Mint & Harissa

Passport Canada is funny !!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:15:00 +0000

So my passport expired in february and I was feeling kind of trapped like if I wanted to go to Tunisia on whim I couldn't!

So I filled out the form, went to get my new hijab-clad picture and sent in the funds to get it renewed.

I might add that previously i was not hijabi and now I am (4 years can do alot to a person- Hamduleh!)

SO ... I knew it would totally be some kind of controversy I was bracing myself for it, cuz i heard horror stories all over the world but I was still surprised when I got a call from passport canada at work the other day:

PC : Hello, this is passport canada, may I speak with Tania *******?

Me: Hi passport canada, I'm Tania.

PC: HaHa , ok so this is you in the picture. What is the SPECIFIC reason you are wearing the cap,bonnet, scarf on your head.

Me: Ohhh that, well for religious reasons.

PC: What religion?

Me: Islam. I am muslim, 4 years is a long time since you guys last saw me.

PC: *giggle* (weird dude) Ok we were just checking.

Me: No problem Big brother, so when am I getting my passport?

PC: In two weeks.

Me: Thank you!

Anyways might be dry on paper but the situation was humourous.

We're having a....Please vote for a name!

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:04:00 +0000

Baby Girl, MashAllah!!

So now poeple vote on the name!

(photo from http://dinodaloo.blogspot.com/ )

INVITE ONLY BLOGS

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:31:00 +0000

I'm doing some blog surfing when I'm supposed to be working and half of them need invites!! So please sisters if you have invite only blogs (espescially the ones on All Muslimah , figure out a way so that we can request an invite?

i dunno just a thought.

WOW.. I'm back !

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Salem Aleikom!

So yes it has been a long time and I know I have neglected my little humble blog, BUT inshAllah I have big plans for this place! wich includes more recipes (deserts such as backlava and makrout!) , more meal ideas for Ramadan and some scrapbooking tips and braggin for my new pregnancy album as well as my nursery decorations. Thats right I'm preggers, Al Hamduleh! and my mother-in-law is visiting for the birth in the dead of canadian winter - poor little lady may Allah bless her soul.

Currently 20 weeks and what a journey. This is my first pregnancy and never hamduleh had any miscarriages etc.

At 5 weeks I went to the emergency since I was cramping badly and thought it was ectopic (when the egg is in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus). They took some blood and said to come in the next day since no ultrasound technicians were in this late. The doctor tells me she's concerned since my white blood cell count is high.

So the following day I return and get an ultrasound - with sad news - no heart beat. The technician and doctor told me doesn't look good but it still a little too early. So after the ultra sound I visit the doctor and he tells me we'll do another ultrasound and not to worry white blood count cells are supposed to be high when your pregnant....

5 days later, at almost 6 weeks, still no heartbeat and now the technician goes as far as saying no fetal pole (it's the spinal cord) and that I will probably miscarry and a D/C (abortion type procedure) is best since I won't get to attached.

So I had already made an appointment with my family/ob-gyn doctor at 10 weeks. After reading so many stories on misdiagnosed miscarriages, I figured my body knows what to do and I will miscarry naturally.

At 10 weeks I see my doctor (not the emergency staff one) and she is worried we still haven't figured out whats going on, she tried to listen for a heartbeat but to no avail. She sends me for blood work to compare my hcg hormone level (since no one else thought to do it). The following day I cornered some poor resident to give me my results or there will be one crazy lady lol and I will take away her parking (I happen to work at the hospital and take care of residents and employee parking). She gives me the results but says she cant explain them : On May 9th my hcg was 13 062 IU/L and on june 12th 14 166 IU/L. So my hormones are increasing wich is very typical in normal pregnancies, my doctor calls me and she is so confused now so she sends me for an emergency ultrasound... and there was my baby... subhan'Allah. I have never felt my heart jump like that since I met my husband. The baby was moving and waving and the technician was so surprised she told me its not often we see this.

So now the journey is half way there, and no matter what happens I am gratefull to Allah subhana wa't'aala for having seen my baby at least alive.

Inshallah we will find out the baby's sex on friday, but no matter what this is my miracle baby and by Allah's grace and mercy i am a mother.

Disgusted with Lisa Ling

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:20:00 +0000

This is something I drafted last year and never got around to finishing it but I think it started off well, leave your comments.

