Danderma's Blog, page 25

The Little Strip of Gum Balls

When we were children there were plenty of candies of sweets that we used to love but somehow disappeared over the years, one of which is the little round gum or rather, a thin strip of plastic with little colourful gum balls. This particular gum was extra special, for the taste was so sweet and good and it also was used in one of our most beloved childhood ice cream, KDD Bu 3elch, where a colourful piece of gum lay waiting at the bottom of the vanilla cone and by the time you get there the colour on the sugar coating of the gum would’ve melted away and mixed with the ice cream, resulting in swirls of colours and the child screaming the colour of gum he got. Red was the most delicious one.

The strip of gum disappeared for a few too many years, and even the gum used in KDD’s ice cream was a white round gum ball which was quite boring. Until the other day when I was walking down the candy aisle in Al-Zahraa co-op when I saw the strip of gum again! IT was much shorter, only six gum balls where there, but it was very much the same.

The whites are still boring, the red gum ball was and still is the best one and those strips of gum with more than one red gum ball and almost no white gum balls are the ones you must look for should you come upon them while walking down the candy aisle in your co-op.

True the gum lasts for ten seconds before it melts away, but the taste of the gum ball as you bite into it is simply the taste of childhood especially when dunked and coated with KDD’s vanilla ice cream!

I wonder why so many of our childhood sweets and candies are now extinct! Do you remember those strips of gum balls? Which colour was your favourite?

 

Upper Crust Al-Bida’a Opening Event

Last week I received the cutest smallest wooden rolling pin ever, which was intended as an invitation from Upper Crust Pizzeria to attend the official opening of their latest and third branch in Kuwait, located at Al-Rimal in Al-Bida’a. We were meant to bring along the rolling pin to the event and add it to the wall of decorative rolling pins after customising it with our own message. 

The new Upper Crust pizzeria branch is right next door to The Butcher’s Den. Already buzzing with event attendees, the facade of the pizzeria was bathed in festive pink light and people were seated both inside and outside and because the weather was lovely we sat outside next to the big flame heaters.

The interior of the pizzeria’s third branch is, in my humble opinion, the best one yet! Very broody and handsome, softly lit with big candles on baking pans and those gorgeous light bulbs with burning orange coils inside. I must get me some of those!

Smack in the middle of the restaurant there was a big bonsai-like tree surrounded by a white table and there was the even’t buffet. I wonder if this tree/table is there to stay and if it was what would become of it?

Soft twinkling lights everywhere.

Pizza baking pans covered the ceilings and a collection of rollin pins covered one of the walls.

I placed my little rolling pin with my message!

As for the food, well, it was awesome! I actually liked the catering food more than Upper Crust’s normal food? I’m not sure if they do catering but if they do, you must have them cater your next event. Maybe there should be an express restaurant where you can get catering portion-size of each dish so you can eat as many different items as you want without getting too full! It would be a perfect idea for a diet-free meal! Tiny salads…

Little crunchy mozzarella bites with a side of marinara sauce to dunk them in. I could have stood next to those golden beauties all night, someone had to keep them company you know!

And there were endless little pizzas in every combination possible, and they are better than the big pizzas! Those pizza sliders should become a permanent part of the menu.

How cute are those little parpadalle pots? They are smaller in reality, the picture makes them look bigger. There were also little pots of gnocchi lounging in cream sauce and different meaty pieces on pureed squash if I’m not mistaken.

Last but not least, came the little pots of tiramisu. Those little pots where grabbed by everyone on our table before the sound of su uttered by the waiter faded out into the night.

Thank you hank you Dana Al-Salem and Lujain Al-Fulaij for extending the invitation to Upper Crust’s third branch opening. Congratulations again, wishing you the best luck and many more branches all over Kuwait.

Upper Crust Pizzeria’s newest branch in located in Rimal Al-Bida’a. For more information or for delivery you can contact them on +(965)-1821872 or check their website (link) or follow then on instagram (@UpperCrustKwt).

