Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I was in charge of making desserts for the robotics team's fundraising dinner this past weekend. So, I decided to have some fun and made nine - yes, nine! - different sweets. Because we were at an Italian restaurant, I wanted to make a few tradition Italian desserts. This crostata is easy to make and relatively quick. I do use a scale for the ingredients (weight versus volume) as that it more accurate for baking. I made this version with pre-made fig preserves; and I made a version that was half fig preserves and half orange marmalade. I hear that both were delicious. Ingredients makes one 9" crostata, serves 12 100 g organic granulated sugar 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk 80 g oil (I used canola oil) zest of 1 organic lemon (I used a Meyer lemon since my parents have a tree in their yard) 280 g flour (I used all-purpose flour) pinch of salt 1 t baking powder 6 to 8 ounces of jam (I used fig preserves) Also needed: 9" tart pan with removable bottom, parchme...

Gluten-free baking requires a lot more ingredients than using regular flour. And I used to be intimidated by that. But, after months of experimenting, I think I finally have it dialed in. It has definitely made me weigh my dry ingredients for precision. I had some leftover saffron cream this weekend, so I wanted to turn it into a sweet topping for a breakfast cake. Done. Ingredients  makes one 9" square cake 100 g brown rice flour 100 g white rice flour 120 g packed organic dark brown sugar 120 g organic granulated sugar 70 g organic cornstarch 28 g tapioca starch 2-1/2 t ground cinnamon 2 t baking soda 1 t ground ginger 1/2 t ground nutmeg 1/2 t xanthan gum 1/2 t salt 1/4 t ground cloves 1 C whole milk ricotta 1/2 C milk (I used a hazelnut milk) 1/2 C butter, melted 2 large eggs 8 fresh figs + more for garnish 1/2 C saffron-infused heavy whipping cream* 1/2 C heavy whipping cream 2 T organic granulated sugar, divided ...

In an effort to make all of my holiday gifts this year, I invited some of my favorite foodie bloggers to share recipes for hand-crafted edibles. Over the course of the twelve weeks, we'll be sharing recipes that you can make at home to give to friends and loved ones. We hope you'll follow along for inspiration. You can find out more information, including the schedule:  here . This week, we're continuing our homemade libations - here's the first installment that kicked off the series,  Libations, Part I  - and here we are at Part II. Thanks to these fabulous, cocktail-serving gals for these creations: Amy of  Amy's Cooking Adventures  made  Lemon Vodka Marinated Blackberries Terri of  Christmas Tree Lane  shared  Tipsy Cherries Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  posted her recipe for  Citrusy Cocktail Onions Camilla of  Culinary Adventures with Camilla  crafted Homemade Bitters, an Old-Fashioned, ...

Today the Sunday Supper Movement crew is hosting a virtual party for our beloved founder Isabel...and it's been a surprise. But today is the day that we share our creations in her honor. I've been so excited to lift this glass to celebrate her birthday. Cheers, Isabel! Ingredients  makes 1 cocktail 2 fresh whole, ripe figs (I used 1 brown mission and 1 green) 2 brown sugar cubes 1/2 t raw organic honey 2-1/2 oz bourbon (I used Knob Creek) ice cubes 1/2 C sparkling water, chilled thin slices of fig for garnish Procedure Combine figs and sugar in a chilled pint glass. Muddle together for approximately 1 minute. Add in the honey and the bourbon - that "a jigger and a pony's worth" if that means anything to you!  Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice. Strain the fig mixture over the ice and top with sparkling water.  Stir to fully combine and garnish with fresh fig slices. Serve immediately. Happy birthday, Isabel! Wish I ...

It's time for Group B's  Secret Recipe Club   July reveal. This month I was assigned to   Jane's Adventures in Dinner  a blog written by - you got it! - Jane. Jane loves food, loves to cook and, "a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away [she] trained as a chef." Gosh, I remember those "other lifetime careers." But she still feeds everyone with whom she comes into contact and throws lots of fun parties. Her husband calls her "the food pusher." She can push food my way anytime! I seriously had to stop myself from sticking a fork in my monitor for many of her posts. I've been following Jane's adventures for awhile, as our culinary circles have collided in other cooking ventures, but it was great fun to actually sit down and explore her blog for awhile. I was intrigued by her Bacon Maple Cocktail ,  Coq au Vin Skewers , Chicken Curry Muffins , Saffron Orange Tapioca Pudding , and her Coconut Squash Soup . Those will a...

