OFF!

Hey my dear readers! It's been a really crazy month! I apologize for not being able to write I have been sick and well super busy with work! Anyway winter is here! I already have my winter clothes out and is nice to be able to walk around like the air conditioning is on! If you plan to come to Egypt this is the perfect time to do it. The weather is perfect and you just need a light jacket and some warm clothes.

Thanksgiving day was a little weird for me and believe me I miss my family like crazy and of course the turkey! Either way I had a good time and my spirits lifted when I went to Carrefour and found all the section on Christmas!! OMG! I was so excited to see all the Christmas trees and snowman's and santa's! Oh! they have everything!

I will post a picture of my pine tree decorated so you guys can see that they are still some people in Egypt that celebrate Christmas!  This is going to be the first time to spend the holidays away from my family but I am looking forward to new experiences and of course sharing this holidays with my habibi that no matter what always makes me feel good and happy!

Speaking a little bit about everything today is a very important day in Egypt there a lot of people in Tahrir Square right now protesting the new decree declare by current the president and of course people are raging mad! My support to all in Tahrir tonight and may things work out for the best!

Coming soon I will be posting about my stay in the country and of course showing pictures of real  100% Egyptian cotton right from the field! Also a new post on cultural place  that is very nice and right on the Nile so check for the new posts that are coming this month.

Thank you for reading and following me! 

El Dahan Restaurant! Food!

It has been very hectic this past few weeks so I apologize for the delay in writing. There has been an increase in my page views and I am very happy!! The other day I had the most amazing experience with my habibi of course and some friends. We went to eat to this amazing restaurant that specializes in oriental food which means traditional Egyptian food.

The place is located in Heliopolis # 70 El Marghany Street next to Abou Ghali automotive. This place is beautiful, classy and the most amazing atmosphere you can imagine. The parking is a little impossible but the food is so worth it!

We order meat (kofta) some almond rice my favorite macarrona bechamel and of course some sandwiches that are made with Syrian bread and rolled together.  I found this great video of the restaurant so you have an idea of how the place is.

This place date backs to the  1890 and it was given a certificate by the king of Egypt during that time for the excellent service and food. So by going to this place you receive very good food and a little bit of history. I hope that you put this on your list of places to visit while in Egypt because is definitely a must!

Here are the pictures and video, hope you enjoy it!

Since the food was delicious and I have a terrible sweet tooth we went to eat Cinnabon!! The place is closed by and believe me that tasted so good!! I took pictures of the chocolate and caramel ones they are to die for! 

Wow just looking at the pictures makes me want to eat them again!! Thank you for reading and following me! 

6th of October War!

Well so this past Wednesday I went on a trip with my students and to my surprise we went to a place call The Panorama 6th of October. This place shows the battle between the Israelis and Egyptians over Mount Sinai. Is very nice but to be honest the only good thing about it is the last exhibition is a round room and you go all the way around to see the great art work and 3D effect they got going on there.

So my opinion you can skip this one in Egypt... Is 30 pounds for foreigners and to be honest unless you really want to see just some art I recommend you skip it. If you want to go with your kids is a good one. I took the liberty of taking some pictures and well they turned out great.

The artwork was amazing I swear that the painting and the stage was one! So my congratulations to a very amazing and well done job! I was more excited than the kids in the trip! LOL but I am very grateful that the other teachers were kind enough to translate for me! Nothing was in English that day!! Oh well I leave you here with some really interesting pictures hope you enjoy them!!

Thank you for reading and following me!! 

When is it enough?

So here is the thing about living in a different country that doesn't have your same religion, culture and language, can you adapt or when do we say enough? After been here for eight months they are still things that just plain irritate me!

I wish I could just speak the language right away! LOL. I understand some words and can speak a few too but is not enough. I can't read anything in Arabic is totally messed up and starting with the fact that they write from right to left... confusing enough?

The eating habits of Egyptians entitled every body part available in animals, kidneys, livers, cow legs anything you name it they eat it! So that been said I have to say that I only eat chicken and beef and of course not any weird parts! Please don't judge me but I really can't eat it and I don't eat fish either so I guess I fall into the picky eater category. The only thing is you can eat in front of me no problem just don't think I am going to try it!! Lol.

The clothes is something am pretty much adapted too already but really some day's I wake up and I wish I could just wear whatever I want! No sleeves, shorts ... maybe the rebel part of me or something! All this I took into account before moving here but we have a saying back home that says You can't be sure of things until you try them. So here I am musing and complaining to you guys because sometimes is hard.

I miss home and of course the way I lived my life for the past twenty six years and guess what is normal! No one can make such a big difference in their life and expect to adapt in eight months, doing something totally different than what you have been doing your whole life. This is post is for those of you who are afraid of changes, is not going to be easy but hey maybe you do not need to make such a drastic move as I did.

