December Happenings and Gift Ideas!

I am hoping that my students, friends, and creative allies, can help me get the word out about some of the really amazing things I am a part of and working on. Thank you so much! Let me know if there is some way I can spread the word about the wonderful things you do too!

As we roll into the holidays and the close of 2014 there is still time for more adventures, and for planning for 2015! Can you believe we are in the final pages of 2014 already!

I am currently booking for 2015 studio classes and local events. If you or someone you know has an interest, please let me know early.

December brings gift giving to mind! Do you have someone on your nice list with an interest in Bellydance, Tarot, or Writing? Let's work together to give them the perfect gift! And you get something too! With any purchase you get 50% off classes, readings, or books!

Here are some of the exciting things already on the calendar for December. See you soon!

Sundays, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Private Lessons

Home Studio, Glendale

Mondays, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Private Lessons

Home Studio, Glendale

Mondays, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Tarot Cafe

Home Studio, Glendale

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tarot-cafe-tickets-14438932235

Tuesdays, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Writing Workshop/ Critique

Home Studio, Glendale

Tuesdays, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm & 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Bellydance Drop in Drills

Home Studio, Glendale

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bellydance-drop-in-drills-tickets-14438908163

Wednesdays, 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm & 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Bellydance Drop in Drills

Home Studio, Glendale

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bellydance-drop-in-drills-tickets-14438908163

Thursdays, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Tarot Cafe

Home Studio, Glendale

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tarot-cafe-tickets-14438932235

Thursdays, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Private Lesson

Home Studio, Glendale

Thursdays, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Private Lesson

Home Studio, Glendale

Thursdays, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

bint Hazine Student Rehearsal

Home Studio, Glendale

Thursdays, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Writing Workshop/ Critique

Home Studio, Glendale

4th, 1:00 pm

Author Spotlight Interview

Fashion Square Mall

13th - 15th

ComiCon FanFest

Glendale

http://phoenixcomicon.com/page/82

13th, 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Desert Caravan

Daddy-o's Bar & Grill, Glendale

https://www.facebook.com/DaddyOsDesertCaravanBellydanceDrumCircle

20th, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Evolve Dance Studio Recital

South Mountain Community College

22nd, 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Red Tent

Home Studio, Glendale

https://www.facebook.com/events/596690497126218/

Thank you so much to all of you! Have a wonderful holiday season!

bint Hazine: Bellydance Classes 2013

Classes are officially over for the year! No really this time! But it is only a few weeks before we start up again! Check out these great upcoming sessions starting in January 2013!

Mondays

7:00pm – 8:00pm

Rehearsals with bint Hazine

*Please contact AdeebA if you are interested in joining this very exciting troupe of dancers.*

Tuesdays

7:10pm – 8:10pm

Foothills Aquatic Center

5600 West Union Hills Drive, Glendale

8 Week Session

*Sign-up via Glendale Parks and Recreation*

Wednesdays

6:30pm – 7:30pm

Rio Vista Recreation Center

8866 West Thunderbird Road, Peoria

8 week session

*Sign-up via Peoria Parks and Recreation*

Saturdays

10:00am – 11:00am

Phoenix Civic Space Park

444 Central Avenue, Phoenix

Drop-in

FREE

It is my hope as well as the ladies of bint Hazine that you shimmy right into the New Year!

Nomday: Summer Salads

Arizona is finally ‘blessed’ with summer-like weather. Joy of joys. So, here are a couple cold meal ideas to try out.

Tuna Salad

Approximate Cost: $5.00

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: No Cooking

5 cans tuna

1 block cream cheese

1 tblsp. lemon juice (optional)

½ cup Mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic crushed

Salt & pepper to taste

Soften cream cheese and mix all ingredients until smooth. Serve on salad greens or toast.

Chicken Salad

Approximate Cost: $30.00

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

1 lbs. chicken breast (cooked)

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup walnuts

1 cup pine nuts

½ cup Swiss or other semi hard cheese.

4-6 orange cuties (peeled and separated)

16 oz lettuce or salad greens of choice.

Bake the chicken for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Allow chicken to cool before shredding or slicing into bite-sized pieces. Toss all ingredients in a large salad bowl. The fruit adds enough moisture in my opinion, but a small amount of balsamic vinegar doesn’t hurt.

Garden Take Two: Week One

I have not posted about the garden in a long while. That is because the garden was pretty much a bust the first round. I do not have a green thumb at all and it takes a ton of effort for me to work with plants, but I have a new garden buddy.

Amber is one of my belly dance students and a member of bint Hazine dance troupe. She is a total sweetie! In dance Amber is still very shy and unsure of herself, but she and I do chat during private lessons so I learned a lot about her other interests, including gardening. Last week Amber asked to see my sad little garden and I showed her. I met a whole new side of Amber that day.

It was a complete 180 in our relationship, I was all shy and reserved about my complete lack of garden skills and Amber was all in that dirt like a pro. She gave me some awesome advice and I begged for her help. This week, we broke into three more large bags of soil and planted quite a few happy little sprouts!

Thank you Amber so much for helping me make my sad little garden happy again!

Planted on 2012.03.16

Tomatoes:

Four sprouts planted in the sunniest portion of the garden. Amber watered them with seaweed water to help the roots.

Amber said:

-plant oregano or parsley near tomato plants to improve flavor.

I am most excited about making paste or sauce and maybe even sun drying a few for snacks!

More information:

http://www.gardeningchannel.com/growing-roma-tomatoes/

Yellow Peppers

One lonely sprout in the center of the garden.

Usually I prefer red or green peppers but I so wanted a different color in the garden. They will be just as good for snacks or stuffed peppers. Nom, nom, nom!

More information:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50

Red Onions

Stuck about a dozen in front of the tomatoes. I hope they don't change the flavor.

