Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  Today the Sunday Funday group is looking at recipes made with beer. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group.  This week, Rebekah is hosting. She wrote: "August 8th is International Beer Day! Share your favorite recipes cooking or baking with beer - or if you don't like beer, cook or bake with your preferred alcohol! Beer Brats and Beer Bread anyone?" Here's the line-up... Autumnal Spinach Salad with Beer Vinaigrette by Amy's Cooking Adventures Braised Pork with Dunkel Bier Gravy by Palatable Pastime Dum Chicken Rum Biryani by Sneha's Recipe Irish Beef Guinness Stew by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Slow Cooker Beer-Braised Pot Roast by Making Miracles Spicy Beer Shrimp Potatoes by Food Lust People Love Whole Wheat Beer Pretzel Nuggets by A Day in the Life on the Farm Irish Beef Guinness Ste...

I had a lot on my mind a couple of nights ago and couldn't sleep. Not wanting to toss and turn and wake up Jake, I made my way to the living room, settled in on my bean bag and started streaming a silly little rom-com Leap Year . But Jake woke up anyway and joined me. So, I started it again and we watched it together from start to finish. On the Screen from imdb.com Meet Anna (played by Amy Adams) and her cardiologist boyfriend, Jeremy (played by Adam Scott). Anna is an über-organized, high-functioning stager - someone who makes houses look good for realtors - and thinks that Jeremy is going to propose before he leaves for a medical conference in Ireland. He doesn't. And she decides to take matters into her own hands and rely on an Irish tradition that allows women to pop the question on February 29th. So, she flies to Ireland, but ends up diverted to Wales after extreme turbulence. Then, via tugboat and choppy waters, she ends up in Dingle where she hauls her su...

In Dublin's fair city where the girls are so pretty I once met a girl named sweet Molly Malone and she wheeled her wheel barrow through the streets broad and narrow singing cockles and mussels alive alive oh She was a fish monger and sure was no wonder so were her mother and father before and they wheeled their wheel barrow through the streets broad and narrow singing cockles and mussels alive alive oh It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' March event. We are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm , to   share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month. This month, Heather of  All Roads Lead to the Kitchen  is  hosting.  Here was her challenge to the group: " It's St. Paddy's Day - let's share Irish and Irish-inspired fish and seafood recipes! Wou ld love to see some authentic Irish recipes. Recipes with Irish ingredients or an obvious Irish spin or inspiration a...

Remember when I wrote about  hedging our bets with New Year's Eve Traditions from Around the World . These are three traditions that involve food - but not eating them. Hanging Onions Like the Greeks In Greece, they hang an onion on the front door on New Year's Eve. Many layered onions, with their ability to sprout new life even after they are removed from the ground, symbolize growth and progress. On New Year's morning, Greek mothers rouse their children by hitting them in the head with the onion. I didn't do that , but I was tempted. Banging Bread Like the Irish   In Ireland, New Year's Eve is called Eve Oiche na Coda Moire  or 'Night of the Big Portion.' The Irish bang bread against the walls and doors of the house to chase out the bad luck and invite the good into the house. Tossing Water like the Cubans    In Cuba, they toss buckets of water out the door to signify renewal. You get bonus points if some one who has ...

I saw 'homemade Irish cream liquor' pop up on Punk Domestics facebook wall this morning and started clicking. First there was Southern Faire's version , with half-and-half plus heavy cream. Arctic Garden Studio's version includes instant espresso powder. Hmmm.... The one I ended up using for my jumping off point was Design Sponge's Irish Cream ; it calls for honey and dark cocoa powder. I might give the Irish Flag cocktail  a go from this site - after I make some Irish carbomb cupcakes , of course. I used espresso instead of coffee, doubled up on the vanilla, and skipped the almond extract and chocolate completely. 1 C espresso 1 whole vanilla pod + 1 pod for each container 1 1/2 C heavy cream 1 t instant espresso powder 1 T honey 1/2 t unsulphered molasses 1 t pure vanilla extract 2 eggs 1 C organic dark brown sugar, lightly packed 1 t pure vanilla extract 1 T white whole wheat flour 1/2 t baking powder 2 C whiskey ...

Despite their morbid name, really, how can you go wrong with a Guinness-chocolate cupcake filled with a Bailey's ganache and frosted with a Jameson buttercream?!? You can't. This might become a St. Patty's Day tradition. Ingredients Cupcakes 1 cup Irish stout (Guinness) 2 sticks butter ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 cups all-purpose white whole wheat flour 2 cups organic cane sugar 1½ tsp. baking soda ¾ tsp. sea salt 2 large eggs 2/3 cup sour cream Bailey's Mascarpone Filling 8 oz bittersweet chocolate 2/3 C heavy cream 2 T butter 2 t Bailey's 4 oz mascarpone cream.  Whiskey Buttercream 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature 5 cups powdered sugar 4 tablespoons whiskey (I didn't have Jameson in the cabinet, so Jack Daniels had to suffice) To Finish unsweetened cocoa powder for garnish Procedure Cupcakes Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with foil liners. Combine the Guinness and butter i...