Culinary Adventures with Camilla

To end the evening for R's fundraising dinner on Sunday, I wanted a dessert that looked impressive, could be served family-style at the table, and was either Italian or Greek. I considered trays of baklava until I realized that I've never made that. And this was not a time to experiment.  So, I landed on my fall-back: tiramisù. It was a hit. Pare the amounts down for the servings that you need. I needed to serve a crowd, but this can easily be cut in half or thirds.  Also, you want to assemble this dessert the night before you're serving so that the flavors have a chance to combine and the cookies soften. Ingredients  serves 30 6 packages of lady finger cookies (I only used 5-1/2) 3 C + 1 C espresso or strongly brewed coffee 1 C liqueur (I used a chocolate whiskey for this version) 12 eggs, separated into yolks and whites 12 T organic granulated sugar five 8-ounce tubs mascarpone cheese 6 C organic heavy whipping cream unsweetened cocoa pow...

Picture this: I walk into a room with a piece of paper and a pen. "I'm going to the store to pick up groceries for tomorrow. What do you want? Anything at all," I say. I get a blank stare in response and, then, a quizzical, Why?  So, I write the number 43 on the piece of paper and hold it up. Oh, is that tomorrow? "Yes. Tomorrow is your birthday and I'm taking requests for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert." Most people would jump at the opportunity to name whatever they want to eat for an entire day...from my kitchen. Seriously. The boys make requests down to the snacks on their birthdays. But my husband just looked at me and said, "I can only think of two things right now: tiramisù and beer." Fine.  Twenty years ago, I took my new boyfriend on a birthday camping trip. On the morning of his 23rd birthday, he woke up and told me that he was going to marry me. I almost left him there...on the bank of a river. I'm glad I didn...

When you have friends who love to read, you always have a steady stream of either the books themselves or the inspiration to track down books. When I commented on Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm 's post about an Double Crust Deep Dish Apple Pie + Book Review , she offered to send me the book. That's just the way she is: sweet, generous, and an avid reader. So, when I saw a package from her in my mailbox, I did a jig and tore it open. Thanks for sending me  The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller*, Wendy. What a fun, delicious read! On the Page When I first cracked the cover of the book, I wasn't sure I would like the main character. When we first meet Olivia Rawlings, she admits to having an affair with a married man - her boss - and to setting the restaurant on fire. Wow! That's not a spoiler, by the way, it's on the very first page. But as I turned the pages, voraciously devouring the prose, I found myself chuckling, s...

For this round - our August-September selection - of  Cook the Books , the book selection was chosen by Deb from  Kahakai Kitchen . She chose  Farmer Boy  by Laura Ingalls Wilder.* You can read Deb's invitation in the book announcements:  here . Deb wrote: " Farmer Boy is the second book of the Little House series and was first published in 1933. It is the only book that does not focus on the childhood and life of Laura Ingalls and instead focuses on the childhood of her future husband, Almanzo Wilder. Set in the 1860s in upstate New York, before Laura Ingalls was even born, it begins just before Almanzo's ninth birthday and details life on the Wilder family's farm. Almanzo is pretty much constantly hungry and apparently quite the foodie, so I think we'll have a lot of fun exploring the food and recipes of America in the 1860s as we step back into childhood with this selection." On the Page I loved the book series when I was a kid; I remember r...

A couple of weekends ago, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf made a {Gluten-Free} Brown Butter-Espresso Pecan Pie for a birthday dinner party. I asked him to reprise the dessert for our Thanksgiving feast. He promptly agreed, but said, "I have to make a change, though, to make it perfect." Okay. His change: the Precise Kitchen Elf said it needed more coffee flavor, so D doubled the espresso powder. Wow. Ingredients   makes one 9" pie Crust 1-1/4 C gluten-free flour 1-1/2 t organic granulated sugar 1/2 t vanilla salt 1/2 C butter (1 stick), cubed cold water Filling 8 ounces raw pecan halves 8 ounces Medjool dates, pitted and chopped 3 T brewed espresso 1/2 C butter (1 stick) 1 C packed organic light brown sugar 7/8 C bourbon maple syrup 1 T instant espresso powder 1-1/2 t vanilla salt 3 large eggs whipped cream or ice cream for serving (for our Thanksgiving feast, we picked two flavors from a new artisanal ice cream shop downtown:...

A couple of weeks ago, the latest issue of Food & Wine  arrived in my mailbox. On the cover was a pie; the description read: "This recipe with ruin you for every other pecan pie. Find out why on [page]...." Okay. I'm intrigued. Pecan pie is one of my favorites. Here's the recipe from their website: here . But days went by and eventually, the boys asked, "What about that pie?"  What pie?  "The pie that will ruin us for all other pies."  Oh, that pie. Since I needed a dessert for a birthday party, I asked the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf if he'd make it for me while I worked on all the other dishes. He agreed. We made slight modifications: we made it gluten-free; we swapped out the corn syrup for bourbon maple syrup; we used instant coffee instead of instant espresso; we toasted the pecans on the stovetop instead of in the oven; and we added a vanilla salt. Otherwise, he stayed mostly true to the recipe. After ...