Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I recently saw some spotted bananas at the farmstand for half price. My first thought: banana bread! This is quick to make and, because of the whole grains and nuts, it feels a little less like cake and more like bread. Ingredients 1/2 C plain yogurt 3 T olive oil 2 eggs 3/4 C organic turbinado sugar 2 T molasses 1 t pure vanilla extract 4 mashed, ripe bananas 1 t baking soda 2 C gluten-free flour (I used a combination of white rice flour, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, and buckwheat flour) 1/4 C sunflower seeds Procedure Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper and butter the papers. Sert aside. Mix yogurt, olive oil, eggs, sugar, molasses, vanilla, and bananas in a large mixing bowl until well-blended. Gently fold in the flour and baking soda until just moistened. Stir in the sunflower seeds. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake until the top is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, a...

I know, I know. I just made a snide comment about pumpkin recipe in August...talk about having to eat my words. But I have an explanation: I found a can of organic pumpkin puree that I must have stashed as an emergency back-up in case I ran out of fresh pumpkin puree last autumn. And I wanted to use it before we get back into pumpkin season. I know canned goods are meant to last. But, really, how long do they last?!? I try not to have an entire year go by with a can in my pantry. And, as Jake is on a gluten-free, dairy-free regimen, I decided to try my hand at a gluten-free, dairy-free pumpkin bread. Success! We shared a slice with a friend who was recently diagnosed with Celiac and she loved it, too. Woohoo. I will get a handle on this gluten-free, dairy-free baking thing. I will! Ingredients 3 C gluten-free flour (You can blend your own and I will eventually. For now, I use Glutino.*) 1 C organic dark brown sugar 1 t cinnamon 1 t nutmeg 1 t cloves 2 t bakin...

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 ...

This round Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen , selected   Baking Cakes in Kigali  by Gaile Parkin for our December-January  Cook the Books  project. While it was a quick read, it definitely didn't earn a place among my favorites. I wanted to like this book. I really did. Angel Tungaraza: is a mother, grandmother, cake architect, and pillar of her community. She keeps secrets. She plans weddings. And she is raising her grandkids as her own after her children's deaths. She is a Tanzanian living in Rwanda. That sounded like the makings of a robust page-turner. However, the book left me wanting more. Lots more. For the character who was waiting on eggshells to see if her boyfriend's other pregnant girlfriend bore a son or daughter - thus determining which woman he would marry - she was just waiting...when she could have been furious, angst-ridden, nervous, jealous, and more. There was plenty of breadth in the cast of characters, but all of them lacked depth. Even Angel, ...