Traditional Syrian Christian Foods I made in 2023

I enjoy making traditional Syrian Christian foods for my family.

This year I made Fish Molly, Appam, Stew, and Fruit Cake.

I also made this in August which is the translation of a proverb into a food item. The proverb says chemmeen, uppu, ulli, kandari (prawns, salt, onions or shallots and small green chillies) a chutney made out of these ingredients can be eaten even by brahmins. It was my grandfather who used to say this proverb.

Best Christmas Decoration pictures of 2023

This was an idea I thought of in 2022 and which I could implement in 2023. To place purple ornaments in this purple basket.

I have thought of woodland creatures celebrating Christmas in some past years also and I continued that tradition. This year I was able to take good pictures of it.

I saw the idea of transparent ornaments in another blog and I bought transparent ornaments and decorated them with glitter or paint or stickers spelling christmas words several years ago.

The idea of hanging these pastel green ornaments on tinsel and hanging them over a pastel green curtain is something I thought this year.

Our Nativity!

Best photos of 2023

I have heard of the quotation a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Sometimes photos tell us more than words can convey. I really like the photo sharing platform flickr which truly inspired me to take better pictures. Here are some images photographed by me this year.

Reposting

Best Books I read in 2023

This book helped me unravel many philosophical concepts. This book is rich in ideas.

This book has two authors and gives us a peek into the literary climate of 18th century Britain.

This is a book of short stories.

This book is chock full of info and statistics.

I gave myself one hour study sessions this year during which time I wrote about each of her poems. I have not yet completed this project.

Photos of snow in a dry shrub

There is a shrub/plant that grows in our yard and every spring blooms with lilac flowers. It only blooms for a few weeks. The rest of the year it is a green shrub and in winter it is just a lot of brown stems. Today I noticed lots of snow in the stems and photographed it.

Curries

A curry consisting of potato, beets, tomatoes, peas and cilantro. I made this yesterday.

A North Indian curry from a neighborhood grocery store called Dal Bukhara which consists of lentils. I did not make this.

Lemon poppy seed muffins and Oreo cookies

Our family bought lots of muffins the day before yesterday. If you are able to photograph each poppy seed and the texture of the crumb topping you can be considered a good photographer.

We also had oreo cookies. Here is a close up of an oreo cookie.

Photography

I woke up early yesterday morning and looked out the window. The yard was full of snow. I switched all except a few lights and photographed the pics you see above. I was photographing through the glass window which probably partly transmits light and partly reflects light. Perhaps due to this fact in the very first photo it looks as though the pantry and stove are in the back yard. This reminded me of a video based on CS Lewis's Narnia series. Lucy, Susan, Edmund etc look at a painting on a wall. The painting is of a ship sailing on water. Suddenly the painting comes alive, water pours into the room and the children are swimming in the sea and I am not sure if the children get into the ship. The first two photos remind me of that scene in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

When I completely switched off all the lights the effect was these pics. I could not see the kitchen in the backyard anymore. But here is a photography skill I discovered yesterday about switching light on and off and its effects. (Reposting)

Pink Ornaments

I had placed these pink ornaments on the kitchen window sill. This morning I took a few pictures.

I took pictures with the light in the kitchen switched on.

And without light in the kitchen. There was a slight glow from the snow.

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday it snowed in our area. This is how the trees in the yard look this morning.

It is a great winter wonderland.

Winter is the time the world switches to a slower mode.

I wonder if this is winter solstice?