Danderma's Blog, page 39

Bleach Kuwait Ramadan Gift

I’ve recently received a nice Ramadan gift from Bleach, the newest home and office cleaning company in Kuwait. If you don’t have housekeepers or you’ve moved to a new place you can contact them and they’d come and clean your place for you then you pay them and they leave, no fuss no mess.

What’s inside the gift? A very nice smelling home fragrance.

Hand soap…

And a little bowl with a string of pearls and dates! Very cute indeed.

Thank you Bleach for the lovely Ramadan gift. Mubarak 3lekom el shahar o 3asakom min 3owadah.

If you are interested in Bleach’s cleaning services or for more information you can give them a call on +(965)- 94437736, check their website (link), follow them on Twitter (@BleachKw), or on Instagram (@BleachKw).

VIVA Telecom’s Ramdan 1434 Ghabga

A few days ago I’ve seen one of the most innovative and personalised social media invitations on instagram addressed to me by Viva Telecom. A video, with scoops of melting Baskin Robbin’s Rainbow ice cream were involved, which incidentally happen to be my favourite Baskin Robbins flavours. The next day I received a physical invitation, a plexi hashtag with a hashtag dedicated to me #VivaDanderma. I can’t share the video of the ice cream invitation on instagram -yet- but you can check it by using the hashtag #VivaDanderma.

Then on Monday night came the ghabga. A ghabga is a dinner party held during the holy month of Ramadan where people gather between the iftar and the suhoor meals. It was held in the Messillah ballroom in Jumeira Hotel and organised by Ghaliah Technology.

The tables were nicely decorated in a Ramdan fanoos -lantern- on the tables and munchies. Of course the most important things in any ghabga during Ramadan are the tea and Arabian coffee cups.

Then the ghabga program involved, which involved a speech by VIVA Telecom’s CEO Mr. Salman Al-Badran followed by honouring players of the National Football Team of Kuwait in 1982, which is dubbed as the Golden Team as they were great players and made it to the World Cup.

There were many surprises and gifts for the ghabga attendees as well, answering questions or looking under your table or seat could grant you a gift. We got a Nexus 7 tab!

Every attending blogger received a blue National Kuwaiti football team shirt signed by the golden team members!

During the ghabga the Printgram service was provided, the one we used before in Ghalia Technology’s Anniversary event (post). This time, any picture on instagram with the hashtag #VivaGhabga was printed automatically.

Here is the picture of mine that got printed… very cool.

Then it was dinner time… an open buffet provided by Jumeira Hotel. The seating area was very trendy and shining with VIVA’s logo colours.

Thank you Ghaliah Technology and VIVA telecom for your invitation, we had a great time. Mubarak 3lekom el shahar o 3asakom min 3owadah.

The Smart Wood Tiny Wardrobe Qerqaia’an

I’ve seen many different types and kinds of Qerqaia’an presentations before, but I never expected that one day I’d received a teensy miniature wardrobe as a qerqaia’an! Smart Wood Company is a fine wood furniture manufacturers located in Kuwait and uses imported German wood Italian accessories. They make everything wood-related from gift and dazza boxes to kitchen cabinets, sliding doors, and kitchen cabinets and all wood work is done per order in their factory in Sabhan area. If the little wardrobe is any indication, it’s that their work is excellent and their quality is impressive.

Instead of sending me a qerqaia’an box, Smartwood sent me the cutest wardrobe I’ve ever seen! The moment I laid my eyes on it I’ve had a million ideas on where to place it and how to use it. It exactly matches my bed room colours right down to the colour of the wood! The little swinging glass door had my blog’s logo printed in between the sheets of glass and the door swung on it’s hinges smoothly and easily.

I loved the attention to details of the wardrobe, the work done is indeed of high standards. The wardrobe looks like it was carved from one piece of wood instead of having different planks of wood come together to make a wardrobe. This tiny little thing is also extremely heavy and comes with hinges on the back to hang on the wall, a service Smart Wood offers as well.

