Danderma's Blog, page 109

Shino '3adakom Elyoom?

Thursday is here and the weekend is about to start! What are you planning for lunch? Eating in the office? Bel zwara? At home? Skipping lunch?

Many people I know are in London right now having lunch in its many lip smacking restaurants. Last Thursday I had a warm and very delicious bree and chevre cheese souffle over a bed of greens and grilled vegetables. It was cooked to perfection and totally scrumptious and I am craving it badly right now

I wonder if I can make a similar souffle? I would need a killer recipe to do so though. Anyways I will have to do something about it. What about you? Shino '3adakom elyoom?

Carrotina, Life with Cacao's March Highlight

It's been a while since the last Life with Cacao monthly highlight! I think the last one held was back in Ramadan (post)? Anyways Life with Cacao is back on track again with one new highlight for the month of March. It was sent to my apartment in Life with Cacao's signature box a few days ago.

With the following message.

Inside was two boxes containing a Carrotina cheesecake prepared by the owner of Yummzy Bakery Ms. Abrar Al-Dakheel.

One box contained the carrotina while the other contained the decoration of the Carrotina. Sadly we couldn't assemble the Carrotina on a plate with the decorations since we still have no sink to wash the plates until next Saturday.

However, the Carrotina itself did not need a plate to be enjoyed. Its description according to the brochure is "A fluffy and moist carrot cake, topped with a layer of cheese-cake and finished by a tangy cream cheese frosting". It also had a mint leave on the bottom and half a walnut on top to decorate it.

How was it? It was really good, light, moist, and very tasty indeed! Well done! The only thing I have to say is that the frosting had a tangy lemon taste to it. I usually like the lemon taste in frosting but in Carrotina's case the carrot cake is already distinctive it didn't need the lemon touch. It was a bit too much. It was gone in a matter of minutes.

Good job Abrar and keep up the good work! Thank you life with cacao for remembering me in your March highlights

Carrotina is now available on Life with Cacao's menu for the month of March. Life with Cacao is located in the ground level of 360 mall. For more information regarding Life with Cacao or to contact Life with Cacao to showcase your product as a highlight or check Life with Cacao's facebook group (link) or follow them on twitter (link).

Things 2 Do in London: Gelupo's Gelato

Gelupo, a newly opened gelateria in London, is hailed as the place that hosts the best gelato in town. Gelato, best, and London meant that I must try it for myself and see. So after a few wrong turns in Soho on foot I finally found the alley where Gelupo is location.

Yeah not the liveliest location but its just behind the theater district in London which makes it the perfect location for a pre/post show snack.

Gelupo is a Venetian -or was it Sicilian?- style gelateria which not only offers the best gelato in London but also has a gourmet section in the back of the shop chock full of things that makes you go "I want!".

For example this make your own ice cream paste! Now why didn't I bring that home back with me? I want to kick myself!

Then you get to stand in a long queue waiting for your turn to choose the gelato you get to see what else they have to offer: fresh Italian biscuits, coffee, and the different way to order your gelato.

Gelupo serves gelatos, sorbets, and granitas! If it was summer time I would have gone for a granita -espresso granita! Clementine granita!- but since it was winter I went for a gelato! They had many flavors to choose from.

The gelatos, which by the way are not visible to you, they ares hidden inside the freezer with little steel covers that are really retro and cute, come in different flavors that range from classic to urban and new. For example they have a black pepper, chocolate sauce, and ricotta ice cream! Not for me but I chose the salted caramel and the Tonka flavors. Here is an explanation of what Tonka is. 

It was goooooood!

Butootee took this, stratecella and another flavor I cannot recall. Very very good!

Their staff were really friendly and very helpful. We left with big smiles on our faces and sat on the blue chairs outside watching passers by and scoffing down our lip smacking gelatos.

The good thing about Gelupo is that they deliver! So wherever you are in London -or outside London- you can get your fix of their delicious gelato!

Is it indeed the best gelato in London? Frankly its the 2nd best gelato I've tasted in London. I still think Amorino's is the best gelato EVER (post)! But Gelupo does have more daring flavors and comes closely behind as number two. A must try if you are in London. If only I could have a tonka now!

