We tasted apples. To little changes.

What do you get when you put sixteen little children, red juicy apples, a couple of really really funny songs and a story in a room?

Giggles, grins, sparkling eyes that go wide, crunching and munching,millions of questions, amusing tales and a lot of fun.

This and more was exactly what I took back home with me from the Apple Workshop that I put together for the little ones as part of my Food Revolution Diaries (The workshop was for the children between the ages of 3-7 and was free for everyone who wanted to attend).

Last Wednesday a couple of us gathered for a story telling session.

That evening began like a lot of stories do; once upon a time. Only this time the protagonist was a tiny apple seed and it was R-E-A-L-LY long time ago. It was the story of the first apple seed on the earth.

As the evening progressed the rain fairies and the sun fairies also visited us so that the apple seed could grow into a beautiful and big apple tree with red, round and mouth-watering apples. The children sat on the floor cross legged, all eyes on me, eyes that clearly had many questions and eyes that grew wide each time the apple seed grew.

A tiny worm also wiggled out to help. It made the earth soft for the seed to break free. But the apple seed was still asleep.

Then two chirpy birds came and whispered “wakey wakey” into the apple seed’s ear and the apple seed kind of heard them. She rubbed her eyes, opened one eye just a tiny bit and then the other, stretched her arms and whoosh got out of “bed”. The children smiled and laughed for that is how “we get up each morning when mum/dad wakes us up to get ready for school”.

The apple seed began to grow from a seed to young sapling to a tree full of blossoms. Just like my engrossed audience had become “big and tall from the babies we were some years back”. The storm fairy came to test the young tree’s strength just like sometimes “we fall in the park and mum tells us to be strong and brush off all that dirt” they told me.

In between all this a woodland fairy dropped by, some stars were wished for, those wishes were granted, the little scientists carried out some truly serious apple research, they sang and danced with apples on their heads and then on their ears and a little later the apples were on their noses, the junior food critics tasted two different types of apples and rated them on taste, texture, yumminess quotient, scribbling, coloring and with that the workshop came to an end.

Honestly speaking I wasn't sure if that day when we walked out had we just had fun (which isn't bad either:)) or had the session made any little difference and opened their minds and palates to eating more apples. It was only later when the parents began to message me I was smiling.

One was surprised because her child had never eaten a whole apple. She usually makes a face after eating a few wedges I was told, one mentioned mine her child had never tasted green apples and she was happy about it. Another one was amused that with friends around the child had eaten the apple with the peel where as at home he always requested her to remove it.

Some of them wanted to do this tasting exercise with more varieties of apples for scoring it made them feel important and a lot of them are waiting eagerly for the next workshop I hear. One even tried the apple recipe I shared that day. I haven’t stopped grinning ever since. They explained the lifecycle of “our” apple seed to their parents. Grin just became wider.

Children are so receptive to new foods they have never tasted or food they have previously rejected in another form when you make it enjoyable and with peers isn't it?  They all had an apple experience to tell me and each other. “My mum makes applesauce and I like that”, “mine gives me apples but they turn brown at school and I like only white wedges (with the experiment they now knew what causes browning and how to stop that :) YAY!), “I going to check for bruises on apples when I go shopping with my mum” and so much more.

My little chefling wanted to give the opening speech at the workshop! “You are my mum and are conducting this workshop which means I am the hostess too”, she said and wrote out the cutest opening words ever!

I asked her later that evening about the most memorable part of the workshop. It wasn't anything to do with the workshop if that’s what you are thinking. She bit into an apple that evening and a tooth that had been tickling her nearly came off! That was the biggest thing for her that evening! The tooth fairy will be visiting me soon and I am very very excited (a first for her!)

Later that evening she asked me if we could taste strawberries at the next workshop (If you'd like to see more snaps from that day the complete album is available here).

The workshop was made possible with the help from a lot of people who came forward because they wanted to be a part of creating Food Revolution here at Dubai.

The lovely ladies, Cecilia and Anette from DinnerTime were really kind and got the children the apples from the Greenheart Organic Farms. Tina, the lady behind Splash n Bounce generously offered the space to conduct the workshop. Big thank you ladies for being a part of my Food Revolution Diary and for getting our little ones to eat fresh and eat real.

This for me would be my Food Revolution moment of the year. I joined the wonderful and very encouraging team of Food Ambassadors very recently (two months old here so technically not the moment of the year type of a moment but hey it is the drop that counts!) and I am so happy that we enjoyed our apple story and biting into apples. Post the workshop even if a handful of kids out of the group of sixteen who came that day end up including apples in their diet and in turn convince their friends to try a bite from theirs I think we may have a little proud moment here.

There is a beautiful post by a fellow Ambassador Mardi Michels here and when I read it I found myself nodding in agreement. It is also about those little changes.

2015 is almost here and it is going to be my goal to connect with more and more children this year through cooking, telling stories, getting parents and kids to be in the kitchen together, writing and more.

Then there is the big day on the 15^th of May that I can’t wait for and together we will bring about a Food Revolution at Dubai.

To the little changes. To the big ones. To healthy eating. To real food.

To Food Revolution.