There are country's who speak English or any other language that still will make things challenging for you. Life is never easy and if it is for you, you are either living in the clouds or something is wrong with you! LOL The only thing that will change the outcome is our attitude and I have to say that I have been letting my frustration get the best of me so don't let it happen and if it does, as it happen to me just cry a little maybe get mad and get over it.

Thank you for reading and following me!  

Missing...

When you become an expat they are things that you definitely miss from home. So I decided to share with you mine. First of all I miss my Island!!! the beach, the mountains and of course the rain! One thing I love about the drive to work in the morning is when we pass by the Nile river it might not be the same as the beach but water all the same and it sooth's my "sea desires" LOL.

I surely miss driving! There is nothing more relaxing for me, but only back home! Here in Egypt is a little scary to drive still I thank my habibi for letting me drive a few times.  :)

I miss a really good cereal! The other day I bought "original" Fruit Loops on Carrefour and I was so disappointed because it was not the same as back home! they taste awful. The thing is that it was the same box and everything! But between you and me, they have a Kellogg's here in Egypt so they make everything to look the same but tastes different. That goes for any cereal. On that same note I miss fresh milk. You can find some in Egypt but you have to boil it and everything so we just stick to buying full cream milk.

For those of you living here in Egypt and miss fresh milk too, I share with you a good discovery that tastes almost as good as fresh milk. Dina Farms has a variety of products and one of my favorites is their fresh milk. Here is an ad for it. If you buy it be aware it goes bad quickly. You have like a week before it goes bad, but trust me this stuff is good.

You can find pretty much any fruits in or vegetables in Egypt but to my dismay they don't have plantains! I love plantains in any form and I miss them like crazy so when I get home I am planning on eating so much plantains that they come out of my ears!! LOL 

There you have it people the things I miss the must! There are many other but the life and the country are different and am sure when I go home for a visit I will bring a suitcase just for this type of things! Please don't tell anyone I don't want any problems at the airport! Lol 

Thank you for reading and following me! 

A little bit crazy!!

So I think is safe to say that it made world news the recent incidents on Cairo and other Arab countries... going on that I have to say that believe or not is been safe for me so far. Here is the thing about conflicts here in Egypt, they all concentrate on Tahrir Square and to be honest I live and work far from there so in any case your not going to get hurt if you stay away from it.

Many people may be confused as to what is a happening and because you guys read me you will get the "inside story"! The whole thing blew out because there is a movie trailer that was released on September 11, coincidence? I think not. This video is about a movie that was made of Prophet Muhammad and insulting Islam and their beliefs. Basically the video is very crude a blasphemy in itself and even the actors on the movie didn't know they were doing a film about Islam.

The producers shot the low budget video in 2 weeks and told the actors that it was a movie about warriors in the dessert. The Arab world went crazy and furiously mad at this video and started protesting in Us embassy's and burning the American flag and well you have probably seen and heard what has been going on in the past few days. 

Some people may see this as exaggeration but to be honest everyone has a right to protest especially about something that was so offensive. I surely do not celebrate the violent acts, I think we all have a right to protest and let our voices be heard but always with civility. Since yesterday afternoon their has been no more protests.

Now the real deal is, this is all POLITICS! This video is a diversion and an example of what is to come in the future if politicians make the wrong move. Anyways please don't hold it against me is my humble opinion and well I hope at least you get the idea of what is happening. For my family and friends believe me I am doing great.

Busy with work and  my new apartment! Well thank you for reading and following me!!

Galabeya!

Galabeya!

This next topic is actually a very famous one, the Arab world is known for this form of dress and to be honest I am dying to buy one Galabeya myself. 

Egyptian galabeya (also called jilbab) is a loose, full-length gown with wide sleeves, often decorated with embroidery along it's hems, collar, sleeves and skirt.
Islamic Stores offer the Egyptian cotton galabeyas (jilbab) in various designs and in all sizes from small size to plus size.

When I was working in a nursery here in Cairo, I was surprised when one day they did a Galabeya party! To be honest the kids look so darn cute! I just started taking pictures of them like a crazy person. I wish I could share them with you but I can't. 

Now if you are like me and enjoy to embrace in the costumes and traditions of a country I suggest you go and buy a Galabeya. Depending on the style you can use it for weddings or for a normal day. 

One thing is for certain, not much thinking about fashion! You just put this on add some shoes and you are out the door. There is no need to see if the pants match the shirt and the shoes or  thinking does this look good with this? LOL Instead you just put the Galabeya on and you are ready to go. By the way men also were the Galabeya,  so is normal to see a guy wearing what we in the western consider a dress. 

Here are some pictures so you get the idea. 

Thank you for following me and reading me! 

Desserts!

