Children of Heaven Film Review

Children of Heaven is one of my favorite films. And upon seeing it for the third time, its charm and relevance have not diminished. Here is a link to my Children of Heaven Film Review.

09:46 AM PST Permalink |

'Children of Heaven' Iranian Dinner Recipes and Photos
My 'Children of Heaven' Dinner & a Movie was a delicious and exotic adventure in Iranian food and film. For dinner, I served Kufteh Sabzi (Meatballs Simmered in Tomato Sauce), Pita Bread, Maast-o-Khiar (Cucumber, Tomato & Yogurt Salad), Grilled Lamb Kebabs, Albaloo Polow (Basmati Rice with Chicken, Onions and Cherries), Borani Esfanaaj (Spinach with Onions and Yogurt), and Baagh-lava (Honey-Almond Pastry) for dessert. Here is a link to the Recipes and Photos.
12:01 AM PST Permalink |

A Tally of the Cost of Dinner (in U.S.$)
The cost of the ingredients for my 'Children of Heaven' Iranian dinner are listed below. Keep in mind that the prices are based on buying everything new rather than using ingredients that I already had in my pantry. Of course there were lots of things left over for future meals, so the actual cost of the dinner based on the quantities of the ingredients used to make the dishes will be much lower than the grand total of stocking a pantry from scratch for preparing Iranian cuisine.

Specialty Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2.49
Cinnamon - .99
Dill - 3.35

Fresh Ingredients:

Lamb - 5.99
Ground Beef - 2.49
Chicken Breasts - 4.29
Spinach - 1.29
Yogurt - 2.49
Garlic - .44
Parsley - .69
Scallions - .59
Cucumber - .79
Tomato - .99
Lemons - .50
Tomato Sauce - .59
Onions - .83
Green Pepper - 1.29
Lentils - 1.29
Frozen Cherries - 2.50

Basics:

Cooking Oil - 2.49
Eggs - 1.89
Butter - 2.50

Wine - 3.34

Total in $US - 44.10

01:05 PM PST Permalink |

Thanksgiving Redux
In the two days before Thanksgiving, we feasted on the leftovers from my 'Children of Heaven' Iranian dinner. Everything reheated splendidly and gave me a much welcome respite from the kitchen. As anticipated, the Borani Esfanaaj (Spinach with Onions and Yogurt) was much tastier warm than cold. The Kufteh Sabzi (Meatballs Simmered in Tomato Sauce) was still the best dish on the plate, and the Baklava was a sweet reward at day's end.

I began my Thanksgiving preparations the Wednesday evening before, doing much of the washing, trimming and chopping of ingredients for all the various dishes. Rene has an extra fridge in the garage that provided much needed storage space for the two twelve-pound turkeys and all the pots and pans full of stock and stuffing.

We enjoyed a nice long night's sleep before waking on Thursday noon to begin cooking. I spent most of the early afternoon assembling the appetizers: Baked Salmon with Cream Cheese, Dill and Capers on French Croutons, Stuffed Mushroom Caps with Smoked Gouda, and Crudites with Spinach Dip. The Stuffed Mushrooms were the best of the bunch, filled with savory breaded stuffing and a tiny wedge of smoky Gouda tucked into the center of each. And the cream cheese with dill was a perfect accompaniment to the flakes of baked salmon garnised with piquant capers.

The Turkey took exactly five hours to roast, and turned out perfectly golden after only a couple of bastings with the drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan. I raised a velvety brown gravy from the same drippings, and served up Side Dishes of breaded stuffing seasoned with onions, green peppers, celery, marjoram and parsley, along with perfectly poached haricots vert, steamed yams au natural, mashed potatoes, and cranberry-orange-walnut relish. We enjoyed a bottle of 1998 Hess Collection Cabernet Sauvignon with Dinner, and although there was still plenty of bakalava left from Monday night's dinner, by the time we'd sated ourselves, neither of us had any room left for dessert. Despite my best efforts otherwise, I succumbed to sleep on the sofa around midnight, while Rene, bless his heart, put away all the leftovers.

