Middle Eastern Food Day

My boyfriend’s favorite food is Middle Eastern cuisine. And after all the Indian food days my friend and I had put him through, it was time to try something new.  So here was our menu:



Stuffed vegetables and pita by Claudia Roden

Bastille by Ghillie Basan

Baba Ghanouj by Alton brown
Falafel mix
Jallab, a berry drink you mix with water and rosewater and top with walnuts

The stuffed vegetables were very delicious. My friend stuffed peppers, an apple, tomato and an eggplant with rice, soaked raisins and ground beef, with a sticky, succulent rice mixture. The apple was my favorite, because when baked it conformed to the savory stuffing. Unfortunately, I could not take gorgeous pictures because we were so hungry that we demolished them right after they finished baking. From the same cookbook that the above recipe is from, my boyfriend made his famous pita with whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, which made it more robust and a little too thick. It would have been better if we had planned the other menu items to be lighter.

My boyfriend also made baba ghanoush from an Alton Brown recipe. However, the eggplant happened to be female which has more seeds than a male one. And a bit too much tahini was added. But it was okay that it was hearty. I made a bastille because I like making things that I have eaten at other restaurants before. Every Morrocan dish I have made is similar to the dishes that Marrakesh serves on NW 21st and Lovejoy. The most tasty dish is the bastille, shredded chicken with spices like paprika and cinnamon covered in phyllo. And topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon. The recipe by Ghille Basan called for too many onions, and it impacted the flavor. Still quite tasty for trying it homemade. But next time I would like to add scrambled eggs like the NW portland restaurant does.

The falafel mix we tried (the one I can't remember the name of) was not very good. It tasted a lot like sesame seeds and the texture was not very crumbly. The leftovers were very soggy too. Though the taste was not amazing, we were able to learn the process to making falafel. Next time we will make it homemade or get the two kinds I like from Trader Joe's or Costco. We also polished off a 1.5 liter of Cooks champagne with mango nectar, which was very delicious and addictive. Altogether, we accomplished the succulent and sweetness of the Middle East.

After the afrodisiac, comes "Love and Other Drugs"

I was visiting a friend of mine in Idaho when I saw this movie. We had just finished a late lunch at a pizza parlor sort of place, went back to her house, glanced at the films that were playing and saw this one was playing at 4:25 pm. The clock said 4pm, so we jumped back in her car, knowing we would make it in no time at all: everything in Idaho is about 5-20 minutes away because it is such a small state.

I found the epitomie of the 90's in the first and second scene in the film, where Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the best and wittiest sales person at an electronics store. He loses his job only because he can sell himself too well to the ladies. 

In the next scene, he is having dinner with his family. His parents are doctors and his nerdy, uncouth brother has struck it rich in the software business. They tease him about losing his job, even though he clearly has no problem in the sales industry as shown in the first scene. Everyone is employed in powerful jobs and everyone is optimistic: success and comfort are at its best.

At that point in time, I had to relinquish that those golden days were over, and now we are looking back on them in period pieces, such as this film. It is sad!

Jamie's brother Josh is an important character in this film, because I feel his journey is more complex than the main character. Josh is younger, very unattractive, kind but also gross. Though he is wealthy, his wife cheats on him and leaves him. So Josh moves in with Jamie, showing that despite the riches he has attained, he still values true love and family. Jamie on the other hand, is very apathetic, as he seduces women and tries to maintain a career. He can talk you into buying anything, but he does not believe in anything either. These brothers also are tied together: they both come to a realization after a sensuous escapade that causes them to change. Josh has  given meaning to everything in his life, but now can try being more adventurous. Jamie learns that he needs one girl to help him find himself.

Enter Maggie Murdoch (Anne Hathaway). She's your typical guarded-Bohemian-esque (she has an apartment that looks like Monica's from Friends)- won't take any crap- kind of girl. She's the one for Jamie, and has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at 26. Not only will Jamie have to compete with her ex/ the top prozac salesman (Gabriel Macht), he has to accept that her disease is going to progress and sell enough antidepressants to be promoted to the sales job in Chicago.

Maggie and Jamie work well together, even if it just starts physically. They also discuss some integral issues that lead to positive individual and couples growth. I also liked that her disease was not portrayed as a Hollywood tragedy, even though it was really sad. In other films, you see the tragic diagnosis, some scenes of the heroine being weak, and then dying beautifully.  Maggie's character was genuine to real life in that the film educated the audience on Parkinson's disease: the condition, the symptoms, the daily struggles and the family involved.

The disease is a burden for Jamie and does take its' toll when he becomes bent on fixing her. This also represents the drug culture Jamie has been working for, which has taught him that every symptom has a drug to fix you, but also propagates side effects. Unfortunately, the side effects for their relationship is that Maggie needs Jamie to accept that she will need his help more and more.....

Jamie and Maggie having a spontaneous lunch  in her "Friends" style apartment

The theme for improvement from new health advancements is similar to the technological advancements of this time. Computer technology was emerging at a fast paced rate. I remember being told I would need to write in cursive by high school and college, but then was rigorously trained in computers and typing. Then I had yet to see the side effects of technology, but see them on a daily basis. Now personal interactions are shorter and more impersonal especially when things are done by a computer (Please Bank of America, can I speak to a human not an auto tone?).

I try to not get too wrapped up or distracted by shiny technology, but's its really hard when you are allowed to use your cool new cell phone at work.