Danderma's Blog, page 118

New: Taco Bell's Bell Box

I am a sucker for packaged stuff ,kits, and hampers. There is nothing more exciting to me than a box of little stuff coming together to make something especially if its a food item. Since I am also a fan of Mexican food and Taco Bell I am happy to know that tomorrow Taco Bell Kuwait will start selling their new Bell Box.

It will be perfect for a spur of the moment picnic, camp, or chalet! There are going to be three different boxes with different contents.

All three boxes however are selling for 5 KD and the food is enough for 4-5 persons.Plus by purchasing the Bell Box you save money VS. purchasing the items individually:

o Bell Box #1: You save KD 1.200

o Bell Box #2: You save KD 950 fils

o Bell Box #3: You save KD 1.050

o Buy all 3 for a large group and save KD 3.200

Taco Bell is located in Abu Halifa, Shaab, Kaifan and the Avenues Mall. For more information you can check their facebook page (link) or follow them on twitter (@TacoBellKuwait).

Event: Mark Your Calendars for the Environmental Hour

 

Dear Ansam has sent an email today to remind us about earth hour and urge us to participate. Remember how the world had closed down their lights on Earth hour? Now this is something similar except its Environmental hour instead of Earth hour and its originating from Kuwait to mark the 27th of February as a remarkable day to give back to Kuwait and the environment especially since we have the 25th and the 26th marked in our minds.

What are the recommended actions in the environmental day event?

Turn off unnecessary lights for one hour only (rush hour is between 1-4 pm and the event will be at night).
Turn off unnecessary electrical appliances for one hour only.
Reduce the number of hours that illuminations lighting are turned on as we do not need to keep lighting until the early morning hours.
Use energy saving lights for ornamental purposes, if possible.
Apply environmentally-friendly cruising rather than car cruising and replace them with walking and cycling.
The environmentally-friendly cruising will be organized by the Touristic Enterprises.
Company and the events will be friendly to the environment to deliver an important message about the importance of the environment.

So what say you? Are you in?

If you are kindly repost about this if you are a blogger or share it with your friends and family in your social media circles. For more information in both Arabic or English you can refer to Ansam's post (link).

Do You Give Out Phone Number of People Without Permission?

Does privacy mean squat to people in Kuwait?

If you know me, and I trust you enough with my phone number or any other personal details that doesn't give you the right to act on my behalf and distribute it to other people. If anyone asks you about my phone number for any reason on earth, you should first contact me, let me know that flana X wants your number, and then give out my number after MY APPROVAL!

I am getting weird calls and calls from numbers I've never known in my life giving me lectures on who to vote to! When you are given a phone number it comes with a certain amount of trust that you will keep it private, its the unspoken rule.

From now on I am not going to answer any strange numbers that are not saved in my phone book. Period. I repeat again: If you have my phone number then its a sign that I trust you to keep it private. It is NOT for local -or global- distribution. Full Stop.

Have you ever given out someone's number without checking with them first? Have your number ever given to someone you don't want to talk to by someone else? Doesn't that make your blood boil?

Things 2 Get 4m London: This Works No Wrinkles Get Started Kit

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I have a "slight" obsession about fine line, wrinkles, and grey hair. So I am always on the look out for whatever product is out there that promises to keep wrinkles at bay or minimize their appearance. After all I got my first set of wrinkles between my eyebrows at age 21, a blessing from the college of Engineering.

Therefore whenever I am in London I make sure to lurk in the beauty section of every department store or boots around and haul whatever that promises me to keep aging  signs at bay. This year I read a lot of good reviews about the "This Work No Wrinkles Active Serum" so I set about to searching for it. To my delight I found a small bottle sample for sale in a kit together with a no wrinkles extreme moisturizer.

The good thing about this kit is that its small in size and has two products that complement each other. So if you don't like the results you are not wasting a bottle full of product. After all they are not cheap.

What makes me happy is that the products contain Retinol and Vitamin C, both of which are active ingredients that does make a difference to your complexion if used regularly. Anyways I've heard a lot about them and I got them, you can get them too whenever you are in London.

Gloria Jeans Coffee Course Day 3

Today is day 3 of my Gloria Jeans Coffee Training and today we did coffee tasting! When I arrived the first thing I did was to take a quiz and I passed it

Afterwards I was told about the different taste places in the tongue for sugar, salt, and sour flavors. Then I learned about the elemental things in a coffee taste that distinguishes one coffee from the other: Aroma, Flavor, Body, Acidity, and After Taste.

Then it was time for the palate training which highlights the things to look for in terms of the elements before. We used a Strawberry Candy for aroma, Pepsi for flavor, Milk then Water for Body, and A piece of dark chocolate for aftertaste. I can probably run this test on you if anyone is interested :p

A sip of water is necessary between each item being tasted.

