Simply Splendid Gift Baskets Blog

January 17, 2010 (Sun) Comic Treasure 15 anniversary gift Conference held New Year's cards] [Limited Namba shop!

Comic Treasure 15 will have exclusive tickets distributed at the booth in the hall tiger hole, and go to the store Comic Toranoana Namba said, Toranoana Limited 15 New Year's gift was made at random to commemorate the anniversary!

A whole year ago, on January 11, 2009 I posted my very first post, Borani Esfanaj, Yogurt with Spinach. It all seems like yesterday when in the fall of 2008 I came up with the idea to start this blog when I realized that there were no blogs solely dedicated to Persian food.

I have gone back and forth for the past couple of weeks about whether I should tell you the whole story about how and why this blog was started…I finally decided that I should, because in the end it is a story about reinventing yourself as well as being aware and open to changes that life throws your way. But there is also a part of me that thinks that maybe some of you may relate to my story…

In the summer of 2007 I left a secure full time job to finish graduate school full time but also to find jobs that were more in line with the degree that I was pursuing since I was a career switcher. Life was good and not only I had a Graduate Assistant job lined up, I also found two other part-times positions. Everything magically fell into place perfectly.

The following May I finished my degree and by that time the economy had slowed down tremendously. Two of the three jobs went away. During this time I was also pursuing a certificate which in theory was going to make me even more marketable in my field.  By the time I finished my certificate in December there pretty much was nothing going on job wise, and because I was no longer a student the GA job was gone too.  I had spent six months looking for jobs and continued telling myself that everything was going to be OK.  By the time January of 2009 rolled around the reality of being unemployed and no classes to go to had settled in. I was just about ready to pull my hair out from boredom and frustration.  For someone who had been working since the age of eighteen and put herself through college and graduate school by working full time while going to school, my new lifestyle was completely foreign. I didn’t know what to do with myself and my fiercely independent personality got in the way. The lack of social interaction that came with having a job and attending classes made everything even more difficult for this little extravert.

This blog became a good distraction for me which combined my love for cooking and writing.  I had a few other distractions during February, March, and April that kept me somewhat busy. By the time we came back from our vacation in late April, I had received a rejection for every job that I had applied for.  The more I internalized my situation the more I retreated in my shell. Soon enough a deep fog had taken over my soul and I pretty much lost confidence and hope.  I had worked so hard and sacrificed a lot to make it though grad school and the certificate that I had pursued. I had all these grandiose plans for myself while I was a student. Nothing seemed to have gone according to plan and the future simply did not look bright.

The only thing in my life that seemed to go well was this blog. I never imagined it would pick up as fast as it did. I was amazed at the interest in Persian cuisine. Every comment left encouraged me to continue blogging. During those months I posted here and there with at times a lot of gaps between posts. The real reason for those gaps is not that I didn’t have time to post, but it was because I was busy having “pity parties” for myself and didn’t particularly feel like writing or interacting with people, for that matter.

Something inside of me changed in the fall. A few emails received gave me hope. All along I had been looking for signs, and they came alright! They came yelling and knocked some sense into my brain! I finally realized that I was so focused on all the doors that were closed in my face that I didn’t see the one door that had opened wide and clear: this blog.

With my new found energy and enthusiasm I decided to get more serious about it and started to post frequently, and sure enough the more I posted the more traffic came through! Slowly the fog lifted and I went back to being my old self. I began to feel confident again and to being the social extravert that I am!

It is amazing in what a different place I find myself today compared to last year. There is so much good that has come out of this blog. Not only I have been making Persian food on a regular basis and sharing the cuisine of my birth land with the world, but I am also writing more than ever before.  I have had the pleasure of befriending and meeting a handful of people through this blog as well. Perhaps, this is the epitome of the saying “Make your passion into your profession.” Ironically, The Sous Chef all along has told me to treat this blog like a job since there is so much interest for Persian food. I don’t know if this blog will ever be a profession for me, but I know with certainty that it is going lead to good things in my life. I am sure of that!

With all of this said, I owe a huge amount of gratitude to my husband, The Sous Chef, one of the three most generous people that I know who graciously carries the financial burden of our household. Realistically, without his financial and moral support this blog would have not existed.

And I owe a bigger thank you to you all readers who stop by regularly. I am incredibly humbled by all the kind comments and emails that I receive. I can’t even begin to describe how much your words contributed to the lifting of the fog and keep me motivated to cook and post recipes regularly. I bow to you in gratitude.

To commemorate My Persian Kitchen’s first anniversary and to thank you all for your readership, I would like to give away a copy of my all time favorite Persian cookbook, New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij, graciously provided by Mage Publishers.

Here is my copy! This is the book that gave me the confidence to start cooking Persian food.

It was give to me as a gift 9 years ago by Hamid, one of my mom’s cousins to whom I am very close.

It is by far one of the most gorgeous cookbooks I have ever seen. The photography is incredibly appetizing and the information and art included is simply amazing.

It is by far the most comprehensive and well written, with easy to follow recipes, cookbook I have ever come across. It even includes information about Persian celebrations.

The Sous Chef loves this book too. The way you know The Sous Chef has cooked from any cookbooks in our household is by the colorful tabs that he leaves on the pages of his favorite recipes that he has made.  The ones that you see in the picture above are left from a couple of years ago when he cooked five recipes from this book when he surprised me with a home cooked meal for my birthday. I kept the tabs because it is a reminder of that fantastic evening!

One of recipes was Maygoo Polow, Rice with Shrimp and Fresh Herbs. A dish that I had never had before and I would have probably not made because I had never heard of it before. But I am so glad that he made it because it was simply scrumptious! There are so many more delicious recipes to be made from this book!

To participate in the Give Away all you have to do is leave a comment and answer the following question:

What is your favorite Persian dish?

**Rules**

Give Away is open to everyone who wishes to participate inside or outside the United States.

Only one comment/entry per person please.

A valid and regularly checked email address must be included in the email field when leaving comment. (email addresses are never published)

Give Away open to comments until Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 5pm Pacific Standard Time.

A winner will be randomly selected and announced on Friday January 15, 2010.