Revealing what’s inside now, shall we?

Three little jars with tied with pink paper and ribbons and a little flower arrangements of white lilies and a white rose, my favourite flower, and a handwritten note, my favourite thing ever!

What’s inside the three jars?

One jar of mixed nuts, one jar of dates, and one jar chockfull of 80′s favourites chocolates and candies from our childhood, including Quality street macintosh!

When I saw the chocolates I knew, I just knew, what I’m going to use the wardrobe for! My stash of London’s chocolate! This is it, the wardrobe came with chocolate and intended for sweet things, it shall be forever associated with sweet things.

And my chocolate stash fit perfectly inside

Thank you Smart Wood and Farah Al-Serri for the adorable baby wardrobe and the lovely qerqaia’an. Mubarak 3lekom el Shahar o 3asakom min 3owadah!

For more information regarding Smart Wood and their modern furniture custom design you can visit their showroom in Shuwaikh, give them a call on +(965)-22263500, visit their website (link), follow them on Twitter (@SmartWood_Kw) or on instagram (@SmartWood_Kw).

What Are you Having for Suhoor?

During the holy month of Ramadan we have two major meal, the iftar at sunset where we break our fast and the suhoor we have near sunrise which should sustain us till the next sunset. Usually I have cornflakes with skimmed milk and a banana for suhoor, I treat it like breakfast which I truly miss during Ramadan, but I’m always on the look for something different to have for suhoor. Now that we are halfway through Ramadan, I need new ideas and new dishes and I thought I’d share what I’ve had for record keeping and future ideas.

One of my favourite suhoor meals happened one night as I was passing by the local tanoor bread guy in our co-op. The big tanoor oven was sending out warm heat waves filled with the aroma of baked bread dough. The way fresh smelled was maddening and I couldn’t resist the bread. At home I topped my torn pieces of bread with low fat low sodium feta cheese, mint leaves, parsley, pecans, black seeds, and drops of rob roman or pomegranate molasses. The combination is heavenly by the way, you hate to try it!

I don’t usually dine out much during Ramadan, I prefer to order in or make my meals at home, but when I did go out I went to Veranda Cafe in Harvey Nichols. They serve ramadan drinks like Jullab but that’s about it, there is no difference to their usual everyday menu.

I had a fine time with the fattoush salad, I love fattouch

On another day I was browsing instagram when I came across Um 3zooz‘s iftar pasta dish. I decided I wanted to have that for suhoor, only make it vegetarian. The pasta dish is basically pasta shells stuffed with mushrooms cooked in truffle oil and topped with tomato sauce and béchamel sauce.

That pasta was gooooood! Heartwarming and delicious, and decorated with a crescent moon and a star especially for Ramadan oregano on top of the bechamel.

For a light option if I’m on the go and don’t have enough time to eat anything, I don’t mind having a frozen yoghurt parfait from Pinkberry. It’s a very good suhoor option and doesn’t make you thirsty nor hungry the next day.

Another very quick suhoor I make if I want something savoury and I don’t have the time is to get a bowl of ready tabboula from a diet place like Diet Center or Diet Care, top it with a few spoonfuls of chickpeas, a bit of crispy pita bread squares, and a container of low fat yoghurt. It’s an instant fatta-like salad and is a very cool suhoor option. The parsley gets in your teeth though.

The next time I went out for suhoor, I knew I wanted French fries, badly. I was at The Chocolate Bar and I had to, just had to, have some fries.

I also had their excellent tuna salad without tuna, or tuna salad with tuna on the side, it depends on who is dining with me and whether they are willing to eat the tuna or not. I love their tuna salad without tuna, it’s so very good.

Now I have fifteen more days to think about different suhoor meals, I need some inspiration. What about you? What are you having for suhoor?

