We spend a lot of time gushing over our children's "firsts," no matter how big or small, but sometimes even the most mundane parenthood tasks are worth making a big deal over! From learning how to parent your newborn baby to figuring out how your toddler operates, here are a few parenting firsts that might seem like small potatoes - but are kind of a big deal - that even seasoned moms and dads will appreciate.
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Erin Cullum
Listen up: Tyler Florence is about to give you a cooking lesson. I caught up with the chef and Food Network host at his classic San Francisco restaurant, Wayfare Tavern to discuss the importance of accessible and affordable fresh fruit and vegetables (he's part of Naked Juice's #DrinkGoodDoGood campaign that donates 10 pounds of fresh produce to food deserts for every selfie posted with the hashtag) as well as to learn some cooking basics as a busy millennial. "We're talking about masterpieces. There's a couple things that are easy and quick, and things that are just good for you as a person to know how to rock. It's about having this baller cooking persona. Some things are quick and easy, and some things you're a master at," Tyler added. With that in mind, Tyler shared his five dishes you can (and should) master.
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Nicole Perry
Tyler's method:"Three different kinds of chopped meat: ground beef for flavor, ground veal for texture, and ground pork for fat. Equal portions: a third, a third, and a third. Carrots, celery, onions, garlic, rosemary, and sage. I like to put it in the food processor and pulse it down. Sauté that stuff in olive oil, add the different chopped meats, give it a good stir, and then add tomatoes, red wine, and milk. Let it cook until it's baby-food soft. It takes about two to three hours. It takes about 15 minutes to get it into the pot and a few hours to cook, but it's a legendary pasta sauce when it's really, really good. Traditionally it's [served with] papparedelle, but it could be tagliatelle, spaghetti, whatever. I like to top it off with a scoop of fresh ricotta cheese."
Get the recipe:Tyler Florence's bolognese
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Nicole Perry
Tyler's method:"You have to know how to make a classic vinaigrette: it's three parts olive oil to one part vinegar. And then mustard and fresh shallots and chopped herbs. You should know how to make a vinaigrette from scratch - no question - then you can make any salad and you can modify that salad dressing a thousand different ways."
Get the recipe:Tyler Florence's arugula salad and ultimate vinaigrette
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Anna Monette Roberts
Tyler's method:"Pancakes are super important. My nine year old has been diagnosed as gluten intolerant, so now we make them with Thomas Keller's Cup For Cup Flour, which is really great. Two cups flour, three eggs, two cups of buttermilk, a teaspoon of baking soda, a tablespoon of baking powder, a third of a cup of sugar, vanilla, a pinch of salt, and either lemon zest or orange zest."
Get the recipe:Tyler Florence's blueberry-banana pancakes
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Anna Monette Roberts
Tyler's method:"I think roasted chicken is super important. There are a lot of different methods on how to do that, but my favorite is the low and slow technique. So you want to set the moisture and the fat and think about the skin on the outside of that. Sage, rosemary, garlic, and salt and pepper: chop it up and make a smear. Rub it all over the inside and outside of the chicken. Cook it at 200°F for two hours, and then crank the oven up to 400°F and let the skin get nice and crispy. It's a fantastic cooking technique. It should read about 155°F at the joint with a thermometer."
Get the recipe:Tyler Florence's roast chicken
Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Nicole Perry
Tyler's method:"Potatoes have a really delicate, beautiful minerality to their flavor profile, and when you cook potatoes in water and you pour that water down the drain, you've extracted all the flavor of the potato. So what I do with mashed potatoes - because you finish them with cream and butter anyway, right? - is I'll take that same cream and butter and add that to the potatoes and cook the potatoes in cream and butter. So cold, peeled, chopped potatoes, cream, butter, and olive oil. I like garlic. I like sage and rosemary flavor combinations, and a little bit of thyme. When the potatoes are tender, I put a bowl on the counter and a colander inside that bowl. I pour the potatoes through the colander, and the cream will collect on the bottom. Then I'll put the potatoes back into the pot and take the potato-infused garlic cream and fold that back into the potatoes, and it's the most incredible flavor profile. It's the best mashed potato you'll ever taste in your entire life."
Get the recipe:Tyler Florence's mashed potatoes
Did your Mother ever make you chicken soup when you were sick as a child? Well, there's a good reason for this. Bone broth is full of healing nutrients that help boost your immune system. It's become increasingly popular among wellness enthusiasts, and you can find it on the menu at HAPI café in Alserkal, Dubai. I tried HAPI's bone broth (served warm in a paper cup), and I loved the flavor, although I thought it was strange to consume a cup of bone broth on its own, until I did more research.
