It's not a Kitchen Aid....

Hey it's not a Kitchen Aid...BUT that is totally OK!!  I did not bring my Kitchen Aid mixer over from the states so I have not had any way to really do any heavy duty mixing.  The reason that I didn't bring it was because the power/electrical system here is different from the states.  Every outlet in this house is 220V !!  Our appliances in Texas operate usually on 110V.  So anything that is electrical that we brought with us has to be plugged into an adapter that converts the 110V to where it can be plugged into the 220V outlet.  Then there are also convertor boxes that we have had to buy to run multiple things off of.... (Pictures below).  Soooo, I made the decision not to bring the mixer with us because I didn't want to take the chance of blowing it up (motor I mean).  The boys have already fried a DVD player from home...LOL!  They were trying to find a way to charge their tablets, and they were not aware of the REAL reason we had all these adapters and convertors.  So they just went to unplugging and rearranging plugs....then here comes Joshua down the stairs.  He asks us, "Is it bad when white smoke comes out of the DVD player?"  LOL....well I would say yes!  DVD player gone!!!

Ok, so all that said... I have a new mixer!  It is by Kenwood.  It looks really nice!  I am looking forward to using it very soon!  I have been saying that I am going to try my hand at baking some bread because Clint has not found white bread like we have in Texas...soft bread, so soft it sticks to the roof of your mouth!  LOL  The bread here is fine by my standards but it is a little firm.  So I am going to try to make some bread.... Mixer has a dough hook, so why not give it a shot!  

I love the red!!!!

Being Neighborly

Ramadan has officially started here in the Middle East.  This is a religious time of fasting for the Muslim faith.  The people here that practice the Muslim religion are fasting from all food and drink for the entire day, from 4am-7:30pm each day.  This time last for approximately a month.  Durng this time those of us who are not of this faith, out of respect for those around us, do not eat or drink in public buildings, your car, outdoor areas, etc.  We can eat and drink in our homes with our blinds and curtains closed.  This is done strictly out of respect for those around us.  Now Ramadan has exceptions.  Young children, pregnant women, menstruating women, diabetics, and the sick are not expected to fast.  

Another tradition of Ramadan, is for the people to do acts of kindness toward others.  They also will bring a food item over to their neighbors to say hello, just to be nice, or welcome you to the neighborhood.  This isn't much different than what we do in Texas....or other places in the states for that matter.  It is just being kind.  Well part of this tradition is that the person receiving the food is to return the bowl/dish to the owner with a food item of their own within a few days of them bringing it over.

Our neighbors did just this a few days ago.  The woman of the house, Riyah, brought us a traditional dessert that resembled doughnut holes covered in a lightly sweetened syrup.  It was pretty good!  So today I baked (instead of fried) some little apple pies.  I did them just like you would a fried pie but baked them instead.  I decided to bake them for no other reason than ease of clean up...frying is soooo messy in my opinion!  I had to wait till after 7:30pm to take them over because I didn't want to offend them by taking them during the part of the day that they were fasting.  I just felt like that would have been rude of me... It would have been like, here have these tasty, good smelling pies but you can't have any for a few hours!  If they are like me, that would have made things worse!

So I made a dozen pies and then I made 5 little pastry cups in my cupcake tin using the remaining pie crust and apples.  I gave the family next door the pies and kept the pastry cups for our dessert this evening.  See pictures of our dessert below....top it off with a scoop of Pecan Praline ice cream! YUM!