a castle on a cloud

day 16:

my dream house.

i tend to collect pictures, and i usually don't write down where i get them.

(so for the sake of attributing these... none of them belong to me... but i don't remember where i got them. oops.)

***

now if anyone else out there is like me - and LOVES hot chocolate... but for the sheer fact that i would sit and drink cupfull after cupfull... (calorie counters cringe at the thought)

i found this to be a good alternative.

and homemade. (gotta love that, huh?!)

homemade sugar free/ fat free hot chocolate

3 cups instant powdered milk

1 cup splenda

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 sm. sugar free/fat free jello vanilla pudding, instant

mix all of the ingredients in a gallon size zip lock bag and close bag - mix. store in air tight container or the zip lock baggie. to make a cup of hot chocolate, use 1/4 cup of mix to 1 cup of hot water.

serves 18

i also have a fetish with mugs. i want this one.

...or for a single serving  (i mean... am i really going to make 18 servings worth of hot chocolate???)

1 cup non-dairy milk (you can also use unsweetened almond milk)

4 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

2 packets stevia

Optional: pinch of cinnamon and a dash of vanilla 

first measure out one cup of milk, and then transfer 2 tbsp of it to a mug. Heat the rest of the milk on the stove top or in the microwave (it took me about one and a half minutes in the microwave) until steaming but not boiling.

while the milk is heating up, add the cocoa, stevia, vanilla and cinnamon to the 2 tbsp milk in the mug. stir it together until it forms a chocolaty paste.

once the milk is heated up, add it to the chocolaty paste and stir till combined. just whirl a whisk between your hands back and forth to froth it up if desired.

***

i bet there is no better remedy for a stuffy head and sore throat than a hot cup of chocolate and nice warm toes by the fire  errr... space heater? (we'll just pretend for imagination's sake, shall we?)

random (and unadulterated) musings of a friday morning...

just a few thoughts for the day...

:)

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Falafel!

(you can see that I am missing israel badly when i start looking at ethnic foods...)

recipe from bobby flay

Ingredients

Falafel:

• 2 cups soaked chickpeas (chickpeas need to be soaked in cold water for at least 18 hours and up to 24 hours), add more water if necessary
• Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 or 2 serrano chiles, chopped
• 2 green onions (white and green part) finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 3 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted and ground
• Scant 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Piquillo Pepper Yogurt Sauce:

• 2 cups thick Greek yogurt
• 3 piquillo or 2 roasted red peppers
• 1 teaspoon smoked sweet Spanish paprika
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

White Bean Hummus:

• 3 cups white beans, cooked, or canned, drained and rinsed
• 6 cloves roasted garlic
• 1 tablespoon harissa
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tomato Relish:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 4 vine-ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Falafel:

Directions

Drain the chickpeas through a colander then place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture. Chickpeas should be totally dry.

Heat 4-inches peanut or vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 330 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.

While the oil is heating, heat the olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and serrano chiles and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.

Transfer the chickpeas to a food processor, add the garlic mixture, green onions, parsley, mint, cilantro, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, baking powder, salt and pepper and process until the mixture is finely ground, stopping to scrape the bowl every 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Form the mixture into balls the size of ping pong balls and place on a plate. Fry in batches at 330 degrees F until a pale blonde color, about 45 seconds, spooning oil over the falafel constantly. Remove with a slotted spoon to the baking sheet. Increase the heat of the oil to 350 degrees F. Return the falafel to the oil, in batches, cover the pan with a lid for 30 seconds and fry until a deep brown color, spooning the oil over the falafel constantly. Remove with a slotted spoon to baking sheet lined with paper towels, and immediately season with salt.

For the yogurt sauce:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth; season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a small bowl. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, covered, to allow the flavors to meld.

Variation: Substitute 2 cups feta cheese for the yogurt, and add 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley.

For the hummus:

Place beans, garlic, harissa, lemon juice, and tahini in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

For the relish:

Whisk the oil, vinegar, and smoked paprika in a small bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss. The tomatoes should be lightly dressed.

Serve falafel with yogurt sauce, hummus and relish on the side.

Source: diamondsandtulle.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

my mission for this weekend:

and my mommy's coming up this weekend.

best. weekend. ever!

this everyday life

i decided to do a post on the things that are part of "normal" "everyday" life here at the j.c. (if you haven't caught on... that stands for jerusalem center...) 

we were walking through the old city the other day, and i realized that this is not normal. in less than a week, i am going to go back to real life. planes, trains, automobiles and all that jazz. no more walking everywhere, no more bargaining for what i want (i'm scared that i am going to try and haggle with the cashier at walmart...), no more weird smells, no more listening to the call to prayer every day, no more seeing tour buses everywhere and thinking "these tourists... they are soooo annoying!" 

