So I feel it is important to devote at least one entire entry to the outstanding food that I have been blessed with having here. I expected to find food here that I love and to enjoy home cooked meals. I don't think anything would have prepared me for what I've actually been experiencing though. My taste buds are having the time of their life right now.

First, let it be said that I was told my host mom would be an amazing cook. That seems to be a fairly common title here though. Everyone says their moms cook amazing food. Maybe its true. I feel confident in saying that my host mom cooks the BEST food :) Every meal looks and tastes like something I would be paying $20-50 a plate. Her food is FANTASTIC. Whether its something she whipped up in 5 minutes or took all day to cook, it all tastes amazing. I bet you're all interested in what she actually cooks then. Well here's just a small glimpse...

For breakfast I'm usually on my on. But if my host mom wakes up early, she'll come out and make me a scrumptious breakfast. It usually consists of at least some vegetables. Yes, vegetables are an important part of breakfast here. It can be something like a sliced up tomato with some salt or (like today) a crisp green hot pepper. She makes these homemade cheese curds (at least I think thats what they are...). They sit in a jar of olive oil in the refrigerator and she'll spoon them out onto a plate with some of the oil. This is then eaten with bread (they use bread for a LOT of food here----usually as a scoop) and sometimes zatar. Zatar consists of dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, salt, and toasted sesame seeds. She usually tries to give me something sweet for breakfast, my favorite being dried figs that have been soaking in a sugary syrup that she makes. The end result is a plump juicy fig that tastes a little like heaven. Dates are often included in this breakfast as well. And of course, tea with lots of sugar is a morning MUST.

Lunch and dinner are usually very similar to one another, the difference being that lunch is larger and has a lot more fresh vegetables. I have come to love and crave a simple salad of sliced tomatos and cucumbers with either a little bit of lemon juice, olive oil, or salt. Theres no way of generalizing the types of food we eat for lunch. One of the MANY things I love about my host moms food is the variety she can cook. I've had beef stroganoff (on rice), salmon soup, manseff, pasta, BBQ, and the list goes on. Today, I had roast chicken with potatoes, roasted tomatoes and onions, and a large tomato/pepper salad.

And don't even get me started on dessert. Luckily she hasn't made as many sweet things (good for my taste buds, BAD for my body :D). She makes these delicious little dough balls that she deep frys and sticks in a sugary syrup sauce. These are to DIE for when they are fresh and warm still. She also makes a honey cake which is literally dripping in the sweet syrup. My least favorite of any food she makes (only because of personal tastes) is a sweet milk/rice pudding that she makes. Its good but I'm not a fan of milk.


I'm not really sure what I'm going to do when I come back home. I don't think anything can really compare to the food my host mom makes. The closest craving I've had for food back home is peanut butter, and really---I would gladly give it up forever if I could eat like this all the time.

It will however be nice to get away from only in the sense that I won't want to eat as much :) My host mom likes to serve LARGE portions, no matter how much you ask her not to give you so much. So if I'm not in there before things actually get served, I'm out of luck and have to down a huge plate full (not that I entirely mind).

Oh, Uurdon. Why do you have to be so wonderful ?