Leeks and Garlics of Egypt

That's right, folks - we're moving to EGYPT! We are currently waiting for "the" phone call from the re-location company to get the process started. We're sending one container home to Fort Worth to store in the garage til spring. Another container will go to Egypt. We'll be living in a furnished apartment - something I haven't done in over 40 years! PRAY!



Glen's excited about the new job - he'll be working 7 days on/3 days off and traveling between a couple of bases. The equipment he'll be working with is something he's not seen in over 30 years so it's going to be a challenge. But one of the lovely things about the Egypt contract is its longevity. Most of the people there have been there for quite awhile - something we're very hungry for. Moving every 2 years or so is HARD!



Another lovely thing is the church! We've located a wonderful sounding church right in the community where we will be living (which is called Maadi by the way). It has a webpage that presents it very much like our church in Abu Dhabi - AND we won't have to drive 2.5 hours each way to get to it. There's a metro that runs between Maadi and Cairo - and I'm told it even has a special "ladies only" car! So when I need Embassy help - as I will in order to renew my passport - it won't be a big issue.



It sounds as though they are trying to get us out of Greece and into Egypt in about 3 weeks - WHEW! So much to do. I've been sorting for days - have made lists of what goes to which place and what to save for suitcases. We've taken the boys to the vet for their pre-move exam and innoculations. NOW I'm waiting!



So while I'm waiting, I thought I'd share a fantabulous idea I got from a friend in Abu Dhabi. Her housekeeper is from Ethiopia and the credit for this came from Dehab. We're trying now to figure out what else we can do like this - chili peppers for sure - maybe even onions! Jennifer just said we can do ginger this way too - now THAT would be a real help!



Here's the procedure. Step 1 - buy some garlic.

Step 2 - get the yuckies off the garlic, trim bottom end. I used the whole 3 "heads."

Step 3 - Put the garlic cloves into a blender with some olive oil. Whirl it on - adding enough oil to make a thick paste.

Step 4 - Spread this paste into a neat rectangle on a piece of parchment paper placed on a small baking sheet. Cover it and put it in the freezer. Freeze till solid enough to break apart.

Step 5 - Cut into postage stamp sized squares. I've figured out that one of these squares is about 1 clove of garlic.

I've shown an almond next to the "square" for reference.

Step 6 - into a ziploc and into the freezer. I've yet to find ANY recipe that won't accomodate this. When something calls for garlic, just open the freezer and pop in one or two (or in my case 3-4) squares and you're set! Obviously if you're making salad dressing, you'll want to put the square into the container first and let it come to room temperature - but this takes no time at all.

I am SO impressed with this tip. I spend about 30 minutes every couple weeks and I never EVER have to peel or chop garlic. One of my LEAST favorite things is peeling garlic - right up there with digging all the ickies out of a garlic press. NEVER AGAIN!

So, from the land of blue seas, ciao for now - hopefully the next post will be from the land of pyramids ... and CAMELS!