Eid Mubarak!

I hope that everyone enjoys their Eid. I pray that everyone's efforts in the month of Ramadhan were accepted.

I spent so much time making these sweets that I didn't sleep. I worked my night shift and came home and crashed this morning. I didn't even make it to the prayer :( Abdu got off of the schoolbus and we went to have a nice lunch. InshaAllah we are about to take a nap, but I didn't want to keep you in suspense any longer.

Here are my Eid Sweets....M'chawek, Vanilla Almond cookies, and Almond and Orange blossom cake.




Don't worry there were plenty more than this. My co-workers enjoyed the cookies and especially enoyed the M'chawek. They were surprised how quicly Ramadhan went and were thankful for the dessert.

Busy. Busy. BUSY!

I'm in the kitchen today preparing sweets for Eid. Expect pictures real soon.

UGGGGHHHH.....I"ve been tagged

Just kidding.

Rainbow in the Grey Sky has tagged me. I wasn't number one, but I guess she didn't want to upset anyone's feelings so she had to keep me down at the bottom of the list. It's okay. I know she was just protecting everyone else's feelings. Right?!!?

Here's the deal: Tag 5 people whose blogs you read and you often think about. Easy enough, but how do I pick just five. Let's see what I can come up with.

1.Organica-she is my best friend in the whole world. I miss her terribly and that little teaser she just gave me wasn't enough. I often think about her future, where she has come from in the last 3 years, and her sucess so far. She is strong beyond belief. I hope and pray for her happiness always.

2.Rainbow in the Grey sky-my tagger. my cooking buddy. my fellow married to an algerian sister. I often wonder how in the world you lived in Algeria for 3 years without your husband. I hope that you are adjusting well to life back in London and back together as a family.

3. The Pioneer Woman-that lady cracks me up and fattens me up. One word...BUTTER. You go visit her and you'll see what I'm talking about. I'm always waiting for the day she announces the upcoming arrival of a new little punk to her bunch. Hey, P-dub are there any other ways you can think of to use butter? Wait, I'm not sure I want to know :)

4. Stranger in this Dunyah- Another Brit married t an Algerian. Where do we find all of you??? Anyhoo, she lives in the bustling metropolis that is Riyadh. Will I get to meet her? Someday, maybe. Hopefully.

5. Safa- I always always always think about you. I have been reading your blog for a LONG time. So long that I feel like I know you personally. I always think about how you are adjusting to being a single mom. I think you are doing an amazing job.

As promised

This Ramadhan, like last year, has been a hectic one. My little one started kindergarten on the first day of Ramadhan. It's hard to believe that two weeks has passed by already. Two weeks with nothing really special happening. Abdu and I are just existing in our own way. We are getting used to his school routine, and I am attempting to fit in some free time for worship. At the moment, my goal is to read Qur'an a few times a week, pray the sunnah prayers, and make it to tarawih prayers on Saturday nights. I would also like to go over the small chapters of the Qur'an that I have forgotten. I find that they come back easily mashaAllah, but I have to work at it.

I haven't watched television in almost 2 months. It wasn't a choice but something that happened by chance. It broke in July and I haven't bothered to fix it. I didn't have much time to watch anyway, but now I have that little bit of extra time to do other things. MashaAllah it has been an unexpected blessing.

My son and I have been doing our best to have a nice iftar every day. I'm cooking some of his favorites and some new dishes too. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but this Algerian kid of mine sure does. I watch his sugars very closely because he is an active boy. We enjoyed making

this one together.

White Chocolate Fruit Tart adapted from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup of butter, softened( 1 1/2 sticks unsalted)

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

FILLING
10(ounces) white chocolate chips, melted and cooled(can use vanilla chips as well)

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1(8oz) package philadelphia cream cheese, softened(in ME they come in 250gm containers)

fresh strawberries

1 kiwi

1 peach, thinly sliced

raspberries

GLAZE

strawberry jam

DIRECTIONS

In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour; mix well. Press into an ungreased 11-in. tart pan with removable bottom or 12-in. pizza pan with sides. Bake at 300 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

For filling, in a small mixing bowl, beat melted chips and cream. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Spread over crust. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drain pineapple, reserving 1/2 cup juice; set juice aside. Arrange the pineapple, strawberries, oranges and kiwi over filling.

For glaze, pulse strawberry jam in a food processor to break up any fruit chunks. When jam is smooth cook in a small nonreactive saucepan over medium low heat. The jam will become thinner and almost translucent. Remove from heat and using a pastry cover fruit with "glaze." The glaze will help to keep the color of the fruit. Refrigerate for 1 houre before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

I thought this dessert was quite good. The crust tastes like one of those walker shortbread cookies, but the filling is too rich for my taste. I had two small pieces in about 4 days and took the rest for my co-workers.

NOTE: I used an 11 inch tart pan with removable bottom. It slides out of the pan easily and has a beautiful crust. In my pictures, the tart is sitting on the removable bottom of the pan. I didn't want you thinking it was sitting on the counter.

BON APPETIT!