Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I don't really know how this book ended up in my list. Well, it's not that much of a mystery really. It's set in Europe; it involves lots and lots of good food...with an eye to making fun of North American cuisine. That's pretty much my schtick, right? But I breezed through  My Grape Year by Laura Bradbury,* the first in a series, and then promptly read the next five books! I'm in the middle of the sixth book now. That was one good thing about being sick with a rotten cold for the past few week: I did a lot of reading.  This is Laura's telling of her year in France. As a seventeen-year-old Laura lands in Burgundy as an exchange student with a planned stay at four different host families' homes. She has a few 'goals': frequent French cafés, drink French wine, fall in love, and learn to speak French. Her exchange agency has a few rules that are in direct conflict with that: no driving, no drinking, and no dating. Hmmm... The narrative is rife with fun...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Résonance Wines  in conjunction with the  December 2020 Tied Houses  #Winophiles  event.  Complimentary wine was provided for this post  though no other compensation was received. This page may contain affiliate links. L.M. Archer is hosting the December French Winophiles event. You can read her invitation:  here . She also arranged for several bloggers in the group to receive samples. I received a bottle of 2017 Résonance Pinot Noir. More on that soon. In the meantime, these posts will go live before Saturday, December 19th. That morning, we will be live on Twitter if you would like to chat with us about  Oregon and Bourgogne Tied Houses. Join us at 8am Saturday, December 19th. Just follow the hashtag #Winophiles; we will also be using #RésonanceWines #DomaineDrouhinOregon for our sponsors. So be sure to add those to anything you tweet so we can see it! Wendy at A Day in the Life on the F...

After I read a book for a future Cook the Books event -  Kitchen Chinese: A Novel About Food, Family, and Finding Yourself  by Ann Mah  -  I was interested in reading something else by the same author. I found  The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah* at my local library. On the Page The Lost Vintage reminded me of The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel . You can read my post about that book: here . Thank goodness I never tire of historical fiction, especially when set in wine country! The Lost Vintage  is told in two timelines - present day and World War II - and is set mostly in the Burgundy wine-making region of France. We meet Kate Elliot who is struggling to pass the Master of Wine examination. Her mentor suggests she leave San Francisco and head to her family estate in Burgundy to immerse herself in Burgundian vintages. "'Your Achilles' heel is always France. And not even all French wine. Just the white,' Jennifer observed a few months ago...

Here we are on Day Four - I skipped yesterday because my pickled eggs just weren't done in time! - of the 2018 #FarmersMarketWeek. This online Farmers' Market Week event is co-hosted by Ellen of  Family Around the Table   with help from Christie at  A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures . I love those gals! They are so organized...which means the rest of us can just cook, post, and reap the benefits of this blogging community. Thank you, ladies. Thursday #FarmersMarketWeek Recipes Corn and Zucchini Skillet by Kate's Recipe Box Eggplant Parmesan by Palatable Pastime Sweet Corn Ice Cream by A Day in the Life on the Farm Grilled Cheese and Tomato Flatbreads by Jolene's Recipe Journal Mini Peach Galettes by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Tuscan Chicken Sloppy Joes by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures     Ingredients  makes four small galettes Crust   1-1/4 C flour 1/4 C ground almonds 2 T organic powdered sugar 1/2 t vanilla salt 1/...

I signed up to test this dish for  Food52  - Cherry-Blueberry Rustic Rye Galette   by Meredith who blogs at Salvegging  -  because, well, just look at those words - cherry, blueberry, rustic, rye, and galette - I love them all. The combination sounded divine. And, it was! Here's the headnote I'm submitting... I love the deep regal hues of blueberries and cherries, shining jewels of summer fruits. Separately. Usually. This galette had me musing aloud: Why don't I combine these fruits more often?! The rye flour adds an alluring weight to the flaky crust made extra crunchy with a sprinkling of raw turbinado sugar. And I'm wondering for how many more weeks can I get fresh cherries and blueberries at the farmers' markets...because this rustic galette has catapulted its way into my family's hearts. I need to make it again. Stat. Ingredients ½ C dark rye flour (not sure if she used regular rye or dark rye, I used what I had) ½ C all-purpose flour ¼ t ...

