Cooking Class at the Four Seasons...

Upon arrival we were greeted with a large table of gorgeous red floral arrangements. I could not stop staring at these beautiful flowers God created and the amount an arrangement like this must cost. These flowers were most likely shipped from Holland. Only the best and biggest here in Doha. And this was just the entrance, these floral arrangements were located throughout the entire hotel. Stunning!
Then we met our teacher, Chef Roberto Cannata. He was from Milan Italy, and had a very strong accent. I asked him what made him come to Doha and how he liked it here. He said, "They needed Italian food here and yes, he loved living in Doha."






So here was what was on the menu.....

• Rucola Salad


• Radicchio Lasagnetta with Thyme Vellutata and Truffle Oil


• Strawberry in Green Pepper Corn Sugar

We were given our recipes, chef hat and apron. Then it was off to the kitchen to make our own lunch after scrubbing our hands clean, of course.

Chef Roberto put us to work, making the salad first, then chopping and cooking the rest of the meal. This lasagna was made with crepes instead of noodles and layered with red cabbage, which we were made to call "radiccio"! Chef Roberto kept saying this was not red cabbage it was "radiccio", but it was indeed red cabbage and we all knew it! We made this white "full cream" sauce that was poured in between the layers...it must have been 400 grams of fat per bite, but it was sooo worth it!

He showed us plenty of tricks of the trade and even showed us the various ways to present this dish on the plate.
Here I am cooking along the side of Chef Roberto. We are cooking the red cabbage down to use in the lasagna. This stove was sooo hot, my makeup was melting off. Cooking in the kitchen so no job for wimps or sissy's!

Here we were gearing up for some work ahead of us, all four of us live at Qipco, along with some others at this event, put on by the Pegasus Club. This is the second cooking class I've attended. The other one was a Cajun cooking class, but I forgot my camera. I actually have made and incorporated some things I learned from the Cajun cooking class. Not a total waste of energy and time.

A little chopping of the "red cabbage" and then a little cutting of some goat cheese for the salad.

I made a friend...now if I could just get him to come over and cook for us!

So you might be wondering if I have made this dish for my sweet husband? Well..... no, I have not, but I had a great time!!!

We were presented cooking certificates after lunch. Thanks for all those tips Chef Roberto!

Buon Appetito!!!

High Tea at the Ritz....

One of the things "To Do" while here in Doha is to have High Tea at the Ritz Carlton.
I wasn't so thrilled about having High Tea here in Doha, after having it in London so many times, but we did it anyway.
I have to say that it was quite impressive. A group of ladies from our Bible study got together to do this and we had fun. Some were wanting to bring their daughters back for tea and I wanted to bring my boys (yes, even Erik) to come have tea at the Ritz Carlton. We were served our own trays of small sandwiches and tiny dessert bites and then scones with honey on the top tier. Then, the best fresh brewed tea you ever tasted chosen from a full menu of flavors and varieties. I chose a fruity tea that was so good! I asked where I could get this and they said "China".
This was a nice dress up time we had in the middle of a Friday afternoon with friends. I now highly recommend this to put on your "To Do" list while here in Doha.

"CHEERS"

Energy collecting night....

Someone asked me if they celebrate Halloween here. The locals do not, but the Ex-Mo. compounds here celebrate anything American! If it's observed in America then we will have a function or event celebrating it here. I have learned that there are a big bunch of women here looking for any excuse to celebrate and socialize! I would be included in that group.

Just in case you were wondering...

Here are my little hero's.....and "my hero's" they truly are!

They fight the bad guys and keep things in order around this part of the world! Evan could not even see out of his mask but that did not keep him from wearing it all night. He could not believe that there were sooo many spidermen on this compound!

And wouldn't you know it...his best buddy Collin was spiderman too! How could he have kept it from him for so long? This only meant one thing.....

there were going to be even more bad guys... going down!!!

There was a block party nearby my hero's can be located on the far left hand corner. Then it was off to collect all of the energy bars we could find to fight crime.

Meanwhile back at headquarters, Daddy was generously donating energy food to the needy. He's always been so generous and this night was no exception!

A good time was had by all!!!

And enough energy food was collected to last five years... well maybe,

Mommy and Daddy need energy too!

We hope your "energy collecting night" was as plentyful!

Local fabric souq tour...

The Pegasus Exxon Mobil club puts on local "Souq Tours" about 3 times a month.
All are different types of tours, this one is a tour of fabrics and then off to the tailors to have something made for almost nothing. We brought along a favorite pairs of pants or a top that we wanted to duplicate with a fabric of our choosing. I was so excited about this one. So my friend Penny kept the boys for me, while I went on my mission.




I recently bought a long skirt that was too long and had to have it tailored. About 3 inches were cut and hemmed. It cost 5 Q.R. divide that by 4 and add 10%. You do the math!

This is the store I found the fabric I liked. The hard part was whether to make a long skirt or a table cloth.

