These past few months of mine have been filled with busy schedules, exciting milestones, fun, new experiences, and not so much blogging. To remedy that, I have a lot of new posts planned for the new year, but before that, I'm going to squeeze in a final post for 2016!
It's that time of the year - the holidays! So much fun, joy, family, and holiday cheer to go around. It's also true that many, MANY weddings happen in December. My husband and I just celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on December 16th a few weekends back.
Today, I'm excited to share the newest video addition to my blog. I shared this iftar dinner party a few months back and a few of you requested a how-to for the pretty fruit platters I made for the event. Since I learned how to make them from my younger sister, Hajerah, I decided it was best for her to show you how to make them herself. Keep reading for a guest post on these scrumptious and eye-catching from the woman herself, my talented baby sis!
Hey all!
It's Hajerah, Wardah's younger sister. Today, I'll be sharing my method of cutting/arranging fruits with you all. Growing up, my older sisters were always the ones in charge of making beautiful and delicious baked goods for family gatherings. That left me with the one task they knew I wouldn't mess up (lol), which was cutting. Whether it was prepping the veggies for a dinner item, or cutting fruit to serve with dessert, it was always my job.
And it was something I enjoyed. I'm really meticulous and somewhat of a perfectionist by nature (my closet is organized by style AND color), so I found satisfaction in slicing fruits to equal widths and chopping up veggies in uniform cubes. I also realized I could line them up on the serving plate and they wouldn't look half bad. Over the years, I got better at making fruit platters, and a lot faster at it, too. Now, even though I've learned how to bake a cake or two, most of our family and friends still know me as the cutting expert.
Which brings me to today's post. When Wardah was visiting CA a month ago, she convinced me to let her film the process of making a few platters. Let's just say, it was an agonizing hour of sitting on the kitchen floor right in front of our backyard doors (for better lighting, apparently) and working really slowly (so she could capture what I was doing, change angles, etc). Wardah actually did the most work though, including filming, putting up with my complaining, and then going home to edit and create this wonderful video.
I hope you all enjoyed the video and are motivated to create a fruit platter of your own. Your guests will ooh and aah at your elaborate presentation while you'll smile inside, knowing it wasn't hard at all. And who knows, maybe you're like me and will find the process to be therapeutic!
'Til next time, folks (maybe I'll teach you how to organize scarves, another one of my specialties haha).
Maui Ocean Center is one of the highest rated attractions in Maui, and it's obvious why. From the moment you step in, the immaculate decor and the eye-catching exhibits speak volumes about its excellence. My family and I stopped at the Maui Ocean Center on our last day in Maui for a short, hour-long visit. We were greeted by Evan who gave us a brief tour of the center and his recommendations.
It was exciting to be at the Ocean Center and see colorful fish unique to Maui. We were able to find out the names of most of the fish we saw earlier that week while snorkeling in Molokini Bay! The exhibits were beautiful, full of interesting facts, and the naturalists were so knowledgeable and helpful. Visiting the Ocean Center would be a great way to reinforce some marine science in a fun and exciting way for young kids after a snorkeling adventure or even after watching the movie "Finding Dory".
My favorite experience at the Ocean Center was the underwater dive presentation in the Open Ocean Exhibit. At 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm everyday, a diver with a special mask that allows for communication with the audience swims with the sharks, rays, and large fish in the exhibit. On the day we were visiting, the diver was in the tank with 19 sharks! I'll never forget the sight of blood swirling in the water as she fed the cutest, ginormous sting ray a fish (entertaining for adults and children, hahaha).
Though we didn't have a chance to try it, Shark Dive Maui is another unique and exciting experience that Maui Ocean Center offers. At 8:30 am everyday, the center offers a chance to dive into their open ocean exhibit with over 5 species of different sharks! What an incredible thing.
It would be tiring to spend more than an hour or two in these exhibits, but fear not, the aquarium is equipped with a restaurant and an amazing gift shop! We spent close to half an hour browsing the huge gift shop, a great stop to grab souvenirs from your trip. A side note - the Ocean Center gift shop is pretty expensive, as is everything else on Maui, but there is a small shopping plaza attached to the ocean center with a more affordable gift shop and some more restaurants.
