Food gawking :)

I have a daily ritual at the end of my day. I spend a few minutes engaging in what some call food porn, a term I dislike strongly.

It is one of my favorite websites, www.foodgawker.com

I spend some time going through recent recipes, my mouth watering as I carefully study the culinary adventures of people from all over. I envy two things: their courage to take on new foods and their photography skills. The pictures are out of this world; even a boiled egg becomes a thing of beauty in the perfect lighting.

As I peruse the pages, I bookmark every recipe I want to try. The wish list gets longer each day, too long, I'm afraid, to ever get around to cooking it all. Maybe I should take a break from bookmarking, and get cooking.

Today's adventure in food gawking is a constant reminder of Rehab, often bringing back a flood of memories, reminding me of how our love of food bought us to each other. A recipe for braised leeks reminded me of the time she made a dish of baked leeks, with heavy cream and loads of gooey cheese, and her husband ate the entire tray. "Of course it was good, it was covered in cheese."

Another recipe of rhubarb jam reminded me of her fascination with this bizarre celery looking fruit. I eat rhubarb pretty often now, in the form of my strawberry rhubarb jam, and alhamdulilah it reminds me of her every time.

Mini muffins. Rehab would have loved these, in fact anything mini. Eating a falafel earlier today reminded me of her mini falafel sandwiches.One falafel patty stuffed into a tiny cocktail pita. Maybe the taste was not all there, but in true Rehab fashion, the presentation was fantastic.

Then I found a recipe from a blog called Baked, from the authors of the Baked cookbook she gifted my sister on our road trip to Boston. I loved it so much, I bought it for a friend a few weeks later as well.

Somehow I feel as if Rehab is with me tonight. Thank you for that food gawker.

My weight loss secret

Believe it or not I weigh less now than I a little over a year ago. My amazing diet secret is...are you ready for this?... my daughter.

I knew children can be challenging, albeit rewarding, sometimes drive you up the wall, and generally cause your hair to turn gray. But someone should have told me about this very positive side affect. Hearing about how much energy they take, and experiencing it for myself are two entirely different things. My daughter Noor is absolutely non-stop, around the clock ball of fun, wanting constant play and interaction. I find her need for play most rewardng for those of us who love her the most. She loves us back and shows it in her constant smile and laughter. May Allah always keep her smiling.

But I must admit, it it hard for me to remain grateful for this, especially around 4 pm, when my back hurts, and my eyes are getting droopy, and Noor is (of course) full speed ahead. It's time for me to push myself to keep going. Just as if I'm on a treadmill. But weight loss is not my motivation, really. It's that big smile, with those two tiny teeth proudly on display.

Spring is in the air

Goodness gracious today was the most perfect spring day. It was 60 degrees, the park was full of moms and kids, but not too crowded. It was the first official day at the park for toddler Noor, who is now a one year old, by the grace of Allah. She is learning to walk, so no crawling, no picking up, no stroller, and no even to her neat little tricycle. Noor the one year old will only accept your hand if you help her walk. I am grateful my three sisters were there to help her walk, or I would have been even more exhausted than I am. It was a beautiful day spent with my beautiful family and dear friends and their sweet kids.

But as my day wraps up I reflect on the fact that it's been just under two weeks since Rehab has passed away. I miss her dearly. If she were here, I know we would be making plans for a picnic, perhaps searching for the perfect picnic basket, trying to make the perfect egg salad sandwich to go in it. My problem is not that it's been hard for me; the problem is it's been too easy. I don't know how to fix this. I don't even know what to make of it. Am I that shallow? Why am I so easily distracted by this world that I can go on almost like nothing has happened? And how can I forget the biggest lesson I learned from Rehab; that every second is a blessing from Allah. How dare I forget this when I spend practically every second of my day with my daughter, who is a blessing beyond words. Perhaps I forget because I am so caught up in the moment, enjoying myself, having fun. So I wonder, what would Rehab do?

Rehab's Voice

I listened to this blast from the past this morning.
http://eliegardner.com/rehab/

I've heard it before, years ago, when Rehab and I googled our names to see what came up.

My sister asked me how many time I've listened to it recently. So far: 1

What I learned was I have been pronouncing homogeneous wrong all these years. Thank you for correcting me Rehab.