I guess you deserve an explanation as to why I have been absent for two weeks…I have received more than a few frantic emails asking where I am and if I am okay. I am fine and my absence was not health-related this time, thank goodness.
We (S., Leith and I) just returned (yesterday) from a trip to
Kuwait City and Amman, Jordan. Recovering slowly from the jet-lag and the awful head cold I managed to catch on the way there has kept me busy since arriving home. I promise to be back in the kitchen cooking and baking up a storm in the next few days.
The trip was fantastic; one I will never forget. Kuwait City was much nicer than I had been expecting and also much bigger than you’d think, considering how tiny the country looks next to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. We did a lot of shopping, some sight-seeing and entirely too much eating (if that is indeed possible). Of course the food was fabulous – from a bag of steaming Falafel from a street vendor to gourmet Iranian and Indian food in the roof-top Sheraton restaurants, I couldn’t ask for a better foodie experience. Leith fell in love with freshly-made strawberry juice while we were there, and also the concept of "more" was learned quite quickly by him…as the waiters spoiled him non-stop.
We spent one night in a chalet on the shore, about an hour outside downtown Kuwait City. There Leith got to stick his feet in the Persian Gulf, ride a horse, take a trip on a train and eat hot, freshly made gooey cheese-filled and Zatar-covered Fatayer in a tent made of Camel Hair.
On to Amman, Jordan, where S’s parents have a flat in which we stayed for an all-too-short four days. The Kunafah (phyllo spread with soft cheese, topped with more shredded phyllo and a thick sugar syrup poured on top), which they are known for, was scrumptious…I could have eaten a whole sheet-pan. We brought home some really delicious Baklava for my sister and sustained ourselves through the very (very, very) long flight home with Fatayer and other scrumptious pastries from a bakery near the airport, aptly named "Paradise".
My favourite food experience during this trip would have to have been the grilled fish from an amazing restaurant that S’s uncle took us to in Jordan…details to come very soon, I promise!
Unfortunately I forgot my camera’s memory card at home so we have only a few pictures of the trip, taken mostly by my brother-in-law. The picture above is of Leith, happily chasing pigeons outside the Scientific Center in Kuwait – he had an absolutely amazing time.