halloumi

last month i went to eat with my cousin. he had just gone to this greek restaurant by his house that week with his wife's family and was so impressed he decided to go back. although the food was great (portions were big), the one thing that lingered on my mind after that meal was the appetizer that my cousin's wife had ordered. on the menu it was supposed to be served on a slice of baguette or cracker but she can't have anything with glutten in it so she just asked for it to be served on slices of cucumber. when it came it looked similar to what i prepared above (although not as brown). i loved it immediately. what is this cheese? i asked myself. it's salty, tastes a little bit like chicken and has the consistency close to that. it's so good.

after buying feta cheese (the only greek cheese i had ever heard of) and discovering it was not that, i told my cousin about it. he said it is cyprus cheese. i looked it up. it's actual name is halloumi. when i told my cousin that he laughed. "that's the name of the dish!" he said. i then did a search for stores that would carry it. it seems it is only found in specialty stores like trader joe's and whole foods. luckily i live near a trader joe's. i went and found it. only one kind-the trader joes' brand. comes pre-sliced. $4.99. that's fine. i only need one brand. reading the package, halloumi can be prepared many ways. you can grill it or fry it without using cooking oil (it doesn't melt), you can have it in salads, you can make a sandwich, as an appetizer, in pita bread.

after finishing this small plate i prepared, i would say that it might be too much for one person because of how salty it is. i had to counterbalance the saltiness with the cucumber by cutting thicker slices.

more beautiful than france?

all photos from paris in four months.

 i honestly didn't think I would find a place more enchanting and breath-taking than paris. then yesterday i hopped on over to the blog, paris in four months. the author just came back from a recent trip to corsica, one of france's island territories, and the pictures are just beautiful. i was surprised at my own reaction to these pictures. corsica is so beautiful.

life

i'm old enough where i can look back at life. it's interesting when you can tell when something such as getting a new job can feel and be the start to the next part of your life and when it is only just a new job or another job. i know i'm about to enter into the next chapter of my life. for once i'm a bit scared.  i'm working on a cover letter for a job at ikea, again. it's not even for a management position but they want a cover letter. good grief. so i'm trying to put together something that isn't so... forced, i guess. i know that this time around it will be more like school and not work. what i mean is that i know there is something i will be returning to learn in regards to the bigger picture of my life. last time it was just about working and saving up money. i don't like it when work feels like work.

the other thing is my life has not moved much since i graduated. i came to ikea after i graduated and here i am now. the only difference is that now i know what my calling is. that's another thing that i noticed. life does not move forward until we decide to do so or sometimes we are even pushed to do so or after we've learned all we need to at that stage or a combination of those three. i never thought i would be coming back to ikea, but here i am. life is interesting like that.

sometimes you can feel when you are being led a certain direction. this is one of those times.

happy endings.

two days ago at work, one of my colleague's boyfriend showed up. at that point i noticed a lot of the kids and staff in the building had all gathered and were facing them. my friend's boyfriend then got on one knee and proposed. my friend said yes.

her fiance i noticed was not the same guy i saw at the holiday dinner in december. this is a new guy. i found out they've only been dating for a few months. the guy already knew so soon.

today i congratulated her on the engagement. i then asked how her kids (a fifth grader and a third grader) likes the guy. she said they love him and her son, who she doesn't always understand, loves her fiance. they get along great. she said she couldn't have asked for a better guy. (i was wondering how my friend could given an answer so soon. now i know).

only two weeks ago, this same friend was 1 of 20 people who won a scholarship to a local university. i overheard her talking on the phone that day. she said she felt like her life was finally coming together (things have not occurred in the order society has dictated). from the outside i would say that her life is coming along just fine. she's a great mom to her kids, she does her job well, and she's a great friend.

i have another friend who has three young kids. the youngest she had with her current boyfriend. her boyfriend loves all of her kids. they have already talked about getting married.

i'm so happy for my friends. i think this is just proof for me that anything is possible.