Well one thing I enjoyed during Ramadan were the amount of yummy desserts they had. One of my favorites is Katayef. One thing me and habibi did while fasting was making this dessert, it was quite a little disconcerting because we were hungry and thirsty and we were making this heavenly dessert I swear I was tempted to just eat it and break the fasting!

So the Katayef is like little pancakes I do not know how to make it but I do know how to do the rest of the stuff which of course am going to walk you thru it. First of all here is a picture of what the Katayef is, you can eat it like that but to be honest is not that good.

The little pancake as I call it is sticky in the edges and the more sticky it is the better, it means is fresh. You can fill these with raisins, coconut, peanuts, prunes, dates and any other thing you can think of. We made a special  blend with shredded coconut, peanuts, prunes and raisings. (picture below) My mother in law made some Saudi Katayef and basically she cooked some dates with butter and cinnamon and then filled the Katayef with it. It was super delicious but a little bit heavy, dates are quit heavy for me. 

After you fill them you stick the edges together making little "empanadas" be careful not to fill them too much because they will break. It will look like this. 

After that you will fry them in very hot oil until golden brown. 

After that you immediately  pour some glaze which is made of 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water to that you squeeze 2 lemons (small ones) and for a yummier taste add cinnamon. Is important that you put them in the glaze after taking them out of the oil. Do not put them in paper to get the excess oil out they will get soggy and the important thing about eating katayef is that they are crunchy. 

Here is the final product! Very yummy and crunchy on the outside and so sweet on the inside this little things will make you addicted!! It sure make me crazy to eat them! So if you are in Egypt during Ramadan go ask in any bakery for Katayef and go home and make them they are the best!

Thank you for reading and following me! 

Feast!

Well now that Ramadan is over here in Egypt we three days of holiday! They called them Eid vacation. On this three days Egyptians eat what they called Kha and Biscuits which are very yummy cookies!! Also on this days parents buy their kids new clothes and new presents.

On these three days the most important thing to Egyptians is to visit the family. The first day of the vacation they have a prayer at 5am in the morning usually everyone goes to a specific location and you can see the amount of people praying and dressed in their galabeyas. After that everyone goes to visit family and of course enjoy eating food now that the fasting is over.

At first my habibi told me oh we are going to order some Kha and biscuits for us you will like it. Inside I was so happy to know I was going to have delicious cookies in my house!! Then my mother in law comes in my house carrying buckets of Kha and a huge bag of biscuits!!! LOL  Needless to say i still have a LOT! To my horror they are so good I just want them gone before I start getting bigger by my terrible need to just eat the delicious things! :)

My favorite is the biscuits!! You can eat them like in the picture plain and they are super delicious! Or you can put some white powder sugar on them, my trick I eat them with everything! I even made an ice cream sandwich with two of them ha! it was super yummy! and of course one of my favorites way to eat them is with strawberry jam.

Now here is the Kha, the taste is different they are not as crunchy as the biscuits and they are very soft inside. Egyptians love this little cookie and of course is my habibi's favorite. You can eat it plain like in the picture and some people coated with white powder sugar. 

Here is a picture of a box we bought too with some heart shaped cookies with sprinkles!! 

Well thank you for reading and following me! Next is how to make a very yummy dessert!! 

Ramadan

Well most of you probably don't know but in the Islam world is the month of Ramadan. I didn't know any of these until of course I came to Egypt and my habibi told me all about it. I am going to do my best to explain to you what is all about because is a very interesting month and for me is a mix of different holidays we celebrate as Christians.

Ramadan this year is from July twenty to August twenty. Ramadan is a month of spirituality, giving and family. Every Muslim fasts for the whole month from  dawn to sunset they abstain themselves from drinking water and eating. In this month they read the Quran and pray for those who are poor and have no food.

Traditionally they decorate the houses with lights and lanterns. Is for me a mix between the Holy Week and Christmas!! Is very festive and well there is a lot of food. Basically if you are fasting you wake up before dawn to eat your last meal this is called Sohour. Here you eat and drink water until dawn. After that they don't eat or drink anything until Iftar which is the time for eating.

If you are on the streets at the time of Iftar you will find people giving food and juice, Muslims believe that if they are the ones to give you the first food or drink when you are done fasting they will be blessed so basically they compete for the blessing by stopping cars and forcing food on you! LOL

This time is a time for giving and Egypt throws down the best at this time by giving to people who really need food or money. You can buy what they call a Ramadan bag or box which contains the following: Pasta, rice, oil, sugar, tomato sauce, tea, dates and many countless things. They give these to people who are in need.

Also you can see they make big places with tables and there you can go and eat for free. I am not talking about eating a sandwich no, no this people make real food and very delicious one and they don't care who you are once you are there they serve you food.

Is a month for giving and for being generous as well as to make peace with God. If you want to enjoy a good trip to Egypt and enjoy the great food and desserts as well as this generous atmosphere join us in Ramadan I am sure you will love it!

