Maghdouche, In the news...

Just few days before our weekend market, we woke up to a little surprise in the post box:

A full page in "Hamar Arbeiderblad" newspaper about Maghdouche, Beit el Founoun and Dignity.
Wooow! and a high hat for the press and the journalists that are following the project with a lot of interest and concern.

Weekend Market - Torgdager 2. og 3. august

As in August last summer, we will be having the market days outside the gallery the 2nd. and 3rd. of August from 12:00 to 16:00. There will be a various range of products from Pelargonium plants to herbs and herbal products, other flowers, food, glass, and much more ... besides, the posibillity of having a coffee and waffles... All stand fee and our pelargonium sale will be going to support our project in Maghdouche - Lebanon :"Dignity".

At the same time, we will be openning an exhibition in the gallery with the painter Rolf Monsen.

last year weekend market
På norsk:
Også i år arrangerer vi torgdager på tunet utenfor vårt galleri den 2. og 3. august fra 1200 til 1600. I år blir det pelargonium salg, urter og urte relaterte produkter, glass mm. Det blir også i år mulig å kjøpe kaffe med noe "attåt". ............det blir en liten "torgleie" og vårt salg av pelargonium går til vårt Dignity prosjekt i Maghdouche - Libanon
Vi åpner også maleriutstilling med Rolf Monsen i galleriet.

Mr. Fancy Plants, flowerstick

Mr. Fancy Plants, is simply a beautiful handmade product for supporting your plants and decorating them. The hand-painted stick is in wood and varnished and the 2 support rings are in steel with beads. This wonderful artistic product is exclusively made by our blogfriend: vriddrett, and the sale will go to our "Dignity" project in the market weekend 2nd. and 3rd. of August. If you want to reserve a set, send us an e-mail. One set costs NOK 120.- plus porto.

På norsk:
Mr. Fancy Plants- støtte og pynt for jålete planter (og eiere) et virkelig superprodukt for planteelskere som vil pynte opp sine planter med håndmalte blomsterpinner med feste i rustfri blomstertråd med perler. Et produkt du ikke finner maken til. Mr. Fancy Plants er designet og lager av vår bloggvenn: Vriddrett. Salget av disse blomsterpinnene går til inntekt for vårt "Dignity" prosjekt og vil bli solgt på våre torgdager 2. og 3. august. Er du interessert i å reservere et sett, send oss en e-post. Ett set koster kr. 120 + porto.

Foul b'zeit, Foul b'roz - 2 Recipes in 1

Foul b'zeit - Beans in Oil
1kg soft fresh broad beans with the outer shell (out of season, I use the dry broad beans and that is without the outer shell. Soak the beans in plenty of cold water overnight. )
3 onions chopped
4 cloves of garlic crushed
1/2 cup fresh coriander chopped
1 tbs ground coriander
3 tbs lemon juice
4 tbs olive oil
1 liter of water
Salt & pepper

Top and tail the beans, and cut into small pieces (if you are using fresh beans).
Heat oil in saucepan, add onions and fry till soft.

Add garlic, ground coriander, and the beans, fry for 10 minutes, then add the water, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Lower the heat, cover and cook for 45 minutes (dried beans need at least one hour cooking). When the beans are cooked, add fresh coriander, stir and cook for 5 more minutes.
Eat it with small pieces of pita bread.

Foul b'roz - Beans in Rice

Skip adding fresh coriander and maintain the water in the pan to arround 2 glasses by adding water if necessary.
Add one glass of rice and cook for arround 20 minutes.

Both dishes can be served warm or cold. Serves 4 to 6.

Stairway to Heaven, or ?

After the hole in the wall was made, comes the discussion about the stairs.

"Maallem Maurice" was called since we decided to go for iron instead of wood for the support but to keep the stairs themselves in wood. The big discussion was the size of the stair and the distance between 2 stairs ... It took a lot of mathematics... a bit too much for two artistic brains !

But as far as Ibrahim Bassoul took the calculation in charge, we trust that the result will be satisfactory.

