Another Belated Friday Feature: A Life in Yanbu

I'm cheating again. Instead of writing something I'm just going to link to Life in Yanbu, a blog I discovered through the MENA Cooking Club (on which I've been more of a lurker on than a real participant* but I'm hoping to change that soon).

Life in Yanbu has wonderful recipes, great photos, and honest commentary on the recipes. Apart from all that, Life in Yanbu humours my love of South Indian food by not only giving me hints and tips but also identifying things I've tried (oh, and then trying out recipes!). I'm thinking of murukku, a lovely little snack I've had lots of times in Dubai and India but had no idea how it was made until it appeared on My Life in Yanbu's feed for me! (It's great with tea.)

Murukku (looks a bit like pasta in this photo)

And now, another confession. The lovely blogger at My Life in Yanbu asked me to post photos of the trip I took to India in March. I haven't gotten around to it but maybe that can be my project for this week. It would also be plastic free!

* I wanted to take part in the last MENA Cooking Club challenge, I had planned on making chebab but couldn't find yeast in any of the shops in my town! 

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Friday Feature: Plastic Free Year or Just July

Yes, it's been a long time. I could blame it on work or just admit that I haven't felt like turning on my laptop when I've come home in the evening. Anyhow, this week's Friday Feature goes to my sister who is working on a great project, to live 2017 plastic free.

You can read all about her journey on One Year Zero Plastic and maybe even get some inspiration! I have to say, the project has made me more attentive to the amount of plastic we live with (it's insane). While I am not sure I'd have the willpower to do a full year,  I'm going to take part in Plastic Free July.

Maybe this little challenge will get me back to blogging!

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Friday Feature: Street Art

When all around is a canvas. Community art, art in the community!

Terrible photo, photography is not my forte but I hope it doesn't completely detract from giving an idea of Dublin Canvas, which is working towards "Colour in the City".

 

Poppy Corner by Donna McGee
29 Fitzwilliam Street Lower

These little bits of art, which are one of my favourite things in Dublin, pop up unexpectedly, and brighten up the day no end. The Dublin Canvas website describes Dublin Canvas as, 

an idea, a community art project intended to bring flashes of colour and creativity to everyday objects in the City. Less grey, more play. The project takes previously unused public space and transforms it into canvases to help brighten up the City. Making Dublin a more beautiful place to live, work and visit.

It's worth heading over to Lovin Dublin as they've collated some great shots of last summer's additions. Dublin Canvas also has a handy map view of where to find the artwork. Maybe I'll start a new project and try to see all the pieces!

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Friday Feature: Cooking Apples

It's back to porridge for me on Monday: I'm starting a new job. So out will go with my, somewhat frivolous, breakfasts of fruit scones and tea and in will come a sensible breakfast of porridge and sultanas (for my American friends, sultanas are what you call raisins). The scone might apper for elevenses.

Bramley apples

Anyhow, with that exciting prospect around the corner, today's Friday Feature is apples. Not any old apple, but Bramley apples, also known as cookers, baking or cooking apples here in Ireland. What's so special about a Bramley apple? Well, it is perfect for baking: the apple almost melts when baked and, as it is quite acidic, is never too sweet (quite the opposite, as children we would eat the core of a Bramley apple dipped in sugar, impossible without the sugar!). Unlike "eating" apples, cookers soften very quickly so don't need to be pre-cooked when baking.

I've never seen Bramley apples outside of Ireland and Great Britain. Well that's not quite true, I did see two for sale in Dubai once, in the Park n' Shop in on Al Wasl Road. I bought them, even though they were about 20 times the price we'd pay in Ireland or London. Yes, I paid something like 40 dirhams for two apples (that is about 10 euro at today's exchange rate).

So don't be put off by the slightly, less-than-perfect look of a Bramley apple: peal the skin, cut it up, stew it with a little sugar, or use for a crumble, apple tart, Kerry apple pie or any other apple recipe you have. You'll then understand why, after four years in Dubai without a "cooker" I was willing to splurge on the two apples!

Waiting for the crumble topping

(For anyone wondering if there are alternatives to Bramleys, there is a thread discussing this on Jamie Oliver's website. The conclusion? Not really, but if you've never had a Bramley you will try to be helpful and give suggestions like Granny Smith, which really is no substitute!) 

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Friday Feature: NaTakallam

I keep saying that I don't want to lose my Arabic but I've struggled to find a class that fits what I'm looking for in Ireland. I was mentioning to a friend the issues I had with the latest class I had sat-in on and she sent me details of NaTakallam, a web-based Arabic teaching service.

I haven't signed up yet, mainly because I have been running around doing interviews and trying to sort out finding a job, but I plan on signing up from February. The NaTakallam (which means "we speak" in Arabic) model works by pairing up Arabic language learners with Syrian refugees who will teach Arabic. I'm less interested in a formal Arabic course and keener to do a conversation-style class, as my focus is more on retaining whatever limited ability I have to speak Arabic, and the NaTakallam platform looks like it will facilitate this.

