Welcome to My Kitchen - أهلا وسهلا

This blog started off as a joke between me and a friend. But then it became real. It's still small, but I plan on expanding on it as much as I can. I may have only a few recipes listed, but you can't see my drafts list. I have so many recipes I want to share.

I grew up in the US, but my family hails from the Middle East. As long as I can remember, everyone always, for some reason, gathered in the kitchen for coffee and chit chat instead of in the living room. If my mom was cooking, I'd sit in the breakfast area doing homework after school. On the weekends, my parents, my brother and I would get together and plan dinner, the one that sticks out most was STEAK. We loved having steak dinners - each one of us had a responsibility. My father being the head chef, my mother the sous chef and my brother and I the amateurs.

In Syria, morning, afternoon or evening, I'd find my mother, her mother and siblings in the kitchen having coffee. Or maybe preparing a stew for that night or stuffing grape leaves and squash for the following day's lunch. Or in our house, the morning Turkish coffee had to be on the balcony next to the kitchen, accompanied with a cigarette, enjoying Fairouz on the radio.

Perhaps my spending so much time in The Kitchen throughout my life is the reason why lately, especially in the past year, I have found much solace. It has become a sanctuary. I truly am independent to make my own choices, experiment, make a mistake, cover it up or throw it away and start over. There is something about the perfume of individual ingredients slowly marrying and resulting in tingles in your nose and grumbles in your stomach because you just can't wait to try it. Or even just watching ingredients swirl and blend under a hand mixer...or using your hands to decorate a platter. Touch the textures, smell the aromas, taste and please your palate, listen to the sizzles, and see the colors, the arrangements.

I love sharing my culinary attempts. It's not that I seek out compliments, but I get so ecstatic when someone tells me they loved something that I cooked, baked or created. I feel like I did something good, I did something right - so please do comment on any recipe you try. If you loved it, wonderful. If you didn't, tell me what you would have done differently.

Welcome to my kitchen...I hope you enjoy the tastes as much as I love making each dish.