June's Scavenger Hunt

June has passed by so fast and it's time again for the Scanvenger Hunt hosted by  Made with Love.  If you haven't checked out this fun blog, I suggest you drop by and maybe you too would like to join in.  

The letter J brings to mind two wonderful events; my wedding in 1975 and  the birth of my daughter in 1979, both of which occurred in the glorious month of June......... 

The Word Rust reminds me of the color orange. And, pumpkin fits right into that category .....  

For a festive drink, a White Russian is very Smooth . I now make it with coconut milk since I do not eat dairy .....

Imagination brings to mind my cat Lilly. I can imagine myself being her and having a life of luxury ....

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know my eclectic decorating style and nothing is more suited to my taste than this beautiful Classic style furniture. I would fill my whole house with this stuff if I could ......

(I have a smaller version of this set in dark wood)

Speaking of decorating, my daughter has excellent taste in designing any home decor. Here are some knobs that are Similiar in style. She used one set to decorate a chest of drawers for the nursery ...



Our family was in the beautiful city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, a few months ago. I captured this photo of these door entries, all Parallel to each other........



I love to knit, as my hands are never idle if I have a chance to sit down. Here's are my latest Socks . They're called Fork in the Road and the pattern can be found   here  on my Ravelry page .....



My daughter Heidi, loves to collect Coronation china from England. Here's a tiny glimpse of her extensive Mug collection .......  

Our latest travels in Turkey have been pleasant. The other day we walked into a shop and the owner presented each of us with an evil eye bead  charm ..... 

Our family home in Turkey is up on the mountain and overlooks the sea. Here's the Posts from the balcony ..... 

Whatever you do or wherever you are, I wish you peace and good wishes....

Thank you so much for stopping by today and visiting my blog.  It's always a joy to hear from you, too :)

Pat

Egyptian Hawowshi Recipe

It seems like it has been ages since I last wrote.  All is well here and I hope with you too.  On Sunday, I had guests over and I planned a simple dinner for them to eat by the pool.  I made Egyptian hawowshi.  It is a meat pie that is baked in the oven.  It a popular dish in Cairo.  So if you would like to make some, you are most welcome to follow along.

You will need (for four servings)

For filling:
1 pound of ground beef
1 medium onion, grated
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 T chopped parsley
Sliced onion (optional)
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp meat spices*
*I used some kibbe spices but you can use kabob spices

For dough:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt
Some black paper
Warm water

Blend the flour and salt in a bowl.  Pour the oil in a 1 cup measure and fill the cup to the brim with warm water.  Blend water/oil mixture into flour just until it holds together.  Add a little more water if needed.

The dough should resemble this.  Don't knead or overwork dough as it will become tough.

Divide dough into four balls.  (Picture above was from a double batch of dough).

Take one ball of dough and divide in half; one half will be the bottom crust and the other half will be the top crust.  Roll out each half on a floured surface until it's approximately 6"-7" in diameter.

Mix all ingredients for meat mixture and divide into four balls.

Place bottom half of dough on a nonstick lined baking sheet.  Press meat mixture onto bottom half leaving about 1" all around.  You can add a sliced onion to the top of the meat mixture and/or some red pepper flakes if you like a little heat.

Put the top half of the dough over the meat filled half and crimp the two halves together.  Make a design on the dough with a fork.

Bake in a preheated 365 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes or until browned.  You can brush the tops of the dough with butter half way through the baking time.

Remove from oven and serve.  The hawowshi shown above is served with tabboula salad and Egyptian koushari (a rice/lentil dish with garbanzo beans and macaroni).

The crust is nice and crispy and the filing is tasty.  I use lean ground beef as the extra lean makes it too dry.  The first time I ate hawowshi was years and years ago in Cairo.  It was at an outdoor cafe.  We just had finished eating at our table outside a large building when a lady on the balcony above decided to empty her wash bucket.  You can imagine the mess we barely missed....memories.  I can't recall what  part of the city this took place.

There's various ways to make this dish but this is my favorite.  Some people take store boughten  pita bread and open it and put the meat mixture in it and bake it.

For me the fun is making the homemade dough and eating it right away, hot from the oven.  I will share the recipe for koushari at another time.  Koushari is a popular fast food in Egypt.

