Watermelon-Feta Salad: The American Collage

07/06/2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

Happy Fourth to all those who celebrate it. This year the Fourth of July fell on the first week of our vacation in California, the Golden Sate. We happily celebrated it over a family dinner after a long pool day with the kids. Ostensibly I didn’t have access to my gadget-replete kitchen or my recipe […]

Ras-El-Hanout – Spiked Chicken Pie: Zero Food Waste

06/21/2019.Reading time 7 minutes.

Ras-El-Hanout – Spiked Coiled Chicken Pie is a quick fix and a practical make ahead dish. It is an exotic and aesthetic crowd pleaser dish that carries robust flavors and interesting textures.

Carob Juice: Happy Eid Fitr

06/04/2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

The holly month of Ramadan is over and Eid el Fitr (the feast) is here! I don’t want, however, to let it go without posting about my fond memories of the holly month. Years and miles away from a place that once was home, Egypt, I still vividly remember those days, tightly holding my grandma’s […]

Hawawshi: A Star Street Food

05/26/2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

NON-SPONSORED POST I believe it is safe to say that Hawawshi is the Egyptian version of U.S. Hamburger. This quintessential street food was created in the seventies of the 20th century by a butcher named Ahmed Al Hawawshi.

Cardamom-Date Cookies: Manal Alalem, The Role Model

04/27/2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

NON-SPONSORED POST Older generations of Middle Eastern home cooks, as I knew them, were inarguably gifted, but they seldom wrote down a recipe. And if they did, it was more likely to be inaccurate. They tended to mainly rely on memory and skip measurements altogether. Recipes have been handed down from generation to generation, if […]

Tsoureki, Greek Easter Bread: Honoring a Forgotten Woman

04/21/2019.Reading time 9 minutes.

In my grandparents’ living room in Alexandria, Egypt, in the center of one of its bright walls, was a colorful hand painted drawing of our extended family tree. The tree displayed black and white tiny oval face photos. At the tree roots, were the photos of Maria and Guirguis, the great grandparents of my mother. […]

Gayane and Edward’s Basturma: A Story of Resilience

04/18/2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

Basturma is an authentic Armenian delicacy and appetizer. It is a highly seasoned cured beef that delivers an arsenal of robust flavors. It is delicious if served alone, yet becomes an excellent flavor asset if mixed with eggs or bland veggies.

Torte Au Chocolat: The Prize of Tiding Up

04/13/2019.Reading time 7 minutes.

NON-SPONSORED POST My obsession with tidying up preceded “The Marie Condo” prodigy by a decade. I iniatially caught the bug of tydying up when I moved to Paris. The City of Light mandated a radical change of life style. Our apartment was huge by French standards, yet fairly small by Californian terms. My husband and I […]