Danderma's Blog, page 87

Ayar Perfumes Ramadan Gift Box

Ayar Perfumes is a new business by young Kuwaitis. For Ramadan they are providing a very nice, sleek, acrylic box with Mbarak 3lekom Elshahar engraved on it. I received one myself last week.

The gift arrived in a big cream and gold elegant bag with a nice card. Did I mention before that I love the cards and collect them?

Taking a peek inside the bag…

I don’t know about you but I love things that come in boxes with arranged in places. Make it a clear acrylic box and I’m in love. Very tidy and you can see everything!

The box comes with 6 different types of Marshoosh in traditional Kuwaiti names like Sharq, Jebla, Derwaza, etc.

It also comes with two 1/4 tola bottles, one of dehen 3ood and the other is of dehen ward.

Last but not least a one toola jar of ma3mool.

Now for the crucial point… do these smell good? Frankly, they smelled much better than I expected! The dehen 3ood was strong and smells heavenly, the marasheesh smelled  exceptionally good, one after the other, especially when burning the ma3mool! I used it at home a few hours ago and the overall result was that the house smells “khaneen” and until now the smell still lingers.

I would definitely give this box out as a Ramadan gift to my loved ones. The price for Ayar Ramadan Perfume Box is 20 KD and you can order it by calling  55501991 or contacting them by following their twitter account (@AyarPerfumes) or Instagram (@AyarPerfumes).

Thank you so much Ayar Perfumes, I truly wish you the best of luck. Keep up the good work

The National Gaming Union Video Games Tournament

The National Gaming Union is a group of highly advanced and highly competitve video gamers who are organizing a huge gaming event in Ramadan with prominent sponsors like Wataniya Telecom, Al Rai Tv, Fatburger and many others. The event will be held on 3 consecutive Fridays, in the Live Theatre Discovery Mall, with each day holding a different gaming genres.

Click on the picture above to enlarge and get more information regarding the games, dates, and timing. The tickets cost 5 KD per game for players and viewers enter for free. Tickets are NOW being sold at Discovery Mall in front of Live Theatre and in Al Rehab Complex (Game Center).

Prizes include mobile phones, gaming consoles, cash and wifi routers! First prize winners get KD100 cash, 1 Xbox, Samsung Nexus Mobile and wataniya internet device! Looks like lots of fun for me!

For more information you can check the National Gaming Union blog (link) or follow them on twitter (@N_gamingunion) or on Instagram (@N_gamingunion). Best of luck for everyone!

52 Degrees Ramadan Exhibition & Gift

52 degrees sent out a lovely Ramadan gift plus Ramadan event invitation in this big nostalgic bag.

Even though it was sent to my old address I was lucky enough to have intercepted it and got it in time! Inside was a big Vivel box with stuffed dates. Perfect for Ramadan!

And an invitation card with my name on it.

Its an invitation to 52 Degrees Ramadan’s Exhibition held next Monday 16 July.

Last time I was there signing my book contracts I saw some cool new trays and items. I actually bought myself a side table I’m going to be there again next week insh2 Allah, I have to check out my new book too

52 Degrees is located in Al-Tilal Mall, Shuwaikh. For more information you can contact 52 Degrees on their website (link) facebook page (link) or follow them on Twitter (@52Degreeskw) or instagram (@52Degreeskw).

Exhibition: Sukar Ramadan in 360 Mall

I received quite an unusual invitation to a new exhibition, Sukkar Ramadan, in the form of a big chocolate bar with the invitation detail printed on the wrapping.

Sukar Ramadan is Kuwait’s first exhibition solely intended to showcase desserts for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan. Me being a big sugar addict was very happy to stop by and have a browse.

Here are some of the things that caught my eyes. Chocolate and Macaroon’s pyramid’s of macaroons.

De Brand chocolatier. I couldn’t snap anymore shots because masha2 Allah kan 6ag e39ey! I have reviewed them before (post).

Burj Al-Hamam with and their display of traditional sweets.

November’s bakery have a big corner filled with goodies.

I don’t know the name of this place but its the first thing you see on your right when you enter the exhibition.

965 flowers! I love their website and I order from them all the time.

Beba’s home furnishing, they have quirky and different stuff.

Scoop a Cone has some new little gelato treats.

 I also met the lovely Rasha Al-Hejailan, author of “The Women in My Life” cookbook promoting her book in the exhibition. I’ve reviewed her book before (link). It was so nice to meet you dear

Sukar wa Zyada traditional sweets business. Nezaka and very cute!

