Quality time with "Yourself"

Do you enjoy the company of yourself? 
If yes,,, then you sure don't mind being alone,,and there is a big difference in being alone and being lonely!
I decided to have some quality time with myself this weekend,,it has been hectic this week and I was so longing for a time out.
First thing that popped into my head was having breakfast ALONE ,,,in my favorite cafe,,indulge in some heavenly dessert afterwards,,also ALONE !! 
So I dropped the kids in the new Quran learning center they started to attend (will tell you all about it later inshalla) and headed for my place,,,
It was nice to be honest and the two hours went fast and I lost track of time,,,
My ALONE time was not that alone though,,it should always include some chores I have to finish or correcting that has to be done before a deadline,,this time it was the massive amount of notebooks I took with me to the cafe,,the waiter gave me that sympathetic look and mentioned that I reminded him of his dad whom used to be a teacher and was always among piles of notebooks,,,thank you Mr.Waiter :P
I enjoyed the company of myself and I enjoyed the company of my ever- non- parting notebooks,,,they always keep me occupied during hard times.
The Bonaffee pie was also supreme.

When You Travel,,,,

What things would you do when you travel? Other than sightseeing and taking lots of pictures?
Well okay, I know you would enjoy food,,,especially if you are in an exotic place and you want to try new cuisines.
How about taking a great book with you to fill those dull moments at the airport or boring waiting minutes or maybe hours at check points?
I'm always amazed to see foreigners reading books at their vacation places,,they always seem to have a book at hand. at the beach or in the plane,,airports or even buses and trains,,you see heads tucked into books every where BUT in an Arab`s hand ,,,a very sad fact!
It`s not that we don't have readers,,,I believe we do ,,and as I'm around teens for almost half of my day ,I see them reading a lot. I feel very proud and would want to see that beautiful seen everywhere.
Many youth are now turning to read novels over watching soap operas ,,,isn't that just amazing?
Read,,read,,and READ more !!!
Next time you choose a place for a vacation please consider choosing a book to finish while you are there.

home made play dough recipe

Play dough is always fun when you have preschoolers, especially if you are trapped indoors for a weekend and want to occupy them for a while, even my 8 year old Sultan loves to play with it.

I remember when mom used to make it for my little sisters at home and she used natural food colors like turmeric. 

Here is a home made play dough recipe, I haven't tried this one to be hones,t I use my moms recipe which has no measuring at all :P 

(moms are professionals you know!!!) 

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tarter
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• food coloring

HERE is also a link to a blog that has an interesting play dough booklet that you can print out and hard cover at any bookshop and arrange in a file so the kids can stick the dough on, have fun and learn at the same time.

download booklet

أسهل ابل باي على وجه الكرة الارضية

اسهل ابل باي على وجه الكرة الارضية للناس الكسلانين امثالي ,,,,والطريقة من صاحبتي رباب الله يرضى عليها بما انها ام عاملة متلي فا اكيد بجمعنا الحس الفني المشترك :) ازا انتو كسلانين  عمليين متلي بنصحكم تجربوها لانو عنجد سريعه وهبله وزاكيه كتير

ماما...سامحيني عملتلك خيانه وجربت ابل باي تانيه غير وصفتك الخرافيه المشهوره المتوارثه منذ زمن,,,,لانو وبكل تواضع ما عم تزبط معي

الخلل مني مش من الوصفه :) المهم خلونا بالابل باي تاعتي : الهبله السريعه والزاكيه كتير كتييييير 

المكونات 

اصبع زبده بحرارة الغرفه

3 كاسات طحين 

1,1/5 كاسة زيت نباتي 

1, 1/5كاسة لبن رايب

1 ملعقه كبيره بيكنج باودر

الحشوة

4 تفاحات يتم تقشيرها وبرشها 

2 ملعقة كبيرة قرفه

2 ملعقة كبيره سكر

انا اضفت جوز ,,,طازه اجاني من الشيشان وبالتحديد من الشجرة  اللي بحوش قرايبنا هناك ,,,عادي ما تتعقدو,بينفع ابو الكيلو ب 8 دنانير من اي سوبر ماركت

ممكن تضيفو زبيب كمان 

الطريقة

يفرك الطحين مع الزبدة جيدا ثم تضاف المواد الاخرى,,,,ههههه دايمن بالوصفات بنقلب عالعربي الفصحى ,,يا ترى ليش؟ 

تضاف المواد الاخرى  وتعجن جيدا وتترك عا جنب

هلأ هون عامل الكسل بيشتغل,,,,يا اما بتكونو معدلات وبتعملوها عالطرقة التقليدية,,,زي ماما واختي سوسن ,,,شغل حبكة بالعجين واوراق شجر وقصص او بتختصرو الوقت  والجهد وخلايا المخ وبتعملوها على شكل قنابل :)))) مو احلا؟؟

تخبز بفرن حار وتزيين بالسكر المطحون 
يسلمو رباب :)

Flower pot card

One of the best things about inviting friends over my house is making favors and giveaways for each and every one of them just to make them feel special.
You can go really simple if you have a low budget. Buy a cheap mug and fill it with some cookies and tea bags, wrap in fancy ribbons and here you go,,,a nice favor that your guests would totally appreciate.
You can also make simple thank you cards .Here is a very nice and easy tutorial that shows how a flower pot card is made.
My friends loved these and I was glad to teach couple of my colleagues at school how to make them.

The perks of being a teacher

Would be in having sweet notes from amazing young ladies and have them put on my fridge that I use as a motivational board and wake up each and every morning to that great amount of love and encouragement.

My Tea Time

So when it comes to tea I have to show you my new tea pot,,,

just in love with how funky it is. 

Well,,in my family tea has a story and I guess it`s the case in all cultures,,tea has its respectable status. 

You invite people over tea, you serve tea at gatherings and meetings, you expect tea when you visit people and surly there has to be a cleansing tea cup after a full meal.

We as Chechens make tea using two tea pots , one for boiling plain water and the other small one is adjusted on top containing brewed tea.

My dad likes his tea with a slice of lemon and mom likes it a bit dark. We never add herbs mind some mint in summer and I recently started adding sage to it, especially in winter.

I just love my hot tea cup first thing in the morning and the most amazing part of the day is when hubby and I set in the kitchen and have our teas together after dinner,,,I really cherish that half an hour of the day.

My tea has people,,,long list actually ,,those are the ones that make the taste of it better.

And what is there better than an amazing cup of tea along with a good book?

My tea cupboard is full of all types of tea that  we always get  as gifts from visitors and relatives who go to Chechnya ( I told you tea has a story in my family).
The most amazing and cool tea gift I got was from my sister Ilham. It`s a kind of tea that changes its shape slowly once you pour hot water over it. I once read that it was given as a gift from the Chinese Emperor to Mary Antoinette and she just loved it.

A nice tea box,,, 

This is the strange tea bun 

look how amazingly it blooms.