Today I'm roasting the second turkey in anticipation of my son Will and Rene's nephew Jovan arriving tomorrow afternoon for a 3-day stay here with us. With two ravenous teenaged boys, and Rene's lusty appetite, I am confident that all those leftovers won't go to waste.
12:15 AM PST Permalink |

Thanksgiving Day
I am blessed with so many things to be thankful for that I hardly know where to begin. First and foremost are my loved ones: My sweet and steadfast partner Rene; Will, my son and treasure; my five fantastic siblings, Michael, Steve, Julia, Mark, and Nolan; and their mates, Angie, Jane, Mike, Julie and Tina, a dozen darling nieces and nephews; my precious mother Joy and her devoted husband Sully; my dear friends Michael, Herb, Ralph, Mark, Betty and Marcia; my publisher Albert; and Camie, Yvonne, Michael, and Suzanne, the best group of clients any freelancer could ask for.

I am thankful that I wake up every day and can't wait to get to work on all the interesting and challenging projects that await. And although I am deeply troubled by the strife that lately plagues and defines our daily existence, I am ever grateful for the peace and prosperity that I enjoy in my little corner of the world.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

07:59 AM PST Permalink |

Holiday Plans
This year, Rene's family is spending the holiday away from Napa, and my son Will is going to Los Angeles to visit his grandfather, so Rene and I are going to be left to our own devices. In honor of the occasion, I'm going to cook Thanksgiving dinner for two. Since I usually just contribute a couple of appetizers and the cranberry relish to Rene's family dinner, it's been six or seven years since I've prepared a full Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings. But having spent so many happy Thanksgivings in my Mom's kitchen, watching and helping her prepare the annual family banquet, like riding a bicycle, it's something I never forget how to do.

After my 'Children of Heaven' Dinner & a Movie on Monday evening, and with the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, it seems I'm going to be spending the whole week in the kitchen. Of course, making a Thanksgiving dinner will be much easier than learning to cook Iranian food, so I'm looking forward to a pleasant and relaxing day, enjoying my favorite pastime: Cooking!. I will be making several appetizers to sustain us throughout the day, including salmon and cream cheese with capers on sourdough croutons, stuffed mushroom caps, and crudites of fresh vegetables with spinach dip. For dinner, I will make mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed yams, green beans, cranberry-orange-walnut relish, and not one, but two stuffed turkeys. My son Will and Rene's nephew Jovan will be spending the weekend with us, so I want to be sure there are plenty of leftovers to feed two hungry teenaged boys.
01:35 PM PST Permalink |

My 'Children of Heaven' Iranian Dinner: How Everything Turned Out
My 'Children of Heaven' Iranian dinner exceeded all expectations. However, I had to field a few curve balls in the process. First, I decided to prepare and serve the meal at Rene's house instead of my own, so I had the double challenge of preparing a new cuisine in an unfamiliar kitchen. Just when I had gotten my bearings and begun to make some progess with the prep, Rene's nephew Jovan arrived from school, followed soon thereafter by Rene's sister Alicia to pick up her son. She was keen to know all about my Iranian cooking extravaganza, so we spent half an hour or so chatting about the recipes and ingredients. In the interim, the phone rang. It was my son Will...He'd missed the bus. So, since the high school is only two blocks away, I suggested he walk over and stay the night with us instead of catching the late bus to his dad's. Although I was peeved at him for missing the bus, I was secretly glad, because that meant he would get to enjoy my 'Children of Heaven' dinner and I'd get to spend an extra evening with him before he headed to Los Angeles for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Not all the recipes I tried turned out as I'd hoped. But the ones that did were a resounding success. The Kufteh Sabzi, savory meatballs simmered in tomato sauce, which I had originally intended to serve as appetizers, were actually more suitable for the main course. Nevertheless, they were by far the tastiest dish on the table, and one that I will definitely make again. The kotlet dumplings were a disappointment. These little beef and potato croquettes fell apart during the cooking process, and by the time they were done all the way through, the bread crumb coating was too brown. I even tried sauteeing the second batch in butter instead of deep frying, but that was no improvement. So I'm going to omit that recipe from my collection.