Sugar Coated Strawberry Cookie Bites

One of the most delicious culinary combinations ever invented are strawberries dipped in chocolate. I personally can eat an entire bucket of strawberries dipped in chocolate, or chocolate strawberries as I call them, and still want more. I remember in 2006 there was only one or two stores that sold strawberries dipped in chocolate but these days there are many around and I’m grateful for that. Sugar Coated, a home business that sells chocolate strawberries sent me a box full of them the other day to try. 

Sugar Coated chocolate strawberries come with a cookie between the strawberry and the milk chocolate layer, hence why they call them strawberry cookie bites. The strawberry aroma wafted off the box mixed with the aroma of milk chocolate, I knew I was in for a treat by the time my post-iftar tea time has arrived!

Looking good, don’t they? Like a little mountain of chocolate. How do they look from the inside?

Mamma mia they look gorgeous and vibrant!

 

How were they? The chocolate was good and sweet, the strawberries were succulent and fresh, and the cookies were awesome. Quite chewy and you could tell freshly baked. I wouldn’t mind having them again, and again and again. Thank you Sugar Coated for the lovely treat, akramkom Allah o 3asakom min 3owadah.

Sugar Coated sell strawberry cookie bites and other desserts. To order or for more information you can whatsapp them on +(965) – 94466302 or check their instagram account (@SugarCoatedQ8).

Delightful Desserts from Cucinare Bakery

Cucinare Bakery is a new bakery that opened up quite recently in Kuwait. Cucinare is is co-owned by the beloved Chef Hanouf Al-Balhan and the sweet Ala’a Al-Jarki and is located in Sha’ab yet still in its soft opening phase. Last week I received a big purple and green bag with two Cucinare products to try: the seasonal berries cake and a cookies raspberry chocolate tart.

The boxes and the bags are gorgeous, bold colours and really modern and most importantly they kept the cakes in place. When both desserts arrived to me, there wasn’t a berry out of place. Let’s start with the seasonal berries cake…

White sponge, layers of white chocolate and berry compote, the entire concoction was slathered in white chocolate and topped with some a medley of berries and mint leaves.

The berries used, as you can see, are very fresh indeed and they kept their freshness for three days! Which is an excellent life time for a cake without spoiling.

I enjoyed every bite with my post-iftar tea time. The cake itself, the sponge, is really soft and succulent. It melts away in your mouth and if you take a mouthful of berry compote, white sponge, white chocolate, a blueberry, a strawberry slice, and a mint leave you’d know how good that cake was. I had a very fine time with that cake and I could still feel the taste of the luscious sponge in my mouth even as I’m typing this post. Yum!

The seasonal berries cake would make an excellent breakfast, with a cup of English breakfast tea on the side by the way. I plan on having it for breakfast after the holy month of Ramadan by god’s will.

Now, for the tart, which is my husband’s favourite. I came home one day to see him sitting quietly in his ugly chair and concentrating very hard on the slice of cookie raspberry tart he was eating. He declared that this tart was a keeper and where did it come from? He is still asking about the tart, almost a week later, and just yesterday he was raving about the chocolate sauce of the tart. The man is smitten.

 

I’m not sure exactly why it’s called cookie raspberry tart, perhaps the tart base is a cookie? I’ve seen some chocolate bits but to be frank I didn’t feel the cookie taste at all. Nevertheless, the tart is scrumptious and the very fresh berries were swimming in an excellent and quite rich chocolate sauce.

You cut yourself a slice, if your husband would let you, and you see the chocolate sauce dripping all over the edges. I don’t usually eat the base of tarts, I tend to eat the toppings only but in this tarts case it was eaten to the very last crumb.

Do you see what I mean?