Gelupo is located in Archer Street, London and you can get more information and direction by visiting their website (link).

Thank You Ikea

After I posted about our Ikea kitchen installation mishap yesterday (post) I had a comment left by Mr. Waqar Bhutta asking me to contact him to resolve the issue and we did.

I have to say that Ikea did handle our complaint gracefully, listened to us thoroughly and offered to come tomorrow to fix everything up and install the missing kitchen doors and even offered us a new sink connection to replace the one we had with the missing screw. Given that we cannot get time off work tomorrow we asked them to come back on Saturday 10 AM so we could both be there and they also agreed.

There is a reason why my entire apartment looks like something out of the Ikea cataloge. I love their product and their service. Even if they did mess up they did care enough to make it right which I am grateful for.

Thank you Ikea. I cannot wait for Saturday so I can have my kitchen complete and ready to use. This is how I remember your business conduct, efficient and quick

Burger King's Box It Your Way Promotion

Burger King have started a new promotion yesterday called "Box it Your Way". As a vegetarian there is absolutely one fast food burger that I compare all other burgers to and that's the Burger King's spicy bean burger. Its my absolute favorite. So when Ms. Bibi from Al-Kout group offered me two of the new BK boxes to try I asked if it can have a spicy bean burger in it and she said of course it can.

I loved packaged food that come together in one box per meal. You would know what I mean if you've ever been excited by the prospect of plane food, the little portions, the covered packaged, the tiny bottles. Therefore I think it would be a great idea to have one's meal in a box altogether. No more stealing half of the fries of my order by other diners because they fell in the bag. Its perfect for picnics and outdoor lunches and a quick way to sort out whose who meal wise!

The box is big and colorful. Its like the size of cake boxes if you get cake from patisserie stores around. It had a quality check sticker on it. Personally I thought if it was smaller and from a more sturdy cardboard material it would have been better and easier to handle. Inside my box was this.

In each box you get a sandwich + a salad + an appetizer + fries + soft drink. My fries were not spilled and no one stole them away from me

The salad which is coleslaw salad as the only choice. I am not really a fan of coleslaw to be frank. I'd rather it had another salad like green salad maybe or no salad all together but a dessert option for more hungry people?

The appetizer I chose was onion rings. You have a choice between three pieces of onion rings, 3 pieces of chicken fries, or 3 pieces of chicken tenders. Personally I think they should add 3 pieces of mozzarella sticks as well since I adore theirs and don't have a choice but the onion rings which not everyone likes.

Then came the most important part of the box: the sandwiches! Mine was the spicy bean burger of course. Bu Tootee got the chicken whooper.

The best thing about the box? The soft drinks come in cans instead of takeaway cups which means 1- they won't spill and 2- they retain their original flavor and texture.

On the side of the box you can find their facebook and twitter addresses giving the box a modern social media aware touch.

All in all we had a nice warm lunch yesterday thanks to Ms. Bibi and Burger King. We had fun each clutching his own box and opening it to dig in directly without fighting over who took whose potatoes. We were planning on having lunch outdoors but the weather was just too horrible. Next time we  will insha2 Allah!

10 Very Good Uses for the Hejab

1- No more bad hair days! You can have a lion's mane or shave your entire head yet still be able to go out on a whim and look presentable to society.

2- Frizz control for curly hair. The amount of frizz will reduce by 50% especially if you take wear the 7ejab on a wet hair and keep it for 8+ hours while you go to work/school.

3- Odor filter! If you put a couple of drops of perfume on the loose end of your 7ejab you can summon that end whenever you encounter a horrid odor and breathe in deeply to smell your favorite perfume. Worked for me endless times before.

4- Dust filter! If you are encountering a dust storm simply wrap your loose end of the 7ejab around your face, Tuareg style, and voila! You can walk and breathe without getting dust all over your respiratory system. It also works if you are trying to flee an embarrassing situation and literally want to hide your face.

5- Winter warmth! No longer do you feel your ears freeze or your scalp cold on the winter. You are always going to be warm and well covered.

