The Simple Life at Home

Is that a word? I'm pretty sure randomosity does not appear in Webster's. However, when you start hearing it all over the place in the upcoming years, just remember you heard it hear first.

I don't have anything big to share today. Just lots of little, random tidbits. Here we go.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the Christmas season here in Doha. Yes, it's different. But I'm honestly surprised by how widely acknowledged it is here. Yesterday I was getting my hair cut (for the first time ever in Doha - and I'm REALLY happy with the woman I found!!) and the Qatar government radio station was playing non-stop carols. There are Christmas trees all over the place, both as store decorations and for sale. I've even heard that you can find REAL Christmas trees somewhere in town. We went to do some shopping at one of the biggest malls here and there was a huge holiday display - a tree that must have been 40 feet tall. I was most excited to even find a nativity set for sale!! I really would like to start a collection, but figured I'd never find one for sale here. All of the things I've seen (and heard) so far have been strictly secular - Santa, snowmen, etc. So the nativity set was the highlight of my shopping trip yesterday.

This weekend I did snack duty at church. I brought a veggie tray and a plate of Monkey Bread. It was gone in minutes!!! My kids loved it so much they asked to have it on Christmas morning. It's simple and quick so I agreed. The fact that it's yummy and gooey and carmel-ly had NOTHING to do with it. Nothing. Here's the recipe:

Monkey Bread

3 packages of refrigerated biscuit dough (12 oz. each)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/ cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional - I didn't use them, but I will next time)
1/2 cup raisins (optional - I didn't use them)

Place sugar and cinnamon into a large ziploc bag and shake well to combine. Cut the biscuits into quarters and place several at a time into the bag. Shake to coat with the cinnamon sugar. Lay coated pieces into a Bundt pan, interspersing nuts and raisins amongst the pieces. Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small pan and let boil one minute. Pour over the biscuit dough. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a plate. Serve warm - just pull the bread apart with your fingers and enjoy!!

Doesn't that sound yummy? It is!!

The weather here continues to be fabulous! Highs around 70, lows around 55. Perfect. The skies are blue and beautiful - quite a change from the brown skies we had during the summer sand storms!

I'm so excited about what we are getting the kids for Christmas. I can't put it here because they read my blog (why I don't know? You'd think teenagers would get bored with the ramblings of a 40 year old housewife) so that would spoil the surprise. But I think they will be quite happy.

And the fireworks for Qatar National Day the other night were amazing!!! They were worth the 1 hour plus delay in setting them off. Yes, that's right - over an hour late. Hundreds of thousands of people waiting in 55 degree weather, right on the water where it's colder, and they didn't start until after 10 pm. We almost went home, but I'm glad we stuck it out. They did things I've never seen before. It was a fun night in the end!

Well, I guess that's about all for today. Tomorrow I'll try to have something more, uh, focused! Yeah, that's the word. And I'm pretty sure that IS a real word!