The Aash-e Reshteh was another less than perfect dish. It's a hearty herbed noodle and mixed bean soup, but it was much too heavy to serve with a multi-course meal. Moreover, the flavor was not especially distinctive, probably due in part to the fact that I couldn't bring myself to top it with the kashk. That ingredient is a thick whey paste with a tart flavor, and in the throes of trying out so many new recipes, I couldn't devote the kind of time and attention to ensure that I was using it properly. I was also told that the kashk is optional. I'm sure the soup just as it is will make for hearty and delicious leftovers. I'd like to try it in a restaurant sometime, just to see how it's supposed to turn out, but I probably won't be making that recipe again.

The Lamb Kebabs were a tasty success, but one that turned out differently than I originally intended. At the last minute, I decided not to use the sumac spice on them. I dipped a finger into it to get a feel for its flavor and intensity and decided that it was too overpowering for the rest of the dishes on the menu. So instead, I brushed them with olive oil and drizzled them with lemon juice before grilling. I'm going save the sumac for another meal when I can devote my undivided attention to one dish seasoned with it.

The Polow Albaloo was also delicious. The chicken, carmelized onions and cherries were a unique combination of sweet and savory. But unfortunately, mine turned out a little ragged. The cooking process calls for the rice to brown at the bottom, which forms the crispy top layer when the dish is turned out of the pan for serving. Unfortunately, mine didn't brown evenly, so it was perfect on one edge, and a little overdone on the other. And I didn't have a container big enough to hold water for cooling the pan to make the rice easy to remove, so it came apart in places and had to be reconstructed for presentation. I think the trick to this dish is to really know both your cookware and your stove, because there's no peeking midway through the cooking process to see how brown it is. And since I was working in an unfamiliar kitchen with someone else's cookware on an electric stove, I was a little out of my element. Nonetheless, it was absolutely delicious, and the carmelized onion sauce that I made by deglazing the chicken saute pan was an unexpected bonus that wasn't in the original recipe. But it will certainly be added to my version of it.

The Maast va Khiar, cucumber-tomato-yogurt salad was a remarkably simple yet perfect accompaniment to the other dishes on the table. And the Borani Esfanaaj was delicious too. It's a simple vegetable side dish made with spinach, onions, and yogurt, served at room temperature, but I think I would have preferred it served warm. So I'm going to heat it up when I serve the leftovers.

I had also originally intended to make homemade pita bread, but when the moment of truth came, I wisely decided to send Rene to the store for a package of ready-made pita instead.

The wine I chose was also an unexpected treat. Safeway had a sale on a Napa Valley label called Sea Ridge, three bottles for ten dollars. An unheard-of bargain, but at that price I was game to gamble. I chose a pinot noir, and not only was it a delightful bottle of wine, but also the perfect accompaniment to the flavors of the meal. I should definitely pick up a couple more bottles of it while the sale is still going on, since it will no doubt be wonderful with my Thanksgiving dinner as well.

As expected, the Baklava that Mike Alimusa taught me how to make at Small World on Saturday afternoon was the star of the show. He sent me home with a huge tray of it, and I must admit that we cheated and sampled some of it the day before my 'Children of Heaven' dinner. It was honey-golden, sticky-delicioius and absolutely the perfect end to a fantastic meal. Clean-up was a breeze with a dishwasher to lighten the chore, and once I was done, I settled down on the sofa to enjoy a piece of it while we watched the movie.

