Hello everybody.
Today marks the birthday of a dear young man, made him this beautiful vanilla strawberry cake with berries on top.
A real beauty I may say 😀
ain’t she a beauty?
Author: Banan Gharaibeh
Weekend Dishes.
Hello everybody.
Weekend almost over, lazy and calm but will end up with a wedding in couple of hours 😀.
Dishes this weekend were various,first thing I delivered this beautiful full of love Red Velvet cake.
Lunch was a selection of yummy stuff, tandoori chicken with eggplants, potatoes with cream, chicken and meat scallop and coleslaw.
After lunch my Kleija successfully won the test
Today’s lunch was fresh fava beans with garlic and coriander, creamy yogurt on the side of course.
Hope you all enjoyed the sunny warm weather.
Iraqi Date Cookies . ( كليجه عراقيه)
Hello everybody.
Sorry for the absence the last couple of days, too busy and no new recipes done but today after I finished an order of Egyptian cookies and had some dates left extra so I thought I’d makes these super easy cookie recipe for you , Iraqi date cookies which is known as Kleijja (كليجه)
I’m sure this is not the only recipe cause it’s a traditional dessert so each lady will add her touch to it, took this one from a beautiful auntie cause it’s very basic,light and easy to do.
Ingredients and method:
- 3 cups flour ( 3 كوب طحين)
- 1 cup vegetable oil ( كوب زيت نباتي)
- tsp baking powder ( ملعقه صغيره باكينغ باودر)
- pinch of salt (رشه ملح)
- 3/4 or 1 cup water. ( كوب او اقل ماء)
- pitted dates.( I added a bit of cardamon and nutmeg)
- Mix flour , salt,baking powder very well ( some prefer to use a sieve so as mixing will be better).
- add oil and rub it with flour till crumbly.
- add water and knead well till you get a smooth easy to handle dough.
- add some oil to the dates for easier handling, original recipe requires heating dates with some oil till it softens but I skipped this step
- form same size small balls of dough and dates then fill dough with date and close well.
- flatten cookies a bit then cut a bit on sides with knife or scissors.
- heat the oven then lower it to medium and bake cookies for 15-20 minutes or till bottoms are golden.
- brush the surface with a bit of egg wash and roast till golden as well .
End result looked and tasted very good, test will be tomorrow from the experts at lunch !
lovely box from recycled magazines.
Sheraton Amman Spice Garden/Arabian Nights.
Good morning everybody.
I was privileged last night to be invited to a very nice venue at Sheraton Amman on the occasion of launching Arabian Nights at The Spice Garden restaurant which includes a variety of Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese and Moroccan dishes along with delicious sweets and amazing live music.
Invitation came through Family Flavors magazine to all food bloggers,venue was for all social media people active on all platforms.
Evening started with a tour at the Ambassador Suite on the 7th floor, beautiful space and exquisite view to beautiful Amman, then we gathered at The Spice Garden for a Knafeh making lesson with the chef which we ate later on.
Dinner was served afterwards,a wide selection of delicacies starting from salads, appetizers, main dishes and desserts. You even can order special dishes like kofta or hummus with meat on top ( that was so yummy).
Mansaf.
maqloubeh
koukous.
Highlight of the evening was meeting the new GM Mrs Iva Trifonov and all marketing staff who were very kind and hospitable, nice interesting event and we even went home with a nice apron to remember it.
elegant aprons 🙂
. Thank you Sheraton Amman.
Recycling Old Boxes.
Hello everybody.
Today’s order was some cute strawberry and orange jams,wrapped them with a piece of paper I kept from a flower bouquet 😀
Another recycling was the box, old shoe box covered with old lively magazine papers, turned out a beautifully packed package 🎁
Busy Friday.
Hello everybody.
Such a busy day,usually Fridays are lazy and quiet but this one was the opposite.
Started with breakfast with my friend who came by to give a German lesson to my son,followed by coffee for sure.
yummy healthy breakfast.
Then preparing today’s last minute order, falafel rolls and great depression vanilla cake with pineapples and roasted coconuts on top.
Directly after that I assembled a strawberry pavlova as dessert after lunch which was a big tasty mansaf.
Mansaf 🙂
Lively nice Spring day.
Corn Chicken Soup.
Hello everybody.
Woke up with a terrible flu,headache and fever that shouts out for hot drinks and soup.
I boiled some chicken with whole onion, carrot and seasoning ( cinnamon stick, pepper kernels, cardamom and bay leaf) with the intention to make chicken vegetable soup but then I switched to corn and cream cause kids prefer it I’m sure.
Ingredients and method:
*one small onion finely chopped.
* 1 cup corn.
* some cooked chopped chicken pieces.
* 2 tablespoons butter.
* 3 tablespoons flour.
* 4 cups chicken broth.
* 1 cup fresh cream.
* salt,pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
* heat butter then saute onions.
* add flour and whisk well.
* add broth and keep whisking or you can use hand blender if you got clots.
* add corn and chicken.
* season and leave to simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Serve with sticks or garlic bread.
Today’s order was a special request for my beloved niece, Sable cookies and simple cake and I made another one with Sativa sugar for us.
Fresh Niscoise Salad.
Hello everybody.
Summer is in the air today, warm with a gentle breeze just the way the love it.
As for lunch i only made a big bowl of Niscoise salad along with yesterday’s leftovers, really refreshing !
Ingredients and method of salad
* Lettuce,tomatoes,cucumber.
* 2 large boiled and sliced tomatoes.
* some boiled string beans ( didn’t have ones today)
* boiled eggs.
*tuna.
* black olives.
* you can add parsley or fresh basil all optional.
* Dressing:
* 1 clove garlic shopped.
* 1 small chopped onion.
*lemon juice.
*dijon mustard.
* salt,pepper.
* olive oil.
* Arrange all ingredients either mixed or next to each other.
* mix all dressing ingredients then add over salad before serving.
Mini Sale !
Hello everybody.
An idea clicked my mind last night why not make a small market at my house as a trial, this came up after visiting a local farmer’s market yesterday. Well I do make or already have many products so why not sell them the same way but through social media instead of going to a market.
So my kitchen started buzzing early this morning, baked some za’tar puffs, date rolls, jams and marmalade, walnut cookies and a full basket of farm eggs .
After I posted the products on Facebook all was gone in an hour specially the eggs, already have orders for the next batch , guess my mini market will be a fixed event !
Weekend Events
Hello everybody.
Full busy weekend as usual, best thing about it is the warm sunny weather, we even had lunch outdoors today.
Yesterday’s lunch was spaghetti with tomato sauce, minced meat and mushrooms,then we had guests coming in the evening so I made a simple basic cake, another batch of walnut cookies and a colorful cheese veggies platter.
This morning I went to a lovely farmer’s market, got a bunch of fresh basil which means pesto sauce was done immediately then lunch was crunchy chicken breasts, Nigella Lawsin’s recipe again, a big bowl of fatoush and a delicious Caprese salad.
Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well.
