CHAI KARAK

... the oh-so-popular drink in Qatar, gaining popularity in the whole GCC area...

INGREDIENTS

2 Ts Black Tea (preferably loose)

4 Cardamon crushed

1/4 cup Milk

2-3 Ts Sugar

PREPARATION

Cook tea and Cardamon in water, add milk until the color turns "chocolate brown". Add sugar and keep simmering for a little until it turns creamy. Cheers... or should I rather say "Saha!".

VARIATIONS

Instead of using milk, Cardamon and sugar buy the condensed Cardamon milk. To give it an even sweeter twist, leave Cardamon and sugar out and add instead a dash of Rosewater syrup. Yummmi... that comes awfully close to the popular UAE drink "Bandung".

BRAIN MIX

... Talal's Anti-Aging Brain Mix ...

1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup dried goji berries
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Keep in airtight container that way you will always have healthy brain food!

GROSI'S MAMORKUCHEN

... My favorite Marble Cake recipe ...

1 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
2 stick Butter (at room temperature)
2 ts Vanilla
3 cup Flower
2 ts Backing Power
1/2 cup Milk
2 Ts Cacao

Beat the sugar and the eggs until creamy and add the butter and the vanilla. Add the flower and the backing powder to the mix. Depending on flower quality add more or less milk to create a frothy mix.

Fill half to 2/3 of the mix in the buttered form. Add the cacao powder and a splash of milk to the left over mix, beat and fill as second layer into the form. With a fork mix the two layers in a slight spiral motion to create marble look.

Bake at 375• F for 40-45 min.

OPTIONS:

• Add lemon zest to the light mix
• Add Rum to the chocolate mix
• Add orange zest to the chocolate mix