I can't wait to enjoy an encore presentation of last night's meal.
04:26 PM PST Permalink |

Shopping for Fresh Ingredients
Today I shopped for the fresh ingredients for my 'Children of Heaven' Iranian dinner. Since I didn't need anything exotic, I figured I could just do my shopping at Safeway. There's a brand new branch on the north end of town, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to see what they'd done with the place. But the parking lot was so jam packed that I could only imagine what a mob there must be inside, so I opted to save the sightseeing for later and shop at the old one near my house instead. Being the last weekend before Thanksgiving, I expected it to be thronged with shoppers gathering all the ingredients for their Thanksgiving dinners, but the store was nearly empty when we arrived. I guess everyone was shopping at the shiny new one uptown.

I quickly and easily found everything I needed for my Iranian dinner, and while I was there, I did all my Thanksgiving shopping as well. So, as far as the ingredients are concerned, it looks like I'm all set for spending the whole week in the kitchen making not one, but two elaborate feasts.
01:34 PM PST Permalink |

A Cooking Lesson
Some days are just more fun than others, and today was definitely one of them. At about 4:30 in the afternoon, I went down to Small World, a little falafel restaurant in downtown Napa, just a few blocks from my house. The owner, my friend Michael Alimusa, had promised to teach me how to make baklava, quite possibly the world's most sticky-sweet and sinfully delicious dessert. Michael makes a honey-golden baklava that will melt-in-your-mouth and turn your knees to water.

All you baklava lovers out there know exactly what I'm talking about, and your mouths are probably already watering as you picture yourselves wrapping your lips around a piece of its flaky perfection. For those of you poor souls who have never had the guilty pleasure...alas, you have no idea what little squares of heaven you're missing. Of course, all you chocolate lovers out there are probably growling and shaking your heads in disagreement, and no doubt, you far outnumber us baklavian non-conformists, but I'd gladly trade a single square of Michael Alimusa's baklava for a whole box of Godiva.

When I arrived at Small World, Michael was just closing up for the day, and we had the whole place to ourselves. We headed back to his tiny kitchen, where he had all the ingredients waiting: a box of ready-made phylo dough, a large bag of almonds, a half pound of butter, a shaker of ground cinnamon, a canister of sugar, and a jar of honey. I took notes as he ground up the almonds in a food processor, mixed them with sugar and cinnamon, and lined a large baking sheet with thin layers of phylo dough, drizzling generous amounts of melted butter on each one. About halfway through, he spread the almond mixture over the pan, topped it with several more layers of phylo dough and sealed the whole thing with the rest of the melted butter. Next, he precut the unbaked baklava into uniform squares, and then made a thin, golden syrup from honey, sugar, lemon juice and water.

While the baklava baked in the oven, we sat down at one of the tables in the empty restaurant for a glass of wine and a chat. Twenty minutes later, we went back to the kitchen, where Michael retrieved a perfect batch of his flaky, golden baklava from the oven. While it was still hot, he spooned a generous portion of the honey syrup over each square, back and forth, and then up and down in the other direction, making sure each square was fully saturated.

While the baklava cooled and soaked up all that honey-sweetness, we returned to our table to catch up on all the local gossip. By seven o'clock the baklava was cool enough to transport in my car. And knowing that Michael would refuse to let me pay him for his time and the cost of the ingredients, I presented him with some pretty gifts for his two darling baby daughters. How could he say no. :>)

After a brief stop at home, I headed to Rene's house for the night, with a whole tray of still-warm, nearly irresistible baklava in hand. However, Michael had warned me that the baklava should be left to sit overnight to soak up the remaining syrup, and wouldn't be ready to eat until the morning. It took all the willpower I could muster to resist devouring the whole thing at once. Rene took a picture of it for my 'Children of Heaven' photo essay, and for dessert, we enjoyed a jicama-orange salad instead. It was crunchy-sweet and delightful...but it wasn't baklava.

