hollyw

aww Jackie sounds like you got some good medicine last night!!!!!! You are well on your way to recovery I think! Wish you could come over my house for iftar some night!!!!! I'll make the greek soup that I fell in love with last night! Here's' the recipe:

http://www.kolias.com/homegarden/recipes/greeksoup.htm

Greek Avgolemono Soup Here is the recipe for that famous and delicious Greek Avgolemono soup (a.k.a. Greek soup, lemon soup, chicken and lemon soup, chicken and lemon and egg soup). It may be known by different names, but we often just call it THE soup.

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken broth.

3 medium eggs.

1/2 cup rice.

Juice from two lemons.

Salt.

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil. Salt to taste.

2. Add rice, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Remove from fire.

4. In a blender, beat the three eggs, slowly add the lemon juice to the eggs.

5. Add one cup of chicken broth, do not stop blending. The constant blending is the secret to prevent curdling of this delicious soup.

6. When the eggs and broth are well mixed, pour this mixture back into the remaining broth and rice.

7. Stir well over heat, but do not allow to boil.

Serves 6

I haven't tried it yet but it sounds exactly like the one I had last night. I'm cooking it tonight since I'm now addicted so I'll let you know how it is tomorrow.

oh man that sounds like this egg drop soup i used to get at our friday night greek restaurant when i was a kid... sooooooo good.

well, thank god it's friday. hopefully my husband and i will be all the way moved in and sleeping in our new apartment by Sunday. what. a. nightmare. it doesn't help that i married THE most obsessive compulsive person on this planet... and i thought i was bad... geez.

Just found this online: I think it might be similar

Title: Rice pilaf with apricots~ raisins & pine nuts

Categories: Rice, Vegetarian

Yield: 6 Servings

1/4 c Olive oil

1 1/2 c Rice, brown;long grain

1 pn Saffron strands; opt

1/2 c Apricots, dried;snipped into

-slivers

1/2 ea Cinnamon stick

8 ea Cloves

4 ea Cardamom pods; lightly

-crushed

-Salt & pepper

3 c -Water

2 ea Onions; peeled & sliced

1/3 c Raisins

1/2 c Pine nuts;or slivered

-almonds

MMMMM-------------------------TO GARNISH------------------------------

Mint sprig

Heat half the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the rice and

saute for 5 minutes, stirring gently. Add the saffron, if using, the

apricots, spices, 1 teaspoon salt and the water. Bring to a boil,

then cover tightly and leave to cook over very gentle heat for 45

minutes. Then turn off the heat and leave covered. Saute the onion in

the remaining oil for 10 minutes, until softened and lightly browned.

Add to the rice, together with the raisins and nuts. Check the

seasonings and stir lightly with a fork. Garnish with a mint sprig to

serve.

YUM

Too late to edit in my picture of the tagine.....

Does anyone know if semolina is the same thing as couscous? I've never heard of it but I want to make basbousa this weekend.

No, it's not the same thing. Semolina is like Cream of Wheat.

ETA: I think couscous is made from semolina.

Can you use Cream of Wheat in place of semolina?? Cause one time I tried that and my bread turned out kinda funky... but that also might have been because of my horrible bread baking skills...

I've never been able to find anything labeled semolina in the store, maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place

Well, I don't know too much about it, but I think there are two kinds of semolina: the cream of wheat kind, and the kind used for making breads and pastas.

that explains so much....

Looking for:

1 or 2 good Moroccan/Algerian/or Tunisian main dish recipes and a salad

Let's face it ladies I feel like I've cooked every Moroccan dish there is and want to find something new. So if you ahve something that's not too obscure I would like it!

Here's a simple recipe that my MIL makes... I guess that makes it Algerian?

Lemon Saffron Chicken Tagine with Potato Crust

Ingredients:

A couple pieces of chicken (I use boneless breasts, my MIL used drumsticks)

Some red bliss or russet potatoes, peeled, cut into wedges and tossed in 1 tbl olive oil and seasoned with salt

Marinade

1/4 cup warm water

Pinch of saffron

1 tsp turmeric

Salt

Pepper

3 tbl lemon juice

1/2 small onion, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour marinade over chicken and let sit for two hours in the refridgerator. Arrange chicken in a casserole dish and cover with potatoes in a spiral pattern. Place dish, uncovered, in hot oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender and a bit browned.

