Sweet and Savory

So sweet – we actually earned the world famous Sugar Doll award, you are all invited to the ceremony! Also, you will find an interesting recipe for a typical Israeli dish (hence Savory). so enjoy!

Perfect Weather, Nice Views

Not much to complain these days – The one good thing about Sunny California is the weather, and we enjoy it very much. With nice views from our site it is nice to sit outside in a hot sunny day, with a bottle of good German beer, and relax.

The Sugar Doll blog Award
There is an award – called the Sweet Blog Award, that is being passed from one blogger to another. The unofficial rules are very simple:

• You need to advertise the award on your blog
• You need to award the blog to 4 other bloggers, that you believe have  good blogs but may not get the recognition they deserve
• You need to tell 10 different things about yourself.

I think that’s about it!
So couple days ago, Donna from 2 taking a 5th has awarded me this precious prestigious award:
First – thank you Donna very much! It is very sweet (Sugar must be)
So first – I need to select four blogs that I like, but since Donna and I are reading the same type of blogs, Donna already took some of my favorite.
So here are my choices:

And the winners are...

Al from The Bayfield Bunch – Al is talented both as a writer and as a photographer. It is always fun reading his blogs, and even if I do not have the time to read everything – the photos are simply amazing. I know Al just recently passed the 100 followers mark (Congrats!) but still – it is a very unique blog.


Laurie from Semi-True tales from our life on the road – Laurie has great sense of humor. Sometime cynic, but always makes you smile. Laurie is very resourceful and very helpful with advice and critique. She is the “Drive-Ins, Dives and Dines” of the RVers, as she loves trying and tasting different cuisines.


Jerry from Our Life on Wheels – Jerry and Suzy are just great people, and so fun to be around. They are taking a small break in their travels at their site in the SKP park in AZ, but plan to hit the road again this spring. Their blog is very vivid and colorful, and just interesting to read.


and last, but not least –
Donna from Donna and Jake – Donna who travels during the winter time throughout the south with her dog Jake, enjoys Casinos and city life. Her writing style is very unique, and she is almost talking to you. You feel you are friends with Donna as soon as you start reading, even if you are not so much into gambling.


So now that we have complied with the first two rules, I need to tell about myself. Hmmm.

This is just me

1. I am in Israeli. I was born and raised in the south-most beautiful town of Eilat on the red sea, where my roots and family still are.
2. I love photography. I bought my first SLR camera when I was in the military reserves – it was a Minolta 700i and since then I am hooked on taking pictures. Still have lots to learn though.
3. I am a nature lover by nature. I could easily live in the side of somewhere, which is was beyond the middle of nowhere. I am trying to find the right balance between country life, work and travel. I love water. I spent days by the sea since I was a week old. Being raised in the ever-summer city of Eilat I used to ski, sail, swim and dive. I even spend my 3 years of service in the Israeli Navy.
4. I am the gadget man. I always loved those state of the art new technology even before they came out to market.
5. I am curious and love to learn. I strive on learning, and get bored very fast if I do the same thing for a long period of time. Being in the computer software industry – that was a perfect match – always something new, always new project, new challenge, new industry and lots to learn.
6. I started my first company right out of college in Israel, and after 5 years I had 30 employees and 400 customers. I sold my company when I Left to the US on 1995.
7. I am happily married to Patti – who is my third and last partner. I was married twice before, and have 4 wonderful kids. Patti who was also married twice before, has 3 children from previous marriage, and we have no kids together.
8. I am Jewish, and Patti is Lutheran, so we get to celebrate many holidays together. I think I am the only Israeli country boy Jewish full timer guy on the road. We never had a conflict about religion – as a matter of fact we learn a lot from each other.
9. I love to travel and explore. Since I came to the US in 1995, I lived in CA, MN, IN, NE, CT, PA, VA and for a short time in London. Whenever I am traveling for business, I always make sure to take some extra days and explore. Been to most countries in Europe, Canada, Brazil and some countries in the middle east.
10. I am very graceful to live in an era where everything changes so fast. The computer revolution has changed the world and the lifestyle in front of my eyes, and this is amazing.

I think I made it to 10 – not easy… but now you know me a little better.
And now – the Recipe corner

Shakshouka

Not sure you can even say it? It is pronounce Shuck-SHOO-kah.
Finally got Patti to make it, so I can take notes and pictures.
This is a  vegetarian dish, very common dish in Israel – they love eating it for breakfast in a Pita bread. Not so hard to make.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Shakshouka (also shakshuka, shaqshuqa, chakchouka; Arabic: شكشوكة‎; Hebrew: שקשוקה‎) is a North African dish consisting of poached or fried eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices (often including cumin, turmeric, and chillies), and usually served with white bread .^[1]
Originally enjoyed by rulers of the Ottoman Empire, this dish later amassed its greatest popularity among the North African countries. Shakshouka was then taken to Israel largely by Tunisian Jews after the Jewish exodus from Arab lands. This dish is now a staple of Yemeni, Israeli, Tunisian, Algerian, Somali and Moroccan cuisine.^[2] It is similar to the Turkish dish Menemen, and the Latin American breakfast dish Huevos rancheros.

So here is Patti’s version of this dish:

Ingredients:

• 6 to 7 tomatoes
• 2 med onions
• 4 cloves of minced Garlic
• 2 to 3 jalapeño peppers
• 1 to 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 4 tbs paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 6 eggs

Instructions:

1. chop the tomatoes put into pan on med heat
   
2. Fry the onions, garlic and pepper in frying pan until soft.
   
3. add the salt, paprika and cayenne pepper to the tomatoes
4. Add the onion mixture to the tomatoes bring to a boil on medium heat.  Turn down to low and let simmer until the mixture becomes thick
5. Break the eggs on the top of mixture and put lid on the pan and let cook until eggs are just cooked.

serve with bagels or bread
That’s it for tonight… Hope you liked it – let me know.