One year ago: Genius Solution to Pollution and Awakening

I love soup, and while tomato isn’t my favorite kind, I get a hankering for it every now and then. When that hankering occurs at midnight, the only thing you can do is grab a can of Campbell’s. *Ick.* I know, I was desparate. I tried to make it better by adding some oven-roasted tomatoes and using milk and chicken broth to dilute it instead of water. Okay, but not great. I had a lot leftover, and I needed something delicious and nutritious while studying for Criminal Law. (yes, yes, I am studying. The Rule of Lenny…uh…Lenity, and all that.)

I’m not sure if this is a jambalaya or just an extremely saucy risotto made with extra-diluted creamy tomato soup-broth. Anyways, it’s very filling and very good and very easy. It took me about 30 minutes maximum from kitchen to sofa, not including the 5 minutes it took me to make the marinade and the 1 hour where the stuff was soaking in the marinade.

Click here for recipe (more…)

In honor of my dear friend Ayesha’s return from England! Missed you :).

Ayesha and I are partners in crime. Cooking, that is. We exchange recipe ideas, dinner dilemmas, and stories of successes and failures in our own kitchens. At least once a year, we get together and try all the recipes we’ve saved up to experiment with. We prepare huge meals then invite our friends over to eat (yes, they love us). When we lived in the same city along with our other chefs, Rabea and Amna, it would usually start with two of us calling the other. “Ayesha, come over. We have an emergency. A cooking emergency.”

Dorky, but nobody forgets those meals.

Of course, we have our share of mistakes too….like that honey-orange loaf that left a goopy, sticky mess on the bottom of the oven because we put 1 cup instead of 1 tablespoon of butter. Don’t know how it happened.

Over my spring break, Ayesha and I succeeded at our next culinary adventure: High Tea.

Admire our menu, all made from scratch. Drool over the pictures (courtesy of Ayesha).
- Buttery rich scones
- Almond chicken salad tea sandwiches
- Smoked salmon tea sandwiches
- Asiago cheese puffs
- Chocolate lava cakes
- Fresh fruit tarts with vanilla custard
- Mock clotted cream
- Lemon curd
- Dulce de Leche
- Ayesha’s Homemade Strawberry jam
- Fresh fruit

I made the lemon curd, so i’ll share that recipe here. (more…)

I’ve got a spring in my step, my head in the clouds, and a song bubbling in my voice.

Why?

Because it’s Boots Day.

Boots Day, Boots Day. It is Boots Day. Blue jeans Boots Day. It is Boots Day. New Jeans Boots Day. Boots Day, Boots Day. It is Boots Day.

I was singing this to Ameir in the car this morning. Cute? Superficial? Ameir chose “annoying.” Perhaps. He’s just jealous.

But why is Boots Day so exciting? Because you’re supposed to wear boots with new jeans. Because it’s *New* Jeans Boots Day. At that means that I’ve finally found a pair of new jeans that are halaal.

(All the Muslimahs *gasp.* Including old roomie and new blogger, Monapoly. Welcome, friend.)

Yes, that’s right ladies. I found a pair of jeans that are loose at the hip and thigh, accommodate for the fact that I’m a real female with curves, don’t hang low on my butt, and still look great. And they were only $14.00. $14.00. Yes. Can you feel the excitement seeping through the screen? I know. Join me. *Boots Day, Boots Day, it is Boots Day.*

*squeal!* And I don’t squeal often.

New Jeans Boots Day means that I have not lost faith in humanity. It means that there are still a few clothes producers out there who don’t make clothes for the stick-figure, let-me-show-you-as-much-skin-as-possible girls. It means that I can breathe a small sigh of relief at actually being able to find clothes I can comfortably wear, knowing that my body is loosely, fully, but still beautifully covered without having to wear a trash bag, because that’s the only thing I can buy that goes past my bellybutton.

New Jeans Boots Day is a happy day. Because it’s so hard for a Muslimah to find clothes in most stores that are affordable, loose and long enough to cover her arms, chest, torso, butt, and still stylish. It’s getting harder and harder to find everything from jeans to skirts (even skirts!) to shirts to suits is getting in styles that we can safely wear as Muslimah modest dress (with or without hijab). The fashion these days is completely dissonant with our dress code - now, as clothes get tighter and shorter, we find ourselves wearing out-of-season clothing (winter shirts in spring and summer) or having to get things tailored overseas. You used to at least be able to find dress shirts that weren’t so tight at the waist and short at the butt - not anymore. And if we can find something that fits and covers properly, it costs an arm and a leg! Even online Muslim clothing stores like Shukr are not exactly within reach of a lot of pockets.

So rejoice, Sisters. It’s Boots Day. New Jeans Boots Day.

Boots Day, Boots Day. It is Boots Day. Blue Jeans Boots Day. It is Boots Day. New Jeans Boots Day. Boots Day, Boots Day. It is Boots Day.

Which means, of course, so do the crazy dreams.

The other night I dreamt that my teeth were falling out, one by one. Three had already fallen out - and you know how the rumor is that you’re supposed to put them in milk or something and rush to the dentist? So I did, except my dentist was my Criminal Law professor.

Right, so, I’m trying to get Professor Myers to help me, but him and Ameir keep joking around, wasting time.

HELLO. MY TEETH. ARE. FALLING. OUT. GET TO IT, PLEASE.

I don’t think I could ever yell at Professor Myers in real life - he’s kind of huge, and he was a prosecutor, so he probably knows a few people.

Needless to say, I’ve been brushing and flossing more diligently now.

And….it begins. Wish me luck.

Also, it’s taking all my energy not to stop outlining right now and make Barefoot Contessa’s Lime Curd Tart with the bowl of limes my Khalto gave me. Hence the limes picture above. I can’t say it won’t happen anyway.

It’s exam season. Things are about to get a little crazy.

Update: Dream before my Crim Law Exam. Myers hands us the *entire* Model Penal Code and says “analyze all the statutes. you have three hours. go.” I cried, panicked. Then Muller (Constitutional Law) comes in, except he’s an itinerant preacher. He says, “Don’t worry, my children. You only have to analyze the ones you need for the exam question.” I rejoiced.

1. Marinate shrimp in garlic, lemon zest, and olive oil
2. Grill the shrimp
3. While still hot, mix with basil pesto (the one you bought a basil plant to make but now the plant is dead and you’re not sure why, you watered it and kept it in the sun and away from the cold)
4. Slice half of a lemon. Squirt the juice from the other half over the shrimp
5. Grill the sliced lemon. Use as a garnish.
6. Eat warm or cold or stir with pasta