“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

This sums it up! I don’t want to stay on page 1 or even chapter 1!
It has been a long while since we hopped on a plane and took off!

Sometimes the stresses in ones life just brings you to a situation where you wish you could pack your bags and just go… ok… pack your bag, your husbands bag and your children’s bags and then go!
Where to?! Wherever really! well, maybe Paris, London, Spain, Portugal, Seychelles, Mauritius, Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong… I’ll stop here…. or else I would be in trouble!

I even have a list in my head of the people I would love to travel with! (insert rofl emoji here)

Spring in the UAE is maybe a week long!

It’s the transition between what we call winter (others may call spring) and summer.

This week is when everything around you seems just right… well other than the palm trees starting to pollenate and everyone’s allergies increases!
The weather is beautiful and it’s the perfect time for weddings, outdoor events and definitely gardening!

We’re working on the (minor) landscaping of our new house right now because March is the month to plant everything. That’s putting a smile on my face. Seeing it all come together after lots of hard work.

Because everything seems happy outdoors, I wanted to make some “happy” mini madeleines. But of course, I had to spice them up a little!
Why madeleines? Well because they’re just too cute to resist… yes i said the C word!
So imagine madeleines which are mini! Isn’t that even more tempting?!

I was on one of my usual trips to Tavola (kitchen and tableware destination around the Middle East) and these mini madeleine silicone moulds just couldn’t have me leave without it! So I got one for myself and one for a lucky reader!
That’s not it… there’s also a silicone and ceramic springform loaf pan!
Both giveaways are from the brand LéKUé. I have used different items from this brand and they met my expectations! (I’m not easily pleased)

What do you have to do to win this?
Share your love by choosing one of the following, but I’d love if you’ve done all!
The contest is eligible for readers locally and internationally

1- Comment on this blog post
2- Tweet about this giveaway using the hashtag #salutmadeleine
3- Retweet my tweet about this post
4- Like the photo about this post on instagram

Don’t forget the Madeleines!
Being bite-sized, I was about to pop them all in my mouth but then I remembered that I made these to take to my grandmother’s house for our Friday gathering.

The chocolate works wonders along with the spices and the fluffiness of the madeleine itself takes you somewhere else! Yet again, perfect for Spring!
I’m going on an on about the weather and I probably won’t stop until I step outside and get slapped by the heat very soon.

I first thought I was too happy the weather is pleasant, because I’m trying to hide all the stress i’m feeling. Could that be it or could I just be emitting some positive energy to everyone around me?
I do hope it’s the second one.

Spiced Mini Madeleines

INGREDIENTS
1 Cup Flour
1 TSP Baking Powder
1 1/2 TSP Mixed Spice (Recipe Below, or you can use store bought)
7 TSP Butter
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Sugar
1 TSP Vanilla Essence
Icing Sugar (Optional)

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C and butter a 24 mini madeleine mould. (You’ll work in batches)
Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a bowl. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and allow to cool.

Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until pale and very thick. Add the flour mixture, butter and vanilla until combined.

Fill each shell 2/3 through and bake for around 10-12 minutes until golden. Remove from mould as soon they come out of the oven.

Dip the madeleines in halfway in the chocolate ganache and then sprinkle with icing sugar and some more mixed spice.

For the Chocolate Ganache:
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1/3 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

In a saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil and then immediately pour over chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes and then mix until smooth and thick.

For the Mixed Spice:
1 TBS Mixed Spice
1 TBS Ground Cinnamon
1 TBS Ground Nutmeg
2 TSP Ground Mace
1 TSP Ground Cloves
1 TSP Ground Coriander
1 TSP Ground Ginger

Mix all the spices together and store in an airtight container.

When there’s a will, there’s a way they say…

I have a quite a few friends who have some sort of diet, whether they were gluten free, vegetarians, vegans or some with even worse restrictions!
And recently my mother has come to know that she’s allergic to gluten, oats, dairy, egg and lots of other things too!

I have been wanting to try making recipes which were gluten free for my friends but never had the courage…
I always had a feeling that it just wouldn’t taste the same!
Only when we received my mother’s test results did I build the courage.

I have said this more than once: “It’s been nearly a month”…

I admit that I lack self-discipline… and that I sometimes drift away especially when things get a little to stressful or busy!

This is how I have been for nearly a month and a half… running around like a headless chicken!
If you see me, you would actually give me a little sticker that says: Super Tired Mom! Or maybe just a pat on my shoulder.

I’m sure many of you are in the same situation and I salute you all for the hard work!

Sometimes even when I have some free time (which is rare)… I don’t pick up my laptop to write a new post… but I go and bake something for the family to enjoy!

Yes… I do need chill pills… If you have some… please do share!

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Today started with one of the hardest moments I ever had in my life.
I actually was dreading to face this day for the passed two weeks!

My husband was sent off to one the countries where the UAE is part of the Peace Program there.

I used to feel for families with someone defending countries not their own but never did I realize how hard it is until this morning.

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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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Many of you might know how diverse the UAE is. It embraces so many nationalities and they melt together until well combined!

If you’re an Emarati you’ll notice a few things… That many expatriate don’t know much about the culture other than their visit to the museum, Mohammed Bin Rashid’s Cultural Understanding Center, the Heritage Village and maybe just maybe from colleagues at work.
A lot of the information they get from these places might not give the full picture.

The Emirati culture isn’t one of the hardest to absorb once you get to know more about it.

There are some expatriates living in the UAE who tend to only mingle with other expatriates. Don’t ask me why! I know we don’t bite!
It’s like a whole other Dubai which we don’t know about!

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Once again I took an unintended break!
Ramadan got busier towards the end, then the Eid break where we spent at the beach house then of course adjusting to the regular schedule and back to taking Cravings orders. That took me quite a while.

During Ramadan, I try to cook or bake something from different cultures more than I actually during regular days.

I do that mainly because everyone gathers during Futoor and then after that everyone wants two or three kinds of dessert.

My mom makes her famous puddings: Rice Pudding (Rice with Milk), Saffron Custard, Rose Milk Sago (Tapioca Pudding), Mastic Pudding, and of course Rice Farni.
Rice Farni is made using rice flour and the outcome is this rich white custard-like pudding.

Ever since I was a child, this was my favorite!

I quickly remove the raisin-walnut-cinnamon-coconut scattered on the pudding and and enjoy every spoon! I even have it for Suhoor!

The day before I made this version, I was telling my mom that I need to learn her recipe for the rice farni because hers is the best and no cookbook can ever beat it (no offense)!
By the time I’m done with the boys and go to the kitchen, she’s already pouring them in the serving bowls!

But today, I managed to get the recipe from my mother and also have two other ways of doing the rice farni!

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Sometimes the smallest things in life make us happy and content…
Sometimes fulfilling a lost talent with another you’ve become an addict of allows you to believe that the artist in you is just dormant and will soon awaken…

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