Initially, I had hoped to be finished with the bear sweater before the end of the month, but it's not quite there. There is one ear to knit and all sorts of ends to weave in and blocking to do. Also, two buttons to sew on the inside of the sleeve cuffs, where the bear paw mitts will attach, so the baby can't get to the buttons.

You can see that I have started my oceanic camel face cloth, too. This weekend, I hope to get a lot more progress made on it. It is not too difficult, but I do have to pay attention to the chart, so that limits where/when I can work on it.

I'm not finished with Taco USA, but I am more than half way through it and still enjoying the book. It does look like I will be able to finish it by the end of the week, though.

Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

Labels: Books, Design, Family, Homemaking, Knitting, Stitchalong, WIP, Yarn Along

I tried my experiment with the cherries, and while the cherry "butter" didn't exactly work the way I expected, it did taste good and I think will be perfect as the filling for baked goods. The texture of the cherry butter just never was exactly right, because of the skins, I think. However, the flavor was awesome, so if you don't expect it to be a "buttery" spread, I think it will be lovely. I also did find out that you can pressure can caponata, so after making double my recipe, I canned four quarts and a pint of it, which is now shelf stable and not taking up room in our fridge or freezer.

My sweet Rich is taking a day off for us to can peaches. We still have four boxes of peaches, and while we are enjoying them, it will be good to have them for the winter.

For my birthday, I did try the duck shawerma, and it was fantastic. Now I think that duck is the best choice for shawerma. We will have to try it with some of our geese next.

My experiment with the vegan oatmeal muffins was not nearly as successful. I have a recipe for Lenten muffins and a recipe for leftover oatmeal muffins and I tried to merge them. They imploded. The kids liked how they tasted, though so I think I will keep messing with it to get the right texture.

We are deep in the harvest season, and we have an opportunity to get a whole lot of garlic this week, too. we are still trying to figure out what else to do with the cherries. I suggested brandied cherries, but that seems more like a gift idea, because how many times can we eat that? Perhaps I can put up some cherry pie filling, we would eat that more. I may also try a Spanish recipe for a savory pickled cherry. Our house is kind of covered with produce, but it seems like God is taking care of us for what might be a challenging winter.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Leftover Scramble, Fruit Plate, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Slow Baked Chuck Roast, Parishioners bring Sides/Salads/Dessert
• Monday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Rainier Cherries and Cantaloupe, Tea and Milk
  Dinner: Thai Style Ginger Chicken with Eggplantt, Jasmine Rice, Strawberry Mango Salad
• Tuesday - Feast of Saints Mary and Martha
  Breakfast: Fried Eggs, Toast, Peaches and Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Garlic Roasted Pork Loin, Corn on the Cob, Cucumber Tomato Salad, Yellow Plums
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Diced Apples and Raisins, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: East African Pilau, Portuguese Marinated Carrots, Apricots
• Thursday - Feast of Joseph of Arimathea
  Breakfast: Sausage and Potato Hash, Plums, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Meatloaf, Steam Sautéed Zucchini and Corn, Cherries
• Friday - Feast of The Holy Seven Maccabee Children, Solomone Their Mother, and Eleazar Their Teacher
  Breakfast: Ful, Toast/Lefover Saj (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Radishes, Kalamata Olives, Cherries, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Lemon Garlic Scallops, Rice Pilaf, Sautéed Summer Squash, Chard and Garlic, Fruit Plate
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Pancakes (Gluten-Free for Jerome) with Peach Syrup, Sliced Peaches, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Vegan Egyptian Mahshi, Turmeric Rice, Duqqus, Fruit Plate

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen

I have frogged and re-knit the first sleeve on the bear sweater; I'm nearly finished with the second sleeve on Crossandra; I'm just about at the cabled section of Saint Patrick, and I am ready to start a hot pad with these two colors of linen yarn. Since I have to wait a little while before sharing the project I finished last week, I will show you this lovely yarn, instead.

It is my birthay tomorrow, and I have a fantastic discount on ONE of my individually sold patterns on either PayHip or Ravelry. If you use the coupon code Guessmyage through the end of the day, PDT, July 26, you may receive 49% off of one pattern from either of those storefronts. A very merry unbirthday to you!

I am about half way through Taco USA. My hope is to be finished by the end of next week. I still wish he just wouldn't discuss religion, since he is clearly not well versed in it, but the rest of the book is really interesting.

Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

Labels: Books, Design, Family, Homemaking, Knitting, Stitchalong, WIP, Yarn Along

It is the busy time for those of us who preserve right now. All the fruit and vegetables are coming ripe, and we have a lot to do. It is a lot of work, but I love it, because it means that when the produce isn't in season, we can still eat it from when it was at its peak. I did get stock canned last week, and I would like to make some more to can this week. We dried more apple slices and made cherry jelly. My experiment with cherry butter tastes fabulous, but I am still undecided about the texture. If we like it well enough, it will go into Christmas gift packages this year. If the texture is not quite what we like, I will use it in baked goods. Either way, it is a win.

Our gleaning club has provided us with so much in the way of eggplant, zucchini, peaches, and apricots. We are eating a lot in our meals this week and fresh, as snacks, but I am also going to be canning peach and apricot halves for the winter. This week, I have caponata planned, but will make double or triple the amount to put some in the freezer. I'm not sure how well it would can. Maybe I will put one jar in the pressure canner with the stock and see how that goes. If it turns out well, I will know for next year.

We are cooking a lot from our freezer and from the fresh foods that are ready in our area now. Our goal is to empty the freezer enough to butcher quite a few geese, ducks, and turkeys, and to make room for two or three butchered lambs, perhaps one sheep for mutton. We had no luck finding piglets this year, so we will have to buy pork in the fall, unless we can get one or two to butcher from a 4-H kid at the fair.

Since my birthday is this week, I am making something special with some of our ducks that I've wanted to make for a while. An Arab Instagramer shared a recipe for duck shawerma, and I am really looking forward to that. I will be making that and a three layered cake of cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and ganache. Rich thought I wanted to go out for my birthday, but I just wanted to have the food and cake I wanted. He's getting me a practical gift that I really need, and it will be a good day.

The weather this week is mostly cooler than it has been, with a couple hotter days, like on my birthday and the following day. It has been a rather pleasant summer, with not too many really hot days, but not particularly cool, either. I hope this means we have a longer fall this year.

Our church family is providing jerk chicken tonight, which I think will go really well with the food we are bringing. We are so blessed to have a parish of great cooks!

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Bacon, Egg and Vegetable Breakfast Burritos, Shortcake with Raspberries, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Jerk Chicken, Red Beans and Rice, Hot Pepper Sauce, Scallions, Peaches, Parishioners bring Sides/Salads/Dessert
• Monday
  Breakfast: Turkish Menemen, Toast, Cherries, Tea and Coffee
  Dinner: Koosa Mah'shi, Basmati Rice, Harissa, Sah'awiq, Middle Eastern Chopped Salad, Peaches
• Tuesday - Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene
  Breakfast: Sausage and Vegetable Hash Burritos, Apricots, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Slow Cooked Chuck Roast, Corn on the Cob, Marinated Cucumbers and Onions, Raspberries and Cream
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Vegan Oatmeal Almond Flour Apple Muffins with Walnut Butter, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Caponata with Pasta (Gluten-free for Jerome), Portuguese Marinated Carrots, Apricots
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Mthouamat Banadora, Quick Persian Barbari Bread, Cherries, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Duck Shawerma, Saj, Lettuce, Sumac Onions*, French Fries, Tourshi, Toum, Taratoor, Shatta, Cheesecake with Chocolate Mousse and Ganache
• Friday - Feast of James the Apostle
  Breakfast: Ful, Toast/Lefover Saj (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Radishes, Kalamata Olives, Fruit Plate, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Lemon Garlic Scallops, Steam Sautéed Zucchini and Corn, Fruit Plate
• Saturday - Feast of Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mother
  Breakfast: Bacon Stuffed Savory Griddle Cakes, Oranges, Sahlab, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Moussaka'a, Basmati Rice, Moroccan Beet Salad, Limoncello Crème Brûlée

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Birthday, Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen

So, I'm not sure if I mentioned this last week, but when I picked up stitches for the sleeve, I realized that there were far too many. Initially, this was a vest, and I think the armholes were larger for pulling it over other clothes. However, they were a lot larger. It was obvious that I would need to decrease the stitches quite a bit to get a normal sized sleeve for a baby. But it was going to take a lot of creative decreasing, and now that I'm more than half way through the sleeve, I kind of hate it. I may rip it out and pick up fewer stitches, and do more normal decreases.

