Danderma's Blog, page 110

Event: Novembers Bakery's Tasting

What better way to spend an evening in chic softly lit surroundings sampling new desserts from one of the most famous bakeries around K-Town and giving your feedback on them? Can you think of a more perfect treat?

Lots of clear glass and burning candles everywhere made the table settings very relaxing, classy, and romantic. I'd love to host a sit down dinner with the same table setting and atmosphere!

If you follow me on instagram you might remember that I've once posted about a tea light holder that I bought and my husband hated and fought with me over it. Lo and behold, there it is in the middle of the table! Proudly standing and as gorgeous as I  predicted they would be! Ha-ha -in Simpson's bully voice!

Ms. Bibi & Ms. Jude Hayat, the sisters behind the November Bakery welcomed us for the tasting and explained  to us what we were going to do  that night. See the lovely dessert buffet below?

This scrumptious looking buffet is filled with new dessert items developed by Ms. Bibi and we were going to taste them and give our feedback on them. Two of which will go as new items on November's Bakery's menu! The good new? Those desserts are "light" made with apple sauce instead of butter and some are even GLUTEN free!   Kudos to November for thinking about gluten intolerant customers!

We were then asked to sit down to where forks, spoons, papers, and pens were handed out to us. One by one, trays of different little desserts were brought over for us to try. The first one was the Hassouni cake which both Bibi & Jude seemed to be the most excited about. Named after their brother because its his favorite, its a banana nut cake covered with fluffy banana frosting.

This is me bothering Pink Girl for a picture as she tried to take a bite maskeena :p

Next came November's own Oreo cookies since they do not use the mass produced ones sold everywhere else.

Next came the new truffles: Lemon Coconut and Mahalabiya Dates.

This is my second favorite dessert in the collection: The Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Slice! Its sweetness comes from the chocolate chips only so you get a salty bite and a sweet bite! Amazing!

Chocolate covered brownie squares.

Rice Krispie balls.

Another version of the 7assouni cake but in a cupcake form.

My absolute favorite was the tiny Raspberry Strawberry & Chocolate trifle -it has another name bs ana samet.ha trifle-… I simply adored it

 

Of my opinion I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. I love to write garga!

The aftermath…

Wait we weren't done. Just as we thought it was time to say good bye small cups of delicious and creamy hot chocolate were served. The cup had two sips maybe but it was heartwarming and really good!

We capped our experience with a delicious and much needed cup of espresso!

Thank you Bibi & Joud for your invitation. We had a sugar fuelled night that kept my mood on high until this moment

November Bakery is located in Al-Tilal mall and they are well known for their delicious cakes, gorgeous flowers, and sensational event planning. You can know more by following their website (link), their Facebook page (link), their Twitter and Instagram @NovemberTweets, or give them a call at 2225 3445/6

Picture of the Week: Man's Guide Sign

I saw this sign last week in a Sunday market booth and as I reached the last line I cracked up laughing! It was so funny!

I hope it draws a smile on your face the way it did mine. No offence to guys :p

Things 2 Do in London: Cyber Candy Store

On instagram I have posted a picture of a new type of m&ms I had gotten: Raspberry and Dark Chocolate m&ms! A lot have asked about it. It came from one of my favorite London shops: Cyber Candy.

Located in an alley between Covent Garden and Leicester Square is a small shop with a blue painted front. The window display says it all: unique and funky candy imported from around the world and available at their doorstep.

Do you remember back in the 80′s when we used to have cigarette chocolate? Then it was banned because it insinuated that cigarettes are good for kids? They sell them!

Once you step inside the small yet packed store you find this huge gumball machine in the middle of the store.

To the left are two fridges filled with funky and funny drinks. For example these power drinks.

Or the Jelly Belly soft drinks. I got the apple flavored one to try.

After the fridges you find the shelves of mint tins. Also very cute!