I'm definitely going to have a taste of it first thing tomorrow, but I have vowed to leave enough to enjoy for dessert after my 'Children of Heaven' Iranian dinner.
07:02 PM PST Permalink |

Taking Photos of My Children of Heaven Iranian Dinner
My 'Children of Heaven' Iranian Dinner & a Movie will be taking place on a Monday evening just before Thanksgiving. It's a school night for Will, so he will not be in attendance. Last month, we used Rene's digital camera to take photos of my Taiwanese dinner, with very pleasing results. I now have the software for it installed on my computer, so I can download the photos directly, without having to ask Rene to be the middle-man. For some reason, the results always turn out better when Rene is the photographer.
12:23 AM PST Permalink |

What to Wear
The most recognizable Iranian garment for women is the black chador cloak that covers the body down to the wrists and ankles, with a roosari scarf to cover the hair. Of course, this is just for street wear, not at-home wear. According to my Iranian friend Ali, at home, Iranian women wear ordinary clothes, such as skirts and blouses or even jeans and t-shirts. So, for my Children of Heaven Dinner & a Movie, I will be dressing cool and comfortable for the kitchen, and in something elegant and basic black for dinner.

Traditional Persian Garments

Much that is known of traditional Persian garments comes from the renowned miniature paintings of the Timurid and Safavid dynasties from the 14th through 19th centuries. These delicately detailed works of art depicted the styles and textile design of the times, including brilliant colors, metallic threads, rich brocades, silks and velvets.

The traditional Persian robe for both men and women consisted of three or four layers, including a slip, an underdress, an overdress, an outer robe, and a veil or turban. The slip was rarely visible, and the underdress and overdress came in two styles. Both featured long sleeves, with buttoned keyhole neckline for the underdress, and a v-neck worn open to a gathered waistline on the overdress. The outer robe was a simple, long, loose garment with either a short, scalloped sleeve, or a near floor-length sleeve, and three necklines, including a collarless style, a short, standing collar, or a large flat embroidered collar that draped over the shoulders. Headwear included turbans for men, and for women, simple shoulder-length veils, topped with a small white cap, or a circlet draped with pearls.
11:28 AM PST Permalink |

The History and Culture of Iran
Iran is located in southwest Asia, with coastlines on the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea. It shares borders with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, Iraq and Turkey to the west. The terrain of Iran is rugged, with high mountain ranges around its perimeter, a central basin made up of deserts and mountains, and low-lying plains along its coasts. Iran's highest peak is Qolleh-ye Damavand at 18,605 feet (5,671 meters).

The climate of Iran is arid, with subtropical regions along its coasts. It has many seasonal variations in climate, especially in the northwest, where winters are very cold with heavy snowfall, mild temperatures in the spring and fall, and summer temperatures of more than 100 degrees (40 C). Droughts, floods; dust storms, sandstorms and earthquakes are common, especially along its western border and in the northeast.

Iran's arable land totals only 10 percent, while pastureland makes up 27 percent of its geography. Its natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur.

Iran is divided into 28 provinces: Tehran, Qom, Markazi, Qazvin, Gilan, Ardabil, Zanjan, East Azarbaijan, West Azarbaijan, Kordestan, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Lorestan, Khuzestan, Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari, Kohkiluyeh and Buyer Ahmad, Bushehr, Fars, Hormozgan, Sistan and Baluchistan, Kerman, Yazd, Esfahan, Semnan, Mazandaran, Golestan, and Khorasan.

People

With a population of nearly 70 million, Iran's ethnically diverse groups include Persians, Azeri-Turks, Kurds, Turkmen, Baluchi, Qashqai, Bakhtiari, Arab, Jewish, Armenian, and Assyrian. Many of these groups are assimilated into the urban areas, while others have remained tribal societies. Many have their own language, culture, religion and literature.

Religion

Most Iranians are Muslims, with 89 percent belonging to the Shi'a branch of Islam, the official state religion. Another 10 percent belong to the Sunni branch, which is predominant in neighboring Muslim countries. Iran's religious minorities, which make up less than two percent of the population, include Zoroastrians, Jews, Baha'is, and Christians.