Thank you for reading and following me!

Dream Park!!

Well its been a while again! But here I am happy to share with you an amazing experience for those of you who love amusement parks! Obviously is not the same caliber as Disney but to be honest is pretty close.

Dream Park is located in 6th of October City in Cairo when you go by you will pass the Pyramids which makes for an expectacular view! Needles to say for us it was a long trip but it was so worth it! The park is big and has an area for small children and of course the family rides and the ones me and my habibi like the wild ones!

It has a lot of restaurants and the theme is almost like a fun village there a lot of shops for food and toys too. The joy of it there were no lines! It was almost empty you could just go on anything you liked. We tried everything and to be honest the only one that got me a little fuzzy was the Tornado is a two ride seat and it goes up very very high! Other than that I was good so was my habibi.

Dream Park was designed by the designers of Universal Studios and Mall of America so all in all is a very safe and well made amusement park. If you like amusement parks you should definitely spend some time in Dream Park is very nice, clean and it rocks!

If you are interested you can visit their page Dream Park  you can see some pictures and the prices for the park. Unfortunately I didn't take too much pictures my phone was  in my pocket and I was... well in the rides! :P  I share the ones in their Facebook Page!

They had a part were you could see animals and well guess what?! They were camels!!! Yyou can get on them if you want!

Thank you for reading me and following me!

Politics II

Well I was not going to write more about politics but to be honest I needed to tell you what happened in the elections. After a very very long speech they announced the new president Dr Mohamed Morsi.


So in that account all Egypt seems to be pretty happy about it. Today they are thousands of people in Tahrir Square with the President celebrating. He declare three things and those were.

1. He was not going to live in the President House he was staying at his home and when going to work he will go to the Presidential House or Office.
2. He was  going to drive in traffic like anyone else with no escort or stopping traffic from one place to another.
3. His picture was not going to be in the buildings or in any government or official document.

So when my habibi told me this were the three things he promised first off I was shocked but at the same time seriously this is nothing! Lets see what happens when he has to be somewhere and he is stuck in traffic I want to bet he will be definetely calling some escort! Like seriously the President was late because he was stuck in traffic!! Hilarious if you tell me. Hey ,why not? it happens to rest of us, right? LOL

One particular thing this candidate has and that people absolutely love about him is that he is declaring a lot of things by the Islamic religion and the Qu'ran. Some people are scared that he is going to Islamize the country with extreme religious things, and in all honesty that is totally bullshit.

He needs to get rid of a lot of red tape and deal with the military council that doesn't want to give him full power before he can do anything else. So people please stop being stupid he cannot do this it will be against even the laws of the Islam by obligating people into things and to impose when we are in an Egypt that is in complete evolution.

He even stated that he is the President of all Egyptians not just the Islamic group. If you people are smart you will understand that people specially politicians will use whatever they can to their advantage in this case religion. This is one of the reasons am wary about him but will see what happens at the end. In today's speech at Tahrir he told people that he would work to free all political prisoners he also showed people that he was not wearing a bulletproof vest as was accustomed by the other president and he even wave security away so he could say hi to the people. His first defiant act was taking the oath in the square! He was supposed to take it tomorrow so good for him!

Right now people are happy and with hopes of new things to come. We are also a few days to Ramadan which from what am hearing is a great month in Egypt. So if you want to visit I think is the best time to do it! So people get your bags together and come and enjoy with all Egyptians the feeling of hope and new beginnings for this beautiful country.

Thank you for reading and following me!

Politics

It's been a while since I wrote on the blog and I sincerely apologize for the delay is been very hectic for me but I decided that after all that is happening now in Egypt I deserve to give space to something that is very important to all Egyptian people and that is the result of the elections.

Since the revolution Egyptian people want to be free from the military government and for the first time the people had a right to choose their president. There is a lot of speculation about the parties that are competing against each other and what good will it do if one of them wins.

I to be honest believe there is been a lot of manipulation on this process because if the people ask for new leaders that had nothing to do with the Mubarak regimen then I do not understand how can we have a contender in the elections that worked for Mubarak and that is clearly in the same set of mind as the individual people want to see dead.

On the other hand you have the Muslim Brotherhood who are saying that they are in every intention doing God's will and to be honest I just don't trust people who mix politics and religion because they are not the same. Today we are minutes to finding out who of these two candidates will be the new president and to be honest I just hope that none of them wins!

Egypt deserves to be free to enjoy democracy and to be able to live without the fear of being oppressed by the military. I sincerely hope that God has mercy on the Egyptian people and whatever happens today is for the good of this beautiful country.

I am usually an apolitical person but since all Egypt is in tension and waiting for what is going to happen I think I can reserve a post for this matter and don't be surprised if the people are not happy with the results they will definitely  protest again. And why not? They have the right to protest. Egyptian people discover something since the revolution and that is that united they have the power to change the situation.