6- Weather resistant. Rain? Snow? Humidity? Who cares! You can jump and dance under the rain and nothing will happen, you don't even need an umbrella any more -well the 7ejab can get soaked through though but if its only raining very hard-.

7- Emergency Kleenex. The loose end of  your 7ejab can work as a handkerchief to use when wanting to handle doors or elevator buttons instead of using your own hands. No blowing nose on it though, g63!

8- You can rest assured that you will not be getting lice from infected people no matter how close you are. Of course that is if you are just passing through y3ni. Hopefully.

9- You no longer have to dread dying your hair because you are too tired to worry about roots. You can have the roots show and also you can get that crazy blue/green hair color you've always wanted and no one will care if it looks like a disaster!

10- Noise reduction! Now when you wear a 7ejab it works as a noise filter between your ears and the outside world which comes in handy in many MANY situations. If it gets too loud all you have to do is push some of the 7ejab material inside your ears and you've got instant ear plugs!

The new show, GCB, rocks!

There is a new ABC show that debuted on 4 March 2012 and that someone nagged me to watch judging by the amount of good reviews it had gotten in its less than 9 days of being run! Today I have downloaded episode one and two and have just finished the pilot episode which left me laughing out loud and nearly hooting!

Its not surprising that people are going crazy over it! It is good and so funny! 2012 is indeed a good year to watch new TV series! After Once Upon a Time comes GCB which stood for Good Christian Bitches then later was changed to Good Christian Belles!

Now excuse me while I go watch episode two. If you want to laugh I recommend that you start watching GCB

The Ikea Kitchen Disaster

Love Ikea? Admire their beautiful kitchens? Thinking of getting yourself one? Read this before you do.

A few years ago when I moved to my old apartment I had gone to Ikea and gotten the best service ever in fitting a small kitchen. I loved my kitchen so much I had to move it with me to my new apartment -which had no kitchen-. So an entire month ago I went to Ikea and asked them to move it for me and fill in the gaps since my new kitchen is much bigger than my old one.

To my surprise they refused. First, they won't move my old kitchen. Second, they didn't want to give me extra cupboards. They wanted me to throw my perfectly fine brand new old kitchen away and build a new one from scratch. I put my foot down and said that I will move my own kitchen and you will help me complete it, so they said OK then but 1- You will have to pay extra to put together the old and new kitchen -I said OK- and 2- You will have to wait a month since the new cupboard doors and the new water faucett are not available in Kuwait and they will arrive by 10th of March so they will deliver them then.

We me oved with our old kitchen.We lived for an entire month kitchenless. All we could do is boil water in our kettle! We waited patiently for the call on the 10th of March informing us that the kitchen doors are back in Kuwait. We paid the extra they asked for. We got a call that they were coming yesterday at 8 am to install the kitchen.

My husband and I both work, my husband asked them to come at 11 am instead since at least he could excuse himself and get out of work then and they said they will come at 11. 11 am Monday came and went and no one showed up. 12:30 am came and went and no one showed up. Between 12 and 12:30 I called Ikea's delivery department endlessly only to finally have someone answer me and tell me they will be there in 15 minutes.

So over one and a half hours late and when my husband asked them why they were that late, they said "we told you we would come at 8 and you refused". It was my husband's mistake then. Nice start!

They at first refuse to put up the old kitchen even though we paid them to. Then they wouldn't make a whole in the new kitchen worktop so the wires of the washing machine could connect to the electric socket right above it -we don't know what to do now frankly-. Then they make a fuss about putting up the cupboards above the oven. Would you please look at that? Have you ever seen anyone install cupboards this way before? What are these dangling slabs of wood!?

Wait there's more! Now when the new sink and new faucett were to be installed, they said 1- They are missing screws only available through Ikea and 2- they are not responsible for connecting the sink to the water supply! They left us with missing screws we cannot get anywhere else and a gaping hole in the sink they!

and the highlight of the day? Half of the cupboards we ordered, the cupboards we waited a MONTH so their doors would arrive to Kuwait, are still missing their doors because "they didn't arrive yet!"!!! So why did we wait all this time? Why did you call us and come to install a kitchen halfheartedly when you are missing the cupboards doors AND the sink screws?