For anyone out there considering learning Arabic, why not check out NaTakallam? As the NaTakallam website notes,

The Syrian conflict has triggered the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Even if Syrians manage to flee the violence and obtain asylum abroad, many of those displaced are restricted in their work opportunities, often challenged by language barriers and local labor restrictions. 

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Friday Feature: ParkRun

So today is the day. Obama is no longer American president, Donald J. Trump is now President Trump. While this blog isn't about politics, or at least, it isn't yet about politics, who knows how it will evolve, I will always remember that day in November 2008 when the election results trickled in. I was at the gym in Dubai, attempting to run on a treadmill and it's likely the only time I've been able to smile on a treadmill. There was just so much optimism surrounding Obama's win, especially for those of us who aren't American.

Looking back on those days reminds me just how good running makes me feel. Back when I was working 18, 19, 20 hour days, my 30-minute jog was what held me together mentally, emotionally, and physically. I suppose I pounded out the stress from the day before and got some air (dubious quality no doubt) into my lungs and brain. Cold mornings were my favourite, there's nothing like a bracing wind to wake up a sleepy mind, body, and soul. (A good pair of gloves are always handy on those days.)

So with all that in mind today's Friday Feature is one of my favourite organisations: ParkRun, a group that organises free, timed 5k runs on Saturdays around the world. At the moment there are runs in fourteen countries, it is open to all-comers, young, old, resident, visitor, tourist - some people even run with their dogs! The event is completely free, registration takes a few seconds and once registered runners can get their time recorded. Race results arrive via phone or email; during the days when my running was improving I used to wait with great anticipation for my times, as I gained a few seconds each week. I've gone downhill in the past few years and am about six minutes off my PB! So, definitely room for improvement.

Back in my faster days

The other thing I love about ParkRun is how friendly it is - everyone is welcome. Everyone is competing to an extent, but only really with themselves, it's more a point of pride that everyone wants to get a PB. After the race, groups of runners go for coffee, stand around and chat and wait to cheer the slower runners (I'm now in that category and it does make me kick a bit harder at the end when I hear people urging me to keep going). For inspirational ParkRun stories head over to the From the Field section at the bottom of the homepage.

Everyone can do 5k, believe me - even if it's a minute run, a minute walk, or all walk, you can do it! Did I mention that ParkRun is free? Hope to see some of you out in the parks tomorrow morning, you'll be finished by 10am! You might even discover a new reason to smile.

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Friday Feature: Brackish Water Arts

Last year I spent a lot of time getting help with IT: I was paranoid (though that has such negative connotations, in my circumstance the paranoia was rooted in real concerns) so anytime something weird happened on any of my accounts I would pop in to speak to the wonderful IT team to check what had happened.

On one of my many trips in to the IT department I noticed a lovely paper flower on a desk. Really lovely. It made me smile lovely. In fact it was so beautiful that I asked where it was from. Lady Luck was smiling on me that day, it turned out that the artist who makes them is based in the Boston area and has an Etsy profile.

Regina Valeriano Macomber is the artist in question and her handcrafted flowers are quite stunning and original. I ordered three flowers, one was red, one more dusky pink, and the final flower was made from sheet music. The last one was a Christmas present for a friend who is very musical and finds the lack of flowers in bloom during Boston's winters hard going. She loved it!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share but head over to Regina's instagram account (@blackdoily) to see her work and work-in-progress. If I ever get married again Brackish Water Arts might be getting a call to make flowers for me (yes, Brackish Water Arts caters to weddings, which I think is fabulous). When I got married several years ago (short-lived marriage) I was steadfast against having flowers, given they'd be used for one day and that would be that. But paper flowers could be lovely, they would have a long life and, much like the musical flower that I ordered, could bring a really original touch to a celebration.

Here's another gallery showing some of Regina's work - the lovely colours brought a smile to my face on this freezing cold day. I hope you all enjoy it too.

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First Friday Feature

Introducing Friday Features!

If part of this blog is about me re-engaging with the world around me I thought I should write about the present, not just the past. So once a week, I'll post about a business. These aren't going to be reviews, more just a few words to prove to myself as much as anything that I'm venturing out into the world again. How long I'll be in Ireland is TBD but as I'm here for now I'll start with what's around me at the moment.

First stop is Molly's, a nice little café in Balbriggan, which also acts as a small art gallery (it's part of the Creative Quarter). The full name gives this away, if I'd only ever thought about it - Molly's Coffee Gallery - but as someone who hates coffee I suppose I never thought about the full name as I only ever get tea in Molly's.

Anyhow, worth a visit if and you get to view some local art while having a break.

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