• Mix semolina and flour in a big bowl. Add all the oil to the mix and set aside to rest (about 1 hour). You need the semolina to absorb all the oil.
• Meanwhile prepare the syrup by adding water to the sugar in a medium saucepan and mix it well with spatula. Heat the mix until it boils. Once it boils add the lemon drops and set aside to cool down.
• In another saucepan add the 2 cups of water to the fenugreek seeds and boil it on a low heat for about 20 minutes until the seeds are big and soft. The water will decrease to about 1 cup.
• Drain the seeds and add them to the semolina mix. Keep the seeds water to add them to the mix later. Add the yeast, baking powder, and salt. Then add the water gradually while making the dough. You might not need the whole cup of water.
• Lightly grease a 9x12 baking dish with tahini sauce. Pour the dough in the baking dish and smooth with hand. Cut it into diamond shapes with a butter knife. You can decorate by placing an almond in the center of each diamond.
  
• Cover the baking dish and set it aside to rest for about an hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 F (200 degrees). Bake on the lower rack for about 40 minutes until it is gold. Remove from oven and immediately add the warm syrup to it.
• Leave aside until it cools down and then cut and serve.
  

Today I'm posting a recipe for the apple tart I baked last Saturday. I wanted to post this recipe few days ago but I was just not in the mood. I have been feeling up and down recently! Mood swing is not fun at all.

Back to the tart, it was really yummy! The sweet pastry crust gives the crust a rich cookie like flavor. You can by the way use this crust to make any fruit dessert.

• Mix flour and salt and set aside.
  
• Beat the butter with your mixer until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
  
• Gradually add the beaten egg, and beat until incorporated.
  
• Add the flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a dough (you can use your hands to form it).
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap
  
  , and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until firm.
• On a floured surface, roll out the sweet pastry to the tart pan size (12 in).
• Lay in pan, lightly press pastry into bottom and up sides of pan.
  
• Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes to chill the butter and to rest.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Line unbaked pastry shell with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill tart pan with beans, making sure the beans are distributed over the entire surface.
  
• Bake crust for 20 to 25 minutes until crust is dry and lightly golden brown.
  
• Remove beans and cool crust before filling.

• Peel, core, and slice the apples.
• In a large skillet melt the butter and stir in the sugar, and the cinnamon.
  
• Add the apples and saute over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until the apples are soft.
  
• Gently mash the apples with the spoon and stir the mixture until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Spoon the applesauce mixture into the cooled pre-baked tart shell.
  
• Cover the edges of tart with foil and bake it a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until the apples are nicely browned and soft.
  
• Remove from oven and sprinkle the tart with confectioners' sugar, and broil it under a preheated broiler until the edges of the apples are golden brown and crisp.
  
• Serve the tart warm or at room temperature with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

I baked this cake last Saturday. We had some friends over and since my Saturdays are always crazy busy, I wanted to bake something that is easy and fast. And so this cake came to my mind. I always order it whenever we're at a coffee shop. I find it irresistible :) Later in this post, you will find the recipe I used for my coffee cake. I hope you try it and enjoy as much as we did!

It's Monday, typical Monday! Woke up early, fixed breakfast, packed lunch, and then said goodbye to Sinan and Lina. I then fixed my morning Nescafe, checked my email, Facebook, blog list, and news before updating my to-do-list for today.

Every Monday, I have the cleaner over. I finally found a good cleaner. I'm so happy because having a big house is not always a plus especially when there is no one to help you cleaning it. I'm one of those nut people who like to see the house clean and neat all the times, but with this big house and all the responsibilities I have, I really needed a cleaner to keep up with this.

It's raining today. I believe it was raining when I last posted too. It's Spring, and Spring is the most rainy season here. I have no problem with the rain as long as it's warm. And it's warm, actually it was really hot yesterday. In such hot days I thank Allah all the time for having a central AC at home, I can't survive without it!

Now check the recipe below. Thank you all for reading :)

Hello everyone,

I'm back! I couldn't post last week because I was really busy. I'm trying to keep up with my blog but sometimes I really can't. I got too many things going on.

Anyway, I'm back today with an easy recipe. Very easy and delicious! Couple of weeks ago I posted the Barazek recipe, and as you all know (or at least some of you), Barazek always come with Ghraybeh. They are both butter-based cookies, very light, and really good.

• Beat butter and sugar with a mixer. You can just mix them with your hand since the butter is soft. Add flour gradually and work out to form smooth dough.
• Put the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Form small sized balls from the dough and place them on a baking sheet (leaving space between them).
• Press one pistachio in the middle of each ball forming a small cookie. Be careful, you don't need to press them too much. You can also make any shape you want, like S-shape, ... .
  
• Bake in the preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. You don't want them to turn gold, you want them to keep their white color.
  

Barazek are middle eastern pistachios sesame cookies. They are popular in some Arabic countries like Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.They are usually served with hot tea or coffee.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• On a baking sheet, spread out the sesame seeds and toast them until they are golden brown
• Mix honey with the 1/2 tablespoon of water and moisten the sesame seeds with the mixture
• In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and sugar.
• Add the butter and the 1/3 cup of water and work out to form smooth dough
• Put the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes
• Form small sized balls from the dough
• Touch one side of each ball into the pistachios, and then press it between the palm of your hands into a cookie shape
• Dip the other side into sesame seeds mixture and try to richly coat it
• Place the cookies on a baking sheet with the sesame side up.
• Bake in the preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until they turn golden brown

Last week, my daughter asked me to bake her gingerbread cookies. They were talking about them at school and she wanted to try them. I never made these cookies before so I had to do my research on them :)

3

cups all purpose flour