Language

The official language of Iran is Persian, also known as Farsi, Parsi, Tajiki or Dari, which is also spoken in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian (Aryan) branch of the Indo-European language family, and there are over 75 million native speakers. Other languages and dialects include Turkic, Kurdish, Luri, Balochi, Arabic, and Turkish. Modern Persian uses a modified version of the Arabic alphabet, adopted approximately 150 years after Persia converted to Islam. It should also be noted that Persian and Arabic are distinctly different languages from different linguistic families, with different phonology and grammar. There are many loanwords in the Persian language, mostly coming from Arabic, English, French, and Turkic languages.

English words that originated from the Persian language include: bazaar, caravan, caviar, checkmate, divan, jackal, khaki, kiosk, kismet, orange, pajama, pistachio, shawl, spinach, sugar, turban, and zirconium.

Literature

The Shahnama (Book of Kings), is the most famous classical epic of Iran. It is a compilation of the history of the kings and heroes of Iran from mythical times down to the reign of Khosrau II (590-628 A.D.), and includes the story of the overthrow of the Sassanids by the Arabs in the middle of the 7th century A.D. The poet Daqiqi of the Saminid court was the first to compose the Shahnama in verse form. However he died after completing only 1000 verses. The work was later continued by Ferdowsi, and in its finshed form, contains over 55,000 couplets, which have been read by the Persian people for more than a thousand years. And alhough it was composed over 1000 years ago, this work is still intelligible to the average, modern Iranian reader.

The ghazal, which literally means 'speaking with women', is another Persian poetic form consisting of couplets which share a rhyme and a refrain. Originating in the 10th century, ghazals were written by Persian poets and mystics, including Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi in the 13th century, Hafez in the 14th century, Turkish poet Fuzuli, in the 16th century, Mirza Ghalib in the 18th century and Muhammad Iqbal in the 19th century. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe popularized the ghazal in Germany in the 19th century, and the Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali produced a volume called Real Ghazals in English. The ghazal is still a common form of lyrical poetry in modern day Pakistan and India.

Mythology

Persian mythology is based upon The Avesta, a collection of ancient Zoroastrian sacred religious texts composed in the Avestan language, closely related to Sanskrit, the sacred language of Hinduism. The Avestas were composed over a period of several centuries, the oldest of which are the Gathas hymns, believed to have been written by Zoroaster himself. The original text of the Avesta was destroyed by the Persian invasion of Alexander the Great, and only a fraction of it has since been rewritten from memory by Zoroastrian priests.

Cuisine

Iranian food features a rich variety of ingredients and spices. The primary ingredients include lamb, chicken, fish, eggs, yogurt, goat cheese, lentils, beans, chickpeas, potatoes, rice, peppers, eggplants, spinach, grape leaves, tomatoes, okra, carrots, onions, lemons, limes, oranges, apples, cherries, rose water, raisins, dates, pomegranates, almonds, walnuts, and pistachios. Herbs include parsley, coriander, mint, dill, garlic stalks, black pepper, turmeric, fenugreek, saffron, sumac, cardamom, and cinnamon.

Preparation techniques include Kababs and other grilled meats, stuffed vegetables called Dolmeh, Khoresht stews served with various rice dishes called Polow, pickled vegetables called Torshi, and a tempting variety of pastries and other sweets.

Calendar

Iran uses a solar calendar with a system of leap years, much like the Gregorian calendar with 365.2424 days, but much more accurate and complicated with regard to leap years. The Persian solar calendar was developed in the 11th century by a group of scientists, including Omar Khayyam, also known for his poem, The Rubiyat. The calendar year begins at midnight on the spring equinox, when the sun enters the northern hemisphere. The calendar is 12 months long, with first six months at 31 days each, the next five are 30 days, and the last month has 29 days (30 days in leap years). To compensate for temporal descrepancies, after every seven four-year leap years, the Persian solar calendar observes a five-year leap year.