Then there is the chocolate section! I once got a Cadbury Creme Brulee bar but I couldn't find it now. This time however there are a lot different ones: Burnt Almond, Dark Bubbly, Snack with different liquid flavors in each bite.

More and more and more chocolate

Different types of m&ms. I took the Raspberry Dark Chocolate one and they were delicious. And no, you cannot find them in m&ms world by the way (post).

Pretzle m&ms.

Pop tarts, lucky charms cereal, and more.

Cookie dough fudge brownie bites! That's interesting.

Twinkies if you miss them while in London. I've never had any and they don't look that good honestly.

Root beer kit.

If you cannot make it to Cyber Candy in person, you can visit and buy from their online store (link).

For more information and directions you can visit Cyber Candy's website (link) or facebook page (link). The store I go is the one located at 3 Garrick Street in Covent Garden. If you want the ultimate souvenir for a chocolate lover, this is the place to be.

Habba Alert: 7anafi's Mustache

Remember my nameless friend? He has a name now, its 7anafi. He is definitely a 7anafi. Turns out 7anafi's and his mustache are really trendy! Apparently mustache is now appearing everywhere from babygros to iphone covers and jewelry the way skulls did a few years back!

7anafi mo hayen 6ala3 y7leelah, after all he did come from Top Shop! Trendy 7anafi

Um Al-Namil Island's Post Code!

I was searching online for the post code of my new apartment when I found this website with Kuwaiti post codes (link). What is interesting is even though I didn't find the post code for Al-Zahraa I found the post code for… Jazeerat Um Al-Namil!!!!

Now who on earth would send a postal pacakage to um al-namil? El namil? La o block 1 b3d!!! eshm3na um al-namil mo um al-maradim mathalan? I've never ever received a single package to my home addresses when I lived in Bayan, Jabriya, or Zahraa, or in our mailboxes in Mishref and Dhahiya! Would anyone who is residing in Um Al-Namil expect to receive anything?

Anyways if you wish to send a post card -or a pif paf- to the ants in Um Al-Namil island you now know the post code. Its 73921, block 1. Sukkan el3a9ema b3d y7leelhom. I wonder which da2era intekhabiya ohom?

Using an Eco-Friendly Shopping Bag

Last December I've decided that it was about time I get a little more environment friendly and use a non-disposable shopping bag. I bought myself a London bus shopping bag and I kept it in my handbag but I never got to use it. Then I came back to Kuwait and moved apartments and forgot all about it until I unearthed it last week and used it for my grocery shopping instead of using plastic bags!

When you turn down the plastic bags, in Kuwait especially, and demand you use your own bag you are greeted by bewilderment and ridicule! You would think that I've decided to torture a bird by pulling its feathers one by one! Eshda3wa! I know a lot of Kuwaitis have gone eco-friendly before me. I know more and more people are using their own shopping bags now. There is absolutely no need for workers to make a fuss and for customers to stare at me like I am insane. They should grow up and maybe join in too!

Anyways I am more than happy with my cool environment friendly shopping bag. If you have never used one you should, don't be shy! If you do, way to go! Show me your bags I want to see

Book Review: The Ruins of US by Keija Parssinen

Ever since I read about this novel in one of the UK's magazines I had wanted to read it. The potential of the story is alluring: An American lady who married the love of her life, a Saudi billionaire, and move with him to KSA to bring up their family, discovers after 27 years of marriage that he had taken up a second younger wife. Meanwhile the couples eldest son is sixteen and has been involved with a controversial religious man.

Now the writer has a great story to write about. What would a woman do in that situation, how would she react? What demands would she make? How would she deal with the competition? Maybe what drove the man to marry the 2nd woman and what drove the 2nd woman to steal the man? How the man is lost between the two women. How jealous the 2nd woman makes the 1st one for example. We have tons of local drama series dealing with the issue but never from an American first wife point of view, it would have been interesting to see what would an American feel and do about that.

