Rebekah's Marinated Olives

Well, a few weeks ago, my husband treated me to a picnic. It was very impromptu while at Publix (a very common grocery store for you non-Floridians). Their deli section has "anti-pasto" filled with marinated olives, red peppers, mushrooms and whole garlic cloves. At $7.45/lb it's a lot. But he really wanted to try them so we got two of everything equaling half a pound. We ate picnic and they were good but not awesome but it was just spending the time alone by the lake that meant so much that it wasn't a big deal. 

But ever since then, I got to thinking "how can I make this better?" I knew there had to be something. I searched my Persian recipe books, most of their marinated olives are like Zeytoon Parvardeh, sweet and made with pomegranate paste and ground walnuts. A glorious delicacy from the Gilan region of Iran. 

No, I wanted savory. So my journey brought me to Zeytun M'charmel . Moroccan marinated olives. English recipes say "spicy" but I think they mistranslated it. It really means "spiced" not "spicy" because there is nothing hot about this dish.

Now I meditated over the recipe - stupid simple but it was taste I was looking for. So after trying out different flavors for the marinade, knowing that my husband and I LOVE garlic I came up with (drumroll please!)...

Rebekah adlı marine zeytin! 

You will need at least a 48oz/1119mg bowl with lid (airtight!). 

6oz (1 can) of green olives

4oz of black olives

8 small garlic cloves (cut in half or thirds)

4 pepperoncini (Greek pickled peppers) pits/stems removed and halved (keep it's juice!)

3 hard Roma tomatoes halved and sliced into wedges. 

4 medium chunky portebella mushrooms quartered. 

1/2 a lemon (or lemon juice equivalent)

2-4 pinches of oregano, ground cumin, garlic powder (optional), kosher salt, fresh black pepper, Italian seasonings. 

2-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

In bowl, rinse olives. Drain. Add tomatoes and pour hot water (not boiling) until covered. Let sit for 10 minutes. Use this time to wash and cut the veggies. Drain olives and tomatoes and pat dry in a paper towel. 

In same bowl, mix spices, lemon juice, oil, saved pepperoncini juice and fresh garlic. 

Add warmed olives and tomatoes, stirring lightly. 

Add rest of veggies and the squeezed lemon, then stir until well coated. 

Snap on lid, give everything a good shake.

Put in fridge and chill overnight. Come and shake the container once every hour (when you can).

The next day, serve with mozzarella cheese and fresh Italian or French bread. It is AWESOME! What you see in the bowl is HALF of the olives, that is just what my husband ate for breakfast this morning!

Where to find the stuff for cheapest?

Walmart - Green olives $1.88 (6oz can), black olives $1.48 (6oz can), Garlic and Herb french bread loaf $1.58, Sorrento mozerella stringsters $2.98 (had coupon for $1.50 off each), Vigo brand pepperoncini $1.98 (there are other brands but this one has the best taste and it's imported from Greece through Tampa, FL!), Fresh garlic (they have the fattest ones!) and Roma tomatoes $2.48/lb

Winn-Dixie - Baby portebello mushrooms containers 2/$5 usually with a $1 off produce coupon if you go at the end of their sale week.

48oz (3 lbs) = (approx) $6.48 or $2.16/lb. Tastier and cheaper than store bought!

And just in case you haven't noticed the similar words: zeytun, zeytoon and zeytin all means olive. :)

Museum Day 2012 & Two Days Until the GRE

The title sums it all! It's been an interesting 8 weeks as I finally come into the final countdown for the GRE. I hope everyone will be so kind to send good vibes my way on Tuesday. 

During Banned book week, my husband and I enjoyed a wonderful Saturday on Sept. 29 for Museum Day. It happens once a year so keep an eye out for the 2013 date! In our county, only two museum's participated: The Norton and the Cason Cottage. Well, my husband is not big into paintings so we settled for the Historical Cason Cottage in Delray Beach. We had such a delightful time. We arrived just in time for a docent to give us a tour with all of the historical goodness. The next day, my husband took me out for a picnic. :) Tomorrow, he wants to BBQ. We have our veggies ready! I cannot wait to roast garlic and mushrooms. 

Oh, yeah, GRE. Well, the studying is over. I am in the vocab review and math concepts review. I made this handy-dandy cheat sheet to practice from. Monday, I will take my final practice test and that's it!

Oh yeah, here's a new word for me. Now, I know that a waffle is this:

yummy!

the texture

 AND

now apparently, waffle is also a verb that means "to speak or write equivocally". Well, geez! 