Do We Have Female Pilots in Kuwait?

Growing up, I had a relative who wanted to become an airplane pilot, and I totally understood where he was coming from considering the state of awe I find myself in, rooted to the ground watching pilots and cabin crew gliding by before boarding a plane in airports, chatting, laughing, and pulling their little black bags behind them. There is something about the uniform, the confidence, the fact they can take a metal beast off the grown and fly it over the clouds, a regal prestigious air that you cannot deny.

I never wanted to become a pilot myself but I’d love to take flying lessons one day, why not? I wouldn’t want the impressive yet exhausting life of a pilot, gone for days and working for hours on end, but it would be comforting to know that had I wanted to, I could’ve achieved it. My relative didn’t become a pilot, for some reason Kuwaiti males becoming pilots is a very hard thing to achieve, I’m not sure why all the obstacles, and I have yet to hear of a Kuwaiti female becoming one.

Maybe we have a female Kuwaiti pilot but I don’t know about it? Do we have Kuwaiti women who can fly commercial airplanes? Helicopters? little personal planes? Perhaps there are some who learned how to fly, most likely there is, but what about choosing the career of an airline pilot? I know there are Kuwaiti stewardesses but I’ve never met or know anyone who’ve met one before.

Why not? Kuwaiti women can do anything, why not fly a plane or become a pilot? I know there is a Saudi female pilot and I think I’ve read somewhere about an Emirate female pilot but I’m not sure. What about us? Dear Kuwaiti girls, wouldn’t you want to fly a plane?

Jacqui’s 30th Birthday Gift To Me!

When one of your friends turns 30 the norm would be that you’d pat them on the back, assuring them that 30 is the new 20 then hand them a loving birthday gift that would a smile on their face. To Jacqui, the owner of Kuwait’s oldest surviving blog “The couch Avenue“, turning 30 meant paying a special visit to each and everyone of her friends with her very own idea of a gift. Why? Because she wants to show her gratitude for our friendship. The gift was a small elegant fuchsia pink box, a personal letter, and a wooden tag with my blog’s name printed on top. 

That tag bears a sneak peek of my template’s new look by the way! The letter came in a sealed envelope with a drawing of Jacqui’s character next to an Apple cake with a candle. The drawing was hand drawn by Jacqui’s sister Dana and its simply gorgeous! Well done!

As Jacqui sipped her extra sweet tea while sitting on my couch, I tucked the sealed letter away to be read later on and opened the box. What’s inside?

A lovely collection of little thingies! Lego erasers you can put together, green little pen and little dolly charms, also in green because its my favourite colour. My very own iPhone :p Not really but the gesture is lovely, and the pièce de résistance was the little customised tin box of m&ms!

I don’t understand why this girl isn’t in the branding and customisation business! She could very well be making branded gifts and giveaways for people and to her it would be as easy as batting an eyelash! She’s a natural.

And sweet it was indeed! Not only do the m&ms come in her blog’s colours, they had a special message printed on them along with her blog’s character!

They are so lovely, I feel guilty about eating them. I didn’t finish them all, well I’m trying not to anyway. There is always more where those came from, back in the USA of course :p Is it my imagination or does American m&ms taste better than any other m&ms from other parts of the world? m&m’s rule!

The letter I read later, before going to sleep, and its very private. In a gist, its about how valuable our friendship is and do trust me dear Jacqui when I tell you that I cherish your friendship. I only befriend people I truly love and I treasure my friendships and you, dear thoughtful wiser quirky 30-something Apple-freak om el tefa7 Jacqui, are an absolute keeper

Happy birthday Jacqui, wishing you many happy returns. May we celebrate your 60th and 90th together as friends.

Preparing Nespresso’s Minty After 8 Cappucino

A while back while getting my monthly supply of Nespresso coffee capsules I was treated to a little booklet of coffee recipes, all of which you could prepare using Nespresso devices and coffee capsules and I knew, just knew, that the time has come for me to dust my Aeroccino and put my barista training from Gloria Jeans cafe to good use. 