There is a secret project I have from the Stitch Along, and I can show it in a couple weeks, but it is a gift for Shawn's baby shower, and so I don't want to post a picture where she can see it. It is super cute, and I can't wait for them to see it!

I finished Caramel Pecan Roll Murder, started and finished Pink Lemonade Cake Murder, and am about half way through Taco USA. Like I said, it is interesting to be reading about the history of the ascendance of Mexican cuisine in the USA at this time - including the white washing of it, and the ways it had to be made palateable to Americans.

Linking to Unraveled Wednesday

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

Labels: Books, Design, Family, Homemaking, Knitting, Stitchalong, WIP, Yarn Along

The kids are all home again this week, which is wonderful. The night they returned we just happened to pass a street cart taqueria, and on the way back, we grabbed tacos for everyone, while I practiced by broken Spanish. It was nearly midnight when we got home, so we broke the Friday fast with amazing tacos and chiles and salsas.

The heat is ramping up again, and we have installed our first portable air conditioning unit. We have two more to put in, but we only have one day of temperatures predicted to be at 100˚. There is only one appointment out of the house this week, and one grocery day, unfortunately on two different days, but that allows me to attempt again to get some preserving done when the temperatures drop into the 80s. Last week, I was kind of knocked out with a summer cold, which is especially insulting, and my mornings alone were spent resting, for the most part, and doing basic homemaking tasks.

It is abundance time in the farmer's market and with our gleaning club. Our garden is still producing earlier season foods because we live in a cooler microclimate. The plan is to try my experiment, using my method for fruit butter and jelly with the abundance of cherries we have. I plan to use almost no pectin, just because of how much the cherries gel on their own. We also have some asparagus that is on the edge of drying out, that I am going to try to pickle, just for our use. We will mark the jars, so if they don't hydrate enough with the brine, we know just to use them ourselves. We also have a ton of apricots, and I am thinking of making apricot syrup and preserves. If we still have a lot after that, I might make some basic canned apricot halves, which will come in handy in the fall and winter (I make a fantastic cream cheese and fruit stuffed French toast which would be lovely with apricots). Our peaches are a little too ripe for most preserving, so I am thinking we might just eat a lot and maybe make a crisp or pie - or ice cream! In fact, I might make an apricot pie with out beautiful apricots, too. I might set the kids to drying some of the apples we have, as they just devour those as snacks in the winter.

This week also holds the 31st anniversary of Rich and me meeting. We are going to have a small dinner at an Italian place near us and dance at least once. It's hard to believe that it's been over 30 years since we met. I am not one of those people who thinks she is not her age. I am nearly 49. At the same time, it seems unbelievable that so much time has passed since that fateful dance.

The challenge last week was that, even with making much smaller meals, with only two to four people eating at each meal, and the heat being as high as it was, supressing our appetites, we had so much food leftover. Once the kids returned, they helped us use up most of that food, but there is still a little left in the refrigerator, but now we have enough folks here to eat them up as lunches. Our meals this week are still going to be a little scaled back, because of the heat, but a bit more than last week. There might still be meal juggling because of those lowered appetites, but we will discover that by next week.

Our Melting Pot-Luck last week wasn't huge, but it was a great success, and the folks there wanted us to do it more often, so we are planning on holding them quarterly now. We had foods from Norway, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Russia, Bangladesh, and more. It was delightful. We are eating around the world this week, too. We are eating from Louisiana, Mexico, Persia, Lebanon, Morocco, Korea, France, Palestine, China, Spain, and Italy. It's all jumbled together each day, and sometimes each meal, and that is wonderful, and just like our country.

• Sunday - Feast of Saint Veronica
  Breakfast: Fried Eggs, Toast, Sliced Honeydew, Peaches and Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Gumbo, Rice, Pepper Vinegar, Scallions, Apricots, with Parishioners bringing Sides/Salads/Desserts
• Monday - Feast of Aquila the Apostle among the 70
  Breakfast: Migas, Sliced Honeydew, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Khoresh Badenjan, Sabzi Polo, Persian Chopped Salad, Peaches
• Tuesday - Feast of Saints Bonaventure and Swithun
  Breakfast: Salatat Battatas ou Bayd, Tamis, Apricots, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Korean Style Beef with Zucchini, Jasmine Rice, Cherries
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Sweet Potato and Vegetable Breakfast Hash, Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Ratatouille, Garlic Pasta (GF for Jerome), Apricots
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Mthouamat Banadora, Quick Persian Barbari Bread, Rainier Cherries, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pork Stir Fry wih Zucchini and Asparagus, Jasmine Rice, Peaches
• Friday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Chopped Apples, Raisins, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Spanish Poor Man's Potatoes, Spanish Farmer's Rice, Green Salad, Fruit Plate
• Saturday - Feast of Saints Vincent de Paul and Macrina
  Breakfast: Bacon Stuffed Savory Griddle Cakes, Oranges, Sahlab, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pasta (GF for Jerome) with Bolognese Sauce, Green Salad, Cherries

