On the television.....

Our tv got hooked up last week.

I found the FOOD NETWORK. Love that channel and my favorite is Ina Garten or better known as the Barefoot Contessa.

It was fun to see her on tv an be able to watch some of the same things you guys do back home!

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days, Tuesday, Wednesday........

In one week, I'll be waking up in PA.  Probably at the crack of dawn due to jet lag, but I don't mind it going west as the consequences are just waking up early.  It's so much harder to go east and will definitely be harder to go back to work the next day.  You can barely pull yourself out of bed and you feel so strange for a few days.  Jet lag does weird things.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to going to Target, Costco and the Christmas Tree Shop!   I want to go out for good breakfast and eat pork.  We can get it here but just a little bit more of a pain in the butt so I rarely buy it.

Anyway, onto another subject.  I love reading this New England food blog called Fresh.  It makes me think about dreamy New England (although, it's not usually so dreamy in March) and I'm excited that we'll be there in a few weeks. 

She had some nice summer recipes in the link that I just gave: Pink Lemonade from the Barefoot Contessa who I love from the Food Network and homemade fudgesicles.  Enjoy.

Also, I found the website of a guy who teaches cooking classes-- Syrian Food.  Syrian Food is very much like Palestinian food and so good. He would do private parties or you could participate in one of his already planned classes.  He's in Watertown, Massachusetts.  Go to Yasin Culinary.

I'm so excited.....

I'm excited for 3 reasons right now:

A)  Tonight was the first night that I could just go home, relax and do what I wanted.  I probably should have put a few things away, but I didn't and I'm not going to.  I'm tired and am going to read the newspaper and watch the Food Network. 

B) I leave for vacation next Wednesday night--Trey comes a week later than me.   During that week, I'll visit with family and friends in PA.  So happy to have a break even thought it's only been 6 months.  But we haven't had a day off since starting in 6 months.  Usually we get at least 1 holiday weekend every so often at home.  We haven't used our holidays that we get nor our vacation yet, so maybe towards the end of the year we'll be using a bunch.

C) This girl is moving here!  This is Trey's sister Min.  She got a job here at Oasis Hospital, too.  Should be fun. We'll be spending lots of time together exploring this country and this part of the world.  Min is the one in black. I'm sure you figured that out.

Sudanese friends....

On Friday, a translator who works at the hospital, took us out to his sisters house for lunch.  They are Sudanese and speak arabic so it's nice to talk with them...their arabic is actually closer to what we learned to speak than the arabic here in the Gulf. 

We ate lunch by gathering around communal bowls of food --I can't identify everything but it was good.  We eat with our hands using the bread.  Then for dessert they bring out a big bowl of fruit that is cut up and soaked in mango juice. That was so refreshing and tasted great on a super hot day and after a big lunch.

I left towards the end but Trey went out to the desert with them and took some pictures. 

Celebrate Good Times....

Yesterday Trey and I celebrated our 6th anniversary.  We meant to watch our wedding video and cook a nice dinner...but didn't!  Ikea came to deliver more furniture and then we were busy putting stuff away all day.  We had to go out and buy a few things to set up the tv's and we ended up so tired last night that we ditched dinner. I made quacamole and went to bed! I'm still tired this morning.  But my clothing is put away:) 

Maybe I'll try to make a nice dinner tonight...but Trey has a really long day so I'm pretty sure by the time he gets home tonight, he'll be wiped.

I'll get pictures up of the house. I promise. It's coming along.  We still have a few more things to buy but it's okay. We'll do that later.

Feelin' hot, hot, hot....

So I'm gonna complain a bit today.  It's hot.  It's the middle of July and I knew this time of year was bound to come.  Most days have been rather hot, but you could still be outside for 5 minutes and still feel okay when walking back indoors.  But not today! It's about 120 today--my coworker said the gage in his car said 48 degrees celcius which is about 118.5.  The problem is that the humidity is high today, too.  You feel like a limp noodle when you walk back inside. I can't wait to come home in 2 weeks for a break.

On a side note: my right eye has been twitching...I'm wondering if it is from the heat?!  I'm nuts.  But I'm not going to look it up on WebMD like I did a few weeks ago.  When I self diagnose myself from WebMD, it's always a bad day.  I think I'm a horrible doctor.  None of my diagnoses have been right so far. I'm glad!

Date Cake with Caramel Sauce.....

For my birthday, we went out with some friends to this little restaurant that I love for date cake and ice cream.  I love this recipe and how they make it with a warm caramel sauce.  I'm determined to learn to make it just as well as they do, but without the price tag!  The restaurant has an enjoyable ambiance but they charge a tad bit too much for everything so I think if I can learn to make it at home, it would be better.

So I've found a few recipes that might be good.

I found this one that seems pretty close to the recipe that we have been eating.

I'll get pictures up of the house...just as soon as I take some....it's not really perfect yet, but we're getting there!