Chef and Steward®

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A Wilton graduation, a birthday, an anniversary and a giveaway

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They say that when it rains, it floods. October has been a month with lots of celebrations and hallmarks and for every joy, there has been a celebration cake.  Chef Lij had a birthday, as well as my brother, late Aunt, cousin, loads of friends and my paternal grandmother and twin granny. We even got married in October. In fact, tomorrow is our second wedding anniversary. Yes, October is a very special month for us indeed.

This October, I pulled off a surprise party for Chef Lij and managed to get friends together from as far as Abu Dhabi and Sharjah to celebrate with him the first time he would be home, and not on the pass.  I decided to start a tradition, that no special occasion must go unnoticed. Life is too short to wait for next year.

This week I also discovered that my grandmother’s cancer, which went for a hike  after having been cut out with surgery, zapped  with radiation and poisoned with chemotherapy, has returned. It has also spread to both her lungs. She is in good spirits and I chatted her up for two hours on a long distance call to Connecticut. I will worry about that bill later. I decided to live in the moment.  That moment was a birthday after an unpredictable, long, and rough year.  We know not what the future brings, but we have today.  It was easy to sink into despair and to be mad, but I  chose to sugar coat my way to the liver lining. I decided to bake my final cake for my Wilton course in her honour.

It seems as if the two-week intensive course by Dima Sharif has opened a new creative expression for me.Clearly, the Dubai doyenne of baking & cookery has made a huge an impression on me.  There is something about baking. It just gets under your skin.  As an artist, it is a most welcomed joy to find new ways of expressing what cannot be articulated in words. Sometimes, no matter how crafty we get with them, they simply do not suffice. So much so, that on the heels of completing the baking course, I jumped into the Wilton Cake Decorating Basics at Tavola, which offers Wilton courses in all GCC countries.

As my grandmother, the former art and craft teacher made me dresses, taught me how to get the nose right in my portraits, and allowed me to took into her kitchen first, I am baking her a cake. She likes blue and earthy colours and I tried to find a way to bring those two together on a cake. I had already made a blue cake for Chef Lij’s birthday so I decided on purple, which is made of blue. I used a beige colour for the icing but mixed it with a little gold to give it some life.  I mixed colours the way my granny mixed paint for her paintings. She also told me she had also learnt cake decoration and had even baked and iced a wedding cake once.  I guess no matter how the lady doth protest, the chip never falls too far from the block.

So, Grandma Olga, Sis Lyn, and Twin Granny Aunty Madge, Happy Birthday. I will always remember this day and this cake because you gave me yet another reason to find it meaningful.

The Giveaway

Who gives gifts on a day we should be receiving? We do!  We have been very blessed as a couple and we want to share the love we have for each other with you. Cooking has brought us together. Food is our passion and our common ground. Our love for the kitchen seasons our marriage and friendship because we do it together.  We also want you to season your life with love.  Of all the spices, herbs, sauces and seasonings, nothing is more important to bring out flavour than salt. Salt is the essence of the earth. Love is the essence of the earth.  May your love, life and food always be full of flavour. So… we are giving away the cutest and most functional ever kitchen item- An Emile Henry of France Salt Cellar (known as a ‘Salt Pig’). In Scottish and Northern English  Scottish dialects, “pig” refers to earthenware jar, or pot or holding vessel.  This is also where the term “Piggy Bank” comes from.

Why A Salt Cellar?

  1. It allows you to cook without having to search for salt and to pinch as little or grab as much as you need in one go.
  2. Un-glazed ceramic interior keeps salt from clumping in steamy kitchens or humid climates and humidity is a huge issue in the Middle Eastern Gulf Countries
  3. The Steward thinks they are cute.

How to enter:

You can increase your chances of winning by entering via multiple channels below. Leave a separate comment for each of your entries or only one entry will be counted. Please ensure that your comment is linked to a valid email address. Any prize not claimed within 7 days will be given to another entrant. This prize is furnished from the pockets of Chef and Steward as it is one of those products to have made our very elite Our Picks page.
  1. Follow Chef and Steward on on Facebook and come back and leave a comment that you did
  2. Follow @ChefandSteward on Twitter and come back and leave a comment that you did
  3. Subscribe to Chef and Steward by email (via the “Subsribe To Us” link on the upper right column and come back and leave a comment stating you did so)
  4. Tweet the following and come back and leave the following comment : I entered to win an Emile Henry of France Salt Cellar via@chefandsteward http://wp.me/p1hpg2-nT #Giveaway
  5. Leave a comment on this post on our Facebook and get your friends to like it.
This giveaway  ends on October 31, 2011 at midnight, EST. One winner will be selected at random from a valid entry. Winners will be selected from all countries in the GCC: UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia.

Keep in touch!

