Danderma's Blog, page 41

A Tour in the 6th Annual White Expo

A few days ago I received an invitation to attend The 6th White Expo, one of Ramadan’s most anticipated exhibitions in Kuwait. This year the exhibition is held from 16 – 20 July in 360 Mall’s exhibition hall and since it can get pretty busy with shoppers I made sure I was there early to browse freely.

When I arrived it was fairly busy but not impossible, below are my picks of my favourite items in the expo. These clutches by Al-Mubarak Center are dazzling!

Jamrat Ghadha‘s coal burning dowwa are there too.

MonaCo‘s darra’as were eye-catching!

The lovely Pieces by Farah.

Gorgeous home accessories by Our Home. I love the Turkish coffee cups!

Qerqaia’an boxes by My Partee Time.

Espressamente illy were there as well, I enjoyed an Aria while I roamed the expo.

The tree of wishes was there as well for the 6th year.

More items from the expo…

There is plenty to see in the White Expo and they are open tonight from 8 P.M. till 1 A.M. until 20th of July. Thank you the White Expo for your kind invitation, keep up the good work and wishing you the best for many years to come. For more information and updates about the White Expo you can now follow them on twitter (@Whitexpo) or instagram account on (@WhiteExpo).

Designer Nora Al-Hathran’s Ramadan Gift

With the start of the holy month of Ramadan I got a knock on my door, a big black and white Fauchon bag with golden tissue paper was handed to me. It was quite heavy and peeking from the golden sheets of paper was a fuchsia pink box decorated with stars and a crescent moon.

The box is sleek and gorgeous. The gift box came printed with fashion designer Nora Al-Hathrans’s logo on the bottom right corner. Very neat. Of course there was a card with my name on it, always my favourite part of any gift box.

Inside the box? Plenty of lovely things, so many your eyes would dart everywhere trying to focus and take a decent picture.

First and foremost, a copy of the Holy Quran. A much appreciated gift especially in the Holy Month of Ramadan.

A mesbah (rosarey) and a small wallet-sized copy of Ramadan’s Imsakiya. Imsakiya is the official timing of fasting and breaking fast for the 30 days of Ramadan.

Fauchon goodies for post-iftar tea! From traditional to modern: Qamar Deen bites, Dates stuffed with nuts or chocolates and dusted in chocolate, pieces of chocolates to go with a long awaited cups of coffee, and macarons so delicious you couldn’t stop at eating just one.

Thank you dear Nora for the delightful gift! It was a pleasure exploring it, mbarak 3leech el shahar o 3asach min 3owadah.

Fashion Designer Nora Al-Hathran shop is located in Al-Tilal Complex, Shuwaikh. For more information you can call +(965) – 22256137, check her website (link), or follow her on instagram (@Norafh80).

My Favourite Ramadan 2013 TV Ads

For the past few years the ads we watch on TV during Ramadan have become somewhat of a thing to look forward to since many companies compete on producing the best ads for Ramadan. It’s a good thing considering we cannot watch five minutes of any TV series without being interrupted by ads, at least the ads are good and I enjoy watching them over and over again. 

These ads are my favourite of the Ramadan ads shown on TV in 2013… The first of which is my absolute favourite, it made my eyes water and I almost cried, the Pepsi and Lays ad with the beloved Egyptian Ramadan characters of our childhood: fatoota, booji & tamtam, and the late fo2ad el mohandis… I wonder how they got him to star in a TV ad though? This is a must watch if you are an 80′s child and I have seen it only on youtube and not on TV by the way… this is the link if the video won’t work (link).

My second favourite is Fast Telco’s, performed by the band Sons of Yousef Fast. Ooooh Yamal, I cannot stop singing along all day long. This is awesome! This is the link if it won’t work (link).

Kanafani’s ad! So funny with the interchanging couples completing each other’s sentences. The Egyptian couple are my favourite, here is the link it it won’t work (link).

Salhiya Clinics’s ad is lovely, I loved the retro look in the girl’s bedroom and I cannot get the jingle out of my head. Here is the link if the video won’t work (link).

Ahli bank of Kuwait’s ad featuring Hamad Al-Ali, Dalal Al-Doub, and Omar Al-Othman. Looking good guys, so good I actually forgot what the ad was about to be frank and would keep singing the song and craving the KDD thahab ice cream all day long!

VIVA’s ad, the one with the stars of the Kuwaiti football team from 1982 training back for some unfathomable reason. The ending, with the moseneen comment, is hilarious. I nearly fell on the ground with laughter the first time I watched it on TV.

And last but not least, Zain’s TV ad. The song’s Arabic lyrics are just lovely and brings tears to your eyes, very nostalgic.

What about you? What are your favourite TV ads for Ramadan 2013?