Overall, we had a blast at the Maui Ocean Center and would recommend it to anyone. The picturesque little marina, the view, the food, and everything else that the center has to offer are definitely worth it. Thank you to the Maui Ocean Center and Evan for making our experience in Maui all the more exciting and enjoyable!
Be sure to see some footage of our entire trip, including our visit to the Ocean Center, below. :)
Join me as I travel through the Hawaiian Island, Maui. Maui is a
beautiful and serene place, a fascinating island that is vibrant and
beautiful in its sights and culture. Visiting Maui is a treat for the
senses as you are welcomed with a flurry of sights, smells, sounds, and
sensations. From wild chickens on main roads and waterfalls at every
bend to waves crashing at shorelines and colorful reefs full of vibrant
fish, the island is a little piece of heaven on Earth.
As you all know, my family and I practice "halal" eating. I won't go into too many details, but a vegan lifestyle falls perfectly into our dietary habits. When we're traveling to a city where we know we won't find many halal options, we turn to vegan food. And Maui's vegan scene was hopping! I reached out to the manager of Down to Earth Organic, a fully vegetarian store with a food bar and deli, about our travels and I was honored to receive a gift card to spend there during our trip! Read more about my wonderful experience here -
The Maui Ocean Center was one of the top attractions on our list of things to see and do. We were given complimentary admission to this gorgeous aquarium and it was well worth the visit. It was especially interesting to learn about Maui's sea life after we had been snorkeling and were able to see it firsthand. Read more about this adventure here - We enjoyed many other activities while in Maui, including zip-lining, hiking, swimming, and I would love to share our experience with you.
Last week, a group of Michigan bloggers and I had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner together at Famous Hamburger - a local, halal restaurant in Dearborn, MI. Though the restaurant was kind enough to host us that night, all opinions on the food and service are my own. Many of my readers and I follow a specific, religious dietary restriction of eating only "halal" food. Let's not go into all the details, but "halal" food pertains to meat and certain animal byproducts that Muslims cannot consume unless prepared a certain way. Believe me when I say that there is a severe lack of halal food in the food service industry! But then, once in a while, a gem of a restaurant pops up and all is right in the world (for the duration of your meal ;D ).
The owner of the restaurant, Moe, gave us a little history of the restaurant. It was established 35 years ago by his grandfather and is now 3 restaurants strong with more on the way. There was nice ambience and snazzy decor.
The restaurant has a fully halal menu with variety of items, including vegetarian and gluten-free options. We were seated by our very helpful and courteous waitress and didn't have to wait much for anything at all. Now I'm sure you're anxious to know more about the food!
We decided to order some appetizers as a group - ultimate beef nachos, veggie nachos, and "mac 'n' chzzz" bites. Despite the somewhat ridiculous name, the mac and cheese bites were definitely the crowd favorite - deep fried mac and cheese bites.
The nachos were topped with a delicious cheese sauce that was spot on!
A bunch of us ordered milkshakes to go with our dinner. Here is my Oreo chocolate milkshake next to vanilla bean milkshake with caramel. I ordered an additional Oreo topping which I thought would just be on the top, but was actually layered throughout the drink. I didn't really like the texture of the soggy cookies mixed into my shake so next time I'll get the shake without the cookies.
Our burgers arrived next and my oh my, the sight of us bloggers photographing each others food was probably the silliest thing any of the other diners had seen that day. But those burgers were glorious looking too. I can't really stomach too much red meat (or any meat for that matter) in one sitting so I opted to go for a vegetarian burger. I was hoping to try the falafel burger but they didn't have any so I ordered the black bean veggie burger. My burger was so delicious, the perfect blend of spices and veggies in a bean mixture. Even my meat loving husband approved of it!
Let's talk about these sweet potato waffle fries for a minute. Sweet and crispy with the perfect amount of spice. I ate mine with ranch - a match made in heaven.
