I'm a Chiquita Banana.....

When we came back from all of our travels this winter, our friends came over one night for dinner. They brought us this nice big fruit basket.  A) I don't think I've ever received a fruit basket before (maybe that will come when we have a baby or something...I don't know what kind of event you need to have in life to get a fruit basket back home.....does having a baby do that for you?) and especially not one THIS big.  It was so fun. Everyday I would bring in lots of new fruit to the office and each day everyone would check in to see what we had that day.  There were some cool exotic fruits in that basket. This thing was mega-huge and heavy.  It was sooo sweet of them.

And B) We don't really give gifts to friends or family when they return home from somewhere...usually it's the other way around. Usually we're looking to see what kind of souvenir they got us!  It was such a surprise to receive a warm welcome home.  Arab hospitality knows how to do it.  They win again.  1 point for them, 0 for us.

Last but not least, my friend Tricia sent me this fabulous brownie recipe. She made them before and they were D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.  Last week at church it was my turn to bring a treat for the coffee time after wards. I made some home made brownies, but they tasted NOTHING like these. Mine were dry and crumbly and didn't taste half as good as the normal box kind (I'm an advocate of making most thing home made....but boxed brownies are pretty darn good).  Anyway, Tricia sent me the recipe and I thought it would be nice to pass along.  Maybe if you get it today, you can make them for your SUPERBOWL party!  We talked about trying to get up at 4am to watch a bit, but I think my sleep will win out on this one.  It usually does when the alarm goes off to do odd things like this in the middle of the night.   Anyway, here you go. Enjoy.

Kate's Famous Brownies (courtesy of Katharine Hepburn)

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. In a heavy saucepan over very low heat. melt 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and 8 tbsp. butter.
3. Remove pan from heat and stir in 1cup sugar.
4. Beat in 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.
5. Quickly stir in 1cup chopped walnuts, 1/4 cup all purpose flour, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
6. Spread batter in a well-greased 8" x 8" baking pan.
7. Bake 40 to 45 minutes.
8. Remove pan to a rack to cool.

 

Friends.....

In early January while we were still home, we had a chance to see some of our good friends. Every summer we get together for our G-Crew reunion with our college buds.  It was nice to have a quick and spontaneous get together while home in January.....especially since this year we most likely won't be able to go to G-Crew.  Our first time....sad, sad, sad.  I hate missing that.  Anyway, we graduated over 10 years ago....and our friendship is still going strong!

Sleepless in Al Ain.......

 I enjoy reading The Pioneer Woman's blog.  She's a witty writer who enjoys cooking, fixed up her house and loves photography.  She always has something fun to say.   Anyway, she recommended another blog called The Lettered Cottage.  The reason I am recommending this also is because they have a fabulous before and after photo section.  I L.O.V.E.  seeing rooms transformed!  And they did it on a small budget and made each room look so quaint.  Great ideas.  It makes me want to redo a room!  In one of her more recent posts she has this cool program that lets you slide over the picture with your cursor and it shows you a before and after. Pretty neat. Check it out.  And they have a bunch of links to other "home" blogs. 

Sleepless in Seattle Al Ain......

On another note.....I had to take malaria medication for our trip to Kenya....mmm....the side effects sort of kicked in around week 4 (last week). You still have to take the medicine for 4 weeks after returning in case you got Malaria while there.    I started having a horrible time sleeping and my brain wouldn't turn off and I got really restless. Ask my husband. He's always up for telling the truth.  He does it even when you don't ask!  I finally went back to one of our many great doctors at Oasis (who in fact happened to go to the same elementary, high school and college as I did--what a small world!) and he told me that I could stop it. Thanks goodness. Maybe Trey said THANK GOODNESS more than I did. It's a known side effect---psychosis.  When they told me that way back 6 weeks ago before we left for Kenya,  I thought to myself that I usually never get the side effects of a medication, so I'd be fine.  Pfghhh...I was wrong. I got some medicine to sleep and hopefully I'll be myself again shortly.  Ughh...that medicine makes me never want to go back to a country where they have bug-bites-that-carry-crazy diseases-a.k.a. malaria.....never again!  Seriously.  I'm sure I'm just overreacting right now.....because I never do that.....but fo' real, I'm going to bed now. I have a couple weeks worth of sleep to catch on.  Goodbye.

Take me back.....

Last weekend we went back to the farm where I had my "accident" back in November.  The weather is great right now, so we try to take advantage of being outside as much as we can.  It was actually raining, but felt nice to be under the tent and watch the rain...and feel a bit cold inside! 

They make these good little fried donut-like things that are in a syrup with sesame seeds.

Our friend in the middle owns the farm. The couple in the back is from South Carolina and here working as teachers.

They enjoyed some time on the quad bikes.  And NO, I didn't get back on.

Say What You Need to Say.....

We work with people from many different cultures.  Obviously we're not all alike in the way we handle people.  Some are a bit more forward in how they comment on your appearance...but then they are shy to tell you the important things.

These are the lovely comments I heard over the course of this week:

• You look tired. Your eyes don't look so good. Are you sick? (Maybe I need to get some sun! Okay, I guess I'll just have to start going to the pool again.)
• Don't wear black anymore. It doesn't look good on you. (Hmmm....I wanted to tell her to look at herself --she wears a full black abaya everyday.  Don't bust on me!)
• What's wrong with your hair?  Did you do something different? (They definitely didn't like my hair that day)

I should keep a record of these things more often. I've had so many more things said than just this....I'm sort of shocked sometimes but then I remember that I just need to get over it quickly. I'll mark it up as a cultural difference.

Mediterranean recipes....

Tonight I was looking online to find some new recipes at the Food Network.  They have a whole section on Healthy Mediterranean right now.

Turkey Hummus Sliders  or how about Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers.  There are lots of good looking recipes. Take a peak for yourself.

It's raining.....

I won't say "It's raining, it's pouring"......but still I'm glad to say that it is raining at all!  We've had a pretty nice amount of rain between yesterday and today.  I didn't realize that I would miss it this much.  It really makes it feel like fall.  I hear all of you in the Northeast have had your share of snow these past couple weeks...and more is coming.  The joy we all get from rain here is pretty great...can you imagine if we had snow:)