I would highly recommend both the cake and the tart. If you look at their instagram account you’d see amazing desserts and I want to go and try each and every one of them. It’s going to be a very long dessert-ful year, full of calories and delicious flavours and happiness I’m sure. Thank you Cucinare Bakery, Chef Hanouf, and Ala’a Al-Jarki for your lovely Ramadan Neq9a! Mbarak 3lekom el shahar o 3asakom min 3owadah

Cucinare Bakery is located in Al-Shaab Al-Bahre. For directions or more information you can call +(965)-22610033, check their website (link), follow them on instagram (@Cucinare_Kuwait).

The Night of the Ramadan Ghabga

Considering the state of deadlock traffic post-iftar in Kuwait, I’ve decided not to venture outside my door until the end of the holy month of Ramadan. However, we decided to have a dinner gathering at our friend Shaima and it was supposed to be a casual get together ghabga to welcome back our friend FourMe home. A ghabga is a gathering or party usually held between iftar and suhoor meals in the holy month of Ramadan.

Our dear friend Dr. Doona was on call and managed to make it to the ghabga in time in her scrubs. Qawach Allah dear

I took a few pictures of the guests pre-dinner before my camera’s battery ran out and before I broke Shaima’s tea saucer shown in the picture below :S

Our friend Shaima brought over a jar of little biscuit like Za’atar disc. They were beyond amazing, we couldn’t stop eating them, one after the other. I am so going to order from them again and use them with a side dip of really sour labna! Highly recommended.

Thank you dear Shaima for hosting a lovely dinner :* It’s been a while since I’ve seen my friends. Mbarak 3leech el shahar o 3asach min 3owadah. Now, I’m seriously contemplating not going out the door until August, the traffic was insane :S

Heshoo Q8′s Qerqaia’an Bags

Today is the 13th day of the holy month of Ramadan and it’s official, the Qerqaia’an is here! Qerqaia’an is like a traditional Kuwaiti occasion where children dress up and go from house to house signing and getting candy in return, kinda like a Kuwaiti Halloween. It’s a happy occasion long awaited by families who prepare for it months in advance and every year it seems people of Kuwait are celebrating it earlier and earlier but the official timings are on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of Ramadan. Fellow blogger Hesho Q8 has designed a line of qergaia’an bags filled with sweets and he was kind enough to send me my own.

Hesho’s qerqaia’an bag is sturdy and made of a very good quality material. The print on the bag is actually really good and vibrant. The bag says “Wain el Qerqai’an” which translates to “where is the Qerqaia’an”, a sentence that exactly communicates what the children want when the knock on the door. One more thing, the gum featured on the bag? A childhood favourite of many, including myself, and is actually available inside the bag!

Plus, the qerqaia’an came with a handwritten note inside a red envelope with my blog’s name on it and a little candy drawing. Very much appreciated, I love notes the most!

Now, inside the bag is a blue tissue paper and the following sweets, not nuts thanks be to god, I hate nuts in the qerqai’an. I also hate cheap unchewable candy and thankfully none were in Hesho Q8′s qerqai’an.

This is the favourite gum of our childhood I am talking about. When we were children it was the IT gum, comes with a water tattoo sticker on the wrapper and white powder dusting on the piece of gum and tastes so, so good.

Thank you Hesho Q8 for the lovely bag of Qerqaia’an. Mubarak 3leek el shahar o kil 3am o 3asak min 3owadah.

Hesho Q8′s Qerqaia’an bas are available for sale in Fortune Cookie boutique. For more information you can contact Hesho Q8 on his blog (link) or instagram (@HeshoQ8) or check Fortune Cookie’s boutique by visiting their shop in Olympia Mall, Salmiya, shop at their online store (link), check out their facebook page (link), contact them via Twitter (@FortuneCookieQ8) or Instagram (@FortuneCookieQ8).

Re Cleansing Juices Ramadan Flavours

Since I started today’s post with a healthy streak I thought I’d continue from the last post. Another trend that’s been going on in Kuwait for the past few months is the “detox juice diet”. One of the providers of the diet is a new business called Re and they set you up with a few day’s worth of different drinks naturally pressed and filled with nutritions and minerals that need to get you going. I didn’t care much for the detox program to be frank as I’m not a big fan of juices and would prefer water. But on the first week of Ramadan I did received a few bottles from Re and they weren’t part of a detox program, they were four of their new Ramadan flavoured healthy drinks.