Overall, I really had a great experience at Famous Hamburger. I was impressed by the cleanliness and open layout of the restaurant, the great, friendly service, and the wonderful menu and great tasting dishes. Thank you, Aly, for organizing such a wonderful event! I'm looking forward to our next meet up.
Now, excuse me while I go and plan next trip to Famous. Writing this post really has me drooling. (Hope I can try the falafel burger this time!)
An (early) Eid Mubarak to all of my lovely readers, new and old! If you've been following me for a few years, you may remember Eid Eats 2014 - a virtual Eid party hosted by My Ninja Naan,Flour & Spice, and Chocolate & Chillies. Well, Eid-ul-Fitr 2016 is almost here and it is once again time to join an awesome virtual Eid party full of delicious food items and eye-catching desserts. If you know me, I love to bring a dessert to any gathering. In fact, it is pretty much a tradition for me to bring a dessert every time I visit my in laws. So of course, it was a given that I would bring dessert to this party.
Today, I am sharing the recipe for this dreamy creamy mango crepe cake. Actually, there is a story behind this beautiful, 30 plus layer cake. It's mango season, and chances are, if you're Desi and celebrating Ramadan, you have a huge box full of mangoes sitting in your pantry. With only two adults in the house, and both of us fasting, that meant a surplus of mangoes leftover and not enough mouths to finish them. As the mangoes started to reach their peak ripeness, I really needed to figure out what to do with them, and making them into a dessert seemed like the best option.
Luckily, I was invited to an iftar a few days later so I had the opportunity to give a mango dessert a try and share it with some friends as well. The only problem was that this cake did not fold out exactly as I had planned. The creamy mango filling never set and it turned into a little bit of a lopsided cake when I added whole pieces of mango fruit in the center. The top half of the cake slid right off the bottom half! Nonetheless, the flavor of the crepes and mango cream really was a great combination. While the cake recipe needs to be tweaked a little, I would recommend the filling recipe to anyone. A huge thank you to all my family and friends who support my baking endeavors and are such good sports with my successes and not-so-successful desserts.
I also took a batch of my popular kulfi, on request, and coincidentally, that is the recipe I shared for Eid Eats 2014! Here it is if you would like to take a gander, here is the link: kulfi (Indian ice cream). Without further ado, we revisit this same dish 2 years later for a mango crepe cake.
Here is a crepe cake I have made in the past that turned out beautifully - complete with recipe and steps for assembly. :)
1 cup fresh mango puree (blended and strained flesh of 2 mangoes)
2 mangoes, diced
1/4 cup mango puree
To make the filling: mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure that everything is combined. Add in the heavy cream and whip on high speed until medium peaks form. Add in the mango puree and whip till stiff peaks form.
To serve, fill a crepe with a few tablespoons of mango filling and top with mango pieces. Drizzle mango puree on top of the crepe and serve.
Assalamualaikum! I hope your days are going well. The last ten nights of Ramadan are here. The time flies so fast, it feels like we just started fasting yesterday. Alhamdulillah, I was blessed with the opportunity to have a small gathering of friends over for iftar. It was a night filled with conversation, laughter, and fun.
You know you're desi when your invite was for 8pm and people start trickling in around 8:45pm (and you're secretly glad because your prep is also running behind schedule). ;)
Today, I am sharing the iftar and dinner menu of the night for inspiration. With my husband's support and encouragement, I was able to put together this menu. Thanks, once again, to all of my lovely friends for joining us and please keep me and my family in your duas. Please let me know if you would like any of the recipes of the food items below. Enjoy!
Ramadan Kareem to all of my readers! We've almost reached the halfway mark of Ramadan, which always creates a bittersweet feeling for me. The end of Ramadan means no more huge amounts of reward for every little thing you do and no more bonding over iftar and suhoor. At the same time it means no more hunger pains in the middle of the day and no more crazy schedules. Even more, it means that my favorite holiday, Eid, is coming up. So it's a very sad feeling with a hint of excitement.
