Loubieh B- Zeit
I rarely dream, but when I do, they are of the Woody Allen movies genre, a little less boring perhaps and slightly more consequential. Invariably though, after the unwelcome apparition getting back to sleep is no easy chore. No matter how ghastly or blissful the dream was I forget all about it within minutes and feel void of any sense. More significantly, I feel hungry.
Now years ago I learned that the midnight snack is bad for me and I have almost entirely given up on this spiteful nocturnal habit. Not this time! My stomach was pleading: “Oh, master, feed me please”. “How come”, I wondered, “where in the hell did the Labneh sandwich I gobbled before hitting the sack go?”
Well what’s the point; here I am at 2:00AM, sleepless in Tartous, with vague memories of a stupid dream persisting in my head. I have no other option to kill the night off except…Feed.
With sleep creeping in hesitantly between closed-shut eyes, an image of two fried eggs (over easy) smothered with
Loubieh B- Zeit is another version of Fasoulieh Khadra (Green Beans: read last post) except that it's cooked with olive oil and no meat. It's eaten with bread and an obligatory onion.
Comments
It's 06:06 and I am almost on my way to work!
I know such kind of dreams ... had them as well already!
Loubieh B-Zeit sounds real yummy ... once NOMALITY or even a BIT of it will have returned here, I'll try it out! Things are tough right now ... but survivable!
Will SOON be in touch!!
Love you ALL!
Consider it as a treat to yourself. I used to do that whenever I woke up in the odd hours of the night. But I would normally made myself a cup of hot tea with milk since that is my comfort food.
Everytime I read your posts about food I get hungry...get the pots and pans ready for when I visit Tartous next summer! Yallah jayeek :P
I'm so happy to read your comment. I know you've been under a lot of stress lately and I hope you get out of it soon.
Nothing beats 2 friends enjoying a midnight snack together. Hopefully, one day :-)
At the moment of consumation the midnight snack is as good as ...
The consequences, however, always leave me in a sorry state.
A cup of tea is no Lubieh B-Zeit believe me.
There will be other nights, I will regret them again, but the immediate hedonistic pleasure the mifnight snack generates is beyond reach.
My intention was to make you hungry. I hope that you wake up in the middle of the night and remember this post. More importantly, there should be something enticing in your fridge.
Now that I live alone, sneaking doesn't feel like the same old challenge, and the 'hedonistic pleasure' has faded away.
However, I still find a pleasure in storming the 24/7 convenient store at 3:00 AM every now and then, and to select my prey amongst the so many synthesis variety of "stuff your bowels with the least possible effort" stacked all over...
When I lived alone I didn't adhere to the "least possible effort" at all.
As a matter of fact, I learned most of my improvised cooking after midnight.
Now since I'm really sneaking, I have to obliterate all traces of my nocturnal activities (except perhaps the missing food itself).
Again, the midnight snack is so good it ought to be bad for you:-(
All I have in my fridge is some Labneh and beer!
Abu Fares, I am tagging you and Dubai Jazz. ;0) I figured food is a benign topic, and music might also be. We talk about such scary things here...food and music. LOL My harmless topic for the week is: What's in your Ipod? I'm sure the FBI wonders what is in mine....You can all find out on my blog.
And the fish I had on Arwad island, well seasoned and deep fried mmmm. My sister's husband is from there and my father is from Tartous and my elder sister lives in Tartous.
I use to watch and help my aunt and my mother who learnt from her make the shanklish but never tried it, Now I want to try it Insha'allah.
It is worth it after all, you're right.
I have lost 5 kg in Ramadan, then
reached the unbreakable barrier where I can't lose anymore weight without a rigid diet and exercise plan. I just hope I can keep it this way. If I were to have any chance, I have to give up on one of my favorite hobbies though "the midnight snack".
Get some eggs man and you wouldn't run out of options.
As for the beer, well that's another story.
I will reply to your tag provided you accept the fact that I don't even have an Ipod!
Can I instead tell you what kind of music I listen to in my car (i.e. what CDs I have)?
I'm so happy to be found by your charming daughters and you.
It gives me immense satisfaction to know that a Tartoussieh is living halfway across the world in beautiful Trinidad and Tobago and reading my blog.
Whatever food from the old country you want to know about, just let me know.
Thank you for dropping by.
I'd hate to keep you waiting then come up with a CD list that might prove lackluster at best. So here is what is available in my car right now. BTW, some of the titles change, some will move to my new car when I buy it (I have no idea when, another couple of years down the line perhaps).
1. Om Kalthoum "Hazihi Laylati"
2. Mouin Shreif "Wadiiyat"
3. Lina Shamamian "Shamat"
4. Andrea Boccelli "Sogno"
5. a collection of French Hits from the 70's
6.Demmis Roussos
7. My own MP3 CD with over a 100 songs from LIMEWIRE.
-Deep Purple
-Moody Blues
-Santana
-Pink Floyd
-Chicago
-Cat Stevens
-Queen
So you see Paige, I'm kind of stuck in the 80's as far as my musical taste is concerned. In the modern sense, I'm musically illeterate.
And
-Alan Parson's Project
-Genesis
-Led Zeppelin
Limewire is too scary for me. I always feel like the music company lawyers are watching me. I don't like being watched. LOL
Your list is not lackluster. It is unique. :) It proves my point. Music is the universal language. Dubai Jazz and I have the same songs in our mp3 players even though we're thousands of miles apart.
My most active night was when I woke up drowsily at 2 AM and I was hungry. Instead of eating some leftover or some sandwich I actually managed to cook pasta and red sauce (no meat), eat it, wash the dishes and go back to sleep. It took me some few days to remember I actually woke up and did all that!
I forgot to mention that my MP3 CD has a couple of Kansas and a Boston.
I wasn't that crazy. I didn't have any onions that night. Jalapeño was my substitute.
Thank for the reminder anyway and we will make special request at the farmer market so we don’t miss.
I had no idea that I've put you in such a dilemma but you reminded me of the time I would go to buy cucumbers in the US and look for the smallest pieces. This raised eyebrows as they use to sell 3 for a $1 or whatever. I also handpicked the smallest okra and other kinds of vegetable.
The people at the supermarket thought I was crazy :-)
How about Kebbeh recipe for the uninitiated?
:-)
First time Ive come here in a while and I am surprised to find no entry about bad al-7ara! Are you the only Arab in the universe who is not talking about it?
Of course you are free to love it or detest it but you simply must pass SOME comment on it. Otherwise we may have to suspect your identity...
Soon inshallah
I commented on Rime (Mosaics) about Bab Alhara.
I didn't write about it (although I liked it) because I only saw the last 7 episodes, that is the last week.
Anyway, so glad you've dropped by, please come again.