Isn’t it funny how a certain smell, flavor or image can conjure up a world of memories?
Somehow it is never the elaborate recipes or the fancy meals, it is a bowl of soup in your mum’s kitchen on a cold day, a cup of peach icetea across the table from a dear friend, a fresh loaf of bread from your grandmother’s oven, the cookies you made for your kids’ class and stayed up till 2 in the morning decorating and packing them, the salad you made for your best friend and forgot the parsley.
Despite the fact that there is no such thing as Autumn here in the UAE (the temperature is still dancing around 40C and the humidity is still brutal), when October rolls around, it flips a switch inside of me. I start to crave the smell of warm spices and things in brown and red hues!
You see, in my book , fall is almost as magical as spring! I know this may sound crazy but think of it this way: spring carries the hope and promise of new beginnings while fall tries to teach you time and time again that sometimes you have to let go in order to grow and start over when your spring comes around.Letting go is not easy but even endings can be beautiful if you believe deep down that you have the potential to bloom again in spring
Makloubeh (which literally means upside down) is a popular Palestinian one pot rice, spice and vegetable dish.You can think of it as a torte or a savory counter part to a pineapple upside down cake because of the way that it is cooked and presented.
Healthy lunchbox options with many no sandwich suggestions to make your mornings easier and tastier
One of my favorite quotes of the late artist Hani El Masri is: In the life of every […]
For the month of September my secret recipe club assignment was Karen’s blog Karen’s kitchen stories . Karen loves a challenge […]
Nostalgia is a funny thing!
Two year away in the UAE made me realize that the things I love the most in Amman are the small and simple details.The smell of jasmines in the morning, the unique and beautiful white stone clad buildings in the sunset,the buzz of the downtown markets, the calls of the kaek carts in the morning, the breeze that carries the smell of fig trees in the summer,the smiles and chatter of people in the streets on a cool summer evening, the carts and vans that sell all sorts of fruits and vegetables in the old neighbourhoods , a cup of tea with my mum and dad in their kitchen, My kids digging out potatoes that my dad planted months ago just for them.
All the small details that give a city its soul and transform it from a place on the map to a home..
Since I am in Amman on vacation, I thought I’d share a bit about Amman with all of you. If you are here for the recipe, simply scroll down to find it but if you are in the mood for a little virtual journey,read on 🙂
By the time you read this, I will be in Amman. We’re finally going home for a 3 week visit. To say that I have been counting down the seconds is such an understatement. It’s been a whole year since I have last seen my friends and family and I miss them all terribly .As an added bonus the weather forecast predicts 46 C in the UAE while it Amman it will be 27C in the day and 19C at night! Yay!
I will be posting pictures of my trip on Instagram and I will share pictures and tidbits in my upcoming posts, do stay tuned.
Since it is the first Monday of the month, that means it is time for our secret recipe club reveal.My assignment for this month was Thyme for cooking by the lovely Katie. I loved going through Katie’s blog. She spent 1 year in Ireland, 7 years in Andorra and 8 years in France. Her travels gave her a unique outlook on food and life in general .
I came across this video last night and it really got me thinking. If I could go back in time to give my younger self some advice, what would I tell her?
Before watching the video, I think I would have handed my younger self a looooong list of “mistakes” to avoid and people to steer completely clear of . There was so much in my past that I wished I could change.(Something I think most of my readers can relate to)
The kid in video, when faced with the list of mistakes, crumbles it and asks his older self a few questions that completely change his perspective.I decided to use the kid’s reasoning, and ask myself the same questions
I know that the picture is super tempting and if you like spinach and quinoa as much as I do, you will LOVE this salad but before getting to the recipe,I have some exciting things to share with you.
I was one of 5 winners in the HIPA food photography contest.This is actually the first time that I have ever won a contest and it means the world to me. To know that I am at a level in my food photography (which has been my hobby and passion in the past 6 years) were I can actually win an international contest is beyond amazing!!
I am really thrilled and grateful to each and every one of you, my wonderful readers, if it wasn’t for you, I would have never made it this far in my journey. Thank you is such an understatement but know that I deeply appreciate each and every comment, every email, every time that someone tells me their friend or someone they know told them about my blog, it really makes my day!
The other exciting thing that I have been working on lately is videos! I have decided to work on a you tube channel and I would deeply appreciate it if you would subscribe, check out the videos and let me know what you think.
Today’s post will be short and sweet 🙂 Since I posted my first video over 6 months ago, […]
Ftoot is a type of bread popular in Palestine. The name ftoot means crumbled and it refers to the crumbled cheese infused through out the bread.
Last year, when I shared the Nabulsi recipe for ftoot ,I promised that I’d share my mum’s recipe for ftoot which is my go to recipe for this bread and it is a little different from the Nabulsi version. Well I’m finally doing that today 🙂 but before I do, allow me to take you on a little trip
I told you in my previous post that we were planning a road trip. Since Eid was on Wednesday we had a long weekend and we decided to take the kids on a road trip to Abu Dhabi the capital of the UAE.
Abu Dhabi is about 270 km from Ras Al Khaima and since the kids and I have never been to it during our 2 year stay in the UAE, we were really looking forward to the trip.
Abu Dhabi -like Dubai and most major cities in the UAE- is famous for its modern sky scrappers ,shopping mega-centers and themed amusement parks and though all of that was fun to visit, the part I enjoyed the most in our 3 day trip was our visit to the city of masdar (the eco friendly city of the future) and our tour in the Sheikh Zayed grand mosque which is a true architectural master piece.
Chef in disguise 