During Ramadan we tend to drink a lot of liquids during and after the iftar meal. Once I bread my fast I usually turn into a fish that needs water, then tea, then coffee, then sometimes tea. Years ago I’ve stopped drinking the famous and very popular Ramadan drinks like Qamardeen, Jullab, and Vimto but occasionally my resolve crumbles and I binge drink on something, remembering how good it tastes and how bad all the sugar and colour is to my health, and then I’d quit cold turkey until it starts all over again. Story of my life actually.

However, the juices I received as a Ramadan gift from Re all had something in common: natural ingredients, freshly squeezed, sugar free, healthy, packed with nutrients, and are actually good for you.

The first one I received was the Qamar Deen or Qamer Al Deen, a very popular Ramadan apricot based drink. Usually it’s texture is heavy and is quite sweet but Re’s Qamar El Deen wasn’t sweetened at all therefore it was as sweet as the actual fruit itself. For an extra kick and for the heavy consistency the coconut water was added but it didn’t taste coconut-y at all. Personally I loved it and I wanted to cook with it, might do so soon, but if you are looking for a syrupy sweet juice then this is not the one for you.

The second drink I got was another popular Ramadan drink, Sharbat Baithan or Almond milk but with Re they called it Almond blossom. It’s almond milk with a hint of orange blossom and sweetened with Agave. If you are a fan of baithan you should try this healthy alternative.

Next came a bottle of Pineapple Ginger juice. I don’t know about you but I love pineapples. It’s actually a weight loss secret of mine -and Salma Hayek’s btw-. If I eat fresh and natural pineapples on daily basis I end up losing weight. To received a litre of unsweetened fresh pineapple juice was a very good thing to my health. The ginger gave the pineapple juice a spicy kick which worked very well and opened up my sinuses every time I drank a cup.

One thing to look out for is the effect it might have on your stomach, if you have a very weak and sensitive stomach like I do you the drink might be too strong for you. However, if your stomach is fine and you have the flu do give the juice a try, it will help you out for sure.

Last but not least, the salted chocolate almond milk! Yes you read that right, salted chocolate almond milk. Fresh, dairy free, and chocolate based! At first I thought it was chocolate salt and almond added to fresh dairy milk but then I realised it’s actually almond milk. It didn’t taste any different from real milk by the way.

Other combinations on Re’s menu that I’m planning on trying are the “Mango papaya”, “Strawberry Lemonade”, “Watermelon Mint”, and “Berry Almond Milk”. By the way, these are not detox juices nor are a part of Re’s certified cleansing plan. These are natural juices that you can order to drink instead of soft drinks or other juices or things like Vimto especially during Ramadan. Thank you Re Juices for the Ramadan gift, the juices were fresh and delicious. Mubarak 3lekom el shahar o 3asakom min 3owadah

To view the rest of Re Juices menu and to order you can give them a call on +(965)-99115662, email them at info@re-cleanse.com, or follow them on twitter (@Re_KWT) or instagram (@Re_KWT).

The Superfood Trend in Kuwait, Quinoa et al

For the past year or two I’ve come to meet a new breed of food items, ones I cannot even prounounce let alone tried before or seen in a restaurant or tried to cook. Now all the hip foodies and health fanatics out there plus the well-known dieticians are encouraging their consumption and providing us with different dishes made with them. I thought I’d help out and write about the ones I know of, It might not be news to some of you to me personally it is and I’m sure others around K-Town aren’t as familiar. Those new trendy food items are all considered “Superfood” items and are supposedly packed with health benefits and illness fighting components, those are the ones I know of that is:

