I have always loved to paint, especially flowers. Over the last few years, I have been working on floral paintings and ocean scenes. My daughter loves irises, and I recently completed a painting of three irises for her.
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This is one of the costumes I did for Tiffany and my niece Taly. We made the silk flower headband and basket together.
When my daughter was in third grade, she and her friends would come to my house to do arts and crafts one day a week. I taught the girls how to make shirts with appliques and hats with designs. Every week, we did a different design or decorated a different piece of clothing. For fun, I used to make shirts for my daughter with cutouts of her favorite characters.
She had a different colored hat for ever day of the week.
I enjoyed teaching so much that I eventually started teaching arts and crafts (and floral design) at a local craft store.
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I’ve always felt that having fresh flowers makes a house beautiful, whether they’re wild flowers or a bouquet from a store. It was always my dream to open a flower shop.
The house that I grew up in was surrounded by fields of daisies, lavender, and wild flowers. I would always find myself walking and cutting flowers and decorating my Mom’s house with flowers as a child.
As I grew up, I worked in a floral shop as a young designer, and then went on to own two of my own stores, one that I named after my daughter, Tiffany.
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(Kebab del Kebsch ul Chudra)
Lamb has a reputation for being a celebrations-only meat,
but the simple preparation here is perfect for a backyard barbecue or potluck meal in the park. Like other kinds of Moroccan kebabs, they are enhanced by hummus, harissa, and tahini served alongside.
Serves 4 to 6
2 pounds boneless leg of lamb or beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, minced 2 yellow squash
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped (about 1/2 cup) 2 zucchini
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1/2 cup) 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon paprika
1 medium white onion, cut in large wedges 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cubed
1 tablespoon ground allspice or baharat, if available 1 orange bell pepper, cubed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 red bell pepper, cubed
1 package pita bread or Moroccan bread with za’atar
Hummus, for serving
Tahini sauce, for serving
1. Preheat a grill on medium heat. If using wooden skewers, soak in water for 1 hour to keep them from burning on the grill.
2. In a large bowl, toss the lamb with the parsley, cilantro, garlic, allspice, olive oil, cumin, and paprika, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Thread cubes of lamb onto skewers and alternate with vegetables, using 4 cubes of meat per skewer.
3. Brush the grill with olive oil and cook for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning skewers over to grill evenly, until the lamb is cooked through. Remove the skewers and set aside, covered to keep warm.
4. Brush the pita bread with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with za’atar seasoning. Grill the pita on both sides, until toasted with light grill marks, then slice into quarters and serve alongside the skewers with the hummus and tahini.
Copyright © Ruth Barnes
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