Al-Farsi Kitchen Ramdan Gift

On the night before the arrival of holy month of Ramadan I received a big traditional box with my blog’s name on it. The box was from Al-Farsi Kitchens and sent to me as a Ramadan gift.

What’s inside the box? A gorgeous set of Arabian Coffee Flask, or Dallah, with two Arabian coffee cups, a little pink tin box, a box of dates from Tamreya, and Al-Farsi Kitchens catalogue.

The dallah, the coffee cups, and the tin box are all brightly painted and very beautiful. The Dallah has my blog’s name in Arabic on it. Gorgeous!

Talk about a useful gift! The yellow dallah was just what I needed to complete my Ramadan tea and coffee set. I would totally and gladly copy this gift and give it out to my loved ones. Thank you Al-Farsi Kitchen for the lovely and quite thoughtful gift. Mbarak 3lekom el shahar o kil 3am o entaw bkhair.

Al-Farsi Kitchens are located in Shuwaikh. For more informations and directions you can contact them on +(965) – 24919292 or check their website (link) or follow them on instagram (@AlfarsiKitchens).

 

 

 

Help: How to Kill a Lizard “Brai39i”?

If you find yourself in a situation where you are home on your own, ready to have some precious me quality time, only a pest in the name of brai39i -dessert lizard- decides to intrude and crash your party of one. The slimy, greyish pest with round probing eyes will zoom on the wall where your favourite couch is perched, hissing soundlessly, his tail flailing about, and you will find yourself screaming your lungs out while your legs jump to the furtherest corner of the room away from him.

Now that the night is ruined, the adrenaline rush and the loud thumping of your heart you can hear with your ears will erase all chances of relaxation from the agenda, you know you have three choices: 1- grab your keys and drive away, as fast as you can or 2- ignore the pest and try and keep an eye on him until someone who can kill him arrives home or 3- kill him yourself and get rid of the intruder once and for all.

I don’t know about you but I’ve never, ever killed a lizard before! They are too agile, and they zoom by when they sense danger. They are also very small and slimy which means they can easily hide behind all pieces of furniture, they seem to have a knack for choosing the heaviest unmovable objects around by the way. In the case of cockroaches you can spray them with pif paf and they will go all dizzy, but in the case of brai39i pif paf will do nothing to him, might as well inhale the thing and get the courage to attack you instead of running away from you. Leaving the lizard roaming the house is also not an option, he must be killed on the spot or else.

So what would you do? Do you have any recommendations on how to kill a lizard if there are no strong people who can aim a heavy slipper around?

The Danish Bakery’s Ramadan Gift

[image error]@DanishBakery).

Eshda3wa’s Ramdan 2013 Gift

My friend and estranged blogger eshda3wa dropped by my place on the second day of Ramadan in keeping up with her tradition of giving away Ramdan noqsa’s, a noqsa is the name we call the gifts in Kuwait by the way. This year, eshda3wa’s gift was also traditional with a wicker tray and five mini tin pots inside.

What’s inside? Very healthy and all natural munchies for post iftar tea time! Dried fruit, qamar deen bites, sesame bars, and those little sugary dates stuffed with what I thought was rahash and topped with pistachios at first.

Eshda3wa told me the dates weren’t stuffed with rahash, rather something else and I had to try it and see since she made them herself. I don’t usually eat dates but I was willing to try one, the only problem my dear husband wouldn’t let me, he said they were his and I could only take a whiff! It’s peanut butter! Stuffed with peanut butter! I always thought that rahash and peanut butter were interchangeable with peanut butter tasting better than rahash but to use them with dates is something I’ve never thought off before!

Thank you dear esdha3wa for your lovely and quite thoughtful gift. Thank you for remembering me in your Ramadan tradition, I miss you and I’m glad you are still around in Twitter. Mbarak 3leech el shahar o 3asach min 3owwadah :*

My Ramadan 2013 Cookbooks

Many local cookbook authors time their new releases with the start of the holy month of Ramadan, given that for 30 nights people have to provide iftar, ghabga, and suhoor meals and they are always on the lookout for something new. This year I had my fair share of Ramadan cookbooks, four in total, each and everyone more delicious than the next with mouthwatering pictures and readily ingredients available in the nearest co-op. The first of which was the Ikea cookbook which you can get from Ikea if you purchase with the amount of 25 KD or more.

The Ikea recipe book is very nice with plenty of delicious easy to make dishes. I loved the pictures as well, very colourful and bright. The next book is the long awaited Kuwait Flour Mill’s cookbook, or matahin book as we call it in Kuwait. There is a Ramadan tradition in Kuwait, every year the matahin cookbook is released right before the start of Ramadan and everyone I know scrambles to get themselves a copy (post). However, for the past couple of years there was no release of any new matahin cookbooks but this year there is and I have to say the book is quite special.

