"Trip" #2: Egypt

I am loving this. It's exciting to find a way to plan out dates to different countries! The anticipation leading up to it is almost better than the date itself! (almost)

To see what these around-the-world dates are all about, go here. :)

On the day before our date, I made this clue for the hubster to "decode".

I put it together using this website and a lot of screen printing, pasting, and cropping. I over-achieved a little... if you wrote a shorter story, it wouldn't be so complicated.

(I actually started trying to hand draw this. Three birds in I decided it just wasn't worth it. There's over-achieving, then there's over-doing it. )

It contains a story about "The Lost Treasure of Pharaoh Nikolaz" and hints that he'll be searching for it soon. I put it on "papayrus" and rolled it into a "scroll". Yes, I know I used a twist tie to hold it. We are budget dating. :)

The ladies at the flower counter at the grocery store probably think I'm crazy. I spent 20 minutes in the candy isle, trying to find things that could pass for an ancient Egyptian treasure. After finding nothing more than a bag of assorted gold and silver-wrapped chocolates, I finally realized there were probably other kinds of "treasure" I could find. So I hit the discount isle. 

I giggled. I found everything I needed and more. And it was all in shiny gold and silver. I even found some marbles that would pass for "jewels" AND a plastic shovel/bucket combo. I giggled some more.

So I went home, found a box, and got started. I found a scrap of fabric. So I drew some symbols on it.

I wrapped it around the box, then put it inside a couple of grocery bags for good measure. Then I buried it. I made an "Archaeological Dig in Progress" and a "No Trespassing  sign, then staked off the area with some rebar we had in the garage.

When the hubster got home, I told him that "a great discovery had been made!" and that "archologists think they discovered the Lost Treasure of King Nikolas! The best part is... it's in our backyard!" (He eye-rolled a little, but he played along. haha)

Digging up the treasure

Cheesing for the cameraphone

Whoa.

Cool! Treasure!

And I quote:

Me: "So what do you think of King Nikolaz's treasure?"

Hubster: "I think he was a pretty smart man. He had yo-yos."

Translation: Success!

Then we had dinner! 

I searched high and low for an all-encompassing Egyptian meal that had ingredients I could buy out here in the-middle-of-nowhere grocery stores. Turns out there just aren't a whole lot. 

I ran across enough websites claiming Koshari to be the unofficial national dish of Egypt, that I decided to give it a try.

I used this recipe, then adapted it, using user comments as a guide. I ended up with this: 

Ingredients:

¾ C brown lentils

4 ½ C water

¾ C uncooked long grain rice

1 C elbow macaroni

Vegetable oil

2 large onions, very coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomato sauce

1 can tomato puree

½ C chopped cilantro

red pepper flakes

cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 lemons

Directions:

1. Combine the lentils and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 25 minutes. Add the rice to the lentils, and continue to simmer for an additional 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Season with cumin, salt, and pepper.
2. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook and stir until onion is thoroughly browned. Season with cumin and red pepper flakes.
3. To the onions, add the tomato sauce, tomato puree and the cilantro. Season with more red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat for 10 to 20 minutes. The sauce is supposed to be thick, but you may add water if it's looking too thick. I added about 1/2 C.
4. While the sauce is simmering, cook the macaroni as directed until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain.
5. When your meal is almost done cooking, cut the lemon(s) in half and place on a serving dish.
6. Serve in separate dishes to be layered for a more traditional approach (think Hawaiian Haystacks), or mix all ingredients together in a large serving dish, making sure the sauce is evenly spread throughout the mixture. Place lemons out to be squeezed onto the Koshari for those that want to.
7. Serve with red pepper flakes at the table for those that want more of a kick.

I bought pita bread and hummus to put out with the Koshari, but I completely forgot about it! We ended up using the pita pockets the next day to eat the leftovers, which is the way it's served by the street vendors in Egypt.

Dinner was a success, but we both agreed that it tasted like it was missing something. We agreed that if I made this again, we'd probably add cheese. Not authentic, but it sounds like it would be really yummy. Many of the recipes also included chickpeas, so I might try that as well. 

After dinner, I wiped off the silly "makeup" I had put on for the date so that we could cuddle up and watch an Egypt movie. 

(I took a picture of the makeup, but I just couldn't bring myself to post it. Let's just say I'm not exactly a pro, but it was fun.)

Before I even had a chance to tell him what his movie choices were for the evening, he rattled them all off! I think the hubster must have done a little research in anticipation. 

(not that I'm excited that he was excited or anything)

It came down to The Spy Who Loved Me, which beat out movies like The Mummy, Cleopatra, The Prince of Egypt, and Indiana Jones.

And for movie snacks, we had our loot from the dig. 

It was a fun night! The best part is, now I won't have the the song "Deliver Us" stuck in my head every time I start planning our monthly date anymore. 

 Next month, we're off to England! Oh, and you can bet The Beatles will be involved.