Culinary Adventures with Camilla

On our way into town, we spotted a gathering of food trucks in Tumalo. And, we decided that when we didn't want to cook lunch, we'd head over there. Today was the day. Turns out, it's called The Bite . Today there were four trucks there, but only three were open. We perused all the menus and ended up ordering from Heidi's Grilled Cheesery and The Rogue Chef. We found a table under the twinkle lights inside and I couldn't resist getting a pint of Blood Orange Cider from Elemental Hard Cider in Washington. I have never seen any brews from them before. But, if this cider was any indication, I definitely want to get my hands on more. Cheers! Jake and I ordered from Heidi's. I got the special: Stella Blue. Jake had the Cheesus Crust on gluten-free bread that was sharp cheddar, cream cheese, bacon, and jalapenos on gluten-free bread. He also tried the French onion soup. Yum! Also, from Heidi's, D tried their soup of the day, their Sunsh...

Yes, the reason we always try to get a kitchen when we go on vacation: cooking is relaxing for us! Today the boys wanted to make cookies with some local marionberry jam I found at a market. So, the Baker Manns went to town and made a batch of gluten-free thumbprints that Jake could enjoy, too. Ingredients   makes approximately 30 3/4 C butter, at room temperature 3/4 C organic granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 C gluten-free all-purpose flour 1/2 C ground almonds 1 t pure vanilla extract 1 t cold water marionberry jam (or whatever jam you have on hand)   Procedure Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg yolks until incorporated. Stir in the flour, ground almonds, and ground cardamom until a flaky dough is formed. Add in the water and pure vanilla extract, gently working the dough until it forms a ball. Place the ball in the freezer for 10 minutes. ...

Years ago, a friend asked if I had ever been to  Café Maddalena in Dunsmuir. Nope. I filed it away as a 'must try' if we ever came close. And, last night, we were only six miles away; well, truth be told, I booked our hotel for this leg of the trip based on going to this restaurant! When we rolled into town, I called, made a reservation for dinner, loaded up the boys back up in the car, and headed out in the pouring rain. I'm so glad we did...you know it's going to be good when they have a display of Edible s at the front door!! I always love seeing the waitstaff's dubiousness about two kids in their restaurant dissolve as soon as my boys open their mouths. "Mom, they have tripe! I have to try the tripe," gushed R, when he saw the Special board. Back, when he was in 5th grade, and they were studying the human body, his teacher - our beloved Mr. Spedding! - brought a cleaned cow's stomach, and they cooked and ate tripe. It's been o...

Seventeen years ago, this month, I married Jake. On one hand that feels like a lifetime; on the other, it seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. In these past seventeen years, we've had two boys, lived in two states and six different houses, and juggled probably a dozen different jobs between us. We've traveled to Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; we've visited Italy, Canada, and Costa Rica. We've SCUBA'd, zip-lined, canoed, and tangoed. It's been an amazing adventure. But it's also been work. A lot of work. A lot. Don't let anyone tell you that marriage is easy. Maybe that is what makes the celebrations all the more sweet. So, when I saw that the French Winophiles were celebrating Champagne this month, I decided to actually buy some champagne - not my typical go-to Prosecco, Cremant, or Cava. And this bottle is particularly special because one of my best friends - and her mom - bought the crystal flut...

Here we are in the March edition of Wendy's - of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  - new group: Soup Saturday Swappers. And our March theme is Mexican Soups hosted by Karen of  Karen's Kitchen Stories . Love it! Karen writes, " Make a Mexican soup, or a soup inspired by Mexican flavors! Albondigas, chicken tortilla, posole, chile, sopa de elote, caldo tlalpeno, sopa de fideos, sopa de aguacate, sopa de flor de calabaza, sopa de bolitas de tortilla, caldo miche, sopa de frijol, sopa de tortilla.... " While we love Albondigas and Posole , I wanted to try something new to us. I found it in a traditional soup that hails from the state of Veracruz: Chilpachole de Jaiba . Chilpachole refers to a spicy stew or soup made with seafood. I started with a recipe from the small city of Tlacotalpan which is known for its lively festivals, including the carnival of Candelaria where this delicious crab soup is served. While I adapted the traditional recipe to fit what I h...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Dreamfarm  and  PackIt .   All opinions are my own. Dreamfarm  sent me their redesigned Oni knife and  PackIt   sent their Freezable Classic Lunch Box to try out and review.* These two products breathed some fun into our lunch prep and my Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf was eager to try give them a whirl...then he stole the lunchbox right out from under me! Oh, well, I guess that means it's a winner, right?  The  Oni  quickly became our go-to knife for prepping lunches. It's a handy size that falls between a cumbersome chef knife and a tiny paring knife. The shape of the blade allows you to scrape every last bit from a jar without scratching it; the top edge of the knife is rounded, like a butter knife, so you can spread with it; and the bottom edge is sharp, so you slice with it. There is a plastic wrap slicer built into the handle. I have to admit: we didn't try that. But, li...