Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I have been doing a lot of reading. A. Lot. And I have been on a Marie Benedict streak recently. I first read one of her books back in 2020 when I made Sarma (Serbian Cabbage Rolls) after reading The Other Einstein. Benedict writes historical fiction that shines the spotlight on women whose stories you may not know. Honestly, you might not even know their names! Obviously I knew who Winston Churchill was. But I had never heard the name Clementine Churchill nor did I know the role she played in her husband's career and government. Lady Clementine  by Marie Benedict is her story. I already admitted that I didn’t know anything about Clementine Churchill. Benedict portrays her as strong, independent, and fiercely intelligent woman who serves as confidant and advisor to her husband. While she bolsters him in private and in public, she is also required to play the traditional role of wife and mother. Churchill demands that of her and minimizes her influence to others much to her dismay....

Welcome to the August #SoupSwappers event. Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  started this group and I'm always grateful to have a few more recipes to try. This month, Wendy herself is hosting and the bloggers are sharing soup recipes made with mushrooms of all kinds. Here's the line-up... Clear Oyster Mushroom Soup by Sneha's Recipe  Cream of Mushrooms Soup by Culinary Adventures with Camilla  Homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup by Palatable Pastime  Slow Cooker Mushroom Soup by A Day in the Life on the Farm  Sherried Cream of Mushroom Soup by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking   Cream of Mushrooms Soup No, that's not a typo. I do mean cream of mushrooms, with an 's'. I adore the deep, earthy flavors of mushrooms and use as many different kinds as I can find in the market on a given day. I also love that this homemade soup is ready to eat in just a few simple steps. Ingredients   4 Tablespoons butter 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 cup diced onion...

I have long been a fan of George Mahood's writing. Last year I read three of his books and did recipe posts for each one. You can click on the title to go to that original post -   Not Tonight, Josephine: A Road Trip Through Small-Town America ; Free Country: A Penniless Adventure the Length of Britain ; and Travels with Rachel: In Search of South America . So, when I saw  Every Day Is a Holiday  by George Mahood* I ordered it immediately. On the Page I am not sure if it was the subject matter - Mahood details the first six months of a year as he attempts to celebrate off-the-wall holidays each and every day - or what...but this is my least favorite Mahood book. Sorry, George.  It was an interesting premise that grew a little tedious. As an example of holidays, we're talking about No Housework Day, National Beer Day, Caramel Popcorn Day, Nutella Day, etc. He writes, "Fruitcake Toss Day is a strange day. The idea is that you can finally get rid of that fruitcak...

This month the Italian Food Wine Travel bloggers are focusing on Italian sparkling wines with Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog at the head. You can read Martin's invitation:  here . If you're reading this early enough, please join our chat on Twitter – whether you posted or not.  We love visitors and happily chat and answer questions. Simply follow the   #italianfwt   hashtag on Twitter this Saturday, December 1st at 11am ET/8am PT. The Rest of the Bubbly Group Here’s what’s my fellow #ItalianFWT wine and food writers will be sharing! Lynn of Savor the Harvest suggests  A Medley of Italian Sparkling Wines . Jeff of FoodWineClick! want us to Sparkle Your Dessert with Moscato d’Asti . Jen of Vino Travels ~ An Italian Wine Blog pairs  Spaghetti with Clams and a Flight of Adami Prosecco . Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will be dishing up Italian Bubbles + Lasagna Bianca. Wendy...

This is a new-to-me event: the 5th Annual Pieathalon which is hosted by Emily of Dinner is Served 1972 . And I'm looking forward to seeing how Kelli, of Kelli's Kitchen , did with my Chocolate Mousse Pie. She tagged me when she was baking, telling me: "It's only 1:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday and I'm a bit tipsy trying to follow a somewhat complicated recipe --- and it's YOUR fault!! Guess who got your pie recipe?!?!? Woo Hoo! :) I think this is going to be delicious!!" I'm glad she had a positive attitude about the adventure. Since I'm new to this whole Pieathalon thing, I'll share the rules with my readers.  1. Pick a pie recipe from a pre-1990 cookbook. 2. Email it to Emily. 3. She assigns it randomly to another pieathlete. 4. We bake. 5. We post. 6. We share. Before the fun and games started, I made a Foraged Huckleberry Pie just to get my pie-making brain into gear. The boys did not object. I sent off t...

I love the Fantastical Food Fight coordinated by Sarah of  Fantastical Sharing of Recipes . For more information about the event, click  here . I haven't been very good at participating, but this month, I couldn't resist.  Our theme for the month is: Julia Child in honor of her birthday; so the group must be a Julia Child or Julia Child-inspired recipe. The Julia Child Fantastical Food Fight An InLinkz Link-up Poulet au Porto Chicken with Port Wine, Cream and Mushrooms I'll just start with this: this is a very loose adaptation of the version at juliachildsrecipes.com ( here ). Very loose. I was inspired by her recipe, but wanted to have crispy chicken skin...and I didn't have any cognac to set aflame though I am certain that my boys would have loved that detail. In any case, this is my version of a Julia Child recipe; this is not her recipe. For example, she starts with already roasted chicken. I opted to cook my chicken thighs on the ...

I was looking at ways to churn butter in my food processor, but the boys insisted, "Mom, let us do. We're going to shake it in a jar." Sounds fine . Apparently, they've done this with my mom several times. And while I know there is a more simple - and less messy - way to accomplish turning cream into butter, I never turn down a chance to let the Kitchen Elves do their thing. Ingredients 2 C whipping cream salt and fresh herbs are optional (I wanted them, they vetoed) Also needed: quart mason jar with lid, mesh strainer, cheesecloth Procedure Pour cream into a lidded jar, filling it up about 2/3 full.  We repeated the process to finish the entire pint. Next time I'll get a bigger jar.  Shake.  I'm not kidding.  Just shake. We put on some good music and shook that jar like a maraca. Once the cream is to the point where it's holding peaks, place a mesh strainer and cheesecloth over a mixing bowl and compress the cream with a spoon...