Comments

  1. I can’t join your awesome giveaway, but I’ll leave a comment, anyway!
    October is month full of birthdays and anniversary for me, too…
    Happy anniversary to you two, guys!
    Congratulation for the graduation! Happy Birthday!
    And I’m sorry about your grandma… I hope she stays in a good mood.. it’s a very important thing!

  2. What a lovely post, very touching. Hope your grandma feels better!
    Lovely Cake Kari, love it. Keep on practicing my birthday is in May and u r making my cake!!!

  3. Just want to say a hearty congratulations for your anniversary, and I think you guys make a real adorable couple, especially being able to share your passion for food 🙂 I love the cake, its soo pretty and the photograph.. it looks quite nostalgic, almost like something you would have ruffled from an old bakery cookbook or something. LOVE IT!
    Also, I wish the best for your grandma and to you.

  4. I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother…you will never regret spending money on that phone call. And your cake is just STUNNING…if I could do this after a class, I would sign up immediately….I’m so impressed!

    Great giveaway….good luck to everyone!

  5. Sorry to here about your Grandma. I hope she is delighted by those Wilton roses that you mastered so well (I remember this so vividly from the Tavola course!). Love the salt pig and really like Emile Henry stuff so:
    I entered to win an Emile Henry of France Salt Cellar via@chefandsteward http://wp.me/p1hpg2-nT #Giveaway (have I done that right? Tweeted it too)?!!

  6. You do have quite a busy month of celebrations and good wishes. Here’s wishing the best for your family member too. 🙂 Too bad we can’t enter! It’d be great to have that little guy on deck. Keep baking up those cakes! You do great work.

  7. Congratulations all around! October is a special month for me too – my husband’s birthday is today and mine is on Sunday. wooo hooo. Awesome giveaway!

  8. I want it, I want one and could not find any….if I n not the lucky winner do you mind telling me where I cab get one? In French it’s called “main a sel” salt hand!

  9. First, so sorry to hear about the cancer returning. Having been through a similar situation some years ago, I know how difficult dealing with that can be. Second, congrats on your anniversary, wishing you many more years of happiness. I didn’t know that Tavola offers Wilton classes. The only one I know of here is a very small store, so I’ll have to stop in and see if they do. I’m subscribing by email!

  11. This is such a heartfelt post…straight up and personal, just like speaking with you Kari. I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmonther’s cancer relapse – I can’t imagine what she’s going through and am glad she has family like yourself who’re willing to talk with her through it.

    That cake is simply beautiful, just as is this post. All my love.

  13. Kari congratulations to you and the Chef. October is an important month for me always… its my mamas birthday….Very Sorry to hear about your nana…sending you and your family prayers and blessings.xx

  15. What a wonderful surprise to accidentally stumble upon your blog! I am also delighted to have learned something now today, I did not know what a salt cellar (or salt pig) was until now, and am excited to receive a FREE ONE (visualization at work) along with my new subscription via email! All the best to your Grandmother and her health (visualizing as I type) and I look forward to being your humble follower 🙂

  23. I am in Canada and can’t enter your contest but just had to say good job on the cake. I am taking the Wilton course as well and loving every minute of it. Stay happy and live life to the fullest.

  24. ur doing a good job of cake decoration its simply great.i also want to learn the art of icing and making flowers for the cake can u plz teach me.as my anniversary is next month.plzz can u send me a special cake made by u .or else i will try it my self but i really wants to taste urs.

  26. Congratulations on your anniversary, it has been a month of birthdays in our house too & I have been baking non stop. Sorry to read about your grandmother, she sounds like an inspiring, awesome lady and I’m sure she is so proud of you. Will say an extra prayer for her. My mum is a recent survivor and I know how hard it is for the families to go through this. Love & hope xo

  32. What a wonderful way to celebrate all of these birthdays and I admire your spirit, thinking of your grandmother – right down to her favourite colours! I can’t believe I didn’t know that info about the pig – and I’m a Scot, too. 😉
    Lovely to discover you – off to find you now on FB.

  40. Done with the FB like and have subscribed by email.
    I definitely agree when you said baking is theraphy. Happy Anniversary and happy birthday! I hope you’re Granny is doing well 🙂

  41. I’m really sorry to hear about your grandmother…I hope her condition improves and that she isn’t in pain of any sort.
    I liked the Chef and Steward page on Facebook and would like to enter to win the Emile Henry of France Salt Pig…I am an avid cook and it would be really useful to have it on hand. I am currently in Muscat, Oman

  42. I followed Chef and Steward on Twitter and I would like to enter to win the Emile Henry of France Salt Pig. 🙂

  43. I subscribed to Chef and Steward via email under the ‘Subscribe to Us’ link and would like to enter to win the Emile Henry of France Salt Pig 🙂

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