Book of The Month: Silent Music A Story of Baghdad

I am starting a new series of posts and it is about books that I read or read with my daughter, Alya. Alya is 6 and she is already quite interested in Arts. She is fascinated by calligraphy and Islamic geometric patterns. I picked up this book at our local library. Needless to say, I was immediately attracted to the cover. We were in a hurry so I did not read the synopsis as I always do before checking out books. Who wants to carry extra loads of book that are not quite meaningful? In fact, although the book was in the children section, I picked it for me. Little did I know that this book is about Ali who lives in Baghdad, a city in war and to my surprise, I am Ali.

Some Parental Wisdom

I am not sure if the title of my post today conveys what I am about to blog about. I am not an expert, I am not the rule and I am not judging you. Ok, now that the above is out of the way, I am going to share something that has been on my mind lately. How do we spend the little time we have with our kids. When I am sewing or embroidering, I listen to numerous podcasts with creative people and I am always fascinated by how they always talk about the time they spent with their parents creating things or watching their parents create. This is not just another idea, this is really what life is all about.

Fatoosh: The Ultimate Lebanese Salad فتوش

Fatoosh is probably the most known Middle Eastern salad, or is it Tabbouleh? Fattoush is on every menu in any Middle Eastern restaurant in the world; that is if they really have menus. It is also "the main salad" served in the holy month of Ramadan. I think that it is so popular because the ingredients are available in most corners of the world. Fatoosh tastes the best in the summer when the tomatoes and cucumbers and green mixes are in season and at their peek. 

Every family has its own version of Fatoosh depending on what is available in their fridge. Some people prefer their Fatoosh on the chunky side, others like to cut their vegetable in small pieces. The dressing also differs from a household to another. Some like to use just lemon juice and oil and garlic in the dressing, others add pomegranate molasses or sumac. Fatoosh is basically a salad topped with pita bread.

I am Sorry, I have been Cheating

Still cooking and eating

You probably will never read this post because you have abandoned me. I don't blame you, it has been a while since I blogged. I would abandon me. But there is a reason behind it and it is because I have been cheating. Yes cheating with fabric and fiber arts! For the past few years, I have been secretly immersing myself in the wonderful and amazing world of sewing and embroidery. I  have been reading resource books, sewing things, embroidering and designing. I told you that there is a reason behind my silence. I am still cooking because I truly cook to nourish and empower myself and my family. But blogging takes time, taking pictures, writing, stylizing, editing and keeping things interesting. I feel like Reinventing Nadine will be more than cooking or crafting. I told you that it will be a journey, but I never knew that it would lead to this.

Cheetah Fabric Covered Notebook

Alya, my daughter loves animals and she likes to watch the show "Wild Kratts" on PBS.  It is a wonderful show about two brothers, the Kratts, who help animals while exposing kids to Biology, Zoology and Ecology. Alya has been fixated for a while on cheetahs and she loves animal prints in general. She has been begging me for a while to use my little zebra notebook that I keep in my nightstand to write down ideas for my blog that strike me in the middle of the night. It is a cheap notebook with a zebra print cover. I am not attached to this notebook as such but I don't want to rewrite all the notes in another book. She keeps asking me if I really really need this notebook. So I decided to make her a cheetah fabric covered notebook!

Zaatar Infused Croutons

Hello there! It has been very busy over here. I mean in my head. I have so much going on and so little to show. Almost all is still in the brainstorming phase and most of those projects are new to me that I have to practically learn new techniques to accomplish them. So much learning is going on at the moment and cooking has taken a sort of back seat in my mental to do list. However, I was able to make this delicious croutons variation that injects the zaatar flavor into salads and soups. I also dipped them in my homemade labneh (Click here for my homemade labneh recipe). You can simply eat them on their own as a healthy flavorful crunchy snack and a better alternative for chips and crackers. 

You can also check out my Pita chips recipe if you prefer the pita option. Click here for the recipe.

The Loving Hands: A Literally Handmade Valentine's Day Project

I normally don't like to instill Valentine's day traditions in my household. I previously talked about it here and here; however, Alya was already exposed to it in school and she is supposed to make things for her friends.  She actually insists that we also bake cookies. Last year Alya asked me if we can make something for baba (Daddy in Arabic) for Valentine's Day. So we made this Loving Hands Project. It was a lot of fun and kind of messy. The paint that was supposed to be washable and intended for finger painting, did not turn out to be washable at all. The poor girl spent a whole week with pinkish red hands! Of course, now that she can read and write, it would have been a much nicer touch for her to write "Love".

The Tomato Soup that No One Can Resist

Alya often complains that I don't make her favorite food, which is not true. She is accusing me of neglecting her numerous requests of pizza and tomato soup! "You always make what baba loves!" Needless to say, it is not true. My husband loves everything I make, he even surrendered to my wish to eat more vegetarian dishes. In a nutshell, Alya wants me to make Pizza and tomato soup everyday! I decided last week to make tomato soup and actually make a point that I made it juuuuust for you Alya!