In The News: A New Kind of Cookbook & Book Giveaway

Good morning to everyone on this snowed in day! Yep, Seattle is getting her fair share of the snow dump to my dismay. I have a wedding to get to this evening and I am on set duty around noon, not sure if I will even be able to make it :(

But that is not what I am here to talk about on this snow covered day. As the pic above says, there is a new cookbook in town!!!! And, yours truly has a couple of family recipes and food related stories included! :D I'm so excited to share some of my mom's fun cooking with the world and some of the stories that lead to said recipes. For example, you will find out why for a good 10+ years my family became vegetarians and tuna became the main meat staple in the house :D Try out a variety of recipes from various cultures around the world.

Serving Up Faith is on sale now but I am giving away two copies! Fill out the form below for a chance to win a print copy of Serving Up Faith!

Serving Up Faith
Islamic Writers Alliance
ISBN: 978-0-9819770-7-2
Paperback
242 pages
Price: $14.95




Buy direct from the publisher here or from Amazon here

Happy 3rd.....to me! :)

It is my 3 year anniversary at the childcare center where I work! :) It is amazing how fast time goes by. I was just recently reminiscing with a parent the other day just how big her son had gotten and how I have watched him grow over the years. When I first started, I worked as a float in the infant/toddler unit He was not more than 6 or seven months. Later, I was promoted to co-lead teacher in the young toddler room. I had him in my class for a year. We were very close as he remembered me from the infant room. Then he turned two. I continued to witness his development and growth as he went from the two's classroom to preschool. Now I have his baby sister and his cousin (yes, his auntie made sure her son came to my class when he turned one :D) in my classroom along with three other younger siblings of children who grew up and learned with me in Homebase B.

Another parent happen to see the large yellow congratulation sign posted outside my classroom and commented just how happy he was to have me as his children's teacher and congratulated me on my three years. I have to say, I was very pleased and honored, though honestly, it does not feel like it had been THAT long. Time did not seem to pass so quickly. But leave to Aaron, a funny teacher who likes to keep us all happy and laughing reminding me that I indeed had been there for a loooooong time. He said in a very calm, nonchalant, not trying to be funny way, "How does it feel to be the oldest teacher in the toddler unit?" "You are the senior toddler teacher, the toddler unit matriarch!" Bless his heart, he was trying to congratulate me and put me on a pedestal but all he did was remind me just how long it had been! :) But I would not change a thing and I hope and pray I have many more years to offer my love, care and professional abilities to many more generations of children to come!

The IWA Anthology: Many Poetic Voices, One Faith

Book release just in time for the holidays featuring two poems by yours truly, :D and one of my mom's poems!!! I'm really excited about this and I hope you are too!




Many Poetic Voices, One Faith is your window into the world of Islam through poetry! Come on in and find out what’s waiting here for you inside the attractive cover designed by talented IWA member artist, Nazaahah Amin.

The award winning poems written by Karen English, Marwa Elnaggar, Camilla Sayf, Corey Habbas, Julinar Diab, and additional poems written by 31 IWA member poets are enlightening, entertaining, and rich in a diversity of topics: from a point-by-point description of a soul mate to a sonnet-ode dedicated to a loving and missed mother; from vivid reminders and poetic verse awakening us all to the evils of domestic violence to heart-wrenching reminiscences of the plight of the Muslim convert; from beautiful English renditions of the traditional and ancient Arabic ghazal to the plight of eighteenth century slaves; from a thought-provoking rendition of life from birth to the grave and beyond; from a thoughtful insight into the significance of a single raindrop, to a very moving and heart-warming dedication of life from a long-gone friend.

All this and much more is waiting for you when you read the poetry of our IWA poets’ many voices and their one faith, Islam.

http://www.islamicwritersalliance.net/projects/poeticvoicesanthology.html

Massive Squid Wash Up in Quake Aftermath

Jumbo Humboldt squid wash-up minutes after 4.0 earthquake hit off the coast of La Jolla.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Dazed-Giant-Sea-Creatures-Wash-Up-Minutes-After-Quake--.html?yhp=1