The Power up! - Desserts

I have been stuffing my face with so much Katayef that I'm honestly considering becoming one! Other than that I have come to be a fan of this new dessert or appetizer and decided to share it with you. Last year when my habibi introduce me to it I was not so into it but this year to my surprise I was craving it!

I do not know the name of this drink and habibi told me he does not know either so I am going to call it "The Power Up" Why? It is so full of sweetness and energy that honestly one drink and eat of that and you are off like a rocket!

Usually its use to break the fasting. Is very good on the stomach when you have not eaten or drank anything during the hole day and is very nutritious. One cup goes along way and believe me it gives you energy and everything about it is natural.

Here is the recipe and some pictures of the drink while I was making it the other day for Iftar. For those of you who don't know what Iftar means is basically the time for eating after fasting during Ramadan.

"The Power Up"
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup raisins
1 cup of nuts (it can be your favorite here walnuts, peanuts or almonds) I use peanuts
1/2 cup of almonds (optional) I like both!
1/3 cup of dry apricots
1 1/2 cups of dates
1/3 cups of dry prune

It's very simple really just take all the dry ingredients in a mix bowl and mixed them together. Honestly you can add more and less of each thing depending on what you like as well as take some ingredients out that you don't like. After all is mixed up you pour the milk. After that mixed everything again and cover up. Put in the fridge for at least two hours those ingredients need t come together and believe me the milk is going to taste good.

After that serve up in a glass with a spoon and enjoy! Here are the pictures with the steps. I hope you enjoy this Middle Eastern treat! Until next post thank you for reading and following me!

Ramadan Kareem!

What have I been doing that I did not wrote a post? Well I have been stuffing my face with Katayef!!!!! If you do not know what it is please read this post Katayef.  After one year of waiting to eat this wonderful dessert I finally have the opportunity to eat it again. I have to thank my habibi because the first day of Ramadan he came home with a bag of katayef! So I have been making them and eating them for the past weeks!

For those of you who do not know what Ramadan is please check last year's post on the subject Ramadan. This year Ramadan started on July 7 so its been kind of an up and down time for Egypt with all that is going on in the Country but never the less you can see people united. Yesterday people took the streets again to protest against the Muslim Brotherhood and their terrorism tactics. I believe things are starting to look up!

The ex president was charge with treason, finally and people are starting to see a change. I think there is a lot at stake right now and I don't want to be political or anything but I just had to say what is going on right now. So one pretty neat thing I learned this Ramadan is that the Lanterns that they use to decorate during Ramadan started because the children use to play on the streets and there was no electricity by that time so all they had was a lantern.

After that it became tradition to use them. I in all honesty I'm in love with them! I believe they are beautiful and the different designs are just perfect! I believe I was destined to be here I mean I love everything that is Islamic art (I will write a post about this soon). Here are a few pictures of Ramadan decorations and lanterns.

Thank you for reading and following me! Until next post oh! I forgot I got interviewed this past week so that will be coming soon!!!

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!! 

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! 

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!