But the chapters are long. The books repeats the same things over and over and over again. Sometimes I have skipped pages because there is just too much writing, too many thoughts in the characters heads revolving around the same conclusions.  The couple's son story line would have also been very good one too except in the very last chapters he does something that is supposed to be the climax of the story but its really hard to digest. For the love of god who would do such a thing!

The ending is quite disappointing too. If anything I would say the story, though it had amazing potential, turned out to be a tad silly and boring actually. That would be the point of view of mine if I was not an Arab and a Khaleeji reader.

Now as an Arab some things were insulting even though I am not really a sensitive reader. Someone should also explain the Quran better to the writer and possibly the meaning of some Arabic words used in the dialogue like the overuse of the word "ya" and erm, the "shit" word in Arabic.

In any case I don't suppose I would be reading it again. I had a hard time finishing the book in the first place. I will be selling it next week in my Saturday garage sale insha2 Allah if anyone is interested.

Cadbury Flavored Philadelphia Cheese

I've recently got my hands on a new product from the UK's markets: Cadbury Chocolate Flavored Philadelphia Cheese!

At first I thought: Cadbury and Philadelphia cheese? Yuck! Of course I did not even think of trying it but my husband bravely took a slice of toast and spread it with a dollop of the concoction. He loved it so I had to try and see for myself.

It is not too weird, not as weird as I thought it would be. It doesn't taste like philadelphia and it doesn't taste like Nuttela. I am not a fan of Nuttella at all because of the sugar hazelnut sa7na but the Cadbury Philadelphia doesn't have a sa7na flavor and is not too sweet. Its more like Nuttella for grown ups. Very creamy, sweet enough but not too sweet, and has the slightest tang aftertaste, very slight but its not a bad one, makes it a bit different. If anything it reminded me a lot of Lorenzo's famous chocolate cheesecake.

It comes in small packets for you to try first. It doesn't work well with fruit dipped inside so its best used with toast or in making cakes. I would recommend it.

Good Saturday Morning…

If the weekend just becomes three days instead of two *sigh*. What takes the blues out of the fact that the vacation is over is a yummy breakfast. One of my favorite breakfasts around is Mcdonald's! An Egg McMuffin without meat, a hash brown with ketchup, orange juice, and coffee

So good Saturday morning to you. Wake up, smell the coffee, and have a fabulous weekend.

New Books in My to Read Collection

Receiving a package in the mail  is a thrill on its own and nothing is more exciting than receiving an Amazon brown box filled to the brim with books you've been waiting forever to read. Yesterday I've received a shipment from Amazon that really made my day and I thought I would share my latest and upcoming reads with you.

The first book is the Serious Eats website book! If you are a fan of the blog Serious Eats you would be very happy to grab your own copy of their publication! I was waiting forever to get my hand on a copy and I finally did!

The second book is "The Ruins of Us" which tells the story of an American wife married to a Saudi billionaire who one day discovers that he is married to a second wife and she has to deal with the situation since leaving is not an option. I've been waiting to read this book for a long time now. I can't wait to start on it and see how it  goes.

More books in my lovely new collection of books is Aleph by Paulo Coelho, the author of the best selling book "The Alchemist". Though I couldn't finish any other book other than his Alchemist I couldn't help grabbing this one up.

Sophie Kinsella has a new book out and sadly it is not another Shopaholic book. This time it is about an engaged girl who loses her engagement ring which is a family heirloom of her fiance's and loses her mobile phone, only to find a lost mobile phone of a stranger and decides to use it and snoop it. I guarantee it is going to be a hilarious read for sure.

Remember the book with the beautiful picture of cups for a cover that I've reviewed here (post). Apparently I've found that it has a sequel, The Two Week Wait, and I of course now have it in my collection of books to read! 

More books in my collection of new books, Me before You by Jojo Moyes and Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult.

I can't wait to start reading my new books. Can you blame me