Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Peppermint Meringues

Last week, at the MegaMart, I saw some boxes of true peppermint candy canes. I grabbed three, did not even look at the price. There have been candy canes around, but weird – fruit flavored, even chocolate flavored. At Christmas, I am a purist when it comes to a candy cane. It has to be peppermint!

And then I look for recipes to make a little peppermint candy cane go a long way. This is one of them, from allrecipes.com:

Peppermint Meringues

Ingredients
• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with foil.

2. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, continuing to beat until whites form stiff peaks. Drop by spoonfuls 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle crushed peppermint candy over the cookies.

3. Bake for 1 1/2 hours in preheated oven. Meringues should be completely dry on the inside. Do not allow them to brown. Turn off oven. Keep oven door ajar, and let meringues sit in the oven until completely cool. Loosen from foil with metal spatula. Store loosely covered in cool dry place for up to 2 months.

A warning – meringues work a whole lot better if you DO NOT make them on a rainy day. The humidity in the air interferes with making a good dry meringue. You can make these and keep them a short while in an airtight container, but in humidity, they lose their crispness.

We are having our third full day of intermittent, drenching rain in Doha. Thanks be to God.

December 13, 2009 Posted by | Arts & Handicrafts, Doha, ExPat Life, Food, Holiday, Living Conditions, Qatar, Recipes, Weather | 1 Comment

Most Complete Information on Qatar National Day 2009

Khalifa, a commenter on a recent post, has his own website, iloveqatar.net where he blogs as Mr. Q.

He has also created the hands-down all-time BEST website for the upcoming week celebrating National Day, photos, explanations and all at NationalDay2009. You will find anything and everything you want to attend there – and more!

Great work, Khalifa!

December 13, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Arts & Handicrafts, Cultural, Doha, Events, ExPat Life, Living Conditions, Local Lore, Qatar | | Leave a comment

Qatar National Day (Week) Schedules!

Found this in today’s Peninsula. Could not find a copy online, nor on the official website, so pardon the poor quality of the photograph of the schedule directly from today’s Peninsula:

December 12, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Arts & Handicrafts, Doha, Events, ExPat Life, Family Issues, News, Poetry/Literature, Qatar | , , | Leave a comment

Doha Gets a Drenching

A wonderful day, a day that started with a downpour, and never cleared up the whole day, with intermittent showers continuing to give the soil the moisture it so desperately needs. I love the thought of Doha getting a good wash with Qatar National Day being celebrated this entire week. 🙂

Some Rainy Day photos from Doha:

For my Kuwait friends – you are WELCOME, see! There is even an Al Kout coffee shop!

Snug and warm having breakfast at Tagine:

December 12, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Doha, Eating Out, ExPat Life, Food, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Photos, Qatar, Weather | 6 Comments

Rain Drenches Doha

No, rain is not lashing Doha, but we woke up this morning to a God-bless drenching of Doha. I know my friends in the great Pacific Northwest will not get it – but rain here is rare, and wonderful. Just seeing the rain dropping heavily on the streets, the children running around screeching for joy – oh, what fun!

The laborers are all bundled up as if it is the middle of a snowstorm in Chicago – two sit shivering under an umbrella while one brave man continues sweeping:

I have to run around checking all the windows. Fortunately, today the rain is coming straight down, but when the rain is truly “lashing” Doha, our windows are not so good at being watertight, and I have a supply of old towels I use to sop up the excess which burbles inside:

A wonderful, wet Friday, a great day for a drenching when people don’t have to get to work and can stay safely inside. Because Doha doesn’t often get drenched, the drainage systems don’t work well, and parts of streets are flooded.

December 11, 2009 Posted by | Doha, ExPat Life, Living Conditions, Qatar, Weather | 3 Comments

Qatar National Day Locations

I am guessing that this map from the National Day Event Organizing Committee shows the locations of events which will take place on the actual National Day, December 18. I found it on their website.

The weather is great, and this is a cultural spectacle. Go, take your camera, for a day you will never forget.

By the way, if you look closely, it appears that a good part of the Corniche will be exclusively a pedestrian zone on Saturday, December 18. You might want to plan your travels accordingly. 🙂

December 10, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Community, Cultural, Doha, ExPat Life, Living Conditions, Qatar, Travel | | 1 Comment

Qatar Horse Race and Camel Dressage

This is one of the coolest times of the year, with totally amazing heritage events – why is it so hard to find this information?

There is a Qatar National Day website you can get to by clicking on the blue type. It is beautiful, and it tells the history of Qatar / national day and it is in both Arabic and English.

When you click on events . . . it says “coming soon”

I found the below by clicking on “news” . . . stay tuned! At least we know it will happen on December 12th!