It's all about the simmering. When bones are left to simmer, healing elements like collagen, glycine and glutamine are released and these compounds are easily absorbed into our bodies. People who consume bone broth regularly have seen an improvement in their digestion, gut health, and joint and muscle recovery. If you're like me and have a lot of inflammation due to injuries, bone broth can help reduce this.
Brothers Paul & Laurent Frangie recently launched HAPI Bone Broth home delivery as customers couldn't get enough of their organic mushroom, chicken and grass-fed beef and lamb broths. Laurent explains: "Customers were coming into HAPI with large thermoses to take our bone broth home. We have some customers that consume it daily for holistic healing, and some use for cooking."
Photographer Carlos Khalil Guzman has one goal with his new photo series: to showcase the diversity of Muslims living in America.
According to his website, the series, titled "Muslims of America," is "dedicated to capturing the diversity of the Muslim community in the United States and bringing to light the beauty and truthfulness of Islam while countering Islamophobia."
Though he launched the series about a year and a half ago, he's still looking for subjects, and hopes to continue the project. Speaking to Stepfeed, he explained: "I started Muslims of America out of the need to reclaim our narrative and also as a way to give our community a voice."
"To be totally honest, someone else, often times non-Muslims are always the ones speaking on our behalf. You see it on the news, you hear it on the radio. Our voices and stories are never taken into account and I knew I needed to come up with a way to use my talents to amplify the voices in our community."
Click through to see some of his most recent portraits!
In February, 2016, Nigerian-born Haneefah Adam began designing clothes for Barbie dolls. But it wasn't exactly Barbie's typical attire-- instead, Haneefah designs hijabi-fashion for the dolls, and over the past year-and-a-half she's grown to over 80,000 followers.
On top of being a positive representation of Muslim girls, Haneefah's designs are seriously stylish. Here are just a few that we'd happily keep in our own closets!
We already heard that flying taxis will be on the road--well, in the skies-- in Dubai by the end of the year, but a new video released by the RTA hints that they might be here even sooner than we thought.
Over the past few months, the flying taxis have been undergoing test runs out in the desert, and now that they're getting close to completion, the taxis are almost ready to serve the public.
The driverless pods will be able to transport two passengers at a time, and will travel at speeds of about 50 km per hour, though at top speed, they can reach 100 km/hour.
The vehicles are fully rechargeable, meaning that they don't rely on gas-- and don't emit any pollution. We're learning more and more about the taxis themselves (and what the service means for transportation in Dubai) as the launch date approaches, and RTA's newest video takes us into the taxis and up in the sky like never before. How much longer do we have to wait!?
Autonomous Air Taxi (AAT) unique features #Dubai@RTA_Dubaipic.twitter.com/7ZDifHAUPe
- Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) July 23, 2017
We all know how to cut watermelon into cubes and slices, but how many times have your guests really been impressed with those shapes? One former NASA engineer, Mark Rober, figured out the coolest party trick that presents the fruit in a way you'd never imagine.
Rober takes two watermelons close in size - the first he skins completely by removing outer slices with a knife, then smooths its surface out with a dish scrub. The second watermelon is cut into two equal halves and then gutted entirely. Place the skinned watermelon into the empty vessel, and you've got yourself a twist-apart melon.
Watch the video and try it out for yourself!
It seems like every day Emirates comes out with a new video, but as the world's best airline, it's no surprise that the Dubai-based airline continues to go above and beyond to please their passengers.
But it's not just frequent fliers that Emirates works to impress, and in the latest video released by the airline, they prove just how much they value their staff.
Earlier this week, when Emirates learned that the Arsenal football club would be aboard one of their flights, the airline made sure to fill up the staff roster accordingly. Instead of just randomly assigning pilots to the flight, Emirates appointed the biggest Arsenal fans to fly the jet, even giving the pilots personalized Arsenal jerseys!
Emirates sure made the day for these pilots-- and seeing how well they treat their employees just gives us another reason to fly Emirates!
Earlier this year, Shaesta Waiz embarked on a solo journey around the world. Stopping on 18 countries on five continents, the aim of Shaesta's round the world trip is greater than just breaking records: the 29-year-old pilot is flying to raise awareness of and support for Dreams Soar, the non-profit organization that she founded.
The goal of Dreams Soar is to "inspire and empower young females to become the next generation of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and aviation professionals," and the most recent leg of her trip has landed her in Dubai.
In honor of her arrival, Emirates welcomed Shaesta by hosting her for a Boeing 777 simulator challenge .
Alongside Bakhita Al Muheiri, an Emirates First Officer and one of the airlines' youngest female Emirati pilots, Shaesta took the simulator challenge, testing her aviation skills.
