Please brace yourself…this post may include but is not limited to:  a LOT of food, some bragging, extremely adorable children, probably too many photos and so much love it’s almost gross.  We took a trip back to my parents house for fathers day weekend.  Here’s where the bragging comes in: there are just no words to describe how wonderful it was to see these sweet faces and spend such quality time with my parents, a few of my siblings and their families.  Quite frankly, I sit here with a heavy heart as I write this because I want nothing more than for my own daughter to be able to experience this type of sense of family and love on a regular basis; but we will take what we can get and cramming an obscene amount of it into a few short days really did hit the spot and make for some tremendous memories.

On another note you would not believe the amount of unbelievable food that my mom prepared for fathers day dinner.  She was working her little teezo off in the kitchen all weekend and you could taste every ounce of the work in each dish she prepared.  Every single bite was over-the-top-good…Lebanese cuisine at it’s true best.  And as for the 10 pounds I probably gained..meh, totally worth it.  Heres a few highlights of the trip:

Sittie preparing the squash for the KusaGeorgia and Sit washing the squash

Jiddo trimming the meat for the Kibbi

Sittie grinding the meat 

Eating sundaes with Sitties homemade hot fudge with some very special cousins

And now making cupcakes! With the hidden dollar bill baked into one just like my own Sittie used to do 🙂

Picking rhubarb

And tasting the rhubarb…sour!

Kusa:  squash stuffed with rice, beef or lamb, tomato sauce and spices

Rice and Peas:  sweet peas simmered in tomato sauce with onion and spices and served on the most buttery-tasting rice ever

Raw Kibbi:  very very lean ground lamb or beef mixed with bulgur wheat, onion and spices.  my absolute favorite.

Baked Kibbi:  because my mom is crazy thought the raw just wasn’t enough

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

An after dinner ice cream treat

Hula hooping!

Jiddo fixing the bike.  For any of you who know my father you’d be very proud…he fixed it:)

The worlds best daddy.  Thank you for wanting to spend your special day with my family…it made my heart so happy.  We are beyond blessed to have you xo

This salad is everyone’s favorite.  It is so healthful, fresh and simple to put together and was a staple with almost every meal I grew up eating.  You will love it.

Salata

Ingredients

1 Head Romaine, chopped or torn

1 Pint Cherry Tomatoes, halved

1 English Cucumber, halved and sliced

1/2 A Sweet Yellow Onion, sliced

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Lemon Juice

1 Large Clove Garlic, grated or pressed

1/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley

1/4 Cup Chopped Fresh Mint

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Pepper

1/4 Cup Kalamata Olives, optional

Crumbled Feta Cheese, optional

Directions

In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, mint, salt and pepper.  Place romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and feta, if using, in a large bowl and drizzle half the vinaigrette over the top and toss with your hands.  Add as much vinaigrette as desired, the leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to one week.