A step in the right direction...

I really hope that this all works out and this doesn't turn into another Kosovo...

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/07/05/south.sudan.nation/index.html?hpt=hp_mid

Welcome the newest country this Saturday! South Sudan!

Some recipes!

I have been slacking on the posting of recipes here.... My apologies... So here are some delicious ones!

Falafel

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans.
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oil for frying

Preparation:

Drain chickpeas, and place in pan with fresh water, and bring to a boil.

Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then let simmer on low for about an hour.

Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl. Add flour.

Mash chickpeas, ensuring to mix ingredients together. You can also combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste.

Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Slightly flatten.

Fry in 2 inches of oil at 350 degrees until golden brown (5-7 minutes).

Serve hot.

Serving Suggestion
Falafel can be served as an appetizer with hummus and tahini, or as a main course. Stuff pita bread with falafel, lettuce, tomatoes, tahini, salt and pepper. As an alternative, falafel can be formed into patties and served like a burger.

Kousa Bil Bandora (Zucchini with Tomatoes)

2 1/2 lbs. Zuccini

1/4 cup Lean ground meat

1 cup Rice

Salt, pepper, cinnamon

4 Peeled, chopped, seeded, medium size tomatoes

16 oz. Tomato sauce

Shortening

Clean the zuccini. Cut one end and make a hole through the zuccini, leaving 1/4 inch at the end, taking all the seeds from inside.

Mix meat, rinsed and drained rice, dash of salt, pepper and cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons finely chopped onions.

Stuff the zuccini with the meat mixture. Fry them with 2 tablespoons shortening till lightly brown.

Add tomato, chopped and sauce, and more water just till covered. Let boil.

Reduce heat to medium. Cover and let cook till done, about 30 minutes. If some of the stuffing is left, add it to the sauce before cooking.

Serve with pita bread.

Kosheree (Egyptian Lentils)

1 c Lentils

2 Fresh chili peppers

1 1/2 c Regular rice

1 1/2 c Tomato sauce

1 c Elbow macaroni

2 Tbs Vinegar

3 Tbs Oil

1 lg Onion

Place lentils in a saucepan and cover by 1". Turn heat to high, bring to a boil, turn down heat to simmer, and cook covered for 35 minutes or until tender. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside.

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add rice turn down to simmer for 20 minutes and fluff up rice with a fork and add to lentils.

Boil 2 quarts of water, add elbow macaroni and cook until tender. Add to lentils.

In a small skillet add 1 Tbs of oil and sauté finely chopped peppers for 2 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, 1/2 cup of water, and the vinegar, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

In another skillet heat 2 Tbs oil, add onions and sauté until brown around the edges.

Garnish lentil mixture with the onions and pour the tomato sauce over all. Serve immediately.

Middle Eastern Lemonade

Serves 6.

8 lemons

3/4 cup sugar, or to taste

1 teaspoon orange blossom water, or to taste

generous 1/4 cup freshly chopped mint

water (or seltzer) and ice cubes

Squeeze the juice from the lemons and sweeten to taste with the sugar. Add the orange blossom water and the mint, and stir or shake well together. Pour a little into a tall glass and fill with water or soda and ice.

So I got this tattoo....

Yes these are goats crossing the street in front of our apartment. I love seeing this every day...

Well we had another amazing weekend of fun, food and friends!
We had our first dinner with Alat and his wife. We went to their house in south Amman and we had amazing food! We had a dish called oozi. It is an amazing chicken dinner with lots of spices and garlic and ginger. The chicken is baked and then is served over Arabian rice. This rice is a mix of rice and vermicelli. It has saffron and garlic and tumeric in it. Delicious. We had this with salata which is tomatoes and onion and mint chopped together. We also had flatbread and yogurt with it. Very good. We met the whole family of course. They are from Aqaba and they are so sweet. They want us to go down sometime and visit them there and go out on the water in a boat. We had a lot of fun with them.
Well after dinner we went out for a drive with our friends. We went to a really cool little mall of Egyptian merchants. They had really beautiful furniture and clothes and little nick-nacks. I would upload more pics but the internet is terrible here. I will try and load them to facebook. It will be easier. But yes. We now are the proud owners of the creepiest cat known to mankind. It is an electronic toy cat that meows and walks. However, they added one special feature that the eyes light up bright green and it looks like it belongs in a horror movie. But it is now a hallowed souvenir from our trip here. I also now have a henna tattoo on my hand. There was a Nubian who was doing them in a little tent. Apparently I do not know enough Arabic to make someone believe me when I say no. But, alas, I am now all inked up for ten days. I promise that it isn't real. :)

The next night we had dinner again (shocker) with some relatives of Alat. They made us baked paprika chicken and they served it with khusa and diwali. Khusa is a zucchini that is hollowed out and filled with rice and mint and sometimes meat. Diwali is rice and lemon juice that is wrapped in grape leaves. SOOOO delicious. Again this was served to us with flatbread, salata and yogurt. This flatbread was amazing. It was baked in a brick oven and was so soft and delicious.
After dinner we just hung out with the family for a while. We sang and danced and they put on skits for us. We had a blast. I have some pictures but mostly the videos are the things you want to see. (But sadly, if I tried to upload videos on our internet connection, Jordan might lose power. So, maybe back in the States...) Love these guys. Some of the family speaks enough English that I can actually hold conversations with them. That was nice. They have a daughter, Hanan, who is so cool. She is 18 and has been learning English for a couple years now. She is so smart. She really wants to go to an American University. We told her that we would look into BYU for her and see what she would have to do to apply there. She is really excited about that. Well we eventually got home late that night.
The next day we had dinner over at Ahmad's friends house in a town outside of Amman in Zurqa. It was very nice. We had makluhba again. This is the chicken dish with yogurt and Arabian rice and salata and yogurt... (catching onto the pattern here??) It was really good.
We then had delicious tea. It was an herbal tea made from bark of a tree. It is a lot like cinnamon and cloves and nutmeg all together in one piece of bark. It makes delicious tea. They serve it with chopped walnuts floating on top. It is delicious. They also got us some American chocolate because they wanted us to not miss home. How sweet is that??? It was really delicious. We were so thankful for them. Then we went outside into their tiny little side yard just to sit outside and relax in the warm Arabian night. Here is a picture. :) Ahmed is the one next to Ryan.


I am really going to miss being here in Jordan. I really love it here. The people are amazing. I can't imagine what it will be like to be back in America.... We will just have to wait and see.
Love from Amman!