Chocolate covered dates are an easy beginning to my foray into Palestinian desserts. They’re a special occasion treat, something that I’ve seen mostly in small quantities at iftars or to be sold to tourists at artisan markets. The dates are delicious and rich, a perfect accompaniment for coffee, but not something to be consumed in large… Read More Palestinian Desserts – Chocolate Covered Dates Stuffed with Pecans
Holidays are tough. For everyone. All over the world. I’ve been celebrating the winter holidays abroad for a long time (in 10+ years abroad, I’ve spent three Christmases in the States). Despite that, I’m finding that as this holiday season begins, I’m more homesick than usual. I’m missing friends and family and pumpkin spice lattes.… Read More Celebrating Holidays Abroad – Reasons to Love It
I made all of both my daughters’ baby food for stretches of about six months per child. It sucked at first, but I slowly got into a rhythm that allowed me to make it in large batches. Look, being a working mother is hard (being a mother is hard, period). And I can see why folks don’t… Read More Making baby food in two hours per week (or less, even as an expat)
I don’t write about politics on here because I can’t. I work for the American government, and I serve at the pleasure of the president no matter who he or she might be and no matter what his or her politics might be. I have spent my adult life learning from those who have less than… Read More America is still great, or, thoughts on elections
I am damn pleased to announce that I’ve accepted a handshake to be the Management Officer at Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. We’ll leave Jerusalem next April, spend several months in DC, then arrive in Malabo in January 2018. This is a bit insider baseball to those not familiar with the Foreign Service, but very briefly, just… Read More Next stop, Equatorial Guinea!
I swore last year that I wasn’t going to make the kids’ costumes again, and yet somehow, I ended up doing it again this year. At least I had the sense to buy basic items and make only the logos and accessories. The problem is that I find homemade costumes utterly charming, and also, that… Read More How this Working Mom got Suckered Again, or, Happy Halloween
Machu Picchu is a once-in-a-lifetime hike that everyone should do. The bulk of the ruins are easy walks that can be done with toddlers or parents, and there hikes for the more adventuresome as well. There are a million blgoposts detailing the history of Machu Picchu. Go read them. I’m going to describe our amazing… Read More Machu Picchu
So we’d have enough time to explore the Inca ruins in Ollantaytambo (or Ollanta), we spent several nights there, using it as our base to explore the Sacred Valley. Ollantaytambo was the site of the Inca’s last resistance against the Spanish, and sits at over 9,000 feet above sea level. Yes. That’s high. But not as… Read More Inca Ruins, Ollantaytambo
Saturday morning, we drove to the Mount of Olives and picked olives as Jerusalemites have been doing for thousands of years. The technique of harvesting olives is simple. Wait until the olives begin to ripen, then rake the lives out of a tree. In our case, at the Lutheran World Federation, the caretakers had spread… Read More Olive Picking on the Mount of Olives
What the Chef Rick Bayless Can’t Travel Without I love these peeks into what pro-travelers always bring with them. I can’t decide whether it’s precious or weird or awesome, but I love the idea of keeping a spool of ribbon in my bag to dress up gifts. Since we’ve switched from hotels to AirBnB, through,… Read More What I’ve Been Reading – 10/21/16
