I’ve always heard that the exhibitions that are held in the UAE were spectacular and amount of effort that goes into those expos was unparalleled. I’ve never had the chance to go to an expo in Dubai before but while I was visiting this past Eid holiday I learned from the instagram account of fellow blogger Karamillah from the Abu Dhabi, that her cookie business, K’s Cookies, will be participating in a Ramadan Night Market expo in Dubai and I knew I had to pass by and check it out. Read more »
Growing up, rice with broad beans & dill or what we call in Kuwait “Bajela w Shbent” was a favourite lunch dish of mine. It is traditionally made with chunks of meat and daqqos tomato sauce at home but I’ve always opted to mix it with low fat yoghurt instead. I was craving it the other day but since I’m still on the path of losing the Ramadan weight and testing out quinoa in recipes I’ve decided to make the dish, subsituting rice with quinoa and see how it would turn out. To my surprise the recipe turned out to be a success and had I not made the dish myself I wouldn’t have realised I was actually eating quinoa! Read more »
Just before the start of the Eid holiday Heil & Zafa’arn, a local bakery selling traditional Kuwaiti desserts and sweets, sent me a big basket filled with their goodies. The basket had a greeting card attached to it with the words “Eid Breakfast” printed on it in Arabic, and a lavish Eid breakfast basket it was indeed! Read more »
There is something magical about Arabian calligraphy, I’ve always stopped and admired a beautifully written letter in Arabic for as long as I could remember, and there are many different fonts, each spectacular in it’s own way. When I was last in Dubai I was walking around in Dubai Mall when I saw a spectacular sight that made me stop and pay attention. Read more »
Each time I’m in Dubai there must be a list of newly opened places I’ve never been before to explore. On the top of my list was The Farm restaurant recommended by many people I know, doing so while gushing about the breathtaking scenery and the amazing food. Since I was there for the Eid holiday and the first breakfast after Ramadan is my number one breakfast of the year, I knew I it should be in The Farm. Read more »
Since the holy month of Ramadan and Eid days are now over I’m trying to get into my normal daily life routine, plus going on a diet to control my appetite after the daily feasts of the past few weeks. I have been doing very good, only my friends who I haven’t been out with in forever were craving gelato and one thing led to another and we found ourselves having a mini gelato marathon in the Avenues. Read more »
This post is to remember the very last day of Ramadan 1434 and the first days of eid I’ve spend in Dubai in 2013. Dubai was quite busy as usual, hot and humid during August for sure, but the festive mood was indeed in the air with Ramadan decorations and eid celebrations. Read more »
For the past Eid holiday I’ve been to Dubai for a miniature summer break and change of scenery. One of the restaurants I look forward to dining in when in Dubai is Vapiano. I’m not sure where the franchise Read more »
For the last iftar meal I’ve had in the holy month of Ramadan in 2013, I was surprised by Al-Berdawny Palace Lebanese restaurant. Five minutes before iftar time the most beautiful Eidiya ever was delivered to my iftar table. Eidiya is the Read more »
Cronuts, the latest culinary trend and most viral food craze across the globe, are a product of a marriage between a croissant and a donut. This new treat was invented by chef Dominique Ansel who, in May 2010, began selling his cronuts to the people of NYC and they’ve been the IT dessert sensation every since. The cornets are supposed to be unbelievably good. So good, in fact, that the people of Read more »
It’s been a while since I’ve had friends over. I’ve been too tired lately and with all the Ramadan fasting and meal preparations I haven’t had a moment to relax. During the holy month of Ramadan people gather for a “ghabga” and there are many ghabgas going around. A ghabga is a dinner party Read more »
It all started during the maghrib prayers time last week. My husband was on his way out to go and pray in the nearby mosque when he heard soft mewing. There was a tiny kitten, mewing at him and licking her lips. He came back inside and told me about the new arrival and so he gave her Kiri cheese and she ate it happily. Read more »
