Culinary Adventures with Camilla

When I saw that Leslie, from La Cocina de Leslie , had chosen Julie & Julia for this month's Food'N'Flix , I ran right out to the store and bought the DVD. I've seen the movie before, thoroughly enjoyed it, and was happy to watch it again...and own it. And I was just reading about Julia Child in The United States of Arugula . Perfect timing. Click here  to see Leslie's invitation to her movie selection. Julie & Julia is phenomenal on so many levels. It's the story of how two women from completely different generations claim their identities through food: Julia Child and Julie Powell. Meryl Streep is astonishing as Julia Child; not surprising as she's amazing in every movie she does. But it's almost eerie to watch her inhabit the roll. She becomes Julia. She is Julia. Amy Adams is charming as Julie Powell, the blogger who sets out to cook through Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a single year. 524 recipes in 365 days...

After trying kourambiedes at the Greek Festival earlier this year, my friend Jenn sent me her inlaws' recipe for them. Here's the Kolovos family recipe for kourambiedes with ouzo.... Opa! Ingredients 1/2 C butter, at room temperature 2 C white whole wheat flour 1/4 C organic granulated sugar 1 egg yolk 1 t vanilla 1/2 t baking powder 2 ½ T ouzo powdered sugar for dusting Procedure Preheat the oven to 350˚F degrees. Grease two baking sheets and then set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and egg yolk. Continue beating until well blended. Add vanilla and ouzo. Beat until combined. Mix 1 cup of the flour with the baking powder and add to the mixture. Add the remaining cup of flour, a little at a time. Form dough into balls, or cresents, and place 1" apart on the greased baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are light brown. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove f...

Our niece Naomi is recovering from surgery and I asked my sister-in-law what she might like us to bring to the hospital. One word: Jello. Oy! Truth: I have never made Jello. And I can't even remember the last time I ate Jello. But, for our sweet gnome, I can do it! I put out a request for tips from my social media circles and my friend Shelby sent me these three links - ' the easiest Jello jigglers ', mini rainbow towers , and Zakka Life's Rainbow Jello . I ended up using the last one. The boys and I headed out to the store and the boys picked the flavors. Cherry,  Peach,  Lemon,  Lime,  Berry Blue,  Grape Prepare to laugh...I approached the first layer - purple - with trepidation. I tore into the package and poured the magic Jello powder into my mixing bowl while the water boiled. "It's white!" I hollered. "Why is it white?!?" The boys came running. Dylan looked in the bowl, looked at me, and started laughing. "Mom, it turns color...

When you try new recipes, sometimes they flop. Well, I don't think this cranberry pudding from Magnolia Days' blog flopped so much as it was not liked at my house. I received three - really six - thumbs down when I served this. But I wanted to post this anyway because (1) someone out there might like this - I didn't think it was that bad and (2) I wanted to debunk the myth that I just wiggle my nose and culinary magic happens. I wish that were the case, but I definitely make things that go straight into the garbage...just like everyone else. So, here goes...a cranberry pudding that was not an instant hit. Maybe a hard sauce would have been a better topping than the light dusting of powdered sugar. I don't blame this recipe for my culinary failure - at all! It just wasn't my family's taste. 1-1/2 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t freshly ground pink Himalaya salt 2 C fresh cranberries 1/3 C boiling water 1/2 C unsulphered molas...

I actually made this as part of an SRC 'rescue' of Bad Girl's Kitchen tonight, but I wanted to pull this recipe out of that post so that it would be searchable on its own. This was an amazing - and easy - dessert. This will definitely be on our table again! Enjoy.   Spiced Coconut Pudding inspired by Bad Girl's Kitchen's Spiced Coconut Custard 1 can (approx. 14 ounces) coconut milk 2 crushed tepin chiles 3 eggs, beaten gently 1/4 C organic granulated sugar 2 T rice flour 3 T butter Heat coconut milk and tepin chiles in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently bring to boiling, stirring, then turn off heat. Let milk and chiles steep for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Removed the chiles. Whisk the egg yolks and chile-infused coconut milk together in a large sauce over a low to medium heat. Add in the sugar and flour. Whisk until smooth. Continue whisking until the pudding coats the back of a spoon. Remember it will thicken as it cool...

I saw a post, this morning, that one of the  Secret Recipe Club  partners wasn't able to post until a day later than scheduled. Suzanne, of Through the Bugs on My Windshield , knew that it wasn't actually an orphan situation, but asked if someone could throw some blogger love that way. No problem! Meet Min of  The Bad Girl's Kitchen . She created her site as a place everyone can come and post their favorite recipes - to share with friends, to encourage experimentation, to enjoy cooking for our families. Awesome. There were so many of the recipes that I wanted to try, but as I needed to cook and post tonight I decided to adapt her Broccoli-Cheese Soup for dinner. I didn't have any broccoli, but I figured that cauliflower would be just as comforting. And it was warm and delicious!   Creamy Cheesy Cruciferous Soup 1 medium fennel bulb, diced (original called for onion) 1 T minced garlic (my addition) 7 C organic chicken broth 2 heads of cauli...

R. my Precise Kitchen Elf, has been asking me to turn some of the last Halloween pumpkins into a pie. So, yesterday while he was helping out at the Food Bank, I roasted them and made pumpkin puree . This afternoon I asked him to wash his hand and get an apron. "Why?" Y ou're going to make pumpkin pie.  "Oh, I wanted you to make it, Mom." Nope. If you want it, you will learn to make it! The Crust 2 cup white whole wheat flour 1/4 cup ground almonds 1/2 cup powdered sugar pinch of salt 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter Mix the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt; rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in 1 teaspoon of water with a fork until the mixture forms a ball. Roll out between two pieces of parchment paper. Press gently into a pie pan. Chill in the freezer until ready to bake. The Pie 3 cups  pumpkin puree 1 cup heavy cream 3 eggs 1/3 cup maple syrup, agave, and molasses (I would normally ju...