Its sad all the people that lost their life because of this but they are remembered and well people are still fighting for freedom and I support them all the way. Now for those of you who think that because the people are doing demonstrations and protesting is not safe to come and visit, your wrong.

Not because a country is in a phase of transition its a bad place. Now places who are not suitable for traveling is Syria! If you have a heart pray for Syrian people they really are in a bad situation.


I think is safe to say that is the end of this post. Until next time, I have a lot of funny experiences I need to share with you and of course one of the most important holidays is coming Ramadan and believe me I am hearing great things about it.

Thank you for reading and following me! 

Movie Time!!

Last night was my first time in a few months since I have been to the Movies and to be honest I got the experience of a lifetime. We enjoyed our time in City Stars Mall in Heliopolis and well after grabbing a bite to eat we went to see Men in Black 3 in 3D. The movie was ok but I expected more like Forrest Gump that's all I have to say about that! LOL

For those wondering the movie is in English with Arabic and French subtitles so if you want to see a movie while in Cairo I suggest you do it. To be perfectly honest I totally recommend this Cinema it was awesome. When you pay for your ticket,  this right here made this whole experience the best in my life, so listen up everybody!!! YOU CHOOSE YOUR OWN SEATS!!!! HOORAY!!! OMG!  Seriously that is awesome! 

I just love Egypt for this alone!!! Back home you make one hour lines to take a good seat! and if you didn't get on time you were definitely up for seeing the movie in 3D even if the movie is not on 3D because your ass is on the front road seats. If you want to get up to buy something you have to be with someone to watch your seat because otherwise your going to lose it. So when my habibi choose seats I was like Did you just choose our seats?
He just looked at me like yes babe I did, Why? I just smiled and said WOW! By the way he choose the best seats ever!! That's why I love him!!

Anyways you have your own seats so if you are alone you can get up and believe me no one will take your seat. Another great thing they take a five minute break in the movie so you can go to the bathroom or if you want to buy something you have the time to do it. How cool is that? You get your break and continue with the movie were you left it! Now i don't know about you people but when I go to see a movie I love comfort am a tall girl and well my habibi is taller so I was actually looking forward to see the space between the seats.

Boy I was not disappointed those seats were comfy and the space was great I seriously love the movies here more than home! So if you like to experience this wonderful new way of movie experience come to Cairo you will like it! LOL I sure did and am hoping to go more often!

Thank you for reading and following me!! 

Off Road!

I can definitely cross on my list going scrambling on the sand, this past week I had the experience of my life. I thought that in Puerto Rico we created lanes where they were none and we were perfect doing this but boy was I wrong. Egyptians have created another level they don't create new lanes they create new roads!

When my driver pick me up from work I was happy because well I finished early and I was on my way home at four but to my surprise there was a big accident and the "smart" officers close the road opposite to the accident to what purpose I do not know but anyways that meant that we had to go all the way on the road until the next u turn which was way ahead.

To say the least the traffic was horrible at least three hours was going to take for us to get home. But my driver had other ideas because all of a sudden he went of the road and into the sand and rocks parallel to the main road. I was in shock! He just look at me and said new road! I just look back because we now had a line behind us! I look back at him and said well Welcome to Egypt!!! LOL

So for the next twenty minutes I was scrambling in the sand and jumping because of course there is no road so they are some big bumps. We did some awesome drifting too because the sand was giving away so my driver floored it and off we went! It was that or get stuck on the sand which by the way happened to a lot of people. You could see cars stuck in the sand and well I was all the way praying that, that didn't happen to us. Instead of waiting three hours we actually accomplish to be out of there in twenty minutes because we went off road.

Needless to say I enjoyed it very much! I would have love to be on an ATV to get more fun out of the situation but hey at least it was interesting. So if you come to Egypt be aware that this may happen. People are not going to stand on traffic for more than ten minutes, Why would they? They can go off road!!! :)


Thank you for reading and following me!!

Complains Anyone???

I think I am entitled a few complaints about Egypt. Don't get me wrong I love Egypt and I do not mean any disrespect to the Egyptians but I definitely need to get this off my system so bare with me like a child having a tantrum and then he just calms down and continue playing :)

Moving on here are my main complaints! People are always late! Urgh! This is so annoying and to be honest it can be quite irritating as well I sometimes wonder how things get done. I think it would be great for a seminary in time management for Egypt! LOL

Also relating to these is how much people get absent on their jobs! I just started working and well to be honest back home you have a three month probational period and if you get one absence with out a very very good explanation your putting your job in jeopardy. Here people start working and oh tomorrow am not going and well is ok. So too many absences and too many late people for work... this one people may get use to very quickly but to me is lacking responsibility so for those of you thinking great girl you can cut yourself some slack! wrong! but hey maybe I can use it to my advantage sometime right? lol

So if you come to Egypt please do not be punctual because you will be disappointed and for us who are use to seven  being seven  not eight or eleven and tomorrow being tomorrow and not next week have a change of heart and try to be a little umm how to put this... laid back?