Upcoming Banned Book Week 2012

Yes, I know, dear world, it has been a while since I have posted. I've been so busy with studying for the GRE that I've neglected people...and it doesn't help to find out from my sister that when she calls my number, it says it's disconnected. :/ Right now, I don't have the time to deal with it, no one calls me anyways. Oh, my sister calls the VOIP phone (just in case people might find it rude that I don't care if my sister calls - she knows how to get a hold of me!! :D)

As of today, 3 weeks until the GRE. Oh, sigh.

As for more exciting news! The Banned Book Week Display is up!! I was so thrilled to be doing it since I am a firm believer in not censoring books.

For the book list, I used Radcliffe's Rival Top 100 list (ALA approved). ALA (American Library Association) does have a section of each year's most challenged books. No surprise that this year, we see The Hunger Games series, The Color of Earth and AGAIN To Kill a Mocking Bird. Really?

September was also Medieval Month, so the left side is our tribute to the Medieval Ages. The right are the banned books, I chose to display.

Since the popular books were checked out, I decided to choose books that most kids and parenting adults would know best from their childhood. Our demographic is mostly the elderly and young families with small kids - nothing in between. We all love and adore Winnie The Pooh and Charlotte's Web - yes, they are banned books. Us geekier types may have begun our reading world with Tolkien (hence the Fellowship of the Ring is up there [part 1 of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy - for those who did not know]). Geez, I was 13 when I first read Tolkien's books! And I waited to take a picture until 1984 was found! I was sad that we did not have Heart of Darkness or Naked Lunch (I personally own these). Of course, I could not leave out Schindler's List or The Color Purple.

Seriously, we do not understand how luckily we are to be able to read books and enjoy them. We are so blessed to be able to browse through a library when in some countries, you cannot even browse or sit and enjoy the AC while looking through magazines. Literacy is not an enemy. It gives us the option to learn about something and then make a decision whether or not to agree or disagree with it.

I was surprised when I realized that the cutest kids book, The Hungry Caterpillar, is a banned book?! Seriously, people need to lighten up. We need to be proud that we have the opportunity to be literate and be able to enjoy books. Knowledge is power! READ!

Flying Feet - Walking, running & Charlotte

The best part of the week was Friday night. Even though my back was sore I decided to make the absolute best of my day. My optimism waned around the late afternoon when no matter how I sat, the pulling throb in my lower right where my little bulges press, was painful. It was a busy day. Work in the morning, my husband convocation at the college (it was silly since he’s in his early 30s.) which lasted until about 3pm.

Rain fell from the sky as we went to go and pick up my mom’s truck and I think just the combination of being on my feet and getting in and out of vehicles was just too much. Finally at home, light stretching and resting prepared me for the best part of my evening, my walk!

I always get excited for walking, mostly because it’s my “me” time. But Friday rejuvenated older feelings and sensations that was dormant since my injuries.

I had to run across the street to get to the park and instead of stopping once I hit the other sidewalk, I wanted to continue. (Oh! I didn’t. I don’t need my flare to return.) Those 10 seconds of flying over the asphalt was freeing. Now I understood why Charlotte loves to run.

Charlotte, my MC, when I first developed her, the first thing that popped into my mind was that she’s a runner (mostly because she’s has too much energy). Back then, going up the stairs for me took some effort because of my weight. Never in a million years, would I ever think how amazing running could ever be. As I wrote about her, I tried to imagine what it was like to run but I found it hard to describe. As I lost a bunch load of weight, before my injuries, I had about a year to really understand what the big deal about running was.

It’s freedom from gravity. Its pain fuels you to keep going. The adrenaline rush that burns through your veins is like a drug. Your mind wanders to this zen-like place once you’ve balanced your breathing and focused on making sure you step and push off correctly. In running, getting to the end is great, but it’s the journey there that’s amazing.

These days, I revel in my power walks, having small moments where I get the similar sensation to running. Usually about 30 minutes in, the pain goes away and my back is warm and flexible. You want to sweat because it cools your skin. 

I feel like Charlotte is with me when I walk, egging me on as she waits up ahead. She tells me to keep moving, not to be sedate. When she’s doing her cool down, that’s when she speaks to me, telling me where she wants the story to go.

Then it was yoga after I returned followed by a bit of belly dancing – something I hadn’t done in a while. I didn’t push myself. I felt like doing it, missing the time when I had the freedom to really express myself.

Princeton GRE Book Wins & Issac Fails

Well, we spent all day indoors. We didn't get the full brunt of Issac but the wind gusts and constant rain did not create a very appetizing atmosphere to go out anywhere.