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Romance and Relationship, Tales from the Kitchen

I had a funny pun with the word bear, and now I can't remember it. Anyway, I have a hood. It looks too large, but baby's heads are bigger in proportion to their bodies, and this is for a three to six month old, and it will also be covering the neck. I'm hoping it won't be gigantic on Lentilla.

I am not looking forward to even more sewing on this, and I really wish I had understood how it went together before I started, because I would have picked up the hood stitches from the neck, after joining the shoulders, and used short rows to shape it, and reduced most of the sewing. I already changed it from a zip up vest to a long sleeved pullover. I still have to join the shoulders and sew the hood to the neck. Then I will pick up the sleeve stitches and work down from there. I have a darker brown wool for the inner part of the bear ears, which I will pick up and knit, rather than knit and sew on the hood.

I've made a good amount of progress on the Crossandra sleeve, too, but it doesn't look too different. I'm focusing on the bear sweater, because I would like to have it ready in time to be a gift, but I will get to Crossandra again right after that. Saint Patrick is coming right along, though I need to recalculate a little bit on it. My finger is still a bit sensitive, and probably will be for a bit, but I only need a bandage now, instead of all the wrapping.

I'm a little more than a third of the way through both Taco USA and Caramel Pecan Roll Murder. Alternating between them seems to be working, and I read the mystery when I need something lighter.

The sixth annual Around the World Stitch Along is back! If you would like to join in on Ravelry or Instagram, you certainly can. Along with 25 other designers, I have a sale bundle both on Ravelry and PayHip, so if you cannot use Ravelry, you can still benefit from the sale. The coupon code SAL2025 will give you 25% off of the bundle patterns through the end of the day, PDT, July 15, 2025. I hope you can join in the fun

If you would like to receive updates and early notice of new patterns, beta knitting opportunities, and great discounts (plus pictures of new yarns, new tools, fun places, neat hints, book ideas, recipes and more) each month, please subscribe to 1,001 Knits. My best, and sometimes my only, discounts go to my subscribers.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any time you click on a book link, it gives me the opportunity to earn a few cents for our family.

Labels: Books, Design, Family, Homemaking, Knitting, Stitchalong, WIP, Yarn Along

// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:45 PM 0 comments

We have four of the kids out of the house this week. I am already anticipating that we will be pushing aside several of these meals because I don't know how to cook for only four people. Yasmina is at camp for her birthday, which delights her, but makes me a little sad to miss her on that day.

It is also Vacation Bible School week, so I will be shuttling back and forth to that. It also means that I won't have lunchtime for eating up leftovers, as they serve lunch there.

Aside from all that, I will be trying to catch up on decluttering, stock making, and canning. With most of the kids gone from home this week, it will be quiet here, but I hope that allows me some rest and work that I really need.

Our church family is really wonderful. All I had to provide for dinner tonight, after a challenging week, which included me cutting off part of the tip of my left index finger, and loads of extra cooking, was a simple, slow baked beef dish. Everyone else took care of the rest. I cannot express how grateful I am for how they take care of us.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Leftover Blackberry Cobbler, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Slow Cooked Chuck Roast, Rice, Roasted Vegetables, Potato Salad, Apricot Crisp
• Monday
  Breakfast: Leftover Apricot Crisp, Sliced Cantaloupe, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Chipotle Beef, Polenta Stuffed Poblanos with Tomato Sauce, Cuban Salad, Leftover Desserts
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Yogurt and Rhubarb Preserves, Sliced Honeydew, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Shrimp Burgers, Steam Sautéed Zucchini and Corn, Limoncello Crème Brûlée
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Lenten French Toast, Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey, and Coffee
  Dinner: East African Pilau, Portuguese Marinated Carrots, Sliced Honeydew
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Toast, Cherries, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Red Chile Chicken, Cilantro Garlic Lime Rice, Spicy Refried Beans, Fried Peppers and Onions, Tortillas, Salsa, Crema, Lime Cookies
• Friday - Feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia
  Breakfast: Tomato Toast, Cherries, Tea with Honeybr> Dinner: Spanish Poor Man's Potatoes, Spanish Farmer's Rice, Green Salad, Fruit Plate
• Saturday - Feast of Saint Paisios of Mount Athos
  Breakfast: Bacon Stuffed Savory Griddle Cakes, Oranges, Sahlab, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Duck Shawerma, Saj, Lettuce, Sumac Onions, French Fries, Tourshi, Toum, Taratoor, Duqqus, Turkish Stuffed Apricots