Another thing I totally hate! Is the smoking! It drives me insane people smoke everywhere!! Even indoors, I am   99.6% sure that second hand smoke is the main reason people get sick here... maybe am exaggerating a bit but I am very proud about how in Puerto Rico you can go anywhere and be free of smoke I kind of miss that.

Even when I was in Germany there were smoke stations for smokers in the airport so if your visiting from the US or PR were we have very strict rules about smoking you are going to be surprised and well be prepared for a little second hand smoke. You can always bring a mask with you if you want but you will stand out for sure :)

Well there you have it my main concerns and some of them are worried some but to be honest everywhere we go we are going to find somethings bad and some great things is just how you decide they will affect you directly and indirectly and what your going to do about it. This complaints I can live with, why? I usually avoid the smoking situations as much as possible and the late thing I just breathe and relax.

Thank you for reading me and following me!

Food! Part VII

I talk about this before my favorite dish my mother in law makes macaroona with bechamel sauce and is really creamy and tasty well I owe you a picture of it and here it is!!

Here it is without cutting into it looks so yummy!! and well here is the inside :) 

Well I want to talk you about Halawa this is a famous spread here and they use it a lot. Is made of sesame seeds and honey. Needless to say is very very sweet and the texture is a little rough. Often is eaten with bread just like peanut butter for Americans, Egyptians love Halawa.  Here is the recipe for those of you who want to make it and have a taste for it. 

Ingredients:

1- Roasted Sesame 1/2 kilograms

2- Sea Salt 3/4 teaspoon

3- Honey (Molasses) 1/2 kilograms

4- Flavor as wanted

Method:

1- Mix sesame seeds and the salt crystals and grind them repeatedly (up to 3 times)

2- Add the honey or molasses and the flavor to the ground mixture and paste using a spatula

3- Pour into a container dish and put in the rfregirator

4- Flavoring can be made using Cardamon, Anise, Cocoa powder, Carob powder...etc.

You can add unsalted peeled nuts, whipped egg white, few drops of liquid Vanilla... elaborate.The color will range from beige to dark yellow according to the ingredients used. You can adjust the quantities to suit the type of raw materials you are using.

Halawa comprises the benefits of essential fatty acids and vitamin E in Sesame and the health benefits of honey. It can be eaten as snacks, added after gritted to the top of Ice cream, cut into cubes and immersed in Cocoa, or used by so many ways as a sweet healthy food.

Thank you for reading and following me! 

Egyptian Wedding!!

This last Friday I went to an Egyptian wedding!! I was excited to see what things they did differently and well experience the whole thing. I love weddings I study to be come a wedding planner which has serve me to help my friends and it comes in handy for organizing great party's. 

Needless to say I did the whole girly ritual that day made my hair, my nails and I even when dress shopping! I didn't see the whole wedding to be honest we just got there like after fifty percent of it was almost done. What my habibi explains is that there is a ceremony and then they spent some time going down the stairs while celebrating and dancing at the same time. I sincerely would have love to see that but I didn't so I am just giving you a feel for it. 

The wedding was at a very nice hotel and when we entered the wedding reception the music was very loud and very Egyptian everything was all like belly dancing music and very festive. They had a circle in the middle of the bride and groom  and they were all dancing. The dancing was different than what am use to, here they men dance with each other like joking around and getting the groom up in the air. The girls dance around the bride celebrating her new marriage. 

Yes you did see a couple dancing with each other but mostly it was like everyone in a circle dancing with everyone. This continue for a few hours then the bride and the groom did walk around the hall to were the food was and then to my surprise admire the food I do not know why but they did and after that they cut the cake! I was like wait a minute there cutting the cake? Anyways after they cut the cake they walk down to the middle of the room were they were sitting on a table ready to eat. 

Only after they started eating the servers started bringing the food to the guests. They serve some rice with breaded chicken, kofta and a few other Lebanese treats. Then after you finish eating you do not eat the cake that the bride and the groom cut you eat different types of dessert. I do not know if this is the norm for every wedding here but hey that's what happen on this one.

After an hour they cleaned the food up and well more dancing!! To my surprise when the bride and groom left so did everyone else like sometimes wedding last until morning and this one was out at midnight. To be honest it was the fastest wedding ending I have ever seen which was great. 

All in all the wedding was great and I had such a good time and I did laugh a lot and well had a wonderful time with my habibi. I am a little disappointed I don't have pictures I forgot my camera and my phone because we were late and we look damn good for a picture! Oh well until next one I guess... 