I got my own matahin book copy a week before Ramadan then with the start of Ramadan Kuwait Flours Mills & Bakeries Company sent me a complimentary copy as well, thank you Kuwait Mills! The book is called Miras, a Turkish book that means inheritance or heritage. Most of the dishes in the book are Turkish, given that Turkey is the current IT country and everything Turkey is highly desired. There also Egyptian, Indian, and Palestinian dishes that are suitable for every taste. The book is lovely and quite different than the previous books.

The third book is Abeer Al-Rashid’s fifth Thawaqa or Gourmet cookbook. One of my favourite local cookbook authors, Abeer Al-Rashid’s dishes are always delicious with a twist on the traditional recipe with an excellent presentation. The book is also very vegetarian friendly, with many recipes dedicated to suhoor meals. The book is also in both English and Arabic so English speaking people can make use of the dishes available.

The fourth and last book I received was the new and improved Diet Care healthy cooking book. I received their cookbook last Ramadan but this ramadan they have 43 new Ramadan recipes and 37 new kids recipes, 80 recipes in total. The book is also in both English and Arabic so English speaking people can make use of the dishes available.

The book came attache on top of a chopping boards with a message “Everything begins with a chop, start chopping the calories away”. Will do! Especially given that the book is packed with healthy alternatives to local dishes and explains how to lower the calories per dish.

Thank you Diet Care and Kuwait Flour Mills & Bakeries Company for sending your cookbooks my way. The Gourmet 5 should be available in all bookshops in Kuwait by now, the Diet Care cookbook is available in all their stores and stands, the Ikea recipe book is available in Ikea, and the Kuwait Flour Mills or Matahin cookbook is available in all the flour mills shops around Kuwait. For more information and questions you can check Diet Care’s instagram (@TheDietCare) or Kuwait Flour Mills instagram (@KFMKuwait) or Abeer Al-Rashed’s instagram (@Abeeralrashed_kw).

A Scrumptious Kanafa Cheesecake from Someday Cafe

With less than 60 minutes to go until iftar time I decided to share with you what I’m going to have for dessert with my after-iftar tea. I had it before, I already cut a slice for myself today, and I’m going to have it everyday until I polish off every last morsel of cheesecake and vermicelli from the amazing kanafa cheesecake I was sent from Someday Cafe. The cake is so good, it’s addictive.

I knew I was in trouble the moment I opened the lid of the box it came in and had a whiff of the concoction inside. It’s a layer of cheesecake crust, graham crackers or whatever, topped by baked cheesecake, topped by a creamy qaymar or eshta or clotted cream that is used usually in the kanafa, topped by toasted vermicelli and slivers of pistachio. The aroma of the cake is maddening and I literally couldn’t stop thinking about it until iftar time on the day I received it.

The cake looks appetising but the flavour is ten times better than how good the cake looks. Its sweet but not to sweet, it’s light and I had second helpings without batting an eye lid, and it’s creamy and a crunchy with a faint hint of orange blossom and is simply lip-smacking. One slice is definitely not enough, this cake is bad news for people trying to diet.

The cake is huge, it can easily serve an entire family gathering for Ramadan iftar. It also keeps very well and seems to be getting better as days pass by. It’s been three days and I’m still not over my crush so I’m going to keep eating it and see how long it keeps.

Do you remember the cheesecake episode in Friends? When Rachel and Chandler keep stealing the neighbours amazing cheesecake and when it fell on the floor they still ate it? I’d eat this cheesecake off the floor if it fell on it, and I don’t even like cheesecakes! I do love kanafa though.

Thank you Someday Cafe for inventing this amazing cheesecake. I do hope you will take it off the menu the moment Ramadan is over and not bring it back until next Ramadan or else I’ll keep going back for more and end up being as big as the Titanic! Mbarak 3lekom el shahar o 3asakom min 3owadah

Someday Cafe is located in Salhiya Plaza right opposite Salhiya complex. For deliveries or more information you can call them on 22996424, check their website (link) which also has their delivery menu, or follow them on instagram (@SomeDayKw). Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a kanafa cheesecake waiting to slice.

Party Land Ramdan Gift

On the night before Ramdan I big fat white box made it to my door from Party Land. Inside, was a big styrofoam crescent and a star, all golden and glittery with the traditional Ramadan greeting of Mubarak Alaikum El Shahar written on the crescent and my instagram/twitter nickname on the star.

The styrofoam is perfectly cut, not a rough edge in sight, and is currently decorating my living room. From a far it looks very nice and doesn’t even look like styrofoam. Very nice indeed.

Thank you Party Land for the lovely and thoughtful Ramdan gift. I will always use it to decorate my home during Ramdan. Mbarak 3laikom el shahar o 3asakom min 3owadah

Party Land is located in Shuwaikh, Canada Dry Street and Symphony Mall Salmiya. For more information you can contact Party Land by calling 1872789 or following them on Twitter (@PartyLandKwt) or on instagram (@PartyLand_Kuwait).