Nope! this is not a zoo, these are baboons at Al Hada, Taif of Saudi Arabia. Though there are many tourist attracted to these sight, a lot of locals complained about its existence because they destroys farms,trees and sometimes attack people when the food are scars, they are like scavengers,feeding themselves from the garbage or rely on the foods given mostly by the tourist around the city.
I am so scared to go down from the car but the clinging baby baboon got my attention! I took the shots through the window car 🙂
This is how close people get into the baboons!
This one caught my attention really hard, I realised the baby baboon has no life, it doesn’t move! And the mother won’t let go! how sad 😦
B is for basbousa…no!!! B is for birthday, alright I know this post is so late, but it’s better to be late than never 🙂
You see the background? that’s where I want to celebrate my birthday …in my dreams 🙂
Anyhow, basbousa is a traditional arabic sweet made of semolina and soaked in sugar syrup. Almond and coconut is the usual mixture and I thought why not cheese? so, here’s another flavour I did on my 55th birthday . I did two version, one with the basbousa as a crust and one ,with a cream cheese as a filling.Both were delicious and heavy calories..omg!
Basbousa with cream cheese filling
Ingredients:
Basbousa:
1 cup semolina
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup melted butter
1 can condensed milk
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup water
1 (300G) philadelphia cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream
Syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch and 1 cup cold water to mix
1 tbsp rose water
Direction:
Pre heat oven Gas mark#3
Combine melted butter,condensed milk and baking powder and stir well. Add semolina,almond meal and water, mix until well combined. Divide into three parts.
Meanwhile, cook the syrup ,mix all ingredients and bring it to boil until it thickens and set aside.
Mix cream cheese and heavy cream thoroughly until smooth and well combined.
Pour one part into the baking tin, add the cream cheese mixture and Pour the second part. Bake into the oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into triangular shape and pour all the sweet syrup.Chill before serving, top with pistachio or almond nuts.
I used the last 3rd part of the basbousa as a crust for my cheesecake. Great idea huh! two birds in one shot?
my 55th b-day cake
Ingredients:
Crust: basbousa
Filling:
3 pkg (300G) Philadelphia cream cheese
3/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 yogurt or sour cream
3/4 sugar
3 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp rose water
a pinch of salt
3 tbsp almond meal
Directions:
Pre heat oven Gas mark# 3
Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed,add whipping cream and yogurt. Combined well until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add one egg at a time, mix thoroughly ,add a pinch of salt, almond meal and rose water together.
Pour into the prepared basbousa crust. Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes. turn off the heat and leave the oven door open for another 30 minutes. Remove and cool at room temperature for about an hour. Chill for another 4 hours or overnight before topping and serving.
I haven’t posted my Dubai trip last week yet, yes! I was out of Jeddah, KSA again..hurray! It is always a treat to be out of this shell, Oh how I wish it will be forever!
Anyhow, my friends and I were planing a weekend trip for a long time now, so even though I just came back from Dubai and needed a rest, I didn’t miss this happening! And I was right! This place is awesome as if we’re not in Saudi Arabia. And to be surrounded with friends is a bonus in itself!
We left Jeddah late at night and woke up early to catch the sunrise at the beach. I learned the coconut trees were taken from the Philippines, great!
The place is so serene, as if the place was reserve for us only. there was a couple of families fishing along the edge and a few women who are still wearing their abaya, strolling along the beach.
I was having headache all day and took medicine every 4 hrs., but still manage to enjoy the place and my friends company.
The end is near for the last 10 flavours of Cheesecake Challenge! Countdown begins now…
Flavour #41 Dates and walnut Cheesecake (food for the gods)
Huh! What a way to start the countdown.. cheesecake for the gods 🙂 this recipe is a combination of dates, walnut and cheese for which it is commonly called ” food for the gods”. I am not sure why and how the cake got its name but let me guess. Dates and walnuts are not common in the Philippines, hence, it’s quite expensive to make it.Gods, may denote rich and famous people. Back then, It was only for the rich and famous who can afford to have this kind of cake, middle class people tried to have it at least during special occasion like Christmas. Well, this is my theory of how this cake got the name” food for the Gods”. Am I making sense?
Alright let’s add cheese to the lavish and rich ingredients of this cake, tailored for the King and Queen as well hahaha, kidding aside, this cheesecake is deliciously rich! Try it and maybe you might say, its heaven! 🙂
Flavour # 41 Dates and walnut Cheesecake
Saudi Arabia is the homeland of Date palm trees.It is a must to break their fast during Ramadan with dates and water. There are about 300 types of dates in Saudi Arabia. Oh! let’s not get into detail, let’s bake cheesecake!
dates
For a more beautiful presentation of cheesecake for the gods, I choose a different baking pan, so my cheesecake will look like a “chess” board.
dates paste
Ingredients:
Cake base
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup date paste
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 pcs eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Cheese filling:
2 pks (300 g each) Philadelphia cream cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
Directions:
Pre heat oven Gas mark # 3
Cream butter until fluffy, add sugar slowly while mixing at medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, continue until thoroughly mix. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients, add it to the butter mixture. Add dates and walnuts, continue beating until well combined.
In a separate bowl, combine cheese and sugar,(i used rubber spatula) add egg one at a time. Continue mixing,add sour cream and whipping cream. Mix well until smooth.
spray the pan with butter.
Place the cake batter at the outer part and the cheese batter at the inner side. Repeat the other way on the second set.
1st pan
2nd pan
Bake for 40 minutes. Let it cool for another hour before decorating.
Serving suggestions:
top with dates and nutsgorgeous combinationheavenly gooddeliciously insane
Ladies, this cheesecake is for the King and Queen! Please try and enjoy the lavish treat! 🙂
How true is this? I have no idea… We went to a restaurant called “Bab al Yemen” (gateway to Yemen) at Al Zahra district.From the outside building to the interior, it seems the authenticity is ethnic, though I haven’t been to Yemen 🙂 , I presumed it is presented as it is.
The interior is decorated with miniature Yemen houses, traditional utensils and wood doors.
We ordered Malawah bread, a Yemeni flat bread, sprinkled with cumin seeds, hot and freshly out from tandoori oven. We also tried plain and with cheese, which are both equally crispy and delicious!
plain
cheese
cumin
We asked what specialty or the most popular menu on the list, the smiling waiter suggested to order” Salta” a meat stew in tomato sauce prepared and serve in a black stone pot made from mountain soil. But I am not meat eater so as my friends, so we opted for okra,chicken,potatoes and shrimps.
potato maghash
shrimp maghash
chicken maghash
okra and side dishes
Previously, we also tried some Yemeni dishes in Thalia mall, also serve in hot stone, tuna and liver maghash.
malawa bread
tuna maghash
liver maghash
ladies, you see how exciting to be beyond fifty, we took the risk and survived being shoot over the head.. so get in before it’s too late ….just kidding 🙂
We left our home as early as 5:30 am, to catch the sunrise, unfortunately we didn’t reach on time.
We stop along the area, to buy tamis ( a big round bread)and foul (made of fava beans) for breakfast, we ate it as fast as the sun rises above us.
As soon as we arrived, I got ready with my camera, there’s not much to shoot anyway, it’s all sands but I tried to make it more interesting ( I hope so 🙂 )
This is how close people get into the baboons!
I was having headache all day and took medicine every 4 hrs., but still manage to enjoy the place and my friends company.
Dr. Myriam- The Dental Aesthetic Clinic 
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