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Birthday, Church Year, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen

Macarona bi Laban

This is the Arab mother's version of spaghetti night on a busy week, though it is perhaps more similar to the Italian spaghetti al olio or the true fettucini Alfreddo (which is a variant on pasta al burro or pasta burro e parmigiano) than American spagetti. This can be pulled together in the time it takes to boil the pasta, cook and drain it. In fact, it takes so little time to make, that in that cooking time you can make a salad to go with it. It is unctious and light, at the same time, and delicious, especially on a hot summer evening. It tastes good both hot and fresh, and at room temperature. It makes a lovely dinner or lunch and can be multiplied to feed the hordes. You can serve it with chicken or fish or shellfish, or on its own. I like to garnish it with toasted pine nuts, but that is not necessary. You could also garnish it with finely chopped parsley and give it a sprinkle of lemon juice, if you like. This is the basic, essential version of it from which you can embellish a little, remembering that, at heart, this is a simple, homey, dish.

1 pound pasta (any shape suitable for a creamy sauce)
3 cups full fat yogurt
6 - 8 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
toasted pine nuts to garnish, optional

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente.

While the water is boiling, mix together all other ingredients except the pine nuts and set aside for the flavors to meld. You should be able to do this well before you even need to add the pasta to the boiling water.

Drain pasta and add the yogurt sauce to it, tossing together to coat well. Serve, sprinkling with the toasted pine nuts.

'Arayes

'Arayes is the Arabic word for the bridal couple. It is the plural of 'aroos and 'aroosa, bridegroom and bride. The dish is called this because of the marriage of the kofta and bread. This dish originated in the Levant, though there is some question whether or not it hails from Lebanon or Palestine, but all Arab countries seem to make their own variation of it. This version is a hybrid of the Palestinian and Egyptian styles. Traditionally, the meat would be hand chopped, as well as the aromatics. Some like to make a thinner filling, but I prefer a thicker one and have written this for that. As the recipe is written, you can generously serve eight people, especially if bolstered with a salad and fruit. If you use less filling, you can make double the number, and will need eight loaves of the baladi bread. We like to serve it with some hot sauce, like duqqus, sah'awiq, or harissa, as well.

2 1/2 pounds fatty ground beef (no leaner than 80% lean) and/or ground lamb (I use either all lamb or half lamb and beef)
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
1 large bunch parsley
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium to large serrano pepper, stem removed
2 teaspoons ground paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground sumac
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes
1/2 teapsoon ground allspice
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more to brush on bread
4 loaves 'Aish Baladi
taratoor, to serve

Place the meat in a bowl large enough to add the aromatics and seasonings, and mix easily. Purée the onion, parsley, garlic, and serrano in a food processor (or very finely chop by hand) and add to the meat. Add the paprika, salt, coriander, cumin, sumac, Aleppo pepper flakes, allspice, and olive oil. Mix the meat mixture until it is evenly and well blended.

Cut the 'aish baladi in half, and split. Fill each half with the kofta mixture and press, without splitting the bread, so both sides are affixed to the meat. Preheat your oven to about 375˚. Have a baking sheet at the ready.

Heat a frying pan or skillet over medium heat, brush both sides of the bread with olive oil, and place the loaves, meat side down in the pan. Cook about 3 minutes, turn and cook on one side, for 2 minutes, then turn to the other side and cook another 2 minutes, until the bread is browned and crisp. Place on the pan and repeat with the remaining loaves until they are all cooked. Place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking the meat.

Serve with taratoor, and duqqus, sah'awiq, or harissa, if you like.