One sure way to get rid of all the qerqaia’an candy lying around the house beckoning for you to come over and feast on it is to give it away on the spot with your very own qerqaia’an! There will be children knocking on your door anyway and they want candy! In my version of the qerqaia’an there are not nuts, lots of chocolates that I personally would eat plus lollipops and candies, and I also add a few bubble maker bottles for the children to play with. Read more »
The last qerqaia’an gift I received for the holy month of Ramadan this year was the one sent to me by Planet Hollywood Restaurant in Kuwait. An acrylic tray decorated with the US flag and filled with Hershey’s chocolates, Planet Hollywood’s memorabilia, and a fresh jasmine flower necklace that is all the rage these days in Kuwait. Read more »
Triangle restaurant had their own way of celebrating the occasion of qerqaia’an during the holy month of Ramadan by distributing their own qerqaia’an gifts. I received mine a few days ago, a bucket with my blog’s name in Arabic spray painted in red plus Triangle restaurant’s name and logo in black. The bucket was quite heavy and chock full of goodies. Read more »
One of the most elegant and to the point qerqaia’an gifts I’ve received this Ramadan is baby Yousef’s first qerqaia’an distributed by his lovely mother Joumana of The Side Talk blog. The qerqaia’an came in an elegant silver box tied with a golden ribbon and baby Yousef’s name written on the lid in beautiful golden Arabian calligraphy. Read more »
A few days ago I received a small red tin from Ben’s Cookies branch in Kuwait. Naturally, I found several different types of cookies inside, all freshly baked and melt in your mouth soft. The tag on the tin box said “please use within four days”. Read more »
It was during the Holy month of Ramadan of last year that I’ve come to taste the scrumptious pies of The Pastry Shop! Excellent pies, with fresh ingredients and a flakey light crust and overall melt-in-your-mouth after the first bite feeling. This year I’ve had the pleasure of being sent more pies from The Pastry Shop, freshly baked and just out of the over, and they’ve been grazing my after iftar tea table ever since their arrival. Read more »
A few days ago I’ve seen one of the most innovative and personalised social media invitations on instagram addressed to me by Viva Telecom. A video, with scoops of melting Baskin Robbin’s Rainbow ice cream were involved, which incidentally Read more »
I’ve seen many different types and kinds of Qerqaia’an presentations before, but I never expected that one day I’d received a teensy miniature wardrobe as a qerqaia’an! Smart Wood Company is a fine wood furniture manufacturers located in Kuwait and uses Read more »
During the holy month of Ramadan we have two major meal, the iftar at sunset where we break our fast and the suhoor we have near sunrise which should sustain us till the next sunset. Usually I have cornflakes with skimmed milk and a banana for suhoor, Read more »
Cucinare Bakery is a new bakery that opened up quite recently in Kuwait. Cucinare is is co-owned by the beloved Chef Hanouf Al-Balhan and the sweet Ala’a Al-Jarki and is located in Sha’ab yet still in its soft opening phase. Last week I received a big purple and green bag with two Cucinare products to try: the seasonal berries cake and a cookies raspberry chocolate tart. Read more »
Today is the 13th day of the holy month of Ramadan and it’s official, the Qerqaia’an is here! Qerqaia’an is like a traditional Kuwaiti occasion where children dress up and go from house to house signing and getting candy in return, kinda like a Kuwaiti Halloween. It’s a happy occasion long awaited by families who prepare for it months in advance and every year it seems people of Kuwait are Read more »
Since I started today’s post with a healthy streak I thought I’d continue from the last post. Another trend that’s been going on in Kuwait for the past few months is the “detox juice diet”. One of the providers of the diet is a new business called Re and they set you up with a few day’s worth of different drinks naturally pressed and Read more »
Elba’s traditional Kuwaiti bakery brought back their famous Elba with the start of the holy month of Ramadan. I’ve missed their elba, but they only make it in Ramadan and so on the very first week they sent me one cold pot of saffron-y elba, Dallah’s way of a Ramadan greeting. Read more »