Thank you for reading and following me! 

Food in Alexandria!

I apologize for not writing sooner its been crazy this past weeks, I started my new job which to be honest is pretty cool and got sick and now my habibi is sick too. Today is a holiday here in Egypt Sinai Liberation day and I decided to write a few post for you guys.

On my last post I talk about my day trip to Alexandria which was hilarious and I so want to go there again, and now am going to tell you what I eat in Alex. My habibi took me to this great restaurant called La Casetta, this place is really beautiful very rustic and cozy. The service is excellent and the prices are very decent too. We sat at one of the windows overlooking the sea and wow it was very romantic. 

To be honest we were so hungry we drove all the way from Cairo to Alex and didn't eat anything because we wanted to eat pizza. Yes, he drove me all the way to Alex for Pizza my habibi is the best! and he is mine yeay! Ok moving on we do have pizza in Cairo but to be honest this was some damn good pizza and the view and the feel of Alexandria made it all worth while. 

La Casetta is an Italian restaurant and it has all types of pasta and of course pizza. I ordered some good yummy cheese and tomato pizza that was to die for! It was so cheesy and tasty and just to good wow am craving one right now. We also eat some toasty garlic bread that was delicious. One pretty cool thing about this restaurant they have this buttons on the wall so you can call the waiter. 

It's way cool I wanted to push the button since I knew what it was because they come pretty fast and me being a curious being and kind of a kid at heart... I couldn't help myself so thank you to the staff for putting up with me the impossible customer aka me. Am joking my habibi pretty much just let me hit the button to get the check. 

I only took pictures of the pizza before attacking it with a vengeance :) I was hungry LOL and I tried to take a picture of the restaurant but to be honest I was so full I couldn't think straight. Here is a picture of the pizza. 

After this wonderful delicious pizza we took a walk on the Pharos Scenic Path and I do not now how we ate some ice cream! It was so delicious and made with natural ingredients. I do not know the name because to be honest I was so out of it.

The hubby had orange ice cream and it had pieces of orange in it, it was so refreshing and creamy just so good I recommend it 100%. 

Thank you for reading me and following me!! If you read me every now and then I encourage you to follow me that way you get updates when I post something new. 

Day Trip!

Last Saturday I receive a huge surprise! My habibi took me on a day trip and the destination was Alexandria! I was so excited to go I felt like a kid at Christmas. The trip is approximately three hours but to be honest is worth it. You can stop in a few places while on the road so is not like is all highway.

Just the entrance to Alex is amazing. They designed like a gate that is greek and the word Alexandria is written in Greek and Arabic.Alexandria is very small compare to Cairo and is soo different I fell in love with it. The ambiance is more laid back and obviously you have the Mediterranean sea  as a background which is pretty damn beautiful. You can smell the saltiness of the sea, the fish of course and well is so relax and to be honest I felt right at home.

I even asked my habibi to move there LOL it just reminded me of home. You can have a great day in Alexandria by just walking along the coastline and eating some good food. That was what we did. We had some awesome lunch, walked and then eat some ice cream.

I know am going to go back again there is absolutely no doubt about it, but if you have time just go visit Alex is so different from the busy Cairo that you wouldn't want to leave. The air is cleaner and the streets are way cleaner too. The designs of the buildings and hotels are very exotic and pretty. If you love seafood well this is the place to eat it.

Things you should do is go see the Citadel is breathtaking is at the end of the coast and well is just impressive. You can visit it is open from 9am-4pm everyday. Here are a few pictures of Alex. Enjoy!

Alex Gate!

Food!! Part VI

Coming back to the food series on my blog today I try something new and of course your the first guys I am going to tell. This food was not one of my favorites to be honest but it doesn't mean is bad. My pharaoh loves this one actually if I think about it he loves Koshari and I don't  like it LOL sooo we have different tastes. 

So the mahshi wara enab yes this is the name of it  is basically the leaves of the grapes and you wash them and fill them with rice and then roll them and voila! ready to eat. The texture is really soft you don't feel like your eating leaves at all and of course the rice comes out really tasty and it gets all the flavor from the leave. 

If you like to eat rice and love eating new things you will definitely love this. I am kind of hard to please when it comes to food and am not saying is bad but is not something I will kill to try again you know what I mean. They refer to this as oriental food so if you are interested try oriental restaurants in Cairo you cannot find it everywhere but am sure most of you will enjoy it. 

Anyways here is a picture of the food. This was made by my mother in law and of course I had to take a picture for you. 

Thank you for reading and following me!! 

Holidays people!

I come from a place that we celebrate everything I do mean everything I think we had the most holidays in the world. I was curious as to what holidays does Egypt celebrates, as I found them I decided it to share them with you.

