Holiday Recipe Challenge 2011

The time has come! As I mentioned at the beginning of the month, tomorrow starts my 15 day recipe challenge. In honor of my LONG vacation (nearly 4 weeks!) I've decided to spice it up and try some new recipes.

Yesterday, two of my favorite fellow teachers came over for an intense planning session. We lunched, coffeed, caked and most importantly sifted through recipes to find the most promising. I've chosen 15 main dishes, a few sides and a few desserts. 

You can't plan without charts!

The first shopping list- 7 days of new recipes (not including standard veggies and spices)

Tomorrow is day one and I'm making Pumpkin-Turkey Ghoulash from Epicurious.  My hope is that each day I'll report back with photos and reviews on the day's dishes. Let the cooking begin!

15 days a Domestic Goddess

Season's greetings! I guess since it's officially December I can say that. Although I must say that I've been in the holiday spirit for a few weeks now- our stocking (just one!) is hung and I've been listening to Christmas music while cooking since before Thanksgiving.

Last year's holiday fun 

Anyway, the reason for this post is that I'm going to be doing something new (and hopefully exciting) this holiday season.  I have almost 4 weeks of vacation this year and most of it will be spent at home, so I'm giving myself a challenge.

15 days of cooking at least one new recipe every day. That's right, 15 new recipes in 15 days and I plan to  update you on my progress right here. The good, the bad, the photos, the reviews.

The fun starts Friday, December 16th with Pumpkin-Turkey "Ghoulash" with Caraway Noodles from Epicurious.com

photo by Tina Rupp from Epicurious

Marriage Bliss, Life Bliss- Is there a difference?

Greetings one and all! I was on such a blog posting roll over the summer and then my return to Morocco once again brings a big black hole where my posts should be. Ah well.

The last few months have been busy busy busy. We got married!

Surprises always come when you least expect them- we were counting on a few months of chasing paperwork and swimming around in bureaucracy, but in the end it only took a few weeks. Once I collected my 11 documents (2 from the states, 2 from Casablanca, the rest here) and Mohamed had his 4 (so unfair), we took our folder over the the family court where photocopies were made, papers were stamped and our folder changed hands a few too many times to call efficient. Then we had to take the folder to the police where we were interviewed by a detective. After a few days the police sent the folder back to the family court and after another hour of sitting, we were done!

With the final paperwork from the court we went to see our Adoul (Notary) who wrote our final contract. Two signatures later, we were official! We've done a few things to celebrate- post-signing breakfast, celebratory dinner and overnight at a fancy Riad. Looks like we'll be doing a real Moroccan wedding in March! Everyone's invited!

Since getting married, the most popular question for people to ask me is "How's it feel to be married?" or "has anything changed?" The answers to these questions are great! and No! Was something supposed to change? After signing a piece of paper was I supposed to feel something inside me change from a single woman to a married one?

The longer answer is this. We were really happy before we got married. We know each other well and had a positive, healthy relationship. We were committed and treated each other with love and respect. It seems to me like these are also the requirements of a marriage. From great to great, bliss to bliss! I couldn't possibly complain :-)

The one positive change that I can say I feel is this- it's so nice to be legit! Even though we've been living together since I arrived, there was always a possibility that someone would find out and cause a problem. We also couldn't stay in hotels without getting two rooms or bribing someone. Now that we're legal, the world is truly our oyster!