Not only is this a review of a bias "documentary" ( and yes I am using an oxy moron since the real definition of documentary: "A film, TV program, book etc that presents a social, political, scientific or historical subject in a factual or informative manner; Of, related to, or based on documents; That serves to document something; Presented objectively without the insertion of fictional matter en.wiktionary.org/wiki/documentary" ) but this a straight forward expression of disgust. Here is my challenge to you:

1. Read this blog entry.

2. Watch it yourself : http://www.lisaling.com/fembomb

3. Link to your blog and add your comments.

4. Tell her what you think on her blog.

Anyways, so August 3rd after all my house stuff was done and finally realise that there is always some more dishes in the sink and "I'll do them tomorow" I sit in front of the tv while the hob is on the net. Flick, Flick ooo0o0o Something about Islam. And yes I freak out because having cable there is nothing about muslims and nothing halal either (we are working on getting internaitonal channels). So the hobby is like turn it off its still some propaganda. Of course I protest! But hun its Lisa Ling, she's not the usual reporter , don't worry this won't be degrading to Islam.

Now where in the world did I get that idea?!?! Well first off she left The View. Yes in search of something with more meaning she quit that dense job. * Ding Bonus points +100 *

She made an amazing report on how there is a dowry problem in India and how it's leading to lots of death and mistreatment of women. * Ding Bonus points +100). She actually went in a jail to report on gangs and drugs and had to get "permission" from the people in jail that they won't kill her. *Ding Bonus points +100*

Then she made : Female Suicide Bombers: Dying to kill ( forget the point system, I'm disgusted and really disapointed)

Ok look I don't mind you make a "documentary" and then report it biasly. Fine you have your opinions. I don't mind that you sunk to that level at all and I don't mind that you are no longer one woman I look up to.

This is what ticks me:

DO NOT EDIT SOMEONES COMMENTS TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE ITS AN ANSWER TO ANOTHER QUESTION

DO NOT HIRE A STUPID TRANSLATOR WHO IS DISTORTING SOMEONES WORDS.

AstaghfAllah...

The premise of the report is basically to identify why young, intelligent , educated Palastinian women would 1. wan't to be a suicide bomber 2. what made them do it that day etc etc.

I can tell you Lisa, you don't even have to travel that far:

WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT, ALL YOU CAN CONTROLE IS YOUR DEATH.... NOT EVEN THE STRONGEST, RICHEST ISRAELI SOLDIER CAN TAKE AWAY THAT FROM THESE POEPLE.

May Allah bless them all and grant them jannah, Ameen.

So she goes interview some family and women who proudly proclaim their willingness to do the same. She interviews The premise of the report is basically to identify why young, intelligent , educated Palastinian women would 1. wan't to be a suicide bomber 2. what made them do it that day etc etc.

I can tell you Lisa, you don't even have to travel that far:

WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING LEFT, ALL YOU CAN CONTROLE IS YOUR DEATH.... NO ISRAELI SOLDIER CAN TAKE AWAY THAT FROM THESE POEPLE.

May Allah bless them all and grant them jannah, Ameen.

So she goes interview some family and women who proudly proclaim their willingness to do the same. She interviews the first female bomber Wafe Idris' mother.

22:05

Lisa: "why do you think Wafe wanted to explode herself?"

Wafe's mother: " I do not know"

Ok... first.. EVERY PALESTINIAN UNDERSTANDS THE CAUSE. It is so obviosuly edited. The cut from Lisa to the mother underlines this.

28:42

Then she gets an opinion from an author Barbara Victor. So she wrote a book on suicide bombers. This makes her an expert? Basically they are trying to print this image that if a woman's life goes badly (divorce, etc) they are prone to commit suicide.

hrmm.. really great investigation work Lisa.

Here's some facts:

" Some Facts about Suicide in the U.S.A.
Facts Based on Current Statistics

1. Currently there are slightly more than 30,000 suicides annually (83 suicides per day; or 1 suicide every 17 minutes), with 12 of every 100,000 Americans killing themselves.

4. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death.

5. Males complete suicide at a rate four times that of females.

8. Suicide rates are the highest among the divorced, separated, and widowed and lowest among the married.

12. Suicide ranks third as a cause of death among young (15-24) Americans behind accidents and
homicide.

13. White suicide rates are approximately twice those of non-whites.

15. Blacks and Hispanics, when ranked among worldwide statistics and reporting, exhibit lower risk of
suicides.

Facts Based on Research Findings

· Females have generally been found to make 3 to 4 times as many attempts as males.

· Feelings of hopelessness (e.g., there is no solution to my problem) are found to be more predictive of suicide risk than a diagnoses of depression per se.