J’s Bakery.

and last but not least, My Boxes which provide custom made wooden boxes for different occasions.

The boxes are customization and would make a great, useful, and elegant Ramadan gift.

Sukar Ramadan is held in the exhibition hall of 360 mall from Thursday 12 July till Saturday 14 July. For more information you can check their facebook page (link) follow them on Twitter (@SukarRamadan) or instagram account (@SukarRamadan).  

Yawmyat Wa7da Q8ya Dathra Volume II is Now on Sale

 

The book is FINALLY done and out for sale! This time it took almost a month from publishing date to hit the market! Woah! If you are in Kuwait you can find a copy in 52 Degrees for the time being and will be on sale in other places soon.

One importanant thing about Dathra Volume II is that the book has been designed by the talented f2o and that it has been both professionally edited and proofread. This is why it took so long to publish. Many complained about syntax and grammer errors of book 1 so now you can all rest assured that you won’t find any and if you do, well, you will have to tell it to my editor and proofreader!

Another thing about volume II. This time there will be no book signing. There isn’t time before Ramadan plus everyone is travelling and no one is in Kuwait at the time being so the timing is tight. However, if you bought a copy do let me know and I will arrange to sign it for you

If you are outside Kuwait you can purchase Dathra Volume II book from here (link) or you can wait until Amazon approves it and starts selling it which could take a few weeks.

Now book two is out, I’m going to work on book 3 -and final- insha2 Allah. I already wrote Dathra’s eding Wish me luck!

52 Degrees is located in Al-Tilal Mall, Shuwaikh. For more information you can contact 52 Degrees on their website (link) facebook page (link) or follow them on Twitter (@52Degreeskw) or instagram (@52Degreeskw).

Fursa’s Very Cute Ramadan Nuq9a

Two nights ago I received a lovely invitation from Fursa Q8 for a pre-Ramadan event to be held in their newly opened multibrand store.

The first thing you notice when you see the attched card is 3alqam. I don’t know where his picture went but you can see him in the bottom left of the picture below. In Kuwait, 3alqam is the funny villian character from a popular Ramadan show “Madinat Al-Rya7″ in the 80′s so it was very befetting, who doesn’t like 3alqam?

What’s inside my boqsha? Let’s see… 9abbon raqqi! The old soap bars used in the old days as shampoo and body wash. My husband loves it and stole it for himself!

A mesba7 for prayers.

A lovely Dehen 3ood. My thief whisked it away as well.

A magic lipstick which made me laugh so hard! Cute! Instructions attached.

And Arabian Coffee with breweing instructions. Now that’s all mine, alone

A truly unique and very traditional noq9a indeed. I loved every item especially the card. Thank you so much Fursa and I will be there insha2 Allah.

Fursa is located in Salmiya right next door to Breakfast & Brunch. For more information you can check their webtie (link) or follow them on twitter (@Fursa_Q8) or Instagram @Fursaq8

Zain’s Chocolate Day Celebration

I can’t believe its been a year already but masha2 Allah times flies so fast and last Sunday Zain invited us to the celebrate Chocolate Day again (post) in Chocolate Bar Al-Bidaa.

I arrived late to a table full of chatter and smiles and clinking of glasses and utensils. Don’t you just love that tink tink sound? To me it means a gathering with laughter. I took a seat next to my favorite girl Al-Noury and guess who was with her?

Mr. Bo Throos taking his time and reading the menu! I missed him! He had just returned from a concert in Dubai 3eshtaw. Al-Noury also arrived with her Arabian Coffee dallah, she never goes anywhere without it

Arabian coffee goes SO WELL with Chocolate Bar’s desserts! They should consider having it on their menu if at least for Ramadan.

What I had? Well I have two favorites in Chocolate Bar: the dark chocolate & raspberry molten cake and the dark chocolate fondue with strawberries. I had the fondue this time.

I resisted so hard taking a bite from this over-loaded brownie

Then Zain brought out two cakes for the occasion. This is the red velvet cake.

Bothroos wouldn’t let me shoot his chocolate bread pudding :’(

I have to hand it to Zain, no one does social media in Kuwait like they do! Great job and thank you so much Hala & Dalal. We had a blast and laughed so hard. It felt more like a girl’s gathering than an event. Happy Chocolate Day!