Last month when I saw  this invitation from David , at  CookingChat , for a food + wine pairing blogging event, I was in. Immediately. The inaugural event was fantastic; the theme for this month = "refreshing." Here's David's July #winePW invite .  I   knew , for this, I wanted to pour a local white wine that would pair well with a homemade ice cream. There's nothing more refreshing on a hot summer's day than ice cream and a chilled white wine...so, why not put them together?!? In the Glass... Cambiata is a small (local to me) winery owned by Eric Laumann who worked for Bonny Doon and Edna Valley before launching his own label in the early 2000s.  Cambiata - in Italian - means "changed." In music, Eric writes it's "the added tonal dimension that occurs when two chords momentarily share properties, so that the transition has greater depth and mellifluence. The cambiata is expressed on my label with the idea of divine pr...

For R's birthday party, I saw a basket of fresh figs and scooped them up. I should have taken a clue from the cashier who declared in surprise, "Figs, already?" Yeah, those figs were unripe and completely unsatisfying. Now, two weeks later, I saw another basket at a small market and gave them a squeeze before taking them up the register. They were soft. Woohoo. Now , it's fig season! And it's ice cream season. So, tonight, I whipped up a batch of fresh fig ice cream...and I served mini scoops in hollowed out figs. I do have a full-blown obsession with fig ice cream. During the summer when I lived in Rome, ficchi gelato was in every gelateria. Subtle, grassy, and sweet. A few years later, when I went back to Italy with Jake, it was no where to be found. I've been dreaming of it ever since. Ingredients 2 C chopped fresh figs, destemmed 1 C heavy whipping cream juice from 1 lemon 3/4 C organic granulated sugar fresh figs, for serving, 1 per p...

Though the site hasn't official launched, Bacon S'mores is posting pieces in preparation for its launch. I shared a recipe for a Fast Fig Appetizer . I just saw some figs at the market...so, you might be able to give these a try once before the summer ends. Enjoy! Would love to know if you try this. Comment below...or email me at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot]com.

I needed a quick, portable lunch as we were all going in different directions this afternoon. Dylan and I were headed to a classmate's birthday party while Riley and Jake were headed to take photographs for the contest that Riley is entering. So, I decided to make some mini meatloaves (in a muffin tin). So easy! Meatloaf 1 lb 96/4 organic grass fed ground beef 2 eggs 1/2 C panko breadcrumbs 1/2 C shredded pecorino cheese 2 C fresh spinach freshly ground sea salt freshly ground rainbow peppercorns ground cumin Blend everything together in a mixing bowl; I just use my hands. Place a handful of meat into buttered hollows of a muffin tin and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I pressed a roasted fig half on the top of each one. Click here for my roasted fig process. Bake for 20 minutes. In the meantime prepare your barbeque sauce. Elderflower Barbeque Sauce 1/2 C organic ketchup (Nothing but tomato sauce and sugar, please. Skip any ketchups with high fructose corn syr...

This week's challenge for the  Food Matters Project was chosen by Jess of Cheese Please . Naturally, caseophile that she is, she picked a cheesy recipe, Bittman's Cheese-Nut Balls. Here's her post: Cheddar Cheese and Almond Nut Ball . Bittman writes that "cheese balls take well to additions, like olives, fresh chiles, cranberries, dried fruit...." Done. While I opted to stick with his parmesan and gorgonzola combination, I added roasted figs for some extra flavor. Then I drizzled the ball with some raw, local honey and served it all with some multi-grain baguette slices. It was the perfect start to our Sunday feast. Roasted Figs   Destem and halve your figs. Lay them on a baking stone and sprinkle them with some organic granulated sugar. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the figs are softened and caramelized. Let cool. Cheese Ball 1/2 C ground almonds juice from 1 lemon freshly ground salt and pepper to taste 1/4 C grated ...