 January 7 - Christmas (Old Calendarists) Celebrates the nativity of Jesus Christ, according to the Oriental Coptic Orthodox Church (Old calendarist)
January 25- National January 25th Revolution [1] Egyptian Revolution Day Celebrates the day of the beginning of the Egyptian revolution
 April 25- Sinai Liberation Day Celebrates the final withdrawal of all Israeli military forces from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982.
May 1- Labour Day
 July 23-  Revolution Day Celebrates the Egyptian Revolution of 1952
October 6 -Armed Forces Day Celebrates the crossing of the Suez Canal by Egyptian forces during the October War


Sad to say they are not much! So I guess looking forward to free days is not going to be my thing anymore :(
Oh well everything changes. I do look forward to Ramadan, I have heard the greatest things about it. Ramadan is a month of spiritual reflection. It last 30 days and they have the greatest decorations so when that comes I am sure to be posting a looot of pictures!

I will say I am missing home already with only 6 national holidays in Egypt compared to the 26!!! you will be enjoying this year! LOL


Thank you for reading me and following me! 

Food! Part V

Yesterday was a wonderful day and I have to share with you the great new tasty experience I had. My cute pharaoh took me to eat waffles! and well to be honest they were one of the best I ever tried.

The place is call ChocoMix and is located in Heliopolis, we were in City Stars Mall and its just about a 5 minute drive to this place. It's a little place but is so good. I am a super fan of Nutella so is my other half and well he ordered some Nutella waffles! YUMMY!! It was so good. The waffle was so fluffy and mine was a bit crunchy on the sides just as I like it! and well they were filled with Nutella the guy who made them was not shy at all he just smothered them so much that well it kinda of mmm got on my shirt! LOL

So as always I took a picture of this very yummy and fluffy treat for you guys. Hope you enjoy and please don't be jealous ;).

I am excited to say that while at the mall I discovered that Cold Stone is coming to Egypt!! OMG! I was so excited! The bummer is that is going to be a little far from home but hey at least there is going to be one :) so another good thing for Cairo. 

Until next post everybody. Thank you for reading me and following me. 

Food!!! Part IV

Happy Thursday everyone! Today am going to talk about what Egyptians love to eat and the pictures are directly from a great cook, my mother in law! I hope you enjoy it and to be honest some of these dishes you may find in restaurants but is way better to have it in an Egyptian home.

First off is the Egyptian version of lasagna. Instead of using pasta they use a special bread to make the layers. Is still yummy but with not that much cheese. Usually when I make lasagna I use like four different types of cheese the least. So when you try these is very packed of flavor and a little spicy but soft not crunchy. Here is a picture of it. 

Egyptian Kofta is very very delicious meat. You have some ground beef, onions, bread, and some peppers and  voila! You have a very tasty meat filled with peppers and is very very yummy I love it. Here is a picture for it. You can eat this out too, I was told but this one is straight from my in laws house. 

Last but not least my favorite dish ever and I have to sincerely apologize for not having a picture. I must confess that when this is at the table my ability to wait a minute to take a picture goes out the window. My mother in law made this for me the second day I was here and well let's say every time she does it I just go crazy! and well me and my habibi love this dish we usually fight for the crispy pasta at the bottom of the pan :) Ok so what am talking about is creamy Macarona. This dish is very famous here, it consist of penne pasta, bechamel sauce, chicken and cheese. Boy this recipe is so yummy and soooo creamy you won't stop eating I promised you this is amazing. 

I still have to get my hands on the recipe I believe my mother in law is avoiding me because she just loves to make it for us and she is always ecstatic when we go there. Anyways I will find a way to make this I have to! I need to impress my family when I go to visit and I definitely have to make this. 

Thank you for reading me and following me until next post! 

Food!! Part III

I feel like I haven't wrote here forever and is only been two days, anyways am back am having a little trouble with my computer charger. Continuing my food series I want to talk to you about a few yummy things.

Bread in Egypt is delicious! They don't have a special name for it is just the bread they use here to eat and is what we know back home as flat bread. Similar to Pita bread in the shape but totally different in is flavor. Is fluffy and is perfect when you eat it after is done. You can find bread everywhere in Egypt, I think they even sell it on the street. Here is a picture of it. If you buy a lot I recommend you put it on the freezer next day you just heat it up and it tastes delicious.

Egyptians love Feta Cheese they usually eat the bread with feta cheese. They also combined the cheese with different types of spices. My habibi bought a mixture of feta cheese with peppers and herbs and it tastes just too good. I called it Mexican cheese :) so if you can get your hands on it be my guest. Here is a picture.

Last but not least on my post today are dates cookies. They are really an acquire taste not many people will like them but dates is a very original fruit that grows in the middle east with that they make a paste which they use on this cookie. The cookie is a crunchy one and very soft at the same time. Here is a picture. 

Thank you for reading me and following me!! Until next post!