American Association for Suicidology
4201 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 408
Washington, D.C. 20008
(202) 237.2280
(202) 237.2282 (Fax)
Email: Info@suicidology.org
www.suicidology.org"

TUNISIAN SALSA or MECHOUIA Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:09:00 +0000

So I made Mechouia the other day and took the opportunity to take some pictures.

GRILL THE VEGETABLES,

UNTIL THEY LOOK LIKE THIS.

PEEL ALL OF THE SKINS OFF AND I LEAVE THE SEEDS BUT IT'S UP TO YOU.

I USE A TOMATO CRUSHER THAT IS USED TO MAKE TOMATO SAUCE, BUT YOU CAN USE A BLENDER, CHOPPER OR KNIFE.

CRUSH EVERYTHING.

ADD SALT, PEPPER AND OLIVE OLIVE.

VOILA!

It's not good bye, it's see you later

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Thu, 08 May 2008 23:09:00 +0000

Isn't it awefull when the Husband leaves?

When you bring them to the airport and there is like that time where you are waiting for him to go, you want to stay with him until the last minute, but every minute that passes hurts. You are in limbo as they say. Don't want to stay because you are torturing yourself, don't want to go because you want to be with him every minute.

When I was younger I used to dream about having a husband who had family abroad. Why not? You can go for vacation whenever you want without the expenses. Maybe I was making up for my lack of family abroad. But now that I have tasted it first hand, it hurts. Too much.

See you later hoby.

Tunisian Recipes Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Sun, 04 May 2008 03:14:00 +0000

Aslema Everyone !

I am no show off but here are my recipes for traditional tunisian dishes. It's part 1 because I have many more but I have to make them first since I do it all on the spot then easily forget, but I promise I got couscous and oujja coming up.

But it is all thanks to my husband who is a great cook MashAllah, he used to watch his mom cook when he was young, then he practiced when he was here alone in Canada and then he taught me. Bismelleh,

TUNISIAN SALAD or "Slata"

This salad is delicious and recommended on a hot day.

Approximate time: 5 minutes!

Serving: This is usually good for 3 or 4 poeple, but you can easily add more!

Ingredients:

1 lemon or lemon juice
1 big English cucumber or a few small ones

2 Tomatoes

1 Medium onion

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper
Optional: Parsley (though not traditionally in the salad, I add parsley as in the above picture.)

Preperation:

Just chop the cucumber/onion/tomatoes in small cubes.
Dress with olive oil,lemon juice, salt and pepper. (ratio is usually one part lemon to two parts oil)

Put it in the refrigerator or eat right away!(p.s. results may vary lol)

TUNISIAN BRIK

Brik is something we eat during the Holy Month of Ramadan. Little heavy but amazing. Sometimes you can find it in Tunisia with the egg runny, but we like it well cooked.

Approximate time: 20 min

Serving: Makes 10 briks (4 or 5 poeple)

Ingredients:

1 pack of Brik sheets (kinda like a thin thin rice paper almost but made from semolina)
Eggs
Salt and Pepper
1 big bouquet of parsley
1 Onion4 or 5 potatoes
Optional: Tuna

Preparations:

Peel and boil potatoes until soft. Remove water, mash potatoes with fork (not until smooth but rather chunky) and add one bouquet of chopped parsley and chopped onion. Mix so the heat from the potatoes wilts everything down but don't "cook" the onions.

Once done put in a large bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. Add eggs to mixture one at a time. You are look for a consistency thicker then an omelet. (Kinda pasty, below). This is the time to add tuna if you like.

The brik sheets are round so fold in the sides to make a square(below), spoon egg mixture in the center about two table spoons (the ones you eat).

Remember the more you put the longer it takes to fry. Fold the square in half so it makes a triangle. Deep fry. You can poke it with a fork to let air out and the oil get in to cook the inside. It is cooked when your fork comes out clean.

** UPDATE
Triangle is the traditional shape for Brik. But I did a little twist to it. I was thinking, how can I get more egg mixture in this thing but without too much dough sticking out and obviously the more surface area the quicker it will cook. So I decided to spoon on one side of the circle, fold in half, tap the mixture thinly so it will stick cook quite fast, fold the edges in a voila! A rectangle, lol!! So here it is at the bottom.

This is served usually with lemon slices and very hot.

I just wanted to add that I noticed some poeple trying to find these in the supermarkets. If you guys can't get this, use chineese spring roll dough apparently it's better then phyllo dough.

