Posts Tagged ‘Lebanon’
Postcard from Lebanon, last May Day
If we heaped together all the love that mothers have for their children, all the love of husbands and wives, all the love of all the angels and saints, it could never equal Mary’s love for even a single soul. — Saint Alphonsus Liguori (Our Lady of Lebanon, Harissa, where I was amid throngs of…
Read MoreHappy New Year, a Postcard
Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion. It has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration. ~Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese poet (Thank you, 2012, for your abundant gifts. You gave me Lebanon, and for that I will be forever grateful. Happy New Year to all…
Read MoreKibbeh Footballs, Arras Kibbeh
Kibbeh footballs, or “arras kibbeh” is an incredibly delicious and beautiful way to prepare classic Lebanese kibbeh. The balls are shaped with the kibbeh and stuffed with househ, a lemony meat/onion/pine nut mixture. Read more about kibbeh meat here, and kibbeh recipes here and here. Try poaching uncooked arras in laban, comfort food at it’s best.…
Read MoreLebanese Grape Leaf Rolls, a taste of Dier Mimas
[…watch my video on how to roll grapeleaves HERE!…] There is one thing I’ve always thought was a given about grape leaves: that fresh is best. In other words, that leaves picked when they’ve just unfurled from the vine in the spring and eaten immediately make the finest little stuffed rolls. Or so I thought,…
Read MorePostcard from Lebanon
What is the definition of a good wine? It should start and end with a smile. ~ William Sokolin (Sheep grazing with their shepherds–in regular street clothes–just beyond the vineyards of Ksara. Old world and new, Lebanon’s ironies. Our wine started and ended in smiles that day, with sheep).
Read MoreLebanese wine, and tasting Lebanon.
My itinerary for my recent trip to Lebanon included wineries, at the top of the list. I had lots of reasons for wanting to visit Lebanon’s wine country: the beauty of the vineyards that I hoped would be akin to those I’d seen in California, France, and Italy; the chance to learn more about the…
Read MoreFavorite Things: Wine Glasses
The thing about wine glasses is that I am a believer in the notion that the size, shape and material of a glass makes a difference in the wine-drinking experience…yet I love to buy, display and drink from wine glasses of all shapes and sizes just because they are lovely and fun to collect (from…
Read MorePostcard from Lebanon, a moveable feast
As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I…
Read MoreFarewell Lebanon, until we meet again.
We were remote, in the mountains, paying homage to our adored Lebanese saint, Charbel. It was a haunting place, creaking with wind and chill and a kind of desolation. I prayed for all of us. As I left, the branches of a tree waved and beckoned me over from across the courtyard. Are you my…
Read MorePostcard from Lebanon
The Lebanese love the water. Might explain what brought us to Michigan. Can you smell the roses and herbs? It was so aromatic, I hope it wafts in for you. Hallab pastry shop. Need I say more? Beirut beckons.
Read More