The season of burgers, picnics, and outdoor activities is here! I'm joined once again by my mother to present to you the latest video on my channel - Mini Mushroom and Beef Sliders. This dish is simple but the flavors are perfect. The 2 to 1 ratio of beef to mushrooms makes this burger patty incredibly moist. Serve the patty up with your fave toppings and you'll have the perfect burger for this summer's festivities. Give it a try and I know you won't be disappointed.
Mini Mushroom and Beef Sliders
(makes 6-8 patties)
2 tbsp olive oil
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce salt and pepper to taste
1 egg white
burger toppings: (optional)
swiss cheese
mini slider buns
lettuce
tomatoes
pickles
mayonnaise
ketchup
Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pan. Then sauté garlic until aromatic. Saute the onions till they are soft and translucent.
Add the mushrooms and sauté them on medium heat until they are wilted; then cook them on high heat just until the juices dry up. A pinch of salt at this stage will speed up the process.
In a large bowl, combine all of the burger patty ingredients with clean hands. Once the mixture has cooled down, form 6-8 patties. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Cook them on a stove top pan on medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until browned. When there is only a minute left till they are completely done, add the cheese on top and cover the pan.
Serve in mini slider buns with all your favorite toppings. Enjoy!
Here's a fun way to celebrate the blessed month of Ramadan with your kids and count down till Eid!
My son is almost three this year and it will be his first year officially celebrating the month! His understanding of Ramadan is strong enough for him to enjoy the festivity that this blessed month brings into our lives.
It was almost a year ago when Lubna at Yummy Food asked me to write a guest blogpost for her special Ramadan series "Joy from Fasting and Feasting."
Ramadan is an auspicious month for Muslims all over the world. Muslims join together to fast and increase spirituality, love, camaraderie, and unity during this special month. From dawn, fasters abstain from eating or drinking till the cry of the athan (call to prayer) at dusk reaches their ears, either from a mosque or from our preset phone alarms. The meal that we eat when breaking our fast is called "iftar."Joy from Fasting and Feasting is a clever and well suited title to celebrate the special food traditions at iftar time of Muslims all over the world.
A little while back, I held a giveaway on my Instagram page with the prize being a custom, hand painted goose egg. I thought it would be fun to take you all behind the scenes of the process of painting a goose egg.
This egg was designed by the winner of the giveaway, Alia. It was inspired by her honeymoon in Morocco; she wanted to capture the vibrant colors and patterns of Morocco in this egg. The Arabic calligraphy on the egg reads "Alia" and "Muhammad," the couple's names.
Every Desi household has their own biryani recipe, but for us cooking amateurs, having a tried and tested video recipe on hand is really useful. Thanks, Mom, for filming this video with me. That's 1000 phone calls you just saved yourself from every time I attempt to cook biryani! Enjoy this video that we put together of a classic chicken biryani - flavorful, aromatic, and with just the right amount of spice. Good luck in the kitchen and we hope you can try it out.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned on the road to eating healthy is that preparation is key. If you're working early in the morning or late into the evening, you often don't have the energy to prepare meals when you get a breather. You'd rather relax and kick up your feet for a few moments. Even if you manage to cook once or twice a week, having fresh, homemade, healthy meals every day for every meal is pretty difficult for your average American. Even being a SAHM (stay at home mom), I find it difficult to prepare healthy meals for all three of my family members for every meal.
I recently heard of an amazing product - Wawa-Wee Organic Fruit Syrups - which contains no artificial additives or high fructose corn syrup. As a health conscious mom, I'm always on the lookout for healthy alternatives to most processed items found in the supermarket and this one takes the cake. When I read the founder, Nadia Khan's, story of how she started Wawa-Wee it seemed surprisingly similar to what I was going through (and I'm sure many other moms as well!). Just like her son, my son refused to drink regular cow's milk after he stopped nursing. Believe me when I say that I tried just about every trick on planet earth to get him to drink milk. And now, if I add a little bit of Wawa-Wee strawberry syrup into his milk, he might even finish half a glass!