And the Winners of Three Signed Dathra Books are…

Thank you all for participating. Its been a hoot reading your answers and I mean that in a good way

Sadly, only 2 got all five answers right! TWO! I’m really disappointed Almost all of the others have gotten confused between McDonald’s and Burger Hub in Question 2. The correct answer is Mcdonald’s but since every one who participated had answered that one wrong I’ve decided that if you said Burger Hub, then I’ll count you as a winner… In total now we have four who got every answer other than number 2 right. The rest, well, sadly more than two wrong answers are there

So the four answers submitted are 1- Yousef b1k.com 2- Ahmad Al-Musallam 3- Dear Romeo and 4- Jacquis

Now one of the four who will NOT win is chosen by Random.org and its answer number…

Number four, which is Jacquis! Sorry babe

Congratulations to the three winners, Yoused, Ahmad Al-Musallam, and Dear Romeo. I will contact you in by email right away

Thank you all for participating in this little competition. The book will be on sale soon insha2 Allah

Competition: Win one of Three Signed Dathra Vol II Books Today!

Finally, after a very long and exhausting wait, I’ve had the pleasure of passing by the printer yesterday to pick up the Dathra book boxes.

Dathra, Volume II, will be available for sale by the end of this week in 52 Degrees insha2 Allah plus online if you are not in Kuwait. However, if you correctly answer the Dathra related questions below you will enter a draw to win one of three signed books and you will have it delivered to you directly today, Tuesday, before the book goes on Sale.

There are five questions, they should be very easy to answer if you are a Dathra fan. Please leave a correct email address so I can contact you when I announce the winners in the afternoon. Emails will not be shared with anyone and are kept private. The three winners will be chosen randomly and they should be residents of Kuwait so I can deliver the books to them immediately tomorrow.

The comments will be hidden and will not be approved until after the competition is finished. You have from now until 12:45 P.M. on Tuesday to answer.

Question 1: Dathra’s first fiancee in Volume I is Jassim. His nickname is…?

Question 2: Dathra’s absolute favorite restaurant, one she goes there on daily basis and knows the workers by name, is…?

Question 3: Dathra was admitted to the hospital in the end of book one because she went overboard eating something raw with weird combinations. What is the thing she ate?

Question 4: When Dalool taunted Dathra, what did Dathra throw over her head?

Question 5: Dathra ran after a woman driving her car because the woman had bought the last what?

Best of luck everyone, make Dathra proud

A Tour in Lazurd’s Chocolate Making Kitchen

We were invited last Saturday to visit Lazurd’s catering factory in Ardiya and witness how their new range of Ramadan chocolates are made.

This would be my third time inside a chocolate making factory (Galler’s in Switzerland and Cadbury’s in the UK) so I expected the place to be a little bigger. What I didn’t expect is this elevator taking us up! Scared the hell out of us.

Finally out of the elevator we made it to the chocolate making space. A small room that smells like melted chocolate.

Lazurd workers were already hard at work in the room. Trays of chocolate pieces were laid and sifted through.

The ingredients used in their chocolates.

The chocolate butter or what else is known as white chocolate.

Fine cocoa powder.

High quality imported chocolate that is used in Lazurd’s chocolate.

The cocoa bean, this lovely thing is the source of happiness for millions of people on earth. I wonder if I can attempt to plant it here?

To make chocolates you need specialized equipment of course. First, there is the mold. They had many, many molds.

And three chocolate machines that stir chocolate and keep it liquid at a certain temperature. One for white chocolate.

One for milk chocolate.

And a third for my favorite kind of chocolate, dark chocolate.

Lazurd’s chocolatier, Chef Gizza, explained to us how different chocolates are made  while demonstrating. For example this is how you make chocolate pieces splattered with color.

This is how you fill chocolate pieces.

This is how you seal shut the filled chocolate pieces.

In every step of production the chocolate molds has to go inside a cooling machine via a conveyor belt and spend some time inside to cool down and set a little before being used in the next step.

Here is the chocolate pieces recipe cataloge.

While the chocolate was being made a chocolate photo shoot for the new chocolates was being held in the same moment.

Chocolate pictures photoshopped.

Some of my pictures of the new Lazurd chocolates.

There were endless trays of different types of chocolates. I tasted one with a guava filling, one with a mango passion fruit filling, and one with a caramelized marshmallow center thing.

Next we were whisked to the Lazurd giveaways preparation room with all the boxes and ribbons.

When it was time to go we were given a box of Lazurd’s signature biscuits, the ones I posted about here (post).

We had fun watching Lazurd’s new chocolate collection and how its made, thank you Lazurd and Ms. Meriyam. Lazurd’s new chocolate collection will be available at their store in 25 July. For more information about Lazurd you can check their website (link), facebook (link) or follow them on Twitter (link).