THE STATE NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATIONS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE (SNDCOC) ANNOUNCES MASSEELA HORSE RACE & CAMEL DRESSAGE COMPETITIONS AT DARB-A-SAAI

Doha, Qatar – 6 December 2009: Two traditional Qatari sports events – the Masseela Horse Race and Purebred Arabian Camel Races – are being run on Sunday 12th December as part of Qatar National Day 2009 celebrations, race organizer the State

December 10, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Cultural, Doha, ExPat Life, Living Conditions, Qatar, Travel | | 5 Comments

Qatar National Day Events to be Broadcast Live

According to today’s Gulf Times Qatar National Day Events will be carried live on television, Al Doha TV

National Day events to be telecast live
Al Doha TV, the official National Day television station, will be offering live broadcasts of National Day activities plus cultural, entertainment and documentary series through December 18.

Free-to-air Al Doha TV is an initiative of, and funded by, the State National Day Celebrations Organising Committee (SNDCOC), made its debut on December 18 last year, on the occasion of National Day.
Al Doha TV channel can be seen on Bader4 (Arabsat), Frequency: 12111mhz

Qatar celebrates its National Day on December 18 in commemoration of the historic day in 1878 when the country’s founder Sheikh Jasim, succeeded his father, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Thani, as a ruler and led the country toward unity.

The event is considered as an opportunity for all Qatari nationals and expatriates to recognise and celebrate what it means to live in modern day Qatar.

The 2009 schedule features programmes produced by Al Doha TV in its state-of-the-art production facilities or outsourced to renowned Qatari and international production companies.

Al Doha TV is to telecast documentaries which capture aspects of traditional and modern Qatari life.
‘Mosque Tales’ tells the history of Qatari mosques and reveals fascinating stories behind them. ‘Sport’ shows how the country is investing massively to create a culture of sporting participation amongst its citizens.

‘Destination Doha’ discovers how Qatar Tourism Authority attracts record numbers of business and vacation tourists by investing in hotels, museums, parks, new town and cultural attractions.

‘Health’ visits hospitals, health centres, and research centres to interview doctors and hospital managers and get the lowdown on the most up-to-date equipment and health techniques.

‘In Vision for Education’ depicts men and women who have the responsibility of graduating Qatar’s first generation of doctors, designers, and diplomats, and how the independent schools are helping raise standards and grades.

Qatar’s long-term economic prosperity is the focus of ‘Qatar Is Booming,’ a 60-minute documentary examining recent developments and future plans in Qatar’s energy, industry, commerce and agriculture sectors.

The complete list of National Day 2009 events and activities is available on the official website, http://www.ndqatar.com

Qatar National Day 2009 sponsors are the following:

Qtel (official sponsor)
QNB (official bank)
Barwa, Commercialbank, Qatari Diar (platinum sponsors)
Qatar Petroleum, Teyseer Group, United Development Company(gold sponsors)
Doha Bank, Ezdan, Qatar Airways, The Diplomatic Club (silver sponsors).

December 10, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Cultural, Doha, Events, ExPat Life, Holiday, Living Conditions, Poetry/Literature, Qatar, Travel | 4 Comments

Doha unscathed by downturn: PM

He’s the prime minister. I guess I am wrong. I thought I saw a lot of constructions at a stand still. It looked to me like the population of laborers has dropped. People are slipping away, expat management level workers, being let go, heading home. There are some empty units on our highly-sought after compound. Few people at Villagio are carrying shopping bags; most of the bags leaving City Center appear to be Carrefour groceries or Home Center: on sale. Rents are dropping.

It looks to me like something is dragging on the Qatar economy, it looks to me like there may be some empty seats on flights in and out. But I must be wrong.

You can read the entire article by clicking on the blue type below, which will take you to the article in The Peninsula.

Doha unscathed by downturn: PM
Web posted at: 12/8/2009 2:8:12
Source ::: The Peninsula

By Nasser al Harthy

DOHA: The global economic downturn has not affected any of Qatar’s projects, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, said here yesterday.

Addressing the opening of the fourth edition of the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC), Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem said: “We, in Qatar have overcome the consequences of the crisis with minimum damages and that the crisis has not affected any of our projects being implemented, whether in the oil sector, gas sector or development and infrastructure projects undertaken by other state sectors.”

“We are moving forward with full determination to implement all our ambitious plans which focus on sustainable development in which oil, gas and industry play a basic role and constitute one of its strong pillars,” he added.

The Prime Minister noted that the world economy passed through a difficult period of recession last year leading to a sharp drop in oil and gas consumption in world markets and energy prices in general.

December 9, 2009 Posted by | Bureaucracy, Cultural, Doha, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Financial Issues, Interconnected, Leadership, Living Conditions, Qatar | 3 Comments

Compare Kuwait and Doha Weather

People are always asking me, “which do you like better, Doha or Kuwait?”

It’s apples and oranges. Kuwait is big city, with big city problems and big city shopping. Kuwait is just bigger, with faster roads. Doha is growing, solving a lot of problems Kuwait has still to face, but the two are so different that they just don’t compare. I like them both, for different reasons.

One of the things that is hard to get is that while they are so close, the weather is not the same. Kuwait gets hotter in the summer and colder in the winter.

Here is the forecast for the next five days:

Kuwait 5 day forecast December 8 - 12

Doha five day forecast December 8 - 12

December 8, 2009 Posted by | Doha, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Qatar, Weather | Leave a comment