There was this one Nespresso recipe that kept popping in my mind whenever I thought about whipping a cup of coffee for myself. It was a minty coffee latte with a piece of after eight chocolate on top that simply gave me butterflies in my stomach. I love mint, and everything minty, and it was very easy to make so I’ve decided to go ahead and prepare it.

The Nespresso recipe calls for one green coffee capsule, Capriccio Grand Cru, prepared in a cappuccino -big- cup and topped with cappuccino froth then finished off with a piece of after eight chocolate. Easy no? I didn’t have the green coffee capsule so I used my dark chocolate coffee capsule instead. All was fine until the moment I decided to place the piece of after eight on top.

I placed the after eight piece on my fluffy froth, and whoosh, it was gone! Astonished, I thought perhaps the cup was too big or something and tried to place another piece on the edge. Whoosh, it was gone as well! I, well, err, kept adding pieces of after eight chocolates and they kept swooshing downwards to join their kin at the bottom of the cappuccino cup until there were so many waiting in line to melt inside the cup that the last one I put in did stay afloat over the froth long enough for me to photograph it!

You could clearly see the puddle of chocolate at the bottom of the see-through cup. It wasn’t intentional but the coffee was indeed good and quite tasty, albeit a tad more sweet and minty than I’d usually consume. I tried to prepare the same coffee again using the cup displayed in Nespresso’s picture but, again, the after eight chocolate would whoosh and rush down to the bottom of the cup. I how did their photographer managed to keep the after eight piece afloat?

Now that its winter and all I want to do is consume coffee and hot chocolates I’m going to spend more time preparing and indulging in coffee concoctions. Did you ever try a Nespresso recipe before? How well did it work out for you?

Do You Care Much About Expiry Dates?

Expiry dates seem to appear on everything these days, I’m surprised I didn’t see them on clothing labels yet! Everything has an expiry date and more often than not its a very short lived expiry date that arrives before you can blink twice! 

If I have a pot of yoghurt, or bottle of laban which is liquid yoghurt, in my fridge and its two or three days past its expiry date I wouldn’t sweat over it. It is in the end nothing but a version of sour milk, no? I once had a pot of yoghurt that was almost a month past its expiry date and it was as good as new. I once had a bottle of “fresh” laban that had just been produced and should expire in three days time, but when I drank it the cup screamed putrid. If something is bad, gets mouldy, or smells suspicious I know its time for it to go in the bin but if something still looks and smells OK even if its expired, I would still eat it much to the protest of my husband who thinks I’m mad. His take on the matter is that expiry dates are there for a reason and it must be “internally bad or something and should be thrown anyway.

I don’t believe in wasting fine and quite edible food just for the sake of a mere date when there are millions of people starving and would gladly devour a loaf of mouldy bread if they could get their hands on it. I am skeptic when it comes to canned items though, since there are chemicals inside preserving the food and should the expiry date arrive they might react differently? I am not sure about, say, shower gels, hand creams, and other cosmetics either. How can I use a hand cream on my hand one day then throw it away the very next day because its now expired? Do the good chemicals go bad over night, once the clock ticks and the expiry date is upon them they attack like an army waiting to charge? I’m not entirely convinced to be honest.

With fresh food I use my senses, with canned or bottled food I’d give it a sniff or two and wouldn’t mind much if I’m a month or two past the expiry date, same with cosmetics and other stuff. I also found out -the hard way- that ice cream and frozen yoghurts even though they are frozen in the freezer they tend to be quite acrid and nasty once they are truly expired, so I sniff those as well. 

What about you? Do you care much about expiry dates on products? What to do if something is expired but seems still edible or safe to use?

