredded (or use chicken) 3/4 cup mayonnaise 1/2 cup diced pickles (I used homemade bread and butter pickles) 1 to 2 teaspoons mustard, depending on preference (start with 1 teaspoon) 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika freshly ground salt, as needed freshly ground pepper, as needed Also needed: bread, lightly toasted (I used a homemade sourdough) or crackers for serving Procedure Pull the meat from the hens. I ended up with about 2 cups. Roughly chop the meat and place it in a medium mixing bowl. Combine all ...

If you've been following me at all over the past few weeks, you'll know that I've been a little gingerbread-mad - as in I've made half a dozen different kinds of gingerbread cookies, including Speculaas , Gingernuts , and  Ontbijtkoek ; I've also made gingerbread cake three times in a month! But that recipe hasn't posted yet. Soon, I promise. So, when Sue of Palatable Pastime , announced the theme of this month's #BakingBloggers, I knew I had to join in. She wrote: "The topic of the month for December will be baking gingerbread - anything gingerbread goes, as long as some part of it is baked. Gingerbread houses, gingerbread cookies, gingersnaps, gingerbread, sauerbraten (with gingersnap gravy), gingerbread flavored "this and that"...let your creativity soar!" The #BakingBloggers' Offerings Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Glaze by Sneha's Recipe Ginger Cream Sandwich Cake by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking Gingerbread Madele...

For this round - our December-January selection - of  Cook the Books , the book selection was chosen by Debra from  Eliot's Eats . She chose  Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome  by Crystal King.* You can read Debra's invitation in the book announcements:  here . On the Page I first read this book on our ten-day camping trip last July along the Eastern Sierras. I swung in the hammock, breathing in the clean mountain air, and devouring King's book. Actually, I read a lot of books during the trip, but this was the first...and my favorite. Then, in preparation for this event, I read it again. Let me start with this: I love this book. What's not to love, right? Food, history, love, passion, betrayal, and ancient Rome. I became enamored by ancient Rome when I studied Latin in high school. And that passion was only flamed more when I lived in Rome for a year after college. Visiting those sites, walking among the ruins...I get misty-eyed just thin...

Another main dish I cooked for Brian's Game of Thrones birthday lunch : honeyed fowl. And I didn't want to just serve chicken, so I opted for duck and Cornish game hens. I considered quail, too, but realized I would need about 50 quail to feed our hungry troops. The duck was easy. I adapted my Maple-Syrup Glazed Duck by simply swapping out local, raw honey for the maple syrup during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Easy peasy. I served it with a Pinot Noir reduction on the side. I haven't made Cornish game hens in about a decade. I don't know why. It just doesn't occur to me to purchase them. However, after the reception they received, I will definitely make them again. 2 Cornish game hens 5 lemons 2 clementines hickory salt - enough to rub the birds inside and out 5 T butter, melted honey - enough to drizzle over the top Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Take any innards from the hen cavity. Rinse, dry, and rub with hickory salt.  When your birds...