Sometimes I also add green beans to this or some kind of green veggie if we're not having a salad. I also sometimes throw tomato wedges and onion slices into the mix.

Does anyone know if semolina is the same thing as couscous? I've never heard of it but I want to make basbousa this weekend.

No, it's not the same thing. Semolina is like Cream of Wheat.

ETA: I think couscous is made from semolina.

Can you use Cream of Wheat in place of semolina?? Cause one time I tried that and my bread turned out kinda funky... but that also might have been because of my horrible bread baking skills...

I've never been able to find anything labeled semolina in the store, maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place

A prof of mine at undergrad married a Muslim girl from India, and he reported that she remarked that it wasn't hard to observe Ramadan in a community where every evening someone would be hosting the food. It felt like cheating to go to the party but not fast.

One Ramadan, we were visiting Wadi's aunt and uncle in France, and I was not fasting. I remember that feeling of participating in the celebration without having "earned it". I felt like a doofus.

i agree... When we were living in Paris we used to go over to my husband's aunt's place a couple nights a week to break the fast. i felt like an idiot participating without actually having earned it, so that was the year i started fasting. i didn't do it everyday, but i did it maybe half of the days. last year i was here and my husband was in Algeria and i think i did it the first 2 or 3 days and then stopped

I always get excited for the start of Ramadan and then after a week its like, ughhhhhh how many hours til we can eat????

Can't wait for a couple years when it's in the middle of the summer

I'm here...still eating soup....lost 10 lbs....I hate soup

How long have you been a soup-eater? You only eating soup?

Ammar just got promoted and a raise today, so it's exciting!

almost 2 weeks now but I eat other stuff too. I'm just sick of the soup. Its beginning to have gaglike qualities.

I've done that soup diet quite a few times... i know EXACTLY what you mean. After a while the smell of the soup used to make me wanna vomit. I used to get really excited about the baked potato day.

Wow. Not sure what to think of the Thomas Friedman bashing.

But hey... I'm objective to both sides of the story. Instead of Thomas Friedman then what would you all suggest that is fair and balanced and having the thumb on the pulse of MENA politics?

Robert Fisk.

Agreed completely.

It also never helps to look up sylllabi from upper level or grad Political Science clsses on the Middle East. History too. If you are looking for a more scholarly approach, you will get an endless list. Here is an intersting link (Middle East toward the bottom): http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/tracht...ide/SelSyl.html

I had a professor in college named Joseph Lumbard who was the Special Advisor for Interfaith Affairs to King Abdullah II of Jordan before he came to Brandeis. We read one or two of his books in class... it's not fiction, but they do make for interesting reads - smart guy!

Happy Thursday everyone!!

My husband and I are almost done painting our new apartment. Well... I'M almost done, my husband IS done. Since he works nights, I've been there alone everynight this week trying to get it done before we move in our furniture this week. Can't wait til we're finished! I'm exhausted... I didn't realize that I came into work this morning covered in paint. I haven't gotten up from my desk much today so no one's really noticed.

I can't believe that Ramadan starts in a week!! I haven't had much time to think about it. I feel like there was a lot more excitement on the board last year leading up to Ramadan. Well, I'm excited!! I'm not muslim, but I like to celebrate with my husband and participate in the fasting when I can. I'm looking forward to dusting off my recipe box and using my new kitchen!

Happy Friday everyone!! Thank god it's a three day weekend.

Does anyone know what the change of address form is for permanent residents?? I can't seem to find it... it's funny, after all those months of immigration we went through i thought i would never forget this stuff... now i'm completely lost

It's called the AR-11. Don't forget that you have to do a I-865 to change address for a sponsor (you) too!

THANKS!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!! Thank god it's a three day weekend.