Gahwat Wow Cafe

As a big fan of Wow caterers, especially their mini rose petal wrapped vine leaves, I was thrilled to receive an invitation from Wow to attend the opening of their new “cafe” which is an addition to their catering business. The opening was on Thursday before last and as it was quite a hectic day I couldn’t make it until the Thursday after, and I’m glad I did.

The pavement surrounding the entrance of Wow catering in the old Sharq area has been rearranged in order to include a parking area for several cars plus an outdoors seating for the Gahwat Wow, located right next door to Wow catering themselves. In the cool breeze of the night, with the soft lighting, the little candle lights and potted plants all around, the place was simply charming.

Right through the doors of Gahwat Wow, we didn’t expect the modern interior bathed in Wow’s signature purple light, quite a contrast from the ambiance of the outdoorsy sitting area! We decided to sit outside to enjoy the weather.

There were plenty of tables and a long bench like wooden chair with comfy looking pillows that would be excellent for a big group of friends hanging out in the good weather. Since there were only two of us we sat on another round table.

We were greeted warmly by Gahwat Wow staff, who ushered us to our seats and handed us the menus immediately. The menu wasn’t very big but it was enticing, with plenty of mouthwatering dishes for a light bite or dinner. The drinks and beverages took the most of the two pages menu and there was a handful of dessert options. It didn’t take us long to place our orders.

As we waited for our beverages and dessert to arrive I noticed dots of blue lights playing on the mirror-like surface of the table. I look up and there it was, Al-Hamra Tower, the tallest Skyscraper in Kuwait, in all its glory looming over the little garden-like cafe.

I ordered the Homemade Masala Chai tea for myself and my companion ordered a latte.

The latte was excellent, frothy and delicious. My tea was lovely, infused with plenty of Indian spices that gave it a nice kick. I think if it was served with a side of milk or blended with milk it would’ve been even better. Here is a salut to one of the ten tallest skyscrapers in the entire world, hello Al Hamra tower!

We had a hard time choosing one dessert, we already had dinner and were quite full unfortunately. There was a molten cake, and a carrot cake, and a berry trifle dessert, plus a rahash dessert that sounded quite promising. In the end we went with the carrot cake topped with a scoop of melting cream cheese and drizzled with caramel. Finished off with chewy sugary wafer-like fingers and two edible golden leaves, very Wow-like indeed!

What would you expect from a Wow cake? Of course the carrot cake was extremely delightful! So soft, so moist, and the cream cheese frosting.topping thing was melt-in-your-mouth rich!

We had an excellent time sipping our hot drinks in the cold weather and enjoying the view, the peace and quite. Gahwat Wow is a lovely place and is exactly what you’d expect from a cafe by Wow caterers. I wonder if they provide Wow’s scrumptious sandwiches or vine leaves if you request them though? I didn’t ask but next time I will insah2 Allah!

Our bill came to about 8.200 KD, not the most economical of venues but we really did enjoy our time, the location, the service, and most importantly: the food!

Gahwat Wow is located in Sharq right next to Wow Caterers showroom and they open from 12 P.M. till 11 P.M. daily. For more information and directions you can give them a call at +(965)-1827070, check their website (link), or follow them on instagram (@GahwatWow).

English Breakfast Bagel for Breakfast

There is nothing like a good English breakfast of eggs, mushrooms, hash browns, all smothered in gleaming baked beans with a side of crunchy toast and a good strong cup of tea. I woke up lazily late on Friday morning and as I lay in bed savouring the warmth of my blanket and the softness of my pillow I realised I was craving two things for breakfast: bagels and cheese plus English breakfast. Torn between the two, I decided to combine them in one by making myself an English breakfast bagel.

The bagels I had bought just the day before from  Special Maryam’s booth at the weekly Shakshooka farmers market and I really wanted to have them for breakfast, I toasted them then made myself an omelette and placed it on top. Instead of cream cheese I added a slice of mature cheddar cheese and mushroom slices as well. I’m not a tomato person so I and I am trying to go easy on the carbs so I didn’t have a side of hash browns.