Also this chef explains a bit of what it is and shows some brands: http://www.chefzadi.com/2005/09/lemnemeche_doig.html

TUNISIAN SALSA or MECHOUIA

This is like a salsa now I use a thing made to crush tomatoes (my grand mother makes her own tomato sauce ) but for this purpose we will use a mini chopper or blender.

Approximate time: 25 minutes

Serving: Hrmm I have no idea but it doesn't last long in my house! You can even add it to omelletes (yum!)

Ingredients:

2 large green bell peppers
2 long peppers (the spicy ones don't know how to say it, you can also add banana peppers or chili peppers depending how hot you like your food)
2 large tomatoes
1 large clove of garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Tuna and olives or hard boiled eggs for garnish

Preparation:

Grill or bake all of the veggies. So until peppers are soft, until the garlic clove (leave skin on ) is mushy. The tomatoes are usually done first.

On a large sheet peel all the skins off the peppers and garlic clove.Put all the veggies in a blender and pulse. Not too long just make sure everything is cubed. Add salt and pepper and olive oil.

Serve on a flat plate under a large spoon full of oil. Garnish on top with tuna olives and/or hard boiled eggs.

TUNISIAN VEGETABLE RAGOO OR CHAKCHOUKA

Great with crusty bread!

Approximate time: 1 hr 30 min ( but I never really timed it, after everything is cooked just leave it on really low until ready to serve)

Serving: 4 poeple + left overs

Ingredients:

A bouquet of Chard
A few stocks of green onions
4 potatoes
Half a butternut squash
2 medium carrots
1 medium onion
1 small can of chickpeas already cooked
1 bouquet of parsley
1 green bell pepper
1 green long pepper (again don't know the name its kinda hot)
2 stalks of celery
Salt and pepper
Tabel (which i think is coriander powder but there is variations depending on the tunisian woman lol, but it is optional tastes just as good without it)
Paprika
Tomato paste
Olive Oil

Preparation:

Cut up all veggies (my husband likes everything medium sized but for a rustic feel cut larger pieces). I would cut the squash and potatoes bigger because they tend to become soft and smaller when cooked.

Divide into two groups: potatoes and squash in one group and the rest in the other (except chick peas leave for the end). In your pot: olive oil and fry everything except the potatoes, squash and chick peas.

Once really well wilted, onions are sweaty and everything smells amazing, season with salt and pepper.Add a generous tablespoon (the one you eat with) of tomato paste. Fry the whole again, making sure nothing is sticking, usually about 4 minutes.

Add potatoes and squash. Cover with water.

Now here is my secret. My husband is against it but i don't care, i think makes everything taste better. Chicken base, yes i found some halal, hamduleh. I put one cube secretly, because if he sees it he will say " My mother never uses chicken base she only uses fresh chicken" or worse "There is no chicken in chakchouka" etc etc.

Taste broth, add salt and pepper to taste. Half a teaspoon (the one you eat with ) of paprika or more depending on your threshold of pain. Half a table spoon of tabel. Let it all cook until it becomes amazing. Usually lid half on so some evaporation occurs and it thickens.

Add chickpeas at the end to warm them up.

Let me know who tries any of these!

Aslema and all things Tunisian

noreply@blogger.com (Mint) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:36:00 +0000

First time blogger, so be nice?

Ok so as human beings we tend to gravitate towards others. Now I used to be on scrapbooking forums, photography forums, Islamic forums etc. But I realised I fit into these "groups" individually, but as a whole why can't I be part of the "Italian-born-scrapbooker-married-to-a-Tunisian-convert-living-in-Montreal" group. Well you guessed it, there wasn't any on yahoo.groups that's for sure.

So here it is, I want to blog and also get to know others like me! Sure there are some sisters out there who

a. feel lonely because Eid in a non-Islamic country can be (especially if your husbands family is abroad)

b. has a crafty side, whether it be scrapbooking, photography, etc.

c. As a convert dealing with the "they brain-washed you" syndrome.

d. loves Tunisian culture or wherever your husbands from?

e. as a married woman (I'm 22) dealing with your old friends who just don't fit in with your new lifestyle (as fulfilling as it might be)

Not bad for a first post?

Beslema and may Allah bless you

P.S. I bet you're wondering about the Blog name? Well Harissa is a pepper paste that is very much Tunisian and well I love Mint (I love the color, the taste and I think it represents me, always refreshing, honest, and clean). Kinda symbolizes me and my husband.