one year...

It's been an entire year since I've posted! I logged in today almost by accident and realized it. My life has been a wild rollercoaster this year...sometimes with amazing highs and plenty of frightening lows. I've come out a stronger and more confident woman because of this. And am going to be back blogging about my travels, food, and other random thoughts. I just returned from a trip to the DC area, NYC, CT, and NJ last week. I had an amazing time visiting friends and eating my heart out around town! :) Also in 2008 I went to Israel, Jordan, Morocco (again), and Seattle (twice). My next post will be about my recent travels but for now I'm excited to talk about the spice grinder I just purchased from my FAVORITE store! It's technically a coffee grinder, but since I am not a regular coffee drinker I am going to use it specifically for spices. I first saw it in a magazine that was dated from a few years ago but I was surprised to see they still have it for sale! I've been cleaning house and found I had at least 20 unread food and travel magazines from the past few years. I went through them all this week, cutting out all my favorite recipes and articles to save in a folder. When I saw this spice grinder I knew I had to have it! This photo is only a similar photo I found, not an exact replica. :)

my garden

I've never been into gardening. I grew up with parents who both enjoyed tooting around clipping things, planting things, picking things, and raising chickens and ducks. My mom was proud of her collection of over 100 varieties of roses. We even had a vegetable garden and loads of fruit (some are still there. Cherimoya, apples, grapes, plums, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, avocadoes, mangoes, etc) My mom used to drag me to nurseries to buy plants all the time and I hated every minute of it! But today I visited (the house I grew up in for the majority of my childhood) and took some random photos in our garden. Things have changed...the chickens are gone...a lot of the roses are gone...but some beautiful plants are still there! It really peaked my interest in gardening someday when I have a place to do it! :*)

introductions...

I wanted to introduce myself a little bit to anyone who might happen across my blog. I am a trained professional chef and world traveler. I graduated from the Cordon Bleu with an emphasis in haute French cuisine. I have worked in various resorts and restaurants from Los Angeles, to New York, and London. Now I focus mostly on fresh Mediterranean (MENA- Middle East/North African) cuisines and baking! I love to try new cuisines all the time and am willing to travel far to get it! A good friend of mine and I were traveling in Italy a few summers ago and I had read about the world champion gelato maker who happened to be 2 hours out of our way...guess where we stopped by?! :) It was worth every minute of extra driving time!

yummy.

I also love photography, fashion, decor, music, film, animals, kayaking (although I haven't done it lately), bicycling, board and card games, and spending quality time with friends and family...whatever that may be.

This is my first blog and I hope to share my travels, recipes, restaurant reviews, photos, music, and whatever else I feel like blabbing about that day! I hope you stay and read. :)

maroc

I love to travel. It is my first love. I'm constantly itching to see and explore new places around the world. I have a serious case of wanderlust. Serious. About three years ago, on my first trip to Morocco, I went to a beautiful town called Chefchaouen. A magical place perched amongst the famous Rif mountains with white and blue washed buildings.

And Fes. The most wonderful place in Morocco imo. A world heritage site. A truly awe-inspiring city filled with ancient midevil character. Delicious food, gorgeous handicrafts like pottery, lamps, and furniture (all which I bought plenty of and shipped home!) I think could live here.

vanilla cupcakes

This weekend was my good friend's daughters fourth birthday party. She invited fifty guests and had asked me to make St. Patrick's themed cupcakes for the kids. I used a Barefoot Contessa vanilla sheet cake recipe with another buttercream recipe I had. Vanilla on vanilla...boring, I know! But that is what the birthday girl wanted, so that is what the birthday girl got! The cake was highly disappointing (I usually like Ina Garten) but the frosting was yummy! So here's the recipe:

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy.
2. Sift powdered sugar into the mixer bowl (right on top of the beaten butter). Beat to combine.
3. Add the vanilla and the milk. Beat until combined.

recreating shawarma

While living in NY I frequented a wonderful Lebanese restaurant a few blocks from my apartment. I miss their food terribly now that I am in CA and have tried to recreate their shawarma. I received this recipe from an internet friend and slightly tweaked it to become closer to my beloved place in NY. Its close and very delicious! And please don't skimp on the tahini sauce! I love it dripping down my arm! :)

Chicken Schwarma

2 large chicken breasts cut in 2" long very thin slices
2 TBSP of plain yogurt (full fat, very thick)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
salt/pepper to taste
1/2 tsp b7arat (home made spice mix including cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, corriander, cardomom, black pepper, and cloves.)

Preheat broiler.
Marinate chicken for about 10-20 minutes in the yogurt and spices.
Lay the chicken in one layer on a baking sheet, it should not be watery. When you wash your chicken, make sure you dry it well before slicing it.
Broil it on side, flip it over to broil on the other side. When you flip it over, it will be one large mass that you will have to break up with a fork.

Everyone likes their shawarma with different condiments but here's what I love to assemble mine with:
White onion sliced thin
Tomatoes slice very thin
Shredded iceburg lettuce
Pickles (we used the arabic kind) sliced lenthwise very thin
Toum (arabic garlic sauce)
Pickled turnips called Kabis Lefet (arabic turnips dyed pink from beets)
Tahini Sauce (tahini with fresh lemon juice, water, salt)

To assemble them, take a warm pita and open it up so the 2 sides are separated but overlapping. In the center, add all the ingredients. Roll it up and wrap with foil to keep warm. If you have a panini press you could press them lightly for a minute like I've noticed they do in my favorite Lebanese joint in Queens, NY. If not, thats fine too! Yummy!

new beginnings...

I chose the name "antevasin" for my blog because I recently read a book that described the word and I felt like it was describing me. It is a word and an idea that really resonated with me. Antevasin, is a Sanskrit word, it means "one who lives at the borders." Apparently it originally referred to people who chose to leave the safety of their homes and venture out to the edge of the forest where the spirits dwelt, in order to uncover the answers to the sacred in their lives. In "Eat, Pray, Love," Elizabeth Gilbert describes it as " living on that shimmering line between your old thinking and your new understanding."
One day I was walking around our local bookstore and I saw the title "Eat, Pray, Love" and knew I had to read it before I even knew what it really was about. In short, it is about a woman going through a messy divorce who decides to travel to Italy, India, and Indonesia for a year of self discovery. Totally me! (Well minus the divorce part anyway...) It was an easy read but a great book overall and I highly suggest it to anyone who is in a bad relationship and dreaming of a new life...

So welcome to my new (and first) blog! I hope to blog about all things beautiful to me. Travel, food, music, film and love.