A few minutes of heating the contents of a Heinz baked beans can on the stove later and I was ready to dig in. I poured half the can on top of my bagel, imagining how juicy it would turn my concoction, and in a way the resulting bagel sandwich reminded me of sloppy joes!

With a side of orange juice and Earl Grey tea and some more baked beans to dunk the bagels in, my breakfast was ready to be devoured and it was good, fulfilling both my craving and may I dare say even healthy? Perhaps not, but its healthier than other breakfast options at least :p

If only I could rewind last Friday or fast forward to next Friday! I’m currently craving a quiet weekend morning and a delicious breakfast in the comfort of my home.

Movie Review: The Frozen Ground

Describe a movie as a “true story” and have Nicholas Cage star in it and I’d want to watch it for sure. The frozen ground is the story of an Alaskan serial killer who killed a lot of women over a long period of time and what it took to bring him down to justice.

The different thing about this movie is that you actually know the serial killer, there is no mystery there, but they cannot prove he did the crimes even though there was a witness who escaped him before killing her. There was something about the movie’s trail of events, somehow not being glued together in a way that you’d make sense of it at first. It didn’t help that our esteemed censorship shred the movie into tiny little pieces where a moment is missing between every two moments! To be frank I’d rather they didn’t show it all together if they were going to chop that much away, it just ruined the movie for me. Nicholas Cage also looks old and paunchy in this movie, proving he is not a vampire from the 1800′s after all.

Would I want to watch this movie again, uncensored? I don’t really think so. Its not a bad movie, its just one you would watch in the cinema once and that’t it unless its premiering on a weekday night on TV so I don’t think it will make my DVD shelf.

Lunch at Le Tarbouche by Sheraton in The Avenues

A while back I complained about not having enough fancy restaurants in Kuwait to celebrate occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries. I haven’t spent Eid in Kuwait for a long time but this year we did and we decided we should celebrate it by going out for lunch. Eid lunch is the most memorable lunch in the year, one of two actually since we have two Eids.

After some research and a lot of contemplating, I found myself wanting to go to Le Tarbouche by Sheraton Kuwait. It, somehow, wouldn’t have felt like an Eid lunch if it weren’t in a Sheraton restaurant and after all these years and the 500+ restaurants dotting Kuwait City, Sheraton restaurants are still the number one celebration destination, to me at least. We almost went to the original branch in Sheraton hotel but then we decided we want to try the newly opened one in the Avenues mall.

Going to the Avenues branch of Le Tarbouche was a good idea it was bright, airy, and you could feel the festive Eid mood in the air, watching people and children all dressed up and walking around, children happy to be spending their newly earned Eidiya’s. Avenues or not, the service was as quick and efficient as always with bowls of gleaming fresh vegetables, pickles, and olives arrived at out table the moment we were done placing our orders and the menus were whisked away.

Drinks arrived shortly afterwards.

Then the delicious food, mezzo and our main dish, arrived!

My beloved fatuous salad.

Stuffed vine leaves. I’m now officially hungry!

Baba ghanouj or raheb, another delicious favourite salad of mine.

Potato Kubbeh, which was delicious and vegetarian friendly!

And then our main dishes, mine was grilled cheese arayes.

And not mine was the mixed grill platter.

You cannot finish an Eid lunch without a sweet ending and therefore the Kanafa made an appearance to bid us farewell.

There was a lovely pot of tea accompanying the Kanafa to bid us farewell as well.

Hello there, dear kanafa!

And that was the sweetest good buy!

One thing I do miss about celebrating Eid in Kuwait is having a glorious Eid lunch. I love Le Tarbouche, I enjoyed my Eid lunch experience which proved, once again, why Sheraton Kuwait’s restaurants still rule. Le Tarbouche might not be the best Lebanese restaurant in Kuwait but it will always be on my list of places to dine in during Eid.

What about you? Where would you go for your Eid Lunch or for a celebratory meal?