Culinary Adventures with Camilla

On Friday I picked up a flat of freshly picked, organic strawberries from one of my favorite farmers. Thanks, Jamie! I made a bunch of jam, then decided to try a strawberry loaf...in the vein of a banana bread. Easy peasy. Ingredients  makes four mini loaves or one regular loaf and two minis 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup olive oil 3/4 cup organic dark brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup yogurt (I used plain, but you could use whatever you have) 1 cup sourdough starter 1 cup organic strawberries, hulled and quartered 8 organic strawberries, hulled and halved for topping the loaves organic granulated sugar, as needed for topping the loaves Also needed: loaf pans, butter for greasing pans Procedure Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare loaf pans with a light rubbing of butter. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl combine olive oil, brown sugar, eggs, v...

In February I saw a post from one of my favorite bloggers - Wendy at  A Day in the Life on the Farm  - and I realized that they've been having a muffin party for years without me. LOL. I emailed the host, Stacy of  Food Lust People Love  and got the scoop: "...last Monday of the month and no themes. We've been baking together since August 2015! Only one rule, you must use the muffin method (folding wet ingredients with dry - no creaming butter and sugar, etc.) to bake muffins." Oh, my goodness...is  that  the muffin rule? That makes total sense. But I had no idea.  In my house we've always said that if it's 'naked' as in frosting-free, it's a muffin; if there's frosting, then it's a cupcake. Turns out there's more to it than that. In any case, I jumped in. This is my second month participating with the #MuffinMonday bloggers. Here's the line-up for this reveal... Celebratory Gluten-Free Strawberry Muffins fr...

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is  The European Cake Cookbook  by Tatyana Nesteruk*. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!  Follow our  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Pinterest  pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.  The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called  The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends . This group is perfect for those ...

Welcome to the April edition of the Fantastical Food Fight. I love this event coordinated by Sarah of  Fantastical Sharing of Recipes . For more information about it, click  here . This month, we were given the challenge of making a recipe inspired by strawberry shortcake. So you can read all about my journey to this dessert through recipe testing: Laminated Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake and Sour Cream Pound Cake Strawberry Shortcake . But first... The Strawberry Shortcake Line-Up An InLinkz Link-up Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake This dessert was the end of a wonderful food day to celebrate my 18th wedding anniversary. We had already indulged in quiche, rhubarb pie , bouillabaise , and a great bottle of wine.  I created the crust with leftover biscuits from my  Laminated Biscuit Strawberry Shortcake ! Ingredients Crust 1 C crushed graham crackers 1 C biscuit crumbs (or just use more graham crackers) 3/4 C ground ...

When I saw that the April Fantastical Food Fight focus was 'strawberry shortcake', I paused. The first thing that came to mind were these dolls from the 80s! I really disliked dolls; my grandmother tried and tried to get me fascinated with Barbie. But, when she bought me these dolls, I was moderately intrigued. I remember her being thrilled and she bought me every single doll in the series - Apple Dumplin, Rasberry Tart, Mint Tulip, Cherry Cuddler, and more. When I was a kid, I loved that the dolls' hair smelled. Now I wonder: What kind of awful chemicals made those dolls smell for so long!?! image from toysrus.com In any case, I started asking around. "What do you think of when I say 'strawberry shortcake?'" Friends and family all had differing answers. Some said the base was a sweetened biscuit; others were adamant that the base was a pound cake. Most intriguing to me was an angel food cake. But I decided to do more research and start recipe te...

I had intended to bring to these to a work meeting on Monday to celebrate a friend's birthday. But, come Sunday night, I was exhausted and already had a glass of wine in my hand and had no flour in the kitchen at all. How is that even possible? So, I texted him that I wasn't bringing scones to the Monday morning meeting; the upside: I would bring them on Tuesday and he wouldn't have to share! Win. Ingredients Scones 2 ½ C flour (I refrained from using whole wheat) ½ C organic raw turbinado sugar + more for sprinkling ½ t baking soda 1 t baking powder 8 T cold butter, cut into small pieces 2/3 C heavy organic cream 1 egg 3 large strawberries, thinly sliced 1 T cream Strawberry Glaze 3 strawberries, minced 2 C powdered sugar 3 T heavy organic cream Procedure Scones In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. Using a pastry cutter, blend the butter into the dry ingredients until the dou...

Another beer I selected for our 10-day camping trip -  Ass Kisser Ale 's Strawberry Wit - I picked because the label is pink! I'll admit it. Well, that's what drew my eye to it initially. Then I read the label descriptions and I was sold. About the Brewery Ass Kisser Ales is a family-owned craft beer brand that has partnered with Mendocino Brewing Company in Ukiah. Ass Kisser make small batch hand-crafted ales in traditional styles with trendsetting tastes. In the Bottle This beer was the perfect pour on a hot summer's day. It's got a white, foamy head and the cloudy beer looks like sun-dried hay. Its light yeasty aroma complements the zest of coriander and the sweetness of summer strawberries. On Our Plates I actually didn't pair this with any food. We took it with us, down the banks of the Van Duizen River. We sipped and the boys splashed before dinner time.

I had some leftover brioche dough, after I made a dozen fresh blueberry brioche , so I decided to make two mini loaves of brioche dough swirled with homemade strawberry jam. 1/2 C warm water 1 T active dry yeast 3 T organic granulated sugar 6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 4-1/2 C all-purpose flour 1 t sea salt 8 T butter, at room temperature splash of olive oil 1 egg mixed with 1 T heavy cream, for egg wash Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Let bloom for 5 minutes. Add the eggs and beat on medium speed until well mixed. With the mixer on low speed, add 2 C of the flour and the salt and mix for 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low, add the remainder of the flour and mix for 5 more minutes. Scrape the dough into a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. The next morning, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. For this batch, I buttered the hollows of a mini loaf bak...