Last month I was invited by EmiratesNBD Bank to visit Taste of Dubai and review it for them.
Why EmiratesNBD? Well, not only were they sponsoring the event but they also have a very interesting dining privilege program which is called Bon Apétit!

To be honest, I was very excited to visit Taste of Dubai because I have been meaning to do so for the past 3 years and miss out because of family plans.
When EmiratesNBD contacted me, I hesitated at first and after thinking it through I agreed for two reasons:
1- My whole family are loyal EmiratesNBD card holders.
2- I used the invitation as a strong excuse to visit Taste of Dubai and miss on Friday family gatherings.

I was beyond shocked from beginning to end of this vist!
At first, I was the only person who the security wanted to search his/her bag! (Only the Emirati got that treatment) – No I didn’t let him search my bag and I was this close to causing a big scene!!

You could barely walk from how packed the place was, let alone push a stroller!

Taste of Dubai was more like: Drinking in Dubai! An alcohol fest actually!
Don’t judge! I’m not being biased etc but the event planners should have thought that not only non-muslims/expatriates are interested in food related events!
A British friend of mine said: this event is just one more reason for people to drink!

I won’t go on more about Taste of Dubai since I didn’t see much of it. I left very quickly. Some of the worthy stalls were Lafayette Gourmet, Raw Coffee, and gourmetpoint.com.

If you’re an EmiratesNBD card holder, make sure to make use of the amazing discounts in 600 restaurants all over the UAE!
You can read more about it here!

Ever since I set foot in the kitchen I have been on a quest to learn more about different cuisines and how cultures, tradition and sometimes religion impact on people’s life.

This made me want to learn more about baking food from around the globe and every now and then “Emiratize” it!

Living in a fast developing country, which embraces diverse nationalities and cultures puts us in contact (either directly or indirectly) with a huge number of various cuisines, ingredients and of course experience.

All you have to do is look around you and you’ll get a new idea, a new ingredient, a way of cooking you’ve never heard of or even similarities in dishes from some countries with your own.

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It’s two days early but I won’t be in Dubai then so I would like to with every Muslim an Eid Mubarak!

Everyone seems to be traveling this Eid! I wish I could just grab a flight and take a break!

Sadly I can’t!

This Eid brings some unwanted news with it… My husband will be traveling for work and it will be a long time before he’ll come back!
I don’t want to break into tears while writing more about this matter! I will just have to face it when the day comes!

In the meantime, we’re spending the Eid holidays at the beach house in Diba.

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Sometimes you feel that you get sucked into a tornado of things to do and then suddenly you realize that you have missed something specific… it might not be a big thing… maybe something as simple as making bread!

I have been missing making bread… the patience it brings and the satisfying feeling it brings when you see the outcome!

The kitchen has been invaded by me for the passed week or so… baking cookies and delivering La Mère Culinaire Cravings’ orders…

While I was baking orders, I felt the need of doing something more intense…. like baking bread of course!

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I do realize that a whole month has passed without me blogging.
On the 18th of May, my blog turned one!
That’s why I wanted to make something special to celebrate.
Something Emirati…

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One whole month…. Bad girl! Bad!
No more excuses and no more blaming it on the bad food photography!

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I was extremely glad that we decided to spend the weekend in the farm. Although our bags were like we were going away for a month but when you have children they have so many needs so this leaves you packing what you need, what you might need and what you most probably won’t need!
The boys loved playing with the sand, interacting with the animals and just spending time with their father.

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