Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I have always called this Man’oushe. The Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf saw this on the table and said, "Oh, Mom! You made Manakeesh . I love Manakeesh ." Turns out that some of his classmates had made and brought a za'atar-laden flatbread to a class potluck and called it Manakeesh . Fine. Whatever you want to call it, it's easy to make and delicious. You can eat this just as is, but you can serve it as an appetizer with olives and feta cheese. Or it can be part of a heavier Middle Eastern meal composed of hummus, baba ganoush, meatballs, and salad. For this lunch, I actually served it with Fattoush , a chopped salad made with veggies and herbs. That recipe will follow! Ingredients  makes 4 large flatbreads Za'atar is a Middle Eastern spice mixture that I always have on hand. It's a breeze to make and adds something fabulous to olive oil for dipping and - I've just discovered - as a spice rub on any kind of meat! My za'atar recipe make...

Murder à la Carte  by Susan Kiernan-Lewis* is actually the second book in a series. Though I read the first two in order, I ended up inspired into the kitchen out of order! This book picks up where Murder in the South of France  leaves off. On the Page Maggie Newberry and her French newly reformed criminal boyfriend, Laurent, leave Atlanta, Georgia (her hometown) to relocate to a mas (traditional French country home) and vineyard that he has just inherited in St-Buvard, a completely fictional village, Provence, France.  Their plan is to spend a year in France, harvest the grapes, make some wine, then decide what to do with the land and the house. They quickly discover that the property was the scene of a grisly murder of four during WWII. The motley crew of characters include Maggie who almost flat-out refuses to learn the language or the customs of her new country (as someone who has lived in other countries, this grated on my nerves. Just try!); Laurent...