'Aish Baladi

This is really simple, country style, bread. It is easy to put together and puffs beautifully. It is also rather forgiving and an easy dough to work with.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil (or safflower oil)
1/4 cup cracked wheat bran
bread flour, for rolling out loaves

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, place 1 cup water, along with the sugar and yeast, and mix well. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it sit for about 10 minutes, until it is frothy and bubbly.

Once the yeast mixture has foamed up add about 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, and mix well. Cover again and let proof in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

The dough should be bubbly and frothy at this point. Add the remaining flour, salt and oil and knead dough for at least 10 minutes, or until very soft, but not too sticky. Cover the boal and let rise until dough is doubled, about an hour.

Prepare a large baking sheet, or two smaller ones, by sprinkling with about 2 tablespoons of cracked wheat bran. Cut 8 10-inch pieces of parchment.

When the dough has doubled in volume, divide it into 8 equal balls. Sprinkle your work surface with a little bread flour and place a ball of dough on it. Place a piece of parchment over the top of the dough and roll the dough to an even circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Peel back the parchment paper, and place the loaf, sticky side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining balls of dough.

Cover the pan(s) and allow to rest and rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 500˚.

When oven is hot and bread is risen, place the pan(s) in the oven and bake for 6 - 7 minutes. Remove the bread and place pan on a cooling rack for about 5 minutes to cool before handling or serving.

Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen

These are four of the things we brought to our Independence Day Melting Pot-Luck. Also, just a reminder that anytime I say just salt in a baking recipe, I mean fine grained sea salt, and in all other recipes, I mean Diamond kosher salt. If it doesn't follow that pattern, I will specify.

Also, I meant to take pictures at the potluck to add to the post, but it was kind of gobbled up before I got a chance to do that. So, I have a picture of the Kerkadi in the jars, but not in the glass, and no other photos. I will add them as I make these in the future.

Kerkadi

This is the drink that Jamaica is based on. Much like how sahlab became horchata, the Moors brought this drink to the Spanish, who brought it with them to the New World, which added its own twist to it. It is often found in Egypt and North African Arab countries, but also in other parts of the Arab world.

12 cups water
1 1/2 cups dried hibiscus flowers
1/2 - 1 1/2 cups sugar or light honey (depending on how sweet you like it - if using honey, stick with the lower measurement)
2 limes, 1 juiced and 1 washed and sliced
2 oranges, 1 juiced and strained if there are seeds, and 1 washed and sliced
1 lemon, 1/2 juiced and strained, 1/2 washed and sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
fresh mint, to serve

In a large saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Stir in the hibiscus flowers and sweetener and continue to boil for three minutes. Remove from heat, cover pot, and let steep for 30 minutes.

Set out 2 clean 1/2 gallon jars and place half the sliced lime, half the sliced orange, a half the lemon slices, and one stick of cinnamon in each jar. Strain half the tea through a fine meshed strainer into each jar. Discard the hibiscus flowers. Stir in half the lime juice, half the orange juice, and half the lemon juice into each jar.

Allow to cool completely and chill in the refrigerator.

Fill a glass with ice, pour in the tea concentrate, and dilute with cold water, if you like. Serve with sprigs of mint.

Rouz Medini

This is a traditional Hejazi Saudi dish from the area of Medina. It is a wonderful dish and not difficult to make, though it does take a little time. If you don't want to have to pick through the whole spices as you eat, you can put them in a mesh ball that is easily removed. The bay leaves are easy to remove, and the mastic melts into the dish, so I don't put those in the mesh ball.

4 1/2 pounds bone in lamb, preferably meaty shanks or shoulder, but leg will work
1/2 cup of ghee, divided
5 1/2 teaspons salt, divided
10 cardamom pods
5 bay leaves
12 mastic crystals, divided
1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons saffron water (soak about 3/4 teaspoon saffron in 2 tablespoons of warm water)
1 tablespoon rose water
1 tablespoon kadi water (if you cannot find this, use 2 tablespoons of rose water)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
2 cups of Basmati rice, washed and drained
1/2 cup sultanas soaked in water for about 10 - 15 minutes and drained
1/2 cup of skinless sliced or slivered almonds

Season the lamb with salt (I use about 1 tablespoon for this amount) and brown in a large pot with about 2 tablespoons ghee. Add 6 cups of water, the cardamom pods, bay leaves, 4 mastic crystals, and the peppercorns and bring to a boil, skimming off any impurities. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour and a half, or until the meat is super tender.

