Culinary Adventures with Camilla

We don't live where it snows. And we definitely fall in the 'wimpy central Californian' category. Our optimal temperature range is about 55 degrees F on the low end and 75 degrees F on the high side. But we love to visit and play in the snow! So, I put on my thinking cap when Sue of Palatable Pastime encouraged the #BakingBloggers: "It's beginning to look a lot like wintry recipes. Let's bake up something white for snow day fun." Here's the Baking Bloggers' Snowy List Billowy Gingerbread Trifles from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Christmas Cookie Tree from A Day in the Life on the Farm Grandma's Meringue Cookies from Our Good Life Kourabiedes Greek Cookies With Powdered Sugar from Recipe Pocket Mexican Wedding Cookies from The Schizo Chef Snow Ball Cupcakes from Karen's Kitchen Stories Snowy Mountain Cookies from Jolene's Recipe Journal Sweet Buttermilk Pie from Food Lust People Love White Texas Sheet ...

Happy New Year and welcome to the fifth installment of the Winter Warm-Up Drink Series hosted by Ellen of  Family Around the Table ! I missed last week due to a crazy schedule, but there's one more that I have planned. Can't wait to share. Cheers. Sips to Warm You Up Aquavit & Tonic by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Cinnamon Cookie Butter Latte by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks Peppermint Bark Hot Cocoa by A Day in the Life on the Farm Vanilla Coffee by Our Good Life Vietnamese Coffee by Palatable Pastime About Aquavit I am sharing an Aquavit & Tonic because, while I love a good Gin & Tonic, aquavit has become my new favorite spirit. And since I just posted a recipe for Gløgg (Danish Mulled Wine) , pictured above, I knew I needed a new recipe to share. But I wanted to start with a quick primer on aquavit. Despite how long Scandinavians have been making and drinking aquavit, it's largely unknown outside of those countries. It's such a ...

Happy New Year! I am hosting this month's Italian Food Wine Travel (#ItalianFWT) bloggers as we explore Italian Wines for Cold Winter Nights. You can read my invitation here . I really wanted to make this an easy month with sourcing by not restricting the group to either region or varietal. And they really have some fun explorations in store for us. Here's the line-up... Cozying Up with the #ItalianFWT Bloggers Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm gives us Pure Comfort~~Pasta with a Bottle of Aglianico . Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog prepares A Surf and Turf Feast with Donnachiara Wines . Jill of L'Occasion posts For Table And Cellar: Warm Up With Italian Wine . David of Cooking Chat serves up Healthy Bolognese Sauce with a Tuscan Sangiovese . Jane of Always Ravenous pairs Italian Meatballs with Donnachiara Wines . Gwendolyn of Wine Predator offers 4 Montepulciano Paired with Osso Bucco Warms Up Winter Italian S...

Today we're moving ahead with our year-long project that I'm calling the Kitchen Matrix Project, after Mark Bittman's  Kitchen Matrix  cookbook. You can read about it:  here . I'm very excited about the dishes and the bloggers who are joining me. This week, I picked 'Raw Beets + 3 Ways' for the group which means we could make raw beets with sherry vinaigrette, raw beets with creamy dill dressing, and borscht salad...along with any variations or adaptations that we needed or wanted. While all were intriguing - and I will make all of them - I opted to try Mark Bittman's Raw Beets with Sherry Vinaigrette. Here's what the crew is sharing this week. I added shaved fennel and supremed oranges for a larger, dinner-sized salad. Also, since Jake and I are currently staying away from sugar, I couldn't use the prepared mustard in our fridge. I swapped it out for ground mustard. Yum! An InLinkz Link-up Ingredients 1 pound o...

It must be funky citrus season. This week I finally saw Buddha's Hand Citron at Whole Foods. Woohoo. And my Kaffir limes were delivered from Beck Grove in Fallbrook, California. Beck Grove is a 100% organic citrus grove, owned and operated by Helene and Robert Beck. I order through Local Harvest . "It looks like a brain, Mommy!" It certainly does. Kaffir lime not only looks distinctive but its aroma is so unique. I would say its a combination of lemon, lemon verbena, and lime. Its flavor, well, Jake called it a 'super citrus.' Oddly, it doesn't really taste like it smells. Kaffir lime and its leaves are a traditional flavoring in Thai, Indian, and Indonesia cuisines. We decided to put some into our cookies of the holiday season. Recipe to come! For now, this is what it looks like on the outside... ...and on the inside. Have you ever cooked with Kaffir limes? What did you make?

The time changed this weekend. Fall back. It's only one hour, but now I drive home from work in the dark. Not only are days shorter, they are colder, too. There is a chill in the air that signifies the coming of winter. This is the time of year when I pull out the soup pot and soups become a dining table staple for the next few months. So, I wanted to share some soup-making secrets. Well, they aren't exactly secrets, but they are tips to help you make some delicious, seasonal, and filling dinners. Start with a  Mirepoix , p ronounced  mirh-pwah.  It's usually a mixture of carrots, onions, and celery - finely diced, and used as an aromatic seasoning base. But I use whatever I have in the fridge. It might be leeks and carrots one night. Fennel, onion, and carrots another night. Make the mirepoix sweat! Before you add any liquids to the pot, cook the mirepoix at a low heat until it begins to soften but not brown. It softens their texture and blends their flavors....