Mediteranean Specialties

Yesterday I didn't know what I wanted for dinner. Everybody in my family, I believe, would be fine with making EVERY Friday "pizza night." And, I like (some) pizza, too... But come on! EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. of the year? No... Uh huh. Ain't gonna happen.

I thought and I thought and then it occurred to me... Kibbe! From Mediterranean Specialties! YES!

One of the many blessings in my life is that my path crossed with the family who owns Mediterranean Specialties. I met Nahla in approximately 2000. Nahla's daughter was in preschool with my girls. And, when I met Nahla and found out she was from Lebanon I told her how much I LOVE Baba Ganouj.  She brought me some the next time I saw her at preschool! That was the beginning of knowing the WHOLE family. Nahla's sister, Marie, and her husband, Marco had just opened the store and I started going every now and then for coffee or some delicious tidbit...

Mmmmm. GOOD!

The store has expanded a bit since the early days...they moved to a bigger spot. They have special groceries that people all over town come to buy. They serve a very delicious cappuccino and AMAZING baklava (the Lebanese kind -- not the Greek). Some days they serve Shwarma (YUM!). Soup, couscous salad, tsatziki, hummus and Baba Ganouj, gyros, spanikopita. They sell olive oil produced on the family land back in Lebanon. And, they sell wine.  The menu and inventory is way greater than I can list here. You should go check it out. Like them on Facebook.

Anyway!

Turnip pickles! YUMMY!

I went over yesterday and got kibbe, tsatzki, Baba Ganouj, pita bread, and some turnip pickles that Dorine made...far superior to the canned ones. When I got home, I made a little salad, heated up the kibbe, and voila! A delicious dinner that IS kinda like take-out, but it's BETTER 'cause we know for sure that it's made with lots of love...

And, you know what I think about food made with love. :-)

If you haven't tried them, do it! You will wonder how you lived so long without it.  And, tell 'em Carrie sent you. ;-)