"real life" is waiting. 

and to be honest, i'm kinda scared. 

what happens when i walk to class and forget my notebook? i can't just run downstairs to go and get it.

what am i going to do when i get a text message? (i haven't texted in over 3 months!)

what if i burn everything that i try and cook??? say it isn't so!!! 

(that might be a little too much for me to handle...)

our shopping mall.

this guys has skillz.

home.

for like 4 more days. 

we're not going to think about this anymore...!

ramadan started last week... so the old city looks like christmas!

just an olive tree in the kidron.

no biggie.

;)

p.s. the sunsets over the city are amazing.

we decided to spend a whole day dedicated to just walking through the city and taking pictures.

this is one legit police car.

we were a little afraid that it would start transforming in front of us...

skull hill/golgotha/calvary

they built a bus station there.

hmmmm.

not quite what you were expecting huh?

damascus gate!

they actually had scaffolding covering it for most of the summer, and they only removed it right before we left for galilee. so i had to get a pic!

 

story:

so we were trying to spell "jerusalem" all over the city.

i saw a shoe store and thought - perfect!

"s" for shoes!

(they have these random shoe stores everywhere...)

the shop owner next door was making fun of my "s"...

the view from the top of the austrian hospice.

1st century paving stones!

the western wall

st. james armenian monastery

the street right by zion gate

it almost makes me consider being a vegetarian...

it's a small world after all...

have a happy, sunshiney day!!!

Galilee: Day 10

July 20

Western Galilee! The first place that we went was to Chorizin – one of the three cities in the ecclesiastical triangle. (These three cities were woe’d by Christ in the New Testament… an interesting thing is that most of the other cities in the New Testament have a current city still there today… except for those three. Just a little food for thought.)

While at Chorizin, we saw a first century house, which had beams. Sound familiar? They didn’t built houses with wood here. They still don’t. So the “beam” that is in your eye, would have been a big stone block. Megan will demonstrate.

We also saw the synagogue at Chorizin, and the “seat of Moses,” where the person with the authority to interpret scripture would have sat. This one was fake. But I did see the real one. It’s in the Israel museum. (That’s pretty much the answer to anything. “It’s not the real one. That one is in the Israel museum…” If I had a shekel for every time I heard that this semester… I could probably buy myself a olive wood nativity. And maybe a falafel. Yum.

dr. jones reporting for duty!

After Chorizin, we scooted on over to Sepphoris. This is a city that would have been a highly affluent area, and a big center of industry. When Christ was growing up, and working (either as a carpenter or a stonemason… whatever you decide to believe in), he most likely would have come here to look for work. That was a pretty neat thought.

wayna and me by a first-century manger!

sorry to break it to you... but mangers aren't made of wood. 

nothing is made of wood here...

the mosaic carpet in the synagogue

We saw a lot of mosaic carpets in Sepphoris too. It was the “in thing” to have mosaics for floors. I just couldn’t help but remembering tiling the kitchen back at home… and that was with 5x5 inch tiles. And that was annoying. I can’t imagine doing that with different colored tiles that are smaller than my fingernail! They were gorgeous though. No question about that.

Which leads us to our next stop! We got to see the “Mona Lisa of the Galilee” – a mosaic carpet that was in the dining room of a house. You could actually see that they had the outline of the triclinium table arrangement. The last supper most likely would have taken place in a dinner setting like this. The best part about this  floor was the Mona Lisa.

you would think that we would get bored of seeing water systems... never! just like we nevvvvvvvver get sick of seeing tells... :o)

oh swell! another tell! 

Today we only had 3 stops, but they were pretty spread out, and each one was pretty time consuming. Don’t get me wrong… after yesterday, time on the bus is a good thing. Our final stop was at Akko (or Acre… pronounced like acre. You don’t have to get excited and say anything like ah-cray or something crazy like that. Just acre.)

Acre is one of the best preserved crusader cities. Why? Someone wanted to build up the city, so they just filled in the old crusader buildings with dirt and built right on top of it. Which preserved it very well for archeologists today. I think that most archeologists wish all ancient people were this thoughtful. It would make digging stuff up a lot easier.

the best picture of the whole stop.

kerri, lizzie, me, becca, deidra, and niffer... it's pretty urgent.

We had one last firebon tonight – we even heard the legend of Falling Rock. It wasn't this exact one... but it was fairly similar. Only Dallin didn't just fall to the ground. He cannonballed onto the sand... ouch?