So, still surviving a mini back flare, I decided to get back to GRE studying. I had it with the Peterson book. So at work, they got me:

*drumroll please*

The 2013 Cracking the GRE by the Princeton Review! Just in the 3 hours I played with it today, this book is infinitely better. When you go to the Princeton Review website, you can get a study plan (for 12, 8, and 4 weeks), online practice tests and videos. And the study plan incorporates materials from the ETS website (where you have to sign up to schedule the GRE test) that I did not know about (a practice book and practice test software).

Get this book. Seriously.
And a massive thank you to my library.

In other news, it feels wonderful when friends come through. (I would do a happy dance it if wouldn't hurt) I cannot thank Manda enough for getting back to me on the first half of my book. Now I eagerly wait for the second half. *rubs hands with evil grin*

Have a great week everyone!

And I am very sorry for those going to get beaten up by Issac. :/

Yoga Helps the GRE & Back Blues

No, Blogging World, I am not dead. I've just been busy.

Finally my back is nearing normal again - which I am so pleased about. Yoga helps so much. I don't like taking pain meds if I don't have to. My goal is to build my core and the muscles in my back. I've noticed that this flare, which was just as bad as the one in December, went away a lot faster with the help of yoga (and muscle relaxers for 2 days [instead of five days!]). Also, anything that helps me calm my mind is a plus. I'm finding I sleep better too.

I dabbled in yoga back when I lived in Tampa (years ago). A co-worker handed me a handout for the "Sun Salutation". She was Hindu and she told me that it will help with the stress. At the time, I had a simple 1-bedroom apartment where I turned the designated dining room into my library with a Moroccan flare. It helped. A year ago, I started getting serious about it and it's been paying off.

And it's helped quell the GRE stress...to a point. The Peterson's Master the GRE is stupid. One, there are mistakes in the book. I could handle the misspellings, the reference to wrong passages and words BUT when the mistakes started showing up in the math section, that's where I had a cow! It deserves the one star reviews on the site. Luckily, I did not buy it but I asked our ordering person to get the Princeton Review Cracking the GRE 2013.

So I will leave everyone with something random. Last night while I was covering large print copies and Spanish copies of a book I despise, I thought, "I wonder what is the Persian/Azeri/Turkish word for ________?" Unicorns came to mind. I wondered if they are simply something purely out of Western myth? Dragons, we find, are evident in almost every country's folklore.

I totally want one of these! It make a great ice breaker!

Purging the Past is a Pain in the Back

Well, I've been  in bed rest (plus gentle yoga) for two days. I will attempt work today. My husband and I decided to tackle my past - aka "the storage unit". And like the stubborn moron I can be, I wanted to tackle it alone, knowing that I cannot lift more than 10 lbs. Luckily, it was only a mini back flare. I've had much worse.

I still screamed like my bones were smashed. My whole body was trembling and tingling and my back froze up like a washing board. But it wasn't agony. About a 6.5 out of 10. I've experienced a 10, this was much tolerable.

First was the easy stuff, the old papers. I don't need apartment leasing agreements from 8 years ago. Orientation papers from college or anything from college other than my transcripts and degree. Our reuse paper pile is now fat and overflowing. And the reusable school supplies are abundant (for both of us is a plus!)

I did go through my forensic science stuff, and kept most of the papers and notes. They will come in handy for my book. And the best was finding my old writing stuff. I was reading some of my older short stories and I *points to self* could not believe I wrote some of those. They're actually good! I know I do not have the files anymore but I look forward to revamping them and sending two of them off for competitions. It was great seeing my old notes, my old inspirations and muses. I found a writer whom I used to follow her podcasts; Mur Lafferty of I Should Be Writing. Wow, that must have been six years ago. The old blog address I had doesn't work anymore but the link above is the correct one. She has some great advice and wisdom for us newbies.

This weekend, I'll tackle the DVDs and cassettes (my husband brought the boxes home) after I study GRE. Which, by the way, makes me feel like an idiot.

Storage unit is now about 1/8 cleared. The goal is to get it down to half so I can put up the shelves I have in there and enjoy my books which are sitting in boxes.

And I know everyone is wondering if it was hard to part with things. YES. But I think about how my back does not allow me to carry this stuff forever and I'm not enjoying any of it sitting in a storage unit. The truly hard part will be when I go through my art stuff. The supplies, most of it can go. Paint sitting in there for years are no good anyways but I'll have to really determine which paintings, which photos, slides, etc are worth keeping or not. :/ I'm not looking forward to that...

I will be clearing out some old craft supplies in the next few months. I would like to donate them. Any recommendations for groups who will enjoy them in the Palm Beach County and/or Martin County area?