Author: Banan Gharaibeh

Edited Cardamom Cookies.

Hello everybody.
My mother in-law’s lovely old friends were gathered today upstairs,such a lively group of ladies chatting and laughing at old stories and memories.

We ordered some pastries, made spinach tabouleh and got out some Rock Cookies from the freezer,my sister in law made chocolate cake.
Remember the cardamom cookies in made long time ago?  Well did some today but added 1/2 tsp baking powder this time and it did make a difference, I’ll write down the recipe again better.

 

Ingredients and method:
*2 cups flour.
* 4 teaspoons cardamom powder.
* 1/4 tsp salt

*1/2 tsp baking powder.
* 1/2 cup grounded almonds.
* 1/2 cup sugar.
* 3/4 cup melted butter.
For the coating:
* 1 cup confectionary sugar (سكر ناعم ).
* 2 teaspoons powdered cardamom.
* almonds.

* mix flour, cardamom powder, sugar, grounded almonds and salt together. * add butter and mix with your hands till you have a frim dough. You can add a bit of cold water for easy handing.
* form dough into small balls.
* coat with powdered sugar-cardamom mixture. * press balls with a small cup to flatten a bit.
* decorate with almonds.
* bake in a medium heated oven for 10-13 minutes. Till bottom slightly golden then toast surface for 5 minutes.
* store in a well closed jar.

Perfect with black coffee, please try them, they’re really good ♡♥.

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wpid-wp-1426177710944.jpeg luqom a Caucasian kind of sweet.

wpid-wp-1426177722445.jpeg today’s lunch ..Shakshouka !

wpid-wp-1426177741093.jpeg amazing cookies.

 

 

 

Back to Normal!

Hello everybody.
Thank God after two long stressful frustrating days dealing with a complicated problem at my son’s school problem was solved and done with, situations like this are really mind opening and gives oneself a hard but very useful lesson.
Well today  normal daily routine is back, lunch was burgers with avocado dip on top and a big plate of French fries best comfort food ever.

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wpid-wp-1426089189953.jpegLove this brand,all yummy.

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Happy Women’s Day.

Hello everybody.
Sorry for the delay but I was out in a big gathering,arrived home just a while ago.

Lunch today was homemade kebabs with yogurt and fried tomatoes. Big hit was freshly on the spot done bread, did it specially today in memorial of my dear loving grandma, God rest her soul cause as I keep saying no bread will ever taste like hers,you could smell and feel love and kindness in every loaf and bite.She’s my woman hero for sure.

Well hope you ladies all celebrated your way and enjoyed our day.

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Chicken and Greek Quesadillas.

Hello everybody.
Though shopped groceries and went to vegetables’ shop but still had no clue what to cook till just before lunch.

Winner was chicken quesadillas and when I had two more extra pitta breads I made them Greek style,very tasty.

On the side I made a fava bean smashed dish,with tomatoes onions peppers and cumin also yummy.

Hope you all enjoyed the weekend
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A nice kitchen decor my husband made yesterday,from old fridge magnets, thank you Abu Khalil.

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Baked Fennel!

Hello everybody.
So excited today, my friend’s son is getting married tonight, so happy for her and looking forward for the gathering of all of us at the party and thank God for the sunny nice weather so that all ceremonies won’t be difficult cause of rain or cold, congratulations to the beautiful bride and groom wish them all the happiness in the world.

Lunch was quick and easy, chicken scallop with mashed potatoes,salad and some baked fennels.

I have lots of these from our friends farm so thought I’ll try baking some,tastes really nice. You only add salt,pepper, olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar and bake uncovered in a well heated oven, that’s it.

Well have to go get ready,bye now!

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Rock Cookies Gift Again.

Hello everybody.

Long busy morning full of phones and messages,time passed by without noticing that I haven’t made anything for lunch.

I made some Rock Cookies first thing so as to take them tomorrow as a gift for my sister’s mother in-law.

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Then I made a dough so as to make a new recipe my aunt posted the other day but as I said no time left cause I had an appointment, anyway dough was instantly spread to a cheese and za’tar manousheh and it was yummy.

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Enjoy your weekend guys, it was a long tiresome week hope mood will change if weather was nice.

 

 

 

 

Custard on Cake Crumble.

Hello everybody.

Woke up to a rainy cold day, I really don’t like this weather specially if I have to go out, anyway a breakfast gathering was already fixed from last week at a coffee shop ” Commodo “, to be honest food was good but service was awful, hate it when food comes before tea and hot plates before cold, anyway I don’t think I’ll be going again 🙂
Lunch today was cauliflower with rice and salad suitable dish in this weather.Dessert was recycled chocolate cake leftovers crumbled with its sauce then I made simple custard and topped crumbles with it, nice dessert with coffee after the afternoon nap.

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wpid-wp-1425489483863.jpeg custard cake cup.

wpid-wp-1425489476318.jpeg aren’t these cute?

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Sunny Sides in a Log!

Hello everybody.

Forgot to tell you that O made spinach with minced meat and kofta yesterday,had some left for today but won’t be enough so I decided to make this appetizer or mostly breakfast kind of dish but nevertheless my boys love to eat eggs anytime no problem.

I would like to thank my cousin Rania for posting this idea to me,really easy and very  presentable way to serve eggs ,love it.

You simply make holes in a French loaf ,drizzle it with olive oil,crack your eggs add salt,pepper and some parsley, I added oregano and cheese also then bake it till eggs are done, amazingly easy.

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wpid-wp-1425397348348.jpeg yummy gooey from inside.

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Suborek (Turkish Borek).

Hello everybody.

Just got back from a gathering at Mom’s in  the honor of my cousin coming for vacation.

Mom made super delicious stuffed vine leaves and I made this Turkish style borek, very easy to do and extremely yummy,secret is lots of butter used for sure,everything tastes good with butter.
Ingredients and method :
* 2 packs thin phyllo pastry (رقائق الهنا)
*melted butter.
* white and yellow cheese ( I used white cheese, kashcaval and kraft).
* bunch of parsley finely chopped.
* some dry mint.

I also made spinach and feta cheese mix with black pepper and a bit of chili powder.

* grease and deep dish or pan with butter then start adding the pastry layers adding butter between all layers.
* after layering one pack add the stuffing then continue with the other pack.

Note: today I used four packs and made a big pan,half with cheese and half with spinach.

* cut into squares and tuck sides well.
* before putting in the oven beat one egg in 1- 1 1/2 cups milk and add all over.
* bake in a well heated oven for 20 minutes.
* toast surface till golden.

A super yummy dish, felt myself part of a Turkish series while doing it.

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wpid-wp-1425329509293.jpeg wpid-wp-1425329518098.jpeg use the endings to make decoration.

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Stuffed Courgettes and Pulp.

Hello everybody.

Today’s lunch is my oldest son favorite dish ever,stuffed courgettes with tomato sauce.

On the other hand my youngest doesn’t eat it at all so I usually make the pulp with garlic and dry mint cooked in olive oil.

Mash ‘Allah all was wiped out in minutes.

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Here’s the method again :

*Wash them from inside with salted water then stuff them with the same filling as cabbages, but be careful to leave an empty inch from top so as rice will fill it when done.
*Make a tomato sauce of fresh tomatoes, paste, small onion, some cloves of garlic and a cube if chicken stock.
*Boil the sauce, dip the courgettes and eggplants,, you can stuff green peppers also by the way.
*Boil for 10-15 minutes then leave to simmer for 1 hour on low heat.
*Add some dried mint powder to the sauce, it’ll give a nice aroma.

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