Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  Today the Sunday Funday group is sharing creative lasagna recipes. 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.  And, for this event, Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures is hosting. We are celebrating mothers! Here's the line-up of our Mothers' Day dishes from the #SundayFunday bloggers... Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Brownie Bottomed Raspberry Cheesecake A Day in the Life on the Farm: Molettes de Jamon y Frijole Food Lust People Love: Fresh Peach Cream Pie Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Oil-Cured Fromage Blanc-Stuffed Nasturtium Leaves Sneha’s Recipe: Churros French Toast Making Miracles: Apple Cinnamon Rolls Mayuri’s Jikoni: Thepla - Gujarati Flatbread Cook with Renu: Avocado Stuffed Celery Sticks (Oil-Free) Oil-Cured Fromage Blanc-Stuffed Nasturtium Leaves A couple of Springs ago, my friend and culinar...

This month, Sue of  Palatable Pastime  told the Baking Bloggers that for September "join us for a bit of fun on September 9th as we post recipes using potatoes (any type). The only requirement is that baking be performed somewhere in the recipe." Here's the #BakingBloggers line-up... Baked Cajun Potatoes by Anybody Can Bake Baked Potato Skins with Paneer and Veggies by Cook with Renu Easy Savory Sweet Potato Muffins by Recipe Pocket Egyptian Sanyet el Batates by Pandemonium Noshery Hasselback Fondue Potato Bake by Food Lust People Love Italian Potato Cake (Gattò di Patate) by Karen's Kitchen Stories Oven Roasted Garlic Potatoes by Palatable Pastime Quiche with Potato Crust by A Day in the Life on the Farm Roasted Befteki and Potatoes by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Salsa Potato Stacks In Muffin Pan by Sneha's Recipe Wizarding World Roasted Potatoes by Simply Inspired Meals Roasted Befteki and Potatoes I was looking for a lo...

I do not remember who recommended this book: Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman*, but I finally got to it on my nightstand. On the Page The book has received a lot of praise, even bearing the stamp of approval for Reese's Book Club. That's Reese Witherspoon. But I definitely felt in the minority while reading it. The namesake protagonist is awkward, but not humorously awkward in my estimation; she is painfully awkward in a cringe-worthy way. But the book was likable. I didn't think it was mind-blowing or amazing, but it was completely fine. I agree with others that the writing is beautifully written, however, it definitely doesn't qualify as a page turner and I found that I was annoyed with the tedious level of detail that didn't add to the character development. I'm not too interested in the decor of a room unless it adds something to the plot. Otherwise it's just words for words' sake. I do think that this story will...

I'm not sure why I don't make preserved lemons more often. They are so simple to make. They also add something incredible to a heavily spiced dish. Have you ever tried them? They take about 10 minutes to prep. And they are fairly flexible as well. But, then, you have to be patient for about a month. That's the hardest part. I can't wait to open these up in April. I was inspired by my bounty of lemons from Serendipity Farms . Farmer Jamie is now listing goods on her virtual farm stand page on Facebook. I love it because I can see what she has and order if I want the goods, or not if I don't. More often than not, I type "I'm in!" beneath her photo. While I did make 2 quarts, I am giving you the procedure for 1 quart jar. With only four ingredients, these might seem plain and simple. They are simple, but there's nothing plain about these preserved lemons. They pack quite a punch! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar 8 to 10 organic l...

It's hard to believe that our year-long journey of the Book Club Cookbook Cooking Project is drawing to a close. And, to finish off the year, I chose  Corelli's Mandolin  by Louis de Bernières. Click to read my invitation . And stay tuned for a wrap-up of all the recipes from this book. Soon. We love Greek food and have made a fair number of recipes, including Stuffed Grape Leaves ,  Souvlaki Arni , Bouyourdi , Befteki and Potatoes . So I was excited to read the book (again) and find inspiration in the pages. On the Page... I had read the book years ago - and saw the movie right after that. I wanted to re-read it with an eye on the food. Even still, I was captivated by the story. And I really can't categorize the story into a single category. It's a historical novel; it's a tragedy; and it's a love story. Antonio Corelli is an Italian soldier who, under Mussolini's orders, has occupied the small Greek island of Cephalonia. Corelli is bi...

I have six different dishes and wine pairings for the upcoming holiday ready to share with you. And irony is not lost on me. While I am not a fan of Valentines' Day  per se,  I am a huge fan of romantic dinners. So, in this week leading up to #WinePW - which happens the 2nd Saturday of every month - I will post recipes that you and your valentine can enjoy on February 14th and really any time you want a dinner that's a little bit more than your usual. I have everything from shrimp to wild boar and venison to salmon. So, stay tuned! Click to read Christy of Confessions of a Culinary Diva 's invitation to our Saturday #WinePW event. I wanted to start off with a local-to-me vintner, Hahn Family Wines .* A few years ago, Jake and I had a chance to tour the Hahn vineyards by ATV. Click to read about  the ATV tour  and about  the wine tasting after . What fun! In the Glass... Hahn's 2013 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir is a vintage I haven't tried ...

When my garden goddess of a sister-in-law invited us to "come take as much kale as [we] wanted" from her beds, as we headed to the coast, I don't know if she really understood what that means to the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf. He loves his kale! He plucked and plucked, then asked if he could have some of her marigolds. She let him. We had so much kale that we made this salad three times during the rest of our camping trip. It was delicious each time. Ingredients 1 to 2 bunches kale, larger ribs removed and torn into 1" pieces 2 to 4 T olive oil zest from 2 organic lemons juice from 4 organic lemons freshly ground sea salt freshly ground pepper fresh herbs, destemmed and roughly torn (we used a mix of dill, parsley, and marigolds) Procedure Place the kale in a large mixing bowl. Pour the olive oil and lemon juice over the leaves. Massage until the leaves are softened and have turned from a greyish-green to a bright, deep emerald. Toss in th...

I wanted a quick dinner that was largely hands-off. Oven-roasted fish is usually my go-to. Tonight the fish monger had some beautiful rockfish filets. Dinner! Ingredients serves 4 4 rockfish filets 1 thinly sliced organic Meyer lemon cleaned, trimmed ramps freshly ground salt freshly ground pepper olive oil freshly squeezed lemon juice   Also needed: 4 piece of parchment paper and Caramelized Ramps. Procedure Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lay one filet on a piece of parchment paper, approximately 12" square - or enough that you can completely envelop your filet and create a parchment packet. Cover the filet with lemon slices and lay the ramps on top. Drizzle the filet with lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring the sides of the parchment up around the filet and fold the edges together, rolling it down to the fish. Crimp the ends together, folding them in till fish is enclosed...