Being a kid in Yemen

For centuries, MiddleEast and its surroundings have always been a boiling pot. Until the discovery of petrol rich territories, poverty, clan fights, wars, water disputes, civil wars, and ongoing fights to change Shia vs Sunni balance within the region has probably shed more blood than region's water sources.

Yemen is the poorest country within the region, with one key strategic factor in its hand: Aden. Where almost all Arab and Persian oil passes through. Saudis, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and obviously U.S is giving support to prevent Houthi's (Shia) , backed up by Iran, to gain control of Aden Port which they are so close right now. If this happens, oil prices would hit sky high, leading a chaos in oil dependant countires, and their cost of productions to exports.

Therefore, when I watch UN, US, EU, and the other big brothers's statements, it makes me feel so sad to see those helpless Yemenis suffer air-strikes leadin 53 civillian deaths...

So don't tell me that all this is for Yemen and Yemenis ! Because Yemen just looks like a beautiful little Gazelle in Serengeti, with a broken leg, being gulped down by predetors.

Not to mention that Pakistani army is also now on highest aler, so I would not be surprised if they somehow start marching on to the war zone soon...

As always, children are the most affected ones without having a clue of why all this is happening. Act now and save children in Yemen today !!!

God Bless them all !

Don't waste food, re-cook your leftovers

This is not fair...

Transforming leftover fish, to"Fishballs"

Think about those who can't afford a decent meal in the world. Hunger is one of the main problems of humankind today and it effects a vast range of population especially the children. I don't mean to depress any of you but lately - especially after the birth of my daughter - I am trying to throw less food in the garbage by cooking them in various forms again. For instance, after cooking bonito last night, there were some leftovers tonight, so I decided to make fishballs instead of throwing them in the garbage.

The process is incredibly easy and fast to make it; even you can manage to get your kids to like fish without a hassle. So, lets get started...

Here are the ingredients:
Leftover fish
Leftover bread
1 Onion
Parsley
1 Egg
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cumin
Salt&Pepper

Leftover and wet bread, leftover fish, onion, parsley, egg, olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin

Take your hard and leftover bread slices, and wet them under the water finishing it with a good squeeze to drain them. De-bone and de-skin your leftover fish, shred them with your hands along with the bread and put them into the mixing bowl. Chop your onions, parsley and anything you may had with your leftover (in my case, I had cooked tomatoes, garlic, and green peppers) and add them into the bowl as well. Add one egg (with its yolk), salt, pepper, and cumin on top.

Chop everything, add salt, pepper and cumin

Now, by using your hands, knead the whole mix for about 3 - 5 minutes, making sure that everything hold each other. Let it rest for about 10 minutes, and make medallion shaped thick circles. Do not forget to heat your oiled diecast cooking pan heat up until a slight smoke starts coming up.

Kneaded mix ready 

Pre-heat your diecast pan for 5 minutes at high flame, but lower it towards the end

Fishball medallions waiting to be cooked

By now, your diecast pan must be slightly smoking. This means you are ready to put your fishballs on it. If you forgot to put some olive oil in the pan, it is never too late. You can spread some, right now but let it sizzle a bit. Now, place your fishballs gently on the pan...

Tempting sound of sizzling....mmmh :)

Do not touch your fishballs for at least 5 to 6 minutes. You can check and see if they are grilled crisp and golden with the help of a pair of tongs. Be careful ! If you try flipping them over too early, fishballs would break up their circular forms. So, be patient and let them cook well.

A nice golden crisp

Now do the same length of cooking for the other side, and when it is finished, decorate your plate with thin sliced tomatoes and tortilla. Dress it up with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve it hot...

Place them on a tomato base

Yummy !

You can also serve it with grilled on the side

With this easy and fast recipe, I hope that we will avoid throwing food away and think of those who go to sleep with empty stomach everynight...especially the children.

Enjoy !

You can visit the following links to learn and contribute more:

http://www.unicef.org/

http://www.oxfam.org/

http://www.savethechildren.org

Generation Y.....The Androids

Betamax Video Casette for SONY C7 Video Player

For those of you who are in their early 40s like me, can remember 80s and 90s. Imagine a world where terms like, internet, cellular phones, texting, or sending an e-mail were obscure and unknown to most. We watched fewer TV channels, landline phones were kings, cars were just turning from bulkier to more compact forms, walkman was the king, casettes came in 45 - 60  or 90minutes types, video players started with Betamax system and white socks ruled.

I guess it was easier to fool your parents to have a sleepover in your friend's house and get wasted on Vodka, than getting lost with today's means of tracking devices like a cellular phone which doesn't allow you to disappear for one single second even if you wanted to. 

Then the Internet came along with computers taking the whole ball game into a different level. People could communicate in light speed, and at cheaper cost. Connecting people (Nokia's Slogan) were never made easier and more effective. We never anticipated a dramatic change in lives when a young nerd from Harvard called Mark Zuckerberg introduced Facebook in 2004 in USA where you simply added a circle of friends and shared thoughts, locations, images and ideas freely. Shortly after, a tiny blue bird called Twitter enabled our boxed in lives to reveal to the world. You could even share a photo of yourself while taking a sh*t with the rest of world. This was the beginning of new era for all the world and has created the famous "Generation Y".

 

All of a sudden, we started to share images, blogs, news (regardless officially confirmed or not), articles, and more which created a huge paradox in people's minds what to believe in. Although it is not the core of this article, but I think I will write on that one in the future as well. Today, we are living in an ocean of information, but God knows how much of it can be still reliable. As Andy Warhol said in 1968 "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes", I am now saying that today everyone has already became world famous with one tweet or by one image on facebook. In matters of seconds, millions of people can see you or your phrase in this virtual world and that can be scary. Look at the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Brazil and Turkey lately. Most of the visual or written media is wither bought by the governments to share what really happens in the country, or their bosses are too chicken to broadcast the truth. So most the movement has communicated through social media, especially Twitter. 

However, is it safe to trust the information which was posted by a teenager? What if he or she tweeted an information which is not confirmed. Who to believe or not to believe? This is the political dilemma which threatens all nations right now and will continue to do so. Although websites gaining a lot power, I think when it comes to sharing member information with governments they did and will always bow to the power of state and share it. Fear of losing money will always be heavier than the urge to be a hero. Sad but true...

My criticism is to the people who share their utmost intimacy or privacy of their lives in social media. I mean, who the heck cares about where you were, or with whom you are with, and what you did. I totally think that it is mostly the cause of lonely or loveless childhood. Come off it, I know people who had virtually fallen in love with....holy cow ! How can you love someone virtually? Where did the passion go? Joy of touching a human tan? Ecstasy of tasting lips? 

I am sad for "Generation Y" types....I really am....they see life from a 14 inch screen, and live it on the face of a keyboard. So far away from feelings of actual human soul and heart. Time to take one step towards them to get a better understanding. Who they are or what they really want.

Before they end up becoming "Androids"...teach them arts, cooking, sewing, tooling, fixing a bulb, an international flag, to think of needy ones, not to be greedy, share life, share food, share love but furthermore teach them how to be flesh and bone.

Have a great weekend to you all....