Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

I was in the mood for baking some cookies, I was sufring in Martha Stewart's Cookies app in my iPad and I decieced to bake old fashioned sugar cookies for my little brother (he's such a sugar-o-holic)!

"A delicate, sugary crust gives way to a soft, chewy cookie in this homespun classic.  
It's sweetness is enhanced by a hint of lemon."

Tips: Use an ordinary plate easel as cookbook or iPad stand.

The recipe called for an electric mixer, but I prefer mixing it by my hands because it called old-fashioned so I want to try out! 

And it was tiring hehe but I enjoyed it, it's a fun baking. 

Mix sugars, lemon zest and butter until pale and fluffy by whisk and then when you start mix eggs and flour use a wooden spoon. 

 Sprinkle tops with sugar.

Ta-da. The smells is so breath-taking, when I ate first bite, I was flying like a little girl playing in the graden at around in the house. I can't explain how delicious it is. 

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies:

 Adapted from Martha Stewart.

You’ll need:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened

2 large eggs

Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC.
• Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
• Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
• Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop; space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.
• Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

A few weeks ago, I went to Lulu Hyper Market in Riffa. I always love go to super markets to buy things for my family. I went to the section of cake's stuff such as cake mix boxes .. etc. I was just looking at them for joy and then my eyes was caught by Betty Crocker's GULTEN-FREE cake mix boxes. Yes gulten-free and of course there were only 3 boxes (sorry gulten-free-ers) and I bought them all  just  for my mother. Hehe my mother is a gulten-free person! She has been doing it for more than two years, Mashalla she's half the person she was, feeling more energetic and very happy with it.

Ok I decided to bake pineapple upside down cake for my mother because I know she LOVES pineapple, like me. And I asked her if she wants me to bake it or another flavors. And she was like YES bake it PLEASE. Hehe and then she told me that the first time she baked pineapple upside down cake, she was 14 years old. Wow, I know!

It should bake for 40 - 45 minutes but I forget to put the timer so it must was more than 45 minutes I guess.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake:

This cake, thought to have first appeared in the 1920s, has had such names as pineapple glacé and pineapple skillet cake.

Adapted quite a bit from Epicurious.

Tools:

9" Cake Pan (I used the glass one.)

Small pan

Wooden Spoon

Large Bowl

Rubber Spatula

Hand Electric Mixer (or whisk by hand)

You'll need for: 

Topping:

5 - 6 slices of fresh or canned Pineapple 

85 gram unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Batter:

1 box Yellow cake mix

2 Eggs (or as called for by your cake mix)

1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil (or as called for by your cake mix)

1 Cup Water (or as called for by your cake mix)

Directions:

Preheat oven 180C.

Make topping:

Cut pineapple crosswise into a less than 1-inch pieces. Melt butter in a small pan, and then add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, until the mixture is bubbly, it should take around 4 - 6 minutes. Remove from heat and scrape it into the cake pan. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric, overlapping pieces slightly.

Make batter:

Follow the instructions on the cake box for making a batter.

Pour batter evenly over pineapples in cake pan. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes (or as directed on the cake box.)

Let cake stand in pan for 5 - 15 minutes. Invert a plate over skillet and invert cake into plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). return any pineapple pice if stuck to the pan. Serve cake just warm or at room temperature.

Tips: if you have rings of pineapple left, never leave them in the canned. Move them into the food storage containers.
(Up to 5 - 7 days in the refrigerators.)

Taste of Dubai 2012

I'll let the photos talk .. 

The entrance <3

FOODNETWORK <3 

I went with my mother, the weather was nice and sunny. People were having fun and enjoying the food & the kids were playing with others, tasting the comfy food and eating fresh ice creams.

Beef Steak + Soya Sauce + Roasted Garlic + Nuts = HEAVEN!

(I ate it twice. YUM!)

 The package<3 The famous Fish&Chips. --Ketchup, Ketchup .. 

Grilled Seafood

My mother ate the mini taco salmon and she liked it.

I like the way they presented their indian food.

STEAK with fresh herbs on grill .. and country style!

Cars cake and cupcakes! How cute!

I like their drawers boxes! Vintage style<3!

Flavored Pistachios Bar ..

The sharpest knife, it's not made of steel nor iron! It's made by ceramic! Yes, it won't cut your fingers or hand. Awesome?

It's a cooking class, I wanted to join but it turned out that I have to wait for a long time .. see how crowded it is!

My mother ate a shrimp curry with white sticky rice. SHE LOVES IT!

Knorr spices with vegetables fried rice, (I don't remember) and curry.

Cooking show ..

hand sanitizers is everywhere in the festival.

Before we leave, we ate The FRESH sorbet on real fruit. Delicious.

Taste of dubai was such a joy! Everything was awesome!

I can't wait for next year<3 it's a definitely worth going!

I would like to thank @RTawfiqi for telling me about it!

- All the photographs by Muneera.