The Ikea guys left us with a half installed kitchen, a 17 cm gap between cupboards they would do absolutely nothing about, a non functioning sink, a non functioning washing machine with no way to operate it via electricity, and no cupboard doors! We will still have to wait for god knows how long until the kitchen is complete. We will still have to rely on 6alabat to have 3 square meals a day. We are still hungry all the time.

Needless to say the delivery men were very rude AND complained to each other about my poor husband as he asked them to complete their work in Indian. Just because you speak a language he doesn't doesn't mean he cannot tell you are complaining about him. They left him very angry and upset. So upset in fact he couldn't sleep all night because he was still seething with anger!

What happened Ikea? When did your after sale service and your delivery become so unbelievably bad? You used to have an amazing delivery and installation service! I love Ikea, I always did and I always will. But this? This is unacceptable. Never again I am going to buy something that needs installation from them.

Things 2 Do in London: Benito's Hat's Burritos

Given that we have a Mexican cuisine deprivation in Kuwait I try and load up on Mexican food whenever I am abroad. Surprisingly London doesn't -or didn't- have that much of a Mexican Cuisine scene. Unlike the USA for example. The best Mexican I've had in Europe so far was a Mexican restaurant in Geneva, Switzerland but I can say that I've found two more decent places in London, one of which is Benito's Hat which is known for having the best burritos in town.

Tucked away in a small street in Covent Garden, New Row St., which on its own is a pleasure to walk in is Benito's Hat's second -or third- branch. Modern interior colors, floor to length windows with window stools, and a door so busy being opened and closed it was impossible to take a picture of without a person going in or out. Shasawe b3d.

When you go in there is a long line snaking from the food display and register. As you stand in line you see the way you should order written on the wall.

I was there for London's best burrito of course. Mo wagta salad o soup.

I chose a burrito, Bu Tootee chose the two tacos platter. You choose what you want inside at the counter -both of ours were vegetarian.

Then you load it up with your hearts content with guacamole, tomato salsa, cheese, lettuce, jalapenos, sour cream and sauces!

Voila! Five minutes and your customized burrito -or taco- is done and paid for! All you have to do is find yourself a table.

The place was packed full! The atmosphere was buzzing with music and loud happy chatter. The soundtrack was totally suitable to the air of the restaurant and you can feel excited just being in the restaurant. I didn't want to leave! We grabbed ourselves window seats to watch passer bys!

We dug in. My big fat humongous burrito.

Butootee's two taco plate.

We also shared a bowl of excellent nachos! Especially after given then a squeeze from two lime slices! Yum!

The burrito was really good! Soft and flavorsome with excellent mix of different and tangy textures in every bite! The only downside is that it was very big for me. A man would be happy finishing it on his own or two girls can share in one big fat very good burrito.

As we were enjoying our food and listening to the music and chatter I saw this poster.

Next time insha2 Allah I am trying their watermelon margharita since I've seen many tables sipping it. Hopefully they do a virgin edition of it!

Benito's hat do have the best burrito's I've tasted in London. They have three branches, one of them in Oxford street. And they do deliveries as well. For more information about Benito's Hate you can visit their website (link) Facebook page (link) or Twitter account @BenitosChat. They are perfect for a meal during a shopping spree or after watching a musical show.

Help: Photography Courses Needed

When you attend an event with your fellow bloggers, spend the night clicking away with your expensive state of the art camera, spend the rest of the night trying to choose and lighten or edit the bunch of pictures you managed to shoot and arrange them in a post, then realize that your post has the ugliest most boring pictures ever, you know there is something fundementally wrong with your pictures.

Then you look at your instagram account and flikr account and realize the pictures you have over there are even more boring than the ones you have on your blog, that other fellow instagrammers can do more with the simple iPhone lens than what you can do with your special canon lens. That you do not own one special picture that stands out and sets you as "special", you know its time to go back to the beginnings and take a photography course.

Help please, where can I find a decent photography course in Kuwait with suitable hours? I know beit lothab must have photography courses but is there any place elae that might offer them too? If you know any please let me know. Much obliged!