Amber said:

- don't plant onions near beans because they do not get along. (I had no idea!)

I use red onions much more often than white, and typically they do not make me cry as much. I hope having them growing just outside the window won't make me cry every day.

More information:

http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/onions.php

Strawberries

One lonely plant, that is already sprouting berries, in the shady side of the garden.

Amber said:

- Strawberries love pine needles!

I am considering moving the strawberries to the patch where all the neighbor's pine needles fall. At least the plants will be happy.

I remember as a kid, I would pick wild strawberries all around the backyard and in the fields. I am so excited to offer that to JD too.

More information:

http://gardening.about.com/od/fruitsberriesnuts/a/Strawberries.htm

Spearmint

Two plants, one near the berries and one near the tomatoes.

I heard somewhere that mint keeps ants away so I really wanted mint in my compost ajacent garden.

I hope the mint does not flavor the tomatoes too though, that could be bad.

I really want to make mint teas, or use the leaves in Mojitos and summer drinks.

More information:

http://www.adagio.com/herbal/spearmint.html

Chives

The chives are just seeds between the tomatoes and the red onions. Amber planted these for me.

More information:

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/herbs/chives.cfm

Oregano

More seeds, between the pepper plant and the front line of the garden.

More information:

http://www.naturalnews.com/oregano.html

Wheat Grass

Seeds in an indoor pot.

Amber said:

- "I brought these for the cat."

- The red wheat grass is good for smoothies.

More information:

http://cats.about.com/library/weekly/aa051497.htm

Admiration 2005 and 2012

A while back I did a root through old journal posts. Being that my mind is more about edits than new material of late, I think I should do this much more often. Again, I should not promise steady updates that will not come, but I hope someone enjoys my growth as a person and maybe learns a bit more too.

2012.03.15

Admiration

I am still not certain there is any one person I can say I admire above all others. It is traits that I fucus on, and always have. I admire dedication, creativity, free thinking. Seven years ago I admired the parents of multiples, and seemed jealous of the outspoken.

I remain in admiration of parents, let me specify, strong parents. Okay, maybe I need to specify further. I admire anyone who offers care and support of any child. I admire the strength involved in being able to take on the task of raising a human being. It is not the giving birth that makes a mother, and not the offering of seed that makes a father. I used to think I was a pretty poor example of a parent, but I hear from so many people how great JD is and I cannot help but feel a ton of pride. I helped make the human he is today. Others helped too, but really, I was the one who did not sleep when he cried. I was the one who doled out the punishments no matter how much it broke my heart. I was the one who stood my ground and said I loved him when he said he hated me. I was not his friend. I will never be my son's friend. What I am, what I always will be, is the voice of reason when he is wrong and reassurance when he is unsure. If I had decided on JD's behalf, nearly thirteen years ago, that someone else could do a better job, I would have no right to claim the title of mother.

The other point of admiration noted in 2005 concerned all the people doing great things in the world. Well, I still admire that trait to stand up and do something, anything, but more and more I see the people behind the curtain. This one is summed up with much more brevity. What is more important, the name, or the cause?

2005.03.07

The one person in the world that I admire more than anyone else is....

I really do not know. I mean there are alot of people in the world who are doing alot of good things. I admire all of them. At the same time I can not stand them, because they stand up and say, look at me, I am doing something worth while in the world and you are not. Then they want you to follow them. I guess the people I admire more are the parents of the litters of children. I mean I realize they are getting gads of finacial help from doing interviews and ads, but what about the emotional support? I mean, they have to deal with the raising of their kids and making them look and act perfect in front of the world. I can not even raise one emotionally stable child, no less six. If the world were watching me raise my kid I would be the poster child for every abuse case I am certain of it. I am worn out and stressed out by one kid. I could never, never live through six.

Nomday: Beef Stew?

Okay, so, one household is not a fan of beef in any form save ground, and the other prefers roast to stew chunks. That means two different styles on a recipe meant to be beef ‘stew’.

Approximate Cost: $20.00

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 9 – 10 hours

4 - 6 medium potatoes, cut into pieces, unpeeled

12 small whole white onions, peeled, fresh

1 8 oz. bag baby carrots

1 red or green bell pepper, seeded, cut into pieces

1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes (ground beef works too)

2 cans beef broth

Oregano

Paprika

Parsley

Salt

Pepper

Place potatoes, onions, and baby carrots in slow cooker. Add bell pepper and beef. In small bowl, combine broth, oregano, paprika, parsley, salt, and pepper. Pour over meat and vegetables.

Also, to add to the sometimes humorous stories that go along with Nomday recipes; the “Mad” Cow Dis-ease. It may not be the most appetizing thought while cooking beef stew, but my little brain gets a little worped.

What if all of the cases of Mad Cow Disease were actually on account of a bovine rebellion? Imagine it. Day after day, cow after cow enjoys the easy, albeit dull existence of farmed life. Every cow, grazing easy or fed fattening trough vittles. Not a predator in the world, or the few villains that do make it across the safety barricades, are eliminated post haste by the defenders of the cows. The cows have no idea that their valiant caretakers, who feed and house, protect, and provide medical attention when needed, are really just saving the cattle for themselves. The cows don’t know this. They are happy in their little comfy world. That is, until one cow sees the reality behind the veil. “Dear me!” he thinks. “I must warn the others!”

He goes ‘mad’, our rebellious bovine does. Mad as hell and as he communes with other of his moo-brothers/ sisters, they too go mad! They run amok, they cry out at all hours! What are the farmers to do? Ah! A plague. They cannot merely kill these trouble makers. They must make example of them. Remove them from the herd first, post warning that these are the infected, the unwell. Stay away!

Mad cow, or just irate?