Remove the meat to a baking pan with sides. Mix a cup of the remaining stock with a tablespoon of ghee, 2 tablespoons of tomato purée, garlic, lemon juice, saffron water, rose water, kadi water, cumin, cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour this sauce on the meat and set the pan aside briefly.

Bring the remaining stock (it should be about 4 cups) to a boil, with 1/2 tablespoon of salt, and pour in the washed rice. Make sure that the stock level is about half an inch above the rice. If it isn't, add hot water to bring it to that level. Bring to a rolling boil. When it has absorbed most of the water, heat up two heaping tablespoons of ghee, melt about 8 mastic crystals in it then pour it on the rice. Reduce the heat to the lowest possible, cover, and let it finish cooking for about 20 minutes.

While the rice cooks, place the pan of meat in the oven on the broiler setting and let it get browned and slightly charred. Remove from the oven and reserve any sauce in the pan to serve with the rice. Gently toast the almonds in remaining ghee, remove from heat and add the sultanas to it to heat them.

Turn out the rice onto a serving plate. Top it with the meat and garnish with the toasted almonds and sultanas. Pass the reserved sauce. This is best served hot, with the nuts and raisins sizzling over the top.

German Cucumber Salad

This is similar to someone's Oma's recipe. Rich, though mostly German in heritage (then English and, therefore a bit of French, with a mishmash of quite a lot after that), does not have as direct or close a tie to his German ethnicity. So, we looked up several recipes and chose one, but used some of the proportions from the other. We did double this recipe for our Melting Pot-Luck.

2 English (or 6 Persian) cucumbers
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped, fresh dill
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Thinly slice cucumbers and place in a salad bowl.

Mix together all the rest of the ingredients and pour over the cucumbers. Gently toss together to coat all of the cucumbers with dressing. Chill for 30 minutes or more.

Smoked Tomato Onion Seasoning and Dip

This dip is my take on the California classic onion dip seasoning. It was part of our Christmas present package this year. We smoked tomatoes for preserving, and then peeled the skins off and dried them, then ground them up into powder that we add to all sorts of dishes. You can buy tomato powder or make your own. This is a simple thing to make, is a great seasoning for fish and chicken and other foods, and makes a superb dip for chips.

1/4 cup dried onion
1/4 cup smoked tomato powder
2 tablespoons smoked sweet paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

Mix it all up and put it in a labeled jar. That's it. To make this into a dip, take about two tablespoons (or more, to taste) of this seasoning mix and stir it well with a pint of sour cream. Allow it to meld in the refrigerator at least four hours.

Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen

I was trucking right along on all my projects, but was slowed down by slicing off a significant part of the tip of my left index finger on Tuesday, while preparing breakfast (no finger parts were in the meal). However, I came up with a solution for the bear hood and I am more than halfway down the second sleeve on Crossandra. I did kind of a half grafting, half seaming thing on the hood and it is working without adding too much bulk. The sleeve was my fireworks knitting last night.

We have Shawn here briefly, and I had really wanted to be finished with the bear sweater to send down in a package as a baby shower gift. That is not possible, but I think I can get it finished in time to ship it. My finger slows me down a little, but I can still knit. Were I to make this sweater again, I would have picked up the side stitches for the hood from the side neck, because that is where I will have to sew it now, and then used short rows to shape the hood, and eliminate almost all of the sewing that way.

I read quite a bit in Taco USA this week, but then the library took it back. Now I am reading Caramel Pecan Roll Murder while I wait for it to return. Taco USA is especially interesting given the political and social climate of the moment. I am trying to channel my thoughts and feelings about it into something positive. I have organized a non-political (I don't know if Rich knows he is the heavy on this to ask people to remove any political signs, but he's done it for us before) Independence Day Weekend Melting Pot-Luck to highlight ALL of our immigrant backgrounds by having folks bring a dish (or more) from their ethnic heritage. We are bringing traditional Hejazi Saudi Arabian, German, Southern Californian, and Oregonian dishes to reflect our backgrounds both as immigrants and where we were born here in the US. Other families are bringing Mexican and Italian and Icelandic and Russian and Indian and other foods, and I am so excited. I hope to make it an annual event, and move it to dinner time next year.

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Labels: Books, Design, Family, Homemaking, Knitting, WIP, Yarn Along