As "maallem Maurice" promissed, the pieces were ordered and ready on time. He needed to gather them on place, following the zig-zag line traced on the wall by Ibrahim Bassoul. As soon as he connected his equipments, surprise surprise... " takk el degenteur" ... the 5 amper electric board in the house is too little to boot the equipments and the electricity got cut.

At this stage, the only possibility is to postpone the work in the stairs till the electric board is changed to 20 ampere instead of 5, and this requires an application to be sent to the lebanese electric company.

We will keep you informed !

White Coffee or do you prefer the black.....?

A blog about Maghdouche without a white coffee recipe??? that is not possible.

Like it or hate it, but once you visit Maghdouche you have to try it.

White coffee ingredients:
5 cups of water
1 cup orange flower water (mazaher)
3 teaspoons sugar

Preparation:

1.Boil the water (in the rakweh)

2. Add the orange flower water and the sugar and boil

3. Keep boiling for 2 minutes
Serve instead of a black coffee in the evening as it is recommended as a relaxing bedtime drink

På norsk:

5 små kopper vann (mokka)

1 kopp appelsinblomst vann (fåes kanskje i de tyrkiske dalgigvare butikkene)

3 ts. sukker

Hvordan lager du "Hvit kaffe"?

Kok vannet

Tilsett appelsinblomstvannet og sukkeret, kok opp

Kokes i 2 minutter

Server "Hvit kaffe" om kvelden istedenfor vanlig sort kaffe, "Hvit kaffe" er anbefalt som en avslappende drikk om kvelden

Appelsinblomstvann: Hver vår plukker innbyggerne i Maghdouche appelsinblomster fra trærne. Disse blomstene kommer ikke fra spiseappelsin treet. Blomstene blir dampet slik vi lager saft i dampkjele, og ut kommer appelsinblomstvannet.

Fattouche - Lebanese bread salad

1 loaf pita bread, dried or toasted
1/4 head lettuce
1-2 cucumbers, peeled & cut into small pieces
2-3 medium tomatoes, cut small pieces
1/2 white onion finely shopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped mint or 1 tbsp. dried mint
1/2 cup lemon juice or 1 tbsp. sumak
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 green pepper, cut in small pieces

Break bread into bite-sized pieces (about 1 1/2 inch). Tear lettuce and toss in large salad bowl. Add all vegetables and mint. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and oil; mix well. Before serving mix in bread well. Serves 4-6.

Fattouche - Brødsalat

1 hvit loff skjert i skiver og tørket eller i brødrister
1/4 salathode, finrevet
1-2 agurker, skrelt og skjært i små biter
2-3 middels store tomater skjært i små biter

1/2 løk, fin skjæres
1/2 kopp finsnittet persille
1/4 kopp finsnittet mynte eller en ss tørket mynte
1/2 kopp presset sitronsaft eller 1 ss sumak ( kan fåes i tyrkiske mat butikker)
1/2 kopp oliven olje
Salt & pepper
1 grønn paprika, skjært i små biter

Bryt det tørkede brødet i mindre biter. Riv salat i små stykker i en salatbolle. Tilsett de finskjærte grønnsakene og mynten, tilsett salt, pepper, sitron saft og olje, bland godt, til slutt has i det tørkede brødet og bland godt. Nok til 4- 6 personer
God apetitt

First Time Granny Square !

July... it was a hot summer evening in Maghdouche and the first lesson in making the Granny square in crochet. By practice, the squares became nicely 8 x 8 cm. in 4 rows. The Granny squares are usually made by leftover yarns... but we are designing something else... Georgette, you're doing great !

På norsk:
Juli... det var en varm sommerkveld i Maghdouche og første leksjon i å lage bestemorrute i hekling. Når man øver blir sluttresultatet riktig bra, 8 x 8 cm og 4 omganger. Bestemorrutene er vanligvis laget av restegarn, men vi designer noe annet...

Pelargoniums in the Maghdouche area

Since we collect pelargoniums, we found these in Maghdouche. The first is from Nabila and Joseph Elia's house and therefore, we called it: Nabila. It is an Ivy leaf (peltatum). We named the second: Marthalim (it is coming from the house of Em Nabil Halim Hayek) and the third: Kish Kish (it is coming from the house of Michael Constantine) .