Quinoa the star of the lot and the it superfood in Kuwait, everywhere you look it’s quinoa this and quinoa that. It reminds me of how popular the rocket was a few years ago and how every dish was turned posh or artisan by stuffing it with rocket even if it didn’t belong or tasted horrible. Quinoa, pronounced keenwaa, is distant cousin of burghul and couscous. It has the same texture and kinda tasteless but is supposedly the only grain that’s really packed with proteins  -correct me if I’m wrong here-. I’ve had it once in London and lo and behold, in a salad bought from Casper & Gambini yesterday! It’s not too bad for something too healthy, I’d stick to salads right now until I manage to learn how to cook with it. Oh by the way, you cannot find a bag of quinoa anywhere in the Kuwaiti markets, it’s sold out everywhere!
Kale Leaves move over rocket, the kale has arrived! Green leaves that’s used like spinach or basil in pestos or as chips -they turn to chips-, or in stews. Why kale? Well, according to Wikipedia and I quote “kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells“. Superfood indeed, now I’ve never tried it before and haven’t seen it around but I’m definitely willing to give it a try. I just hope it doesn’t have a slimy texture. P.S. The name reminds me of Kal-El, I couldn’t help it.
Chia Seeds they look weird, like little fish eggs that are about to hatch in your mouth as you crunch on them or little bird eyes, the ones that I’ve seen any way but they are supposedly very healthy with lots of benefits and are added to smoothies and frozen yoghurts. Again I don’t know where is it sold or who provides it in Kuwait but I don’t think I’ll be trying it anytime soon.
Flax Seeds and Powder I’ve been eating it for quite a while, its something that looks like a deflated apple seed and is supposedly wondrous and fights cancer. You sprinkle it over salads and my husband has it in the salt mill so he can crush it directly into his food, it is quite tasteless btw so it doesn’t really ruin the taste of your food. There is also a Flax meal that you can bake with. I think the Flax seeds are available in Nature Land shop in Qadsiya Co-op but I’m not sure about the flax powder and the flax meal.
Agave Nectar I first came to know about agave when I tried Chiquita bar’s healthy smoothie (post) three months ago. Apparently it’s a sweetener that is derived from some plant and doesn’t wreck havoc with your blood sugar like refined sugar does. I didn’t mind it, and if it’s a healthy alternative to sugar I’d be more than happy to introduce it to my diet. Someone had once shown me a bottle of liquid agave syrup that looks like honey and supposedly bought from Kuwait but I can’t for the life of me remember who or when.
Wheat Germ it’s some sort of grain that is used in baking and in power smoothies. I’ve seen a lady on instagram who baked tortillas with it yesterday. It’s supposed to be very good for you and I’m not sure how different it is to bake with whole wheat than to bake with wheat germ exactly but you don’t add whole wheat flour to your power smoothie now do you?
Black Garlic I remember seeing or reading about black garlic, I think it was on instagram. Black garlic is regular garlic that is aged and fermented garlic. Left to rot  more like it but instead it’s supposedly develops some nutritional properties that are excellent once turning black. I’m not sure about the taste though and I don’t think I’ll be seeing one around Kuwait anytime soon.
Rapeseed oil you might have heard that any oil once it’s exposed to high temperatures -i.e. used to fry something- it would start breaking down or something but in conclusion it would develop some toxins that cause cancer, including the healthy olive oil? Well, the healthy people say that rapeseed oil can be used safely in cooking with high temperatures without producing those toxin things, hence preventing cooked food from becoming cancerous. I know a lady whose been buying it for years on end now from Nature Land store in Qadsiya co-op but I’ve never tried it before, I might be trying it out soon though.

 

OK people, now the quinoa is here to stay and is peeking it’s head in restaurants dishes around Kuwait already, we can now welcome these into our diets and ride the latest health wave out, not all trends are bad. If you already consume these superfoods, can you please share your experience and ways of cooking with them? Much obliged!