I finally decided to make a table cloth for Thanksgiving. I bought it long enough to fit our table back in Houston at it's full length. It is taupe/ tanish in color, all beaded, and it has pretty scalloped edges with a satin stitch, this picture does it no justice! I bought 3 1/2 meters which about 11 1/2 feet. I paid a little less than $20.00 for this hand beaded material.

This nice guy was very helpful, and yes, he gave me a "better price" before I asked for it. I probably could have gotten it cheaper if I was on the ball and ready to barter, I felt I got a great deal anyway. I'm still learning.

There was store after store to choose from. This building had several levels with the shop owners working hard trying to get you in their door. They pulled out anything you had your eye on, pulling out a chair and captivating you with fabric after beautiful fabric. I wanted to shop more but the time ran out, we had to get to the tailor before lunch time. I'll be back another time to shop even if it means skipping lunch!

We ate here at "The Garden" restaurant. It was Indian cuisine. Chicken Tikka Marsala anyone? Our favorite Indian dish. Here, when you are out with a group, everyone orders different plates and they put them out on the table and pass it around, allowing you to try a variety of different things on the menu. This is a great way to find a dish that you might like that you would not order otherwise. Yummy!

It was very good and we had a great time!

Fun at Al Khor....

This is our "Eid" celebration. We all visited a town 30 minutes north of Doha called Al Khor.

Eid is a 3 day holiday here in Qatar, celebrating the end of Ramadaan. We went with our friends Bryan, Penny and their little guy Collin, who just turned 3 years.

The boys had fun when we stopped at a local town fair with a Middle Eastern flair. The rides cost about 50 cents per ride. They were able to slide for about 10 minutes. This was a big and steep slide and walking away from it was hard to do. Evan said "Daddy can you buy me a slide like this".

Camel ride anyone? There were two lines, one to ride a horse and one to ride a camel. The line to ride the horse was much longer and there was one person ahead of us to ride the camel. Who wants to ride a camel? We did! They probably have the camels as pets in their backyard.

This was such fun for us. This camel was sweet, until we saw it kick the owner in the back...ouch! Erik ended all rides for the day after we saw that.

Notice the Al Meera store behind us? It is a local grocery store. We have one that is located near our compound that I just discovered. It is more convenient than going to the mall to get a few things that I need.

Take a look at the video below, of this first camel experience and at 50cents per ride, what a bargain!

Three boys having fun......
Here is my sweet friend Penny. The minute we met we knew we were going to be great friends. We are so much alike, and she is a Pediatric Nurse! It's nice to have one across the street from you when you have children. Believe me, we have used and needed her services and expertise more than once since we've moved here!

This is Bryan, Penny's husband. He and Erik get along great, he's a pretty cool guy. Penny and I joke about how alike they are,...such engineers!

These boats are called "Dhows". The word "dhow" is derived from the Swahili word "dau", meaning "fishing boat". It is pronounced like "dow", but spelled with an "h".

While driving on the Corniche in Doha, you can see anywhere from fifty to sixty on the waters edge. We hope to take a ride on one just like it in the Doha Harbour the "Corniche" one day when the weather is cooler.






Did you see those long legs!

I told Ethan and Evan that camels can go long periods of time without a drink because they store water in their humps, Ethan asked, " And God made them like that?" I said, "yes and he made these animals to be able to survive and thrive in this part of the world", he said, "Mom, isn't God amazing?!?"

Yes He is!

Thanks for allowing us to share our times with you.

All our love...

The Phelps Family

Hello to all....

O.K. I'm finally getting around to posting these pics! So sorry to keep you waiting. This is a smorgasbord of events, I thought I would post them now, to get everyone updated. More are coming...

We were able to have a nice Iftaar dinner at the Intercontinetal Hotel for Ramadaan. We walked out on the beach and took this photo of the Doha skyline at night.

This is a nice tall palm tree in front of our house. Unfortunately, these rascally beetles have infested it and it's under some considerable treatment. This is what most of the palms look like in and around our compound.

These beetles are the size of a large cockroach. They move slow and crunch loud when you step on them!

This is a Ramadaan tent. Everywhere you go these are set up for the locals to enjoy. This particular tent picture was taken at the Honda Dealer.

My 2 boys riding a ride at the City Center amusement play area.

Evan is showing his Spidey greeting.

This is the front of our house. We have a balconey from our master bedroom and then over (behind the palm) one, from the gameroom over looking the street.

These photos were taken right after we moved in. I have set up some decorative items since then, and when our sea shipment arrives it will look more like a home.





This is the foyer coming in from the front door. As you can see there is a nice sized storage unit to the right of the picture. Across from these storage units is a powder room. The boys call it their little bathroom.

This is the back sitting room coming in from the foyer. we have the option to move or remove furniture to fit our needs. We are able to paint and change anything we choose. Just across the way to the right of this photo, there is another sitting room. It pretty much looks like the mirrored image of this photo.

This photo is looking toward the front of the house. It has a T.V. and DVD in front of the sofa and it flows into the dining area.

Here is the maids quarters, just off from the wash room and the walk-in pantry. We have since removed the furniture and are now using this room as a storage room.


We hope you all are doing well!

Love to all of you, from us...

Sandy and Family.