I'm writing this up on a beautiful mountain and the air is so crisp and refreshing.  I'd love to hear from you if you have the time.  Until next time

My best wishes to everyone,

Pat

Five Thoughts for Friday......

Awhile back I discovered a wonderful party on Friday hosted by Amy at Love Made my Home.  It's called Five on Friday.

So, after much thought, this is my weeks addition to this wonderful party. If you follow along, I thought I would start each one with the letter F as in "Five on Friday". I hope you enjoy this....

To begin with is my Family.  I truly feel blessed that I have a place and purpose

in life.  As I get older I sometimes loose my energy and my patience but my family is always there.  In less than two weeks my 40th anniversary day will be here.  For me it's been wedded bliss; I;m sure "he" will say otherwise....haha

Next to my family is my Faith.  Although I have lost my church family and right now I'm not seeking another, I still have my faith. That may sound bad but I know the Lord is looking after me.  I can reflect on the wonderful memories of the past and keep hoping for the future.  And, I have so many blessings to be thankful for each and every day. 

How can I write this blog without mentioning Feline as in Lilly my beautiful, big, Maine Coon kitty.  She's been with us 8 years now.  She is our "child" so to speak and we love her dearly.

Next up is a favorite of mine, Food.  I love to cook and bake and try new things.  My goose egg cake came out great.  And, you'd never know it was made with a goose egg!  I used the old fashioned recipe of even weight; weigh the eggs and add the same amount of butter, sugar, and flour.

(I just had to show you a picture of the goose egg!)

Last I will have to say Fun as in travel, knitting or crocheting or my children.  Below is a photo of my dear children, Nini Bird and Juji Bird,  having fun at a "painting and vino" evening.  This is one of their rare occasions where they are actually enjoying each others company!  I really think these two keep me on my toes and I'm blessed to have them as they bring lots of fun and joy to me.

Before I sign off (I know this is number six), I just have to show you my Finished "easy peazy shawl".  It was a joy to knit this with Berroco yarn.  I added a beaded edging.  You can find my notes here on Ravelry.

I sometimes can't sleep at night and I lie awake and think of ideas for my blog post. That's why you are reading today's post.....I'd love to hear from you and learn what you've been doing.  Feel free to drop a note below in the comment box.  It won't bite you!

My best to each of you,

Hugs,
Pat

Sadie's Crochet Ruffled Baby Blanket

It seems like it's been ages since I've written about my crochet or knitting projects.  So, today I'm going to share with you my latest creation.  It's a crocheted baby blanket that I made for my little granddaughter to be.

I know what I wanted to make (in my mind I could see it) but I couldn't find a pattern.  After much searching, I came up with this design.  I used Stylecraft Special DK which is really my favorite acrylic yarn.  It's so soft, drapes well and is a pleasure to work with.

I wanted a light and airy pattern (since we are in warm, southern California) and this diamond pattern was the perfect fit.....

I used a total of six skeins of yarn; four for the body of the blanket and two for the ruffle.  I did an eyelet row and then threaded pink ribbon all around.  

Each corner is embellished with a little ribbon rose.....

The diamond pattern can be found at Lacy Crochet.  I made up the pattern for the border.  I started out doing a row of single crochet all around the blanket.  I added a row using pink yarn before doing an eyelet row.  I then started a "V" stitch type design for the ruffled border.  

You can find my notes here on Ravelry.

I'm still working on my Easy Peazy Shawl. It's a joy knitting with Berroco Ultra Alpaca which is so soft and has such wonderful stitch definition....

I'll leave you with this picture of Lilly.  As you can see, she's enjoying herself on the patio thinking about her next meal.....

Thank you everyone who has visited my blog and thank you so much for your kind comments.  It's ways a joy to hear from you.

My best to everyone,

Pat

Upcoming Post:  I'm so excited to try a new cake recipe.  I saw a cake recipe via a blog the other day that uses goose eggs.  Yes, goose!  Today I bought a fresh goose egg at my Persian grocery store.  I'm going to make a cake with it on Friday.  Wish me luck.....

Linking up with the following parties:

Keep Calm Craft On..... 

Yarn Along
Oh My Heartsie Girls
Share Your Cup Thursday
Handmade Monday