Culinary Adventures with Camilla

It's hard to believe that 2020 is more than halfway over. Here we are in July for another installment of our #EattheWorld project, being spearheaded by Evelyne of  CulturEatz . Here's  her challenge . Typically, Evelyne announces a country from which we are supposed to pick a recipe. But this month, she extended this challenge: "For July we will not visit a country’s cuisine, but rather a type of cuisine found in the US, one whose people are once again fighting for basic respectful treatment. Maybe we can all find a form of comfort in Soul Food this month!" Yes! I was in immediately. There is so much racial tension and strife in the country right now. It's exhausting to have these conversations day in and day out, around our dinner table, but it's also necessary. Jake and I want our boys to be informed, be sensitive, be cautious, and be proactive. I don't typically get political on my blog, but in this case I will: Since 45 - that's as clos...

This month, the Wine Pairing Weekend bloggers are looking at the wines from New York's Finger Lakes region with Linda of  My Full Wine Glass  for hosting. You can read her invitation:  here . Though I did receive some sample wines from a Finger Lakes winery, my shipment arrived just the day before our scheduled posting date; so, the turnaround was too tight for me do a pairing dinner. Thankfully, I had been able to locate a couple of different wines on my own. But keep an eye out for a post featuring wines from Buttonwood Grove Winery soon. In the meantime, all of these posts will go live between Friday, June 12th and early morning on Saturday, June 13th. If you are seeing this early enough, feel free to join the live Twitter chat. We'll be on at 8am Pacific time. Follow the hasthtag #WinePW and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm is Exploring the Wines of New York’s Finger Lakes Region . C...

We are never without a jar of homemade kimchi in our fridge. Seriously. It's been a favorite of the boys for years, so I always try to keep them stocked up. Two pluses: you can use cabbage that's a little past its prime - it's a good use for cruciferous veggies that may have languished a little too long in the veggie bin - and it's super fast - it's ready in less than a week! So, on the off chance that they eat the last of a jar without letting me know, they'll only be without for a week. At this point, I've shared plenty of versions of my kimchi. But I decided to post this one because this is cabbage that D grew himself...in his Personal Project Garden . Ingredients 1/2 C salt  enough warm water to submerge all the cabbage pieces cabbage, sliced or chopped into bite-sized pieces  (he says this is Napa cabbage, but it's unlike any Napa cabbage I've ever seen) 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed 1" fresh ginger knob, gr...

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a black thumb. You know, as in can't keep any plant alive, or the polar opposite of a green thumb. Thankfully, D and Jake can grow things and both were really interested in sprucing up our back patio. So, as our afternoon project, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf and I set out to plant a container garden. We have sunlight and we have sand. So, everything needed to live in pots with good soil. And he told me that everything has to be edible..."otherwise, what's the point?!" Okay. He picked Lemon Boy tomatoes... Chives, oregano, purple leaf sage.... We also have two kinds of zucchini, eggplant, lemon cucumbers, basil, thyme, and two kinds of mint. He watered everything while explaining the process to me, Ms. Black Thumb. Then he put up netting to keep the birds out of his plants. Hopefully the garden will flourish and we'll be picking all summer long. If nothing else, it was a b...

Following the Afternoon Tea Party at Earthbound Farm , the boys and I decided to wander through the gardens on the grounds of the farmstand. And while anyone who knows me knows that I have a black thumb, it was inspiring nonetheless. To see what they are growing here locally - successfully - well, it gave me garden-goals. I love this shot of busy bees. I can watch bees all afternoon; they're mesmerizing! I had never seen quinoa growing. This plant was in the Children's Garden, in the 'Q' planter box. D yelled, "Mommy, we can grow quinoa." You can grow quinoa!  But, I would love that. We eat quinoa quite a bit. I need to read up on how it goes from plant to plate. Do I have to dry it? Can I use it straight off the bush? "Mom, look at the wheat!" D hollered when he reached the 'W' planter. "Too bad Dad is gluten-free. We could grow wheat." This odd red flower puzzled me. Without hesitation, R declared,...

I do not have a green thumb. I have the polar opposite of a green thumb. On the color wheel the complementary color is red. So, do I have a red thumb?? No, mine is decidedly black. Thankfully Jake and our little one love to grow things. And, for my sake, they tend to plant things that we can eat. They have a blueberry bush that they gave to me for Mothers' Day with the promise that they would tend to it; the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf has tons of herbs that I use on a regular basis. And we have a prolific Meyer lemon tree that has been producing a ridiculous amount this summer. So, when I walked into the backyard, saw the sunflowers, and asked When can we eat those?  I didn't expect D to be offended. Sunflowers seeds are edible after all. "Mom," he objected, "these are just pretty...and they're mine and Daddy's. You can't eat them." They are edible. "No! You can't have them." Okay, what about the leaves? Do ...

Some kids have a favorite musician or athlete. Mine has a favorite chef. What a treat to help Chef Brad Briske of La BalenaCarmel pick some things for the MEarth Sustainable Chef Dinner this week. The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf was thrilled...and he was chuckling to himself about some menu secret. They picked onions, garlic, borage, amaranth, peppers, and more! Then, on the day of the dinner, D helped Anna pick nasturium blossoms... It's so neat to see something go straight from the garden to the plate.