Does anyone know what the change of address form is for permanent residents?? I can't seem to find it... it's funny, after all those months of immigration we went through i thought i would never forget this stuff... now i'm completely lost

Tomorrow when I pick the kids up in the morning we're off to IKEA for the first time. It's a little ways away (I think an hour and a half or something) from us but I've never been there and they look like they have such cool stuff just by looking at the website.

in Stoughton?? LOVE it! You're gonna have fun.

I was there a couple weekends ago... locked my keys in my car (well actually my husband did ). They have really fun stuff and a restaurant and a snack bar. It's like an adult playground. Be careful of the quality of stuff you buy.... I've bought some stuff that I love that has lasted for a long time and stuff that falls apart almost immediately. I have to go back and pick up some stuff to furnish our new place, but I'm waiting until after the Sept. 1st rush.. I made that mistake last year .

Hollyw ---- did your husband have to get a visa to go to mexico??? We were thinking about a cruise but didn't think we could with just a Green card and Moroccan passport??

I think this has basically been answered, but, no, he didn't need to get a visa... good thing, because we're not going! we're going to call later this evening and cancel our reservations bummer!

we used the delta site and verified it here: http://www.sre.gob.mx/boston/

And thats right, residents can't travel everywhere we can.... my husband has to get a visa to go to Paris this winter.

Did you have trip insurance so you can get refunded? Most will refund due to things like hurricaines. I'm so sorry I know you were looking forward to this much needed vacation. Hopefully you can go somewhere else instead?

we DIDNT have trip insurance, but luckily it's turning into such a big hurricaine that expedia is going to refund us the entire amount... phew!

i think we'll go out and spend the week on martha's vineyard.... i mean, we're not hurtin' here

Hollyw ---- did your husband have to get a visa to go to mexico??? We were thinking about a cruise but didn't think we could with just a Green card and Moroccan passport??

I think this has basically been answered, but, no, he didn't need to get a visa... good thing, because we're not going! we're going to call later this evening and cancel our reservations bummer!

we used the delta site and verified it here: http://www.sre.gob.mx/boston/

And thats right, residents can't travel everywhere we can.... my husband has to get a visa to go to Paris this winter.

Tomorrow my husband and I are supposed to fly to Cancun.....

..... the hurricane should be arriving around the same time

I'm thankful for the snooze button on my alarm clock and that I get to pick up my dry cleaning today...

Happy Wednesday mena.

I have a loose baby bird in my house How in the world do I get it outside? Tried to put a bowl over it but it jumps, then I jump and we are both about to have a heart attack.

Hope you all have a nice day.

Jackie

Ooooo one time we had a bat in our house... it wouldn't stop flying long enough for us to catch it and it kept diving at our heads. Eventually we just opened all the doors and windows and left the house for awhile. When we got back, it was gone.

In other news, I'm starting to not like my job. I have a new manager (who has never managed before) and she's horrible.

Totally feels like Wednesday, not Tuesday!

My husband told me last night that he wants to get a Buick Skylark when he gets his license.

All I could think of was My Cousin Vinnie!

For the first two hours of my day I thought it WAS Wednesday My day was going pretty well until I realized is was Tuesday.

So we watched 300 last night. Well, I fell asleep about half way through and have to finish it tonight maybe. But can I just say, "#######?" Did anyone else see it?

My husband and I started the 300 Sunday night and both fell asleep - woke up at 4 in the morning with the menu scren on We finished it last night. Not my favorite. it IS nonstop violence, for the most part. I thought the computer graphics were cool, but the story line was kind of dull and there wasn't enough to it. I did like it more as the movie went on though.

PS. i don't see any other Tuesday threads either....

This weekend my husband and I took advantage of the Mass. tax free weekend and the sale at Sears and bought ourselves a nice, big plasma TV. woohoo! I think all in all we got about $500 off We're moving in two or three weeks, so we're going to keep it in the box til then, but we opened it and unwrapped it a bit to take a peak - it's fancy!

Other than that we're getting ready to move, getting ready to go to Mexico, and working our a$$es off - I bet we only see each other for an hour a day now. We're in desperate need of a vacation!

perhaps it's time to get the VJ MENA Boston ladies together......

