The Backdrop of Our Lives

Here in Salalah, especially for many Muslims, Friday is a day for prayer. The call to prayer, or azaan, is called five times a day, every day, starting with the dawn prayers. For me, Friday morning is also the time to shop for "big" groceries. I know...so spiritual. Lulus is nearly deserted until after the salat al jumu'ah. Salat al jumu'ah is the congregational prayer done every Friday, followed by a sermon of sorts. I find listening to the azaan comforting. It is our backdrop, a reminder to aspire to pay attention to God, but it is also a reminder that I am not in the place I was born. Sometimes, if I really stop and pay attention, really listen, the feeling is bittersweet. I feel love for my home now, and my life here, but the azaan also reminds me that I am so very far away from my family. When I was in Washington DC visiting my daughters, the lack of it bothered me as well. The lack of the azaan reminded me I was far from my husband, and all the friends who are important to me now. I call this "hunger of memory" (taken from a book written in the 80s about the education of immigrants in the United States). It behooves us not to be overwhelmed by this hunger of memory, as we all try to make a life for ourselves, going to jobs in a country unfamiliar to us. I will say this though: of all the countries my path could have taken me, Oman is a good one. So even though I am no spiritual giant (by a long shot), I love the azaan. Now, to be honest I rarely pray the salat. But at least the call to prayer is a gentle reminder to thank God for all that I have.

Now that I have discovered flexibility with my initial list of 53 cakes, I decided to make a simple pound cake. Pound cake has been around for a long time. Originally, one used a pound of butter, a pound of flour, a pound of eggs, and a pound of sugar. Ingredients have changed and the cake has lightened over time, but the name sticks. I will also try the cold oven method (nervewracking with the crap ovens we generally have in Salalah) but my daughter, an extraordinary baker, says it is the best method. We shall see. But I think an old fashioned pound cake is a good hunger of memory cake don't you?

Honey Pound Cake

*I forgot to note that if you follow the original link, there is a conversion to metric.

Ingredients

• 1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cup(s) sugar
• 1/4 cup(s) honey
• 5 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup(s) flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly oil a 6-cup loaf pan.
2. Beat the butter, sugar, and honey together using a mixer set on high until very light and fluffy--about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla extract. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and beat until smooth.
3. Spoon into the prepared pan and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean--about 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes before unmolding.

The original cake, with it's fab presentation. Mine will be slapped on the coffee table without so much as a doily. meh. Ok..I will put it on a plate. I'm not gross!

You know if you cut the kinda burned crust off the bottom it's pretty good. I find it impossible to get the temperature in my oven low enough to cook pound and bundt cakes without burning it a little. Mehdi said he will get me a tabletop electric oven. Hooray! But where to put it?

My photography rocks! A little ice cream and it's pretty tasty. I substituted 1 teaspoon of almond extract for one of the teaspoons of vanilla. Yummy.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. 

Love,

Felicia El Aid