Chronicling my journey from the heart of Virginia to the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon.

Busy Busy Busy

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 16:45:15 +0200

Been busy working on wedding related things...along with work and maytam responsibilities. Posting has been slow, though I have a ton of things I’d like to share, I am not convinced I have enough time in the week!!!

Just adding some photos from my recent snow trip to Sannine and some other images I’ve been playing around with, so consider this a station break with my own created content. Will be back soon, hopefully in a week or so.

Wedding Information

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:08:39 +0200

Ok, here is the lowdown on the wedding. I am not going to post a lot about it...at least I don’t plan to. I also need to let you know that this information is primarily for my friends and folks out west...as in America, so some of this information doesn’t apply to our local guests.

The wedding is planned for April 7th, 2012 in Zahlé, Lebanon. We don’t have a time set, but it will be sometime in the afternoon. Yes...April 7th is the day after Good Friday and the day before Easter. Our work schedules and vacation time really limits the choices we have for our date, plus the Easter repeats again (for those on the Eastern/Orthodox calendar) the following week...so we’re sort of stuck. BUT, we like the idea of our wedding being celebrated around such a significant moment in our faith...so not much else to say about that.

The fact the wedding is taking place in Lebanon sort of means that a lot of my American friends and family won’t be able to make it. Don’t worry. There will be photos, video, and I’ll be blogging and tweeting about it (though the latter will surely be to Maria’s annoyance!) as the plans come together and we unite our lives before friends, family, and God. I hobbled together a small “website” about the wedding, which you can reach at www.mallaidh.org/wedding. There is general information (pretty much everything here is repeated there) as well as a sort of wedding registry. We aren’t expecting or asking for anything, but we know that people may want to give a gift of some sort. I think the solution posted on that page should be satisfactory though to anyone wanting to though.

That about sums it up. I have a counter posted on my blog front page as well as on the wedding site...and as of the posting of this entry I think it says I have 81 days left until we are married! If you have questions or need information about the wedding plans use this page and drop me a note, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can with an answer.

Food Break

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:16:40 +0200

The kids are back, life is developing a routine again at the maytam, and I am again making the trips to Zahlé when I can fit them in. This post focuses on something we did over Christmas in Zahlé, cooking ...and eating.

Onion rings. Over Christmas Maria and I had a wonderful date night, ending with dinner at the Hard Rock Café along the corniche. They had the best onion rings I’ve ever had in Lebanon...real, whole onion slices breaded and deep fried into a rich reddish-brown crisp. Served with a side of BBQ sauce and Ranch dressing, mmmm. Sorry Burger King...you might have the best fast-food hamburger in the area but your fries and onion rings are garbage. Why would you fry onion mush when you could fry a whole onion slice??? It boggles the mind.

With the ease that fries are made and the frequency in which they are eaten the move from fried potatoes to fried onions shouldn’t be too difficult. I knew the theory, and even wanted to double-fry...so why not give onion rings a chance. We started with a tempura mix we picked up from Spinney’s, which was a good start and something I’d use again. Originally we planned on making beer-battered rings, and we were assured that there was beer at home that could be used. Upon beginning the recipe we soon learned that it was apple-flavored Laziza. Hmmmm. Why not. If cooking was always about the sure thing then where is the innovation? So into the batter went milk, fake beer, two eggs, some salt, a little extra water, and some Old Bay seasoning. Sliced yellow onion rings were dipped and soaked in the batter for a few minutes, then they were tossed into another bowl with flour and additional Old Bay seasoning. After the coating of flour they were then dipped again in the batter and set aside on a plate...which carried them to the hot oil and fried perfection.

The results were amazing and I hope to make them again, this time with proper beer. I’d also like to see about the double-frying process and see if that makes any difference. I think that I might also try marinating the onions overnight for added flavor. This time, the first we attempted onion rings, they came out crisp and the batter was just the right texture. You could still taste the onion. Uncooked, the batter tasted a little like apple, but after cooking there was no noticeable apple flavor. Maria’s father doesn’t generally go for Western food, yet he probably at about a third of the finished product!

Now We’re Getting Married!

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 11:58:15 +0200

The date isn’t etched in stone yet, but expect our nuptials to be held around Easter-time! After so much time praying, thinking, talking, and doing some light planning, Maria and I are pleased to announce that our wedding date is drawing near and we’ll be posting more information soon.

I created a wedding site, www.mallaidh.org/wedding, in order to help all our friends and family (especially those of you not in Lebanon) stay connected and informed about our wedding.

Best Christmas

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:31:09 +0200

Here are a few photo selections from the past few days, by far the best Christmas I’ve ever spent in Lebanon and in all likelihood, the best I’ve celebrated ever...

Friday night we played games with the family and just had a great time in quiet fellowship, moving onto Saturday when we ran some errands and prepared for Christmas dinner. After dinner we exchanged gifts and just rejoiced in the time we have with one another and how blessed we’ve been. Christmas Day was a program at a church Maria was involved with and an afternoon dinner out with Maria’s sister and her new husband. Later that evening we signed onto Skype and I was able to introduce Maria and her mother to my parents, for the first time.

So many memories have been created so far, and the Christmas break isn’t over yet. Some friends are coming over from Beirut this afternoon (Monday) to help us put on a Christmas program at two churches in Zahlé...tomorrow begins a three-day camp in Beirut with Grain de Blé. Busy, but good and plenty of times for rest.

Enjoy the few photos we have posted and I look forward to talking, blogging, posting, and tweeting with you all soon, in 2012!