Monthly Archives: October 2011

Postcard from Up North

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Weque brook POST

The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt (An eager Weque winding stone brook, one of many … Continue reading →

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Leeks in Olive Oil, and scenes from the farm market

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Leeks in olive oil 2 POST

When I’m at the farm market here in the north country, focus can be a difficult thing. I go in with a plan, I really do, but then the radishes I wanted so badly are not there, and Bill tells … Continue reading →

Posted in Stories and Recipes | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Technique: How to clean leeks

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Leeks cleaning better POST

Leeks are lovely and delicious, but when you look under the hood you discover their dark side. They are full of gritty dirt that has to be washed away completely before you can cook with them. If you’ve ever tasted … Continue reading →

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Ingredient: Leeks

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Leeks at Bills 2 POST

It’s not that leeks frequent the Lebanese table. It’s that they frequent so many dishes across the board, giving dimension and making everything taste better. At Tante Marie’s, there were many ingredients at the ready every day for our cooking, … Continue reading →

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Postcard from Up North

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Apples at Bills POST

Delicious autumn…my very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot (Apple extravaganza, Bill’s Farm Market.)

Posted in Picture Postcards | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Toasted Bulghur with Poached Chicken; a recipe to get you through the night

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Chicken smeed bowl POST

As long as you are with me as I walk down memory lane like I did last week with Dimitri’s rice pudding, let’s head to the other side of town, East Lansing, where I spent two years at Michigan State … Continue reading →

Posted in Stories and Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Ingredient: Cinnamon

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Cinnamon stix in a pile POST

When you are eating a delicious Lebanese dish and you find yourself asking, as people often do, what it is you taste that you can’t seem to put your finger on, the answer is often cinnamon. For many, cinnamon is … Continue reading →

Posted in Ingredients | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Postcard from Up North

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Harbor Springs fall tree POST

Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower. ~ Albert Camus (Glowing tree, Bay Street. I’ve been watching you for weeks. What will I do when your leaves are gone?)

Posted in Picture Postcards | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Orange Blossom Rice Pudding; it’s going to calm you down, too

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Rice pudding 1 cup POST

The Abood Law firm, in the early days, was located in the heart of downtown Lansing, Michigan on Allegan Street. In the summers as a teenager, I worked there doing all sorts of odd jobs, running documents around and filing … Continue reading →

Posted in Stories and Recipes | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Technique: How to temper eggs

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Eggs POST

When cooking with eggs for a pudding, like the rice pudding we are making this week, the method calls for adding the eggs to hot milk. If you did this without first tempering the eggs, you would end up with … Continue reading →

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Ingredient: Rice

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Rice in measure 2 POST

The Lebanese dishes are countless that include rice as a component. If rice isn’t there in a stuffing of some sort, it’s underneath as a beautiful, and delicious, bed that soaks up juices and contributes to the overall nutritive value … Continue reading →

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Postcard from Up North

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Maureen Abood
The bay in fall POST

The important thing is not to think much, but to love much; do, then, whatever most arouses you to love. ~ St. Teresa of Avila (Fall sunset over the harbor. The boats may be gone, and the people with them, … Continue reading →

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Lebanese Olive Salad, and Our Town

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Olive salad glass and pink 2 POST

I’ve noticed, as I’m sure you have, that olive bars in the supermarket are as typical now as the salad bar once was. The IGA here in Harbor Springs has a great little olive bar that I perused closely the … Continue reading →

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Technique: How to pit an olive

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Olive pit POST

I used to try to pit firm olives with a cherry-pitting tool, until I learned a better way in culinary school that makes for a simple, and downright satisfying, process (and it’s the same one used to loosen the skin … Continue reading →

Posted in Techniques | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Ingredient: Olives

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Maureen Abood
Olives 2 POST

One thing I love about being in the first year of this blog is that we get to cover so many essentials of the Lebanese way of eating. Olives rank right up there with flatbread and labne when it comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Ingredients | Tagged , | 8 Comments