Then it was time for the coffee tasting. The best way to taste coffee is to brew it using a French press because it extracts the most flavor out of the ground coffee beans being used in the press.

This involved teaching me how to properly use the coffee press. You add two heaped spoons of freshly ground coffee into a coffee press.

Then you add hot water and adjust the coffee press lever. Then use a timer to wait for exactly 4 minutes.

After the four minutes are up you press the coffee one last very hard time and voila its ready to serve.

We tasted several types of coffees with different flavors, aromas, and bodies. I discovered that my favorite coffee bean is the dark roasted bean which is heavier in body and very low in acidity with a smokey aroma. As our lesson was up I was given this bag, again!

Inside was a beautifully wrapped box. Can you guess what's inside?

My very own French coffee press!

Plus, fresh Nicaraguan ground beans to use with my press that are recommended by the store manager Mr. Sobhi!

Its like being in my very own coffee wonderland! It was really generous of Gloria Jeans to give me this gift! Thank you so much! I can't wait for my fourth day tomorrow as I am having so much fun!

Now remember to answer Gloria Jeans Coffee quiz and you may win a prize to be handed to you next Saturday on my graduation day! Good luck

Gloria Jeans Coffee Quiz: 

What is the difference between a regular cappuccino and a regular latte at Gloria Jean's Coffees?

1) Amount of foam

2) Weight of the drink

3) Strength of the coffee taste

4) All of the above

5) 1 & 3

Think carefully and place your answer here (link). Good luck!

Help: Shows worth watching?

In November I wrote about finding two shows that are worth following again: Pan AM and Revenge. I loved the idea of both and I was hooked.

Now that Revenge is halfway through I can say its sounding a bit ridiculous in some points. Is it just me or am I watching something like Kill Bill? A Japanese "revenge" instructor and people getting away with arson and murder without the possibility of being caught? When did Japan become the brand name of Revenge exactly?

Revenge is getting a bit ridiculous. DHW is past its expiry date and its ridiculousness is unheard off. Every season there is someone being killed, criminals attacking no one but the ladies of wisteria lane, and secrets being unraveled. Bs 3ad.

Pan AM is still beautifully written and as the episodes go on its becoming even more interesting.

I want to check out Once Upon a Time, Drop Dead Diva, New Girl, and some sitcom that had been advertised in the UK as a hilarious top number one of some crazy woman -not new girl-. Any thing else you might be watching and think its worth checking out?

Things 2 Do in London: Hummus Bros

Nestling in Soho's busy streets there is a red sign with the name "Hummus Bros". If you are hungry and on the go, get inside for a good non pretentious quick meal.

The picture on the door sums the experience all up. You get inside, order a bowl of hummus or foul, top it up with whatever you want, and have a blast with your meal -if you like hummus and foul that is, I adore them-.

So you go inside, order your food, pay, and take a seat and withing minutes everything is ready for you. The best seats are the window bar seats where we could watch people as we enjoy our meal.

It was a rainy cloudy afternoon in London which means all my pictures have a blue haze I cannot get rid off. Even if you are eating alone in Hummus bros you will be entertained. For example you can solve this by guessing.

You know you are welcome as a blogger in Hummus Bros when you read the sign on the paper below. Thank you!

People get to eat for free on their birthday! Nice

Our orders started arriving then. We both ordered the lemonade with mint which is very good and refreshing.

My order was a hummus platter and Bu Tootee's a hummus and foul platter. We also ordered salads: greek and a falafel tzatziki one.

Our orders came with hot pita bread which is insanely good!

On the table there were condiments: a spicy spread and lemon with garlic to add to your dishes.

 Food? Lip smacking!

Hummus Bros Soho is located in Wardour Street and they have other locations. You can find out more about them from their website (link) or facebook (link) or follow them on twitter (@hbros).

Bazaar's Dining Guide and Cookie Surprise

I arrived home yesterday to find a nice surprise waiting for me from Bazaar Magazine to thank me for participating in their blog bytes segment in the 2012 Dining Guide (post).

I appreciated the nice handwritten message on top of the dining guide box.

I loved the pop art on top of the box.

The cookies were delicious too! My husband kept eating them and not talking for a while :p

There were two types of cookies: Chocolate Chip and Chocolate cookies.The chocolate ones tasted like mini brownies in a cookie. They were my dinner yesterday The maker? Cookieology…

This is the first time I've heard about cookieology but I have to say I will be ordering from them again for sure! Thank you Bazaar for the lovely surprise. Blog bytes and cookies? Truly thank you

Gloria Jeans Coffee Course Day 2

Today was day two of my coffee training in Gloria Jeans coffee and the first day where I actually practiced coffee making! First I was given a quiz of yesterday's session which I passed with flying colors Yay me!