I'm so sorry that you are going through this. You are an exceptionally strong woman.

That's funny, my husband is the same way... he insists that he's fine and happy. he doesn't miss Algeria at all, but he misses his family/friends there. He does miss Paris, i think he considered that more home than Algeria. He very rarely confesses that he's homesick and usually it's only because he's in a quiet mood and i coax it out of him.

The only other thing i can think of, and i don't know if this is related to culture shock, is i think sometimes he gets tired of speaking english/making the extra effort to communicate with people and wants to stay in the house because of it. so when that happens we usually stay home, watch movies dubbed in french, and order take out. but it doesn't happen very often.

I feel that way, too. That he hides it for my benefit but he insists that he doesn't. Moh has shown no signs of culture shock either. He's never been out of Egypt and lived in a rural community so this surprises me. The only showed homesickness once but it was homesickness for his family not his country.

my husband never showed any signs of culture shock. i don't know if this is because he came from france (where he had lived for almost 5 years), and had already done some adjusting to european culture or what, but he seemed to adjust really well. it worries me sometime that he hides it for my benefit. i know he misses paris a lot. and he misses his friends and family. homesickness is really the only symptom of culture shock that i've noticed during the 9 months that he's been here.

We have a transportation issue too - thank god we're moving in a month! I start work at 8am and he doesnt start until 11am. so i have to drop him off at the train and he has to sit/sleep in starbucks until work starts. then i go home at 6pm and he doesnt get off til 11pm-1am and i have to wait up/wake up and go get him at the train. the schedule is killing us.

My husband won't eat eggs for breakfast either - they are "not a breakfast food." Cereal is also not a breakfast food apparently. We eat a lot of waffles, pancakes, and french toast (well he does.... i eat power bars and yogurt ) Also croissants with nutella or strawberry jam are big breakfast food in our house. Toast. He likes to drink coffee that is basically hot chocolate. He heats milk and adds some nescafé and about a cup of sugar. My husband loves the orange/strawberry/banana or orange/pineapple/banana juices. They too strong for me (too citrusy perhaps?)... what I do sometimes is buy the juice from the international section at the grocery store, i think i usually buy Goya or Allen's, I think the are a bit milder and i like them better. they're also good for smoothies (another huge any-time-of-day favorite). and they're cheaper. He'll also eat any type of cookie or brownie for breakfast. those, i guess, ARE breakfast food

Yeah, the transportation thing is an issue too! My husband got off work early today, but I work too far from home to pick him up. The bus doesn't come around our area, and taxi's are only around the airport. I have an SUV for him, but he just won't work on a drivers license. I hope the latest difficulty getting home is enough to get him serious about a drivers license.

Breakfast.....I can't find anything he likes for breakfast. If he eats fromage and bread he wants tea, but for some reason the tea sends him crawling up the walls. Is our caffeine stronger here? He would settle for juice, but it hurts his stomach. He won't try cereal...hot or cold. Won't eat eggs....about the only thing he will eat is pancakes or crepes with a little milk, but that gets old quick. He tried an omlette, and like it, but said that this is not breakfast food and his stomach can't handle it in the morning. Any suggestions?

my husband never showed any signs of culture shock. i don't know if this is because he came from france (where he had lived for almost 5 years), and had already done some adjusting to european culture or what, but he seemed to adjust really well. it worries me sometime that he hides it for my benefit. i know he misses paris a lot. and he misses his friends and family. homesickness is really the only symptom of culture shock that i've noticed during the 9 months that he's been here.

"the best recipe" cookbook from cooks illustrated has a great PB cookie recipe. if you can find a link to it online get the recipe. if not, i'll get it from my book and write it for you.

the bread also works well in a container of brown sugar to keep it from turning into a solid block!

I've done the bread in the sugar thing, i never thought to do it for cookies I guess i've just always followed recipes and wondered why my peanut butter cookies aren't chewy (my chocolate chip ones are!). Cooking obviously does not come naturally to me.