The names of the Persian months are Farvardin, Ordibehesht, Khordad, Tir, Mordad, Shahrivar, Mehr, Aban, Azar, Dey, Bahman, and Esfand. The vernal equinox, the first day of the calendar year and one of the most important Iranian holidays, is called Norouz, which means New Day.

Traditional Persian Garments

Much that is known of traditional Persian garments comes from the renowned miniature paintings of the Timurid and Safavid dynasties from the 14th through 19th centuries. These delicately detailed works of art depicted the styles and textile design of the times, including brilliant colors, metallic threads, rich brocades, silks and velvets.

The traditional Persian robe for both men and women consisted of three or four layers, including a slip, an underdress, an overdress, an outer robe, and a veil or turban. The slip was rarely visible, and the underdress and overdress came in two styles. Both featured long sleeves, with buttoned keyhole neckline for the underdress, and a v-neck worn open to a gathered waistline on the overdress. The outer robe was a simple, long, loose garment with either a short, scalloped sleeve, or a near floor-length sleeve, and three necklines, including a collarless style, a short, standing collar, or a large flat embroidered collar that draped over the shoulders. Headwear included turbans for men, and for women, simple shoulder-length veils, topped with a small white cap, or a circlet draped with pearls.

To be continued...I'm still composing the history section, so check back in a few days.

12:11 AM PST Permalink |

A Little Background Info on Children of Heaven
'Children of Heaven' is one of the most endearing films I've ever seen. Rene rented it from our local video store a couple of years ago. He is an avid film lover and often arrives with a video for us to curl up and watch after hours, when we've both finished our tasks for the day. His tastes run the gamut, from animation, (his favorite), to action, romantic comedy, mystery thriller, and even the occasional indie or foreign title. I never know what he will bring next.

Written and directed by Majid Majidi, this Oscar-nominated bijou captured the hearts of audiences at film-festivals all over the world. Known in the Persian language as Bacheha-Ye Asemanas, the story centers around two Iranian children, Ali and Zahra, a brother and sister from a financially struggling family. When the boy loses his sister's only pair of shoes, they must secretly share his until he finds a way to get a new pair for her. Amid the plight and pathos of their predicament, Children of Heaven offers a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of a culture that many perceive as mysterious or forbidden, yet still conveys the message that the travails and triumphs of children and families from any culture are often more alike than different.

I've seen Children of Heaven twice... Can't wait to watch it again.
11:40 AM PST Permalink |

Designing a Table Setting
Middle Eastern culture is both mysterious and exotic, and the mention of Persia conjures up images of rich tapestries and carpets, colorful tile mosaics, arabesque motifs, and polished brass. For this month's 'Children of Heaven' Dinner & a Movie, I'm hoping to capture that same feeling with my table setting. I already have several pieces that I think will suit the occasion, but I'm definitely going to go snooping about in our local thrift and antique shops for a few more items to achieve the full effect.
12:10 AM PST Permalink |

About the Fresh Ingredients
The ingredients for my 'Children of Heaven' Iranian dinner include lamb steaks or filets, ground beef, chicken breasts, yogurt, spinach, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, scallions, cherries, parsley, and dill. So, because of the delicacy of these herbs and the fresh vegetables, and meats, I will once again be shopping as near to the day of the dinner as possible. I just hope I don't run into a jam at the supermarket as hundreds of frenzied shoppers gather ingredients for their Thanksgiving dinners.

With my limited knowledge of Iranian cuisine, I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed by the seemingly endless variety of dishes that can be made with a basic suite of ingredients. They all seem to call for the same basic things, which are then combined and assembled in different ways to produce each unique dish. So, I looked over my recipes once more before heading to the market for my fresh ingredients. I'm sure that once I get started preparing each dish, It will all fall into place and I'll be right at home in my kitchen as usual.
12:04 AM PST Permalink |