Galettes are basically pies, but super-cool looking. You may never make regular pie again. Sorry, pie. I signed up to bring veggie galettes for the staff appreciation luncheon at school last week. I'm finally getting around to posting the recipes. Whoops. It's been a busy week. I started with my recipe for  Pâte Brisée .  [Click name to go to the recipe post.] Line a work surface with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, lightly dust with flour and dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough into a rustic 15-inch circle, adding more flour, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Transfer the crust to a baking dish lined with the parchment . Leaving a 2-inch border, fill the crust - I made one with kale, zucchini, onions and mozzarella and another with carrots, potatoes, and parmesan - and fold up the edges to make a free-form galette. Drizzle the top with olive oil, sprinkle it with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake in a 42...

When I was invited to a friend's post-Christmas pie tasting party, I responded that I would bring one sweet pie and one savory pie. The discussions began around our dining room table:  What makes a pie a pie?  Sensibly, Riley said, "A pie has no frosting." True . Jake declared, "It's the crust." Okay . And my sweet, Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf asserted, "A pie has a crust...and is low to the ground." Huh. "You know, a cake can be tall; a pie is short." Employing all three of those criteria - no frosting, a crust, and low to the ground - a galette can qualify as a pie. So, I decided to make a veggie galette for my savory 'pie' offering. I had a caprese tart in mind, but one of the things I love about caprese is its freshness. That didn't lend itself to a cooked tart. I settled on a veggie tart with a caprese topping. And since our hostess is mostly gluten-free, I went that route for my  pâte brisée  . Pâte Brisée  ...

For what was a bittersweet Bon Voyage! party this weekend, I signed up to bring two Veggie Galettes. This is quickly becoming my potluck go-to. It's fairly easy and always seems to be a hit. I started with my recipe for  Pâte Brisée .  [Click name to go to the recipe post.] One regular and one gluten-free. Line a work surface with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, lightly dust with flour and dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough into a rustic 15-inch circle, adding more flour, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet with the parchment or baking mat in place. Leaving a 2-inch border, fill the crust - with caramelized onions, fresh herbs (I used thyme and Italian parsley, roughly chopped) sliced parboiled potatoes, and a handful of parmesan cheese - and fold up the edges to make a free-form galette. Drizzle the top with olive oil, sprinkle it with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake in a...

For a Time Capsule Burial and Breakfast for Riley's class, I signed up to bring a Veggie Galette. I wanted to use the kale from my WE Cooperative CSA box and some sweet onions. I started with my recipe for  Pâte Brisée .  [Click name to go to the recipe post.] Line a work surface with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, lightly dust with flour and dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough into a rustic 15-inch circle, adding more flour, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet with the parchment or baking mat in place. Leaving a 2-inch border, fill the crust - with caramelized onions, sliced parboiled potatoes, and a handful of crumbled feta cheese - and fold up the edges to make a free-form galette. Drizzle the top with olive oil, sprinkle it with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake in a 425 degree oven until lightly browned on the edges, approximately 50 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes befo...

Using the bulbs of the red onions from the organic garden at the boys' school, I made a red onion and potato galette today - twice. Once for brunch and once, by request, for dinner. Guess they liked it. I started with my recipe for Pâte Brisée . [Click name to go to the recipe post.] Line a work surface with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, lightly dust with flour and dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll the dough into a rustic 15-inch circle, adding more flour, if necessary, to prevent sticking. Transfer the crust to a baking sheet with the parchment or baking mat in place. Leaving a 2-inch border, fill the crust - with caramelized onions, sliced parboiled potatoes, and a handful for shredded mozzarella cheese - and fold up the edges to make a free-form galette. Drizzle the top with olive oil, sprinkled it with freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and dot the top with sliced almonds. Bake in a 425 degree oven until lightly browned on the ed...