Eid Al Adha and Hajj Sugar Cookies

Eid Sa'eed! Eid Sa'eed is Happy Holiday in Arabic. Eid al Adha is around the corner, in fact it is this week end. We are luck this year because it falls on a week end which means we can have a whole week end of celebration as a family. We also had an Eid pot lock party at Alya's Arabic School last week end. I decided to make these adorable Kaaba cookies. I used the same sugar cookie recipe, the same royal icing recipe, and the same stenciling technique. However, this year, I took it up a notch and I added edible star glitter and edible golden dust details. These cookies did not last for long, they were grabbed by little and big hands and everybody was taking pictures of them. I must say that I was very flattered especially that I spent a lot of time working on them.

Rainbow 5th Birthday Cookie

I have decided this year to make fancy cookies for Alya's birthday favor instead of giving away favors bags filled with little knick knacks that drive us, parents, crazy. You are welcome parents. Since the cookies were going to be the favors, they needed to be bigger and fancier than usual. Last year I made Cowgirl boots and hats, click here to see; and the year before I made very simple orange and red sugared cookies, click here to see.

Alya's 5th Birthday Party: Unicorns and Rainbows

It is that time of the year again, it is Alya's birthday and she was very adamant about this year's theme: Unicorns and Rainbows. Indeed, we are still stuck in the horse like theme. The theme last year was Horses and Cowgirls. You can read about it here. This year, I tried to convince her that instead of throwing a birthday party we can take her to a farm and ride on real horses and ponies. She insisted on having a birthday party. After last year's birthday party, I was so tired that I vowed not to throw another party at home, well this year, not only did I throw another party at home, but I doubled the size of the invitees and again, I made everything from scratch: nvitations, decor, food, desert and favors. I would like to remind you at this point that the definition of crazy is repeating the same actions and excepting different results. Well the party was a success and the attendance rate was 100 percent which makes me happy...I meant Alya happy. My husband keeps telling me that I throw these parties for my own pleasure; I secretly agree!

Arabic Thank You Card: Square Kufi Script شكراً جزيلاً

Yesterday was Alya's graduation ceremony from the Arabic School. She finished her first year. I am  the room parent for the class and decided with the parents to give the teacher, the assistants and administrators "thank you" gifts. I decided to make little Arabic "Thank You" cards to go with the miniature rose plants that I got. I have always loved Calligraphy in general and Arabic Calligraphy in specific. I also studied Western Calligraphy for three years under the magnificent Carol DuBosch in Portland, Oregon, click here to read about Carol Dubosch. Here is an example of my Western calligraphy practice of different scripts.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Mediterranean Pasta Salad is one of my favorite salads. It is also a great side dish. I served it on Alya's 3rd Birthday Party, click here to read about it. The best thing about this dish is that it can be made in advance; actually, it tastes better the next day which makes it a great choice when entertaining.