Then we started day 2 lesson. First I was given a set of safety rules to consider before attempting to work behind the counter. Then the area behind the counter was explained in details. Afterwards I learned the techniques for making coffee starting from grinding the coffee beans until pouring the frothy milk and weighing the cup to make a latte or cappuccino. Believe me, it is NOT EASY! I'll show you how.

The first thing you do after you get behind the counter is to wash your hands thoroughly. Really wash them by singing happy birthday twice while you rub and rub if you are handling food. Then you start any coffee cup by making the espresso that is used in the beverage, whether it is a cappuccino, a latte, a mocha, or an americano.

Making an espresso sounds easy right? You're very much mistaken. To make a shot of espresso you need to take the espresso machine group handle, clean it, grind coffee beans and add them on top, begin the process of tamping those ground coffee beans which on its own is a long story and must be done properly. Then the group handle is loaded back into the espresso machine.

As the espresso is being poured you can tell from the speed of the dispensing liquid if its going to be a bad espresso or a good one. There is a timer on top of the machine and to have a good espresso it must finish between 29-30 seconds. Anything more or less will be discarded.

The first espresso I made took 24 seconds and did not taste good. My coffee tamping technique was off. I tried it again.

The second espresso I made took 33 seconds to make and again wasn't good. It didn't taste good either. The third time is a charm as they say as my espresso took 27 seconds to make and deserved a round of applause

Then I had to learn about preparing the milk for either a cappuccino or a latte. Each measures differently, frothing on its on is an art in itself, you need to time the froth with a thermometer until the milk reaches a certain temperature then you stop. How you pour it for a latte is different than how you pour it for a cappuccino. 3bala!

My first cappuccino was a big fat failure. It weighed way beyond what its supposed to and had almost no foam. The milk froth was yummy though. And yes you have to weigh every drink after you make it to make sure its made according to the correct proportions.

This is the weight guides for the different beverages and sizes.

Now my second coffee with milk, a latte, was more successful and really frothy. It barely passed the proportions of being a flat white latte rather than a latter but it did pass! I am so proud of it.

O its decorated b3d Did you know that the technique of pouring the frothy milk over the espresso crema is what makes those lovely coffee shapes?

One of the baristas added two dollops of frothy milk and updated my design with two hearts! Lovely!

I was also shown a technique for making two leaves by pouring the milk alone! Amazing!

After two hours behind the counter I felt elated. I was doing something I love and lost myself in it to the point that I forgot the time, forgot everything and everyone, it was me and the coffee and the froth and the beans and the aroma of coffee. By the time I was done I was asked a question about what are the four characteristics of an espresso and as I answered right I was given a gift from Gloria Jeans team!

It was a set of 6 Gloria Jeans espresso cups!

Plus one bag of the  Butter Toffee french coffee! Its aroma is mind blowing!

I was very touched! Not only did they spend two hours training me patiently but they ended my session with a precious gift that will always remind me of the first day I learned how to make proper espresso! Thank you Gloria Jeans team!

Now don't forget, I will be having my coffee "graduation" next Saturday where I will be making the coffees myself. Plus if you are the winner of the quiz question of Gloria Jeans you will get your award then So participate to win!

Gloria Jeans Coffee Quiz: 

What is the difference between a regular cappuccino and a regular latte at Gloria Jean's Coffees?

1) Amount of foam

2) Weight of the drink

3) Strength of the coffee taste

4) All of the above

5) 1 & 3

Think carefully and place your answer here (link). Good luck!

Things 2 Get 4m London: Nespresso's Orange Dolcetti Biscuits

When I am in London I make sure to stock up on two types of biscuits for my Nespresso coffee: The mini Almond biscotti and the Dolcetti L'Oranger.

It was too late to photograph the packet of the almond biscotti but I however managed to keep the orange dolcetti unopened until I took photographs for this posts. The little sugar coated dolcetti's are individually wrapped with the Nespresso logo printed on each bag.

One piece of dolcetti is more than enough to fill you up for a snack time alongside a freshly brewed cup of espresso from your Nespresso machine.

Taste wise? After being dipped into the coffee it is like sugar coated butter cookies with a hint of orange. So smooth and silky yet with a bite! Mmmmm

The almond biscotti are not bad either. After you dip them they are all smooth and rich with crunchy almond bits. My husband adores those.

If only they stocked them here in Kuwait *sigh*. Then again the Palete Amandes (post) are being sold in Kuwait so you never know, there is still hope.