 Images:  If you like any of the pictures on the blog and would like to use those please write to me. I put in hours of work behind each post and would love to share it with you but it would hurt me if  use those without my permission. Just ask! I have taken the liberty to share the snaps of the children who attended the workshop that day, should any parent want me to remove their child's picture please let me know and I will do it immediately.

Eating my way through June.

I agree I have been away for close to a month. But the thing is my hands were busy holding a fork and a spoon and sometimes a whisk, the mouth munching, the eyes salivating and well the mind was gainfully occupied thinking of what and when will be my next meal. Enough reasons not to show up here, right?

Without further ado let me share the month of June with all of you. Oh and it is going to be a long post so I suggest you get yourself a cup of coffee and make yourself comfortable.

Cooking up a storm

Well..just like every month (as expected) there has been a lot of action in the kitchen here and while I managed to click some of the things that made their way to our tummies...most made their way...way too fast to be shared here. Five spice orange cookies with candied oranges, a chocolate chip bread pudding, baby spinach, feta and pomegranate salad,a ratatouille, a beetroot, green apple and carrot salad, a Nutella cupcake and fruity yogurt parfaits both made entirely by my little chefling (MLC from now on) and more...

And pancakes. MLC has been bitten by the pancake bug. No, she clearly doesn't want variety when it comes to the recipe, you knows oats in one, buckwheat in another. Whole wheat with honey each time. But it has to look different. There is a design brief each morning. No circles, triangles, stars & moons this time. Only fairies, ballet dancers, pointy shoes and umm..an occasional Santa. Her verdict...I am doing okay.

Eating out

Amongst the numerous meals that our family had outside of our kitchen, two that NEED to be shared have to be the ones we had at Peshwa and Barrio Fiesta. The first was one was this really awesome & authentic Maharastrian meal & the second was lip smacking Filipino food. I am no food critic hence no review & snaps of what we ate (Also note: my fellow diners will kill me if each time we went out to eat and I began to take pictures:)) but if you trust my taste buds a bit do give these places a try.

Of food events, meeting people and some more eating

June also brought with it many lovely opportunities. A pity that I could only attend two of those. 

The first one was to meet and congratulate the amazing team at Baker and Spice. They invited me for the Annual World Environment Day Harvest Breakfast that brought their Farmers' market season to a close. Their philosophy is really simple  yet one that very few follow. Local, organic, fresh and homemade. So their menu keeps changing depending on what is in the season. You can know more about there here 

The day started pretty early and as I entered I was greeted by this lovely wooden long table that made me swoon;with food enough to feed an army. 

There was the mouthwatering classic shakshouka, their new green version made with zucchini that I simply loved, a to die for aubergine and pepper preparation called sabih, creamy hummus, labneh, freshly baked bread and croissants, peach parfaits and fresh orange juice,tangy plum & pomegranate spritzers to go along.

Lots of fresh produce all around, gigantic platters of salad and hummus that were too pretty to even touch. Had I made them I would have not allowed anyone to come near them but the people at Baker and Spice were  too kind.

It was a lovely morning spent breaking bread with fellow food bloggers, producers, people from the food world and friends. Big thanks to Angela who handles their PR and the entire team of Baker and Spice for the invitation and the warmth.

And ofcourse the very same night I had to recreate the shakshouka at home for my loved ones:)

See more pictures here

And now for the second memorable event.

That I love France is not a secret and at some point in life I would want to live there(DH are you listening?). So when Moustafa Mahdi extended an invitation to attend the Apéritif à la française there was no way I was going to let this pass. Arrangements had to be made for the little one to put to sleep early and her aunt watched over her so that I could sneak my way out on a weeknight to be there. And I am glad I did.

The Apéritif à la française is a celebration of french food and beverages where people who appreciate French art de vivre and those curious to learn more about it come together. This annual event is organized by the International Food & Lifestyle Marketing Group, SOPEXA, and is supported by the French Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to promote the French gastronomy and Art de vivre. It was held on the 10th of June at the Westin Mina Seyahi. 

This year was its 10th anniversary and it was celebrated at Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong-Kong, Milan, Montreal, New-York, Paris, Sao Paulo and Tokyo on the same date and at the same time.

It was a beautiful evening buzzing with people all of them having one thing in common; food. The stage was set and there was a large mouth-watering display of dairy products, breads, fruits, chocolates, biscuits, seafood, meat as well as wide selection of beverages including tea, bottled water, syrups, lemonades and more in very authentic French atmosphere.

Much thanks to the team at Apéritif à la française for their hospitality and Moustafa Mahdi for the invitation.

See the complete album here

Writing on food
And before I bring this long post to an end, Dubai please join me in welcoming a new e-magazine The Indian Trumpet. 

It aims to capture the colour,culture and chaos of India that Indians crave and miss. The first issue goes live on the 1st of July. So wish them lots of luck  and give them tons of love. I have a written a short food story for them which I hope you will enjoy going through.

That was my month in food. My desktop wallpaper reads, "Kitchens are meant to bring families together". Mine did. I wish the same for you.

Eat well. Stay healthy.

Images: Personal Album.While you enjoy reading this post with visuals.Please do not use them without asking. They belong to Orange Kitchens unless otherwise stated.