She spoke about the experience of flying the simulator, saying, "An airplane doesn't know if you are a girl or boy, what your religion or background is. It reacts based on the input of the pilot."
" My hope from the time I spent flying the Boeing 777 simulator with Bakhita, learning of her empowering story, and Emirates helping to pave the way for many more young women, is for more role models to devote their time and energy inspiring our next generation. Let us work together and expend our resources to create brighter futures for our tomorrow."
It's not always easy keeping your car spotless in the UAE. With frequent sand and dust storms--and a ton of construction that also causes a lot of dust to fly--it's pretty common to have a fine coat of dust on your vehicle year-round.
While having a dirty car can be unpleasant, it's now more than just an inconvenience if you live in Abu Dhabi.
A new crackdown on cars left for extended period of times has officials issuing fines to motorists who fail to clean their cars regularly. "An official from the municipality said dirty cars are an eye sore to the public and can pose risks to others if wind picks up the dust and blows it on other cars or on people,"The National reports.
It's definitely cheaper to just get your car washed-- drivers who leave that coast of dust can face fines up to Dhs 3,000, so it's smart to just clean it off regularly.
While the law banning "unsightly" cars has been around since 2012, authorities have become more and more strict over recent months, and the law applies to any vehicle (including boats), so it's smart to keep things clean to avoid fines. Get washing!
On July 1, rules of the roads saw some major changes in Dubai.
Not buckling up in the backseat, not having children in proper carseats, and tailgating all can now result in major fines-- even in taxis. In order to emphasize the importance of the new regulations, Dubai Police released a video showing how many violations you may be unknowingly committing.
From driving a noisy car (fine: Dhs 2,000), to littering from a vehicle (Dhs 1,000), to leaving your car running while you're not in it (Dhs 300), watch the video below to see how familiar you are with the new rules-- and make sure you don't make any mistakes next time you're on the road!
At just 26-years-old, Fatima Al Qubaisi has become the first Emirati woman to graduate from Harvard Law School. "It has been a tremendous experience to be part of the School's graduating class during its 200th year, and I will be returning to the UAE with a vision and a set of ideas for a brighter UAE," she told Gulf News.
Upon her return to the UAE, she plans to do pro bono work. She currently works as a senior legal associate for Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and before heading to the US to earn the prestigious degree, she received her bachelors from the Paris-Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi.
It is true that educational attainment is important towards getting into any of these schools, but what matters is also what you bring to the graduating class," she said of her achievement.
Fatima will take the New York State bar exam this fall, which will allow her to practice law both in the US and in the UAE. "We have come a long way as a country since the UAE was first formed, but we still leave a lot of the technical work to expatriates. This is why I want to advance my knowledge and qualifications, and be at par with any international legal expert," she explained.
Way to go Fatima, for making the UAE proud! Mabrouk!
Real talk: road trips are the best kind of trip. Not only do you save money on expensive plane tickets, but also you're able to enjoy gorgeous countryside scenary and bond with your best friends. To really kick your travels into high gear, put on this playlist that's perfect for the car. Sit back, relax, and turn it up!
The mini bar may be a costly spot to raid when you're staying at a hotel, but the mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner and other bathroom supplies are fair game (and free). And the general rule of thumb is that it's acceptable to bring home amenities you've already used. We're very into reusing things, because not only is it good for the environment, it's good for your pockets, too. Here are a couple of really cool things to do with your hotel loot.
If you're like me, mosquitos eat you up anywhere, anytime, any season. There's just something about us that lure those blood-suckers, especially during our sleep. I almost gave up on warding them off and accepted the fact that I was going to wake up every morning with bites - until I found an effective solution. Lavender oil is about to be your new best friend; it smells lovely to us and keeps those pesky insects away. After spritzing this all-natural spray over my body and bed each night, I wake up bite-free. It also doubles as a relaxing sleep mist since lavender oil works amazingly for aromatherapy.
What You'll Need:
Directions:
You know that part in Titanic when Rose says, "You jump, I jump"? Well, it probably would take the convincing of Leo himself to get me to jump down the hidden waterfall "rabbit hole" in Portland Parish, Jamaica.
People have been sharing videos online of brave souls plunging feet first into the unknown at a place called Reach Falls. According to an Imgur user, once you jump into the hole, you enter a hidden cave that has a small hidden waterfall. The back opens up into the main Reach Falls waterfall, and you climb out just above the cascade. When you're facing the falls head on, the secret cave is on the right.
As you watch people go down the hole, it looks like they are disappearing into Narnia or some other magical wonderland that's only accessed via secret portal. Would you dare to take the plunge? See for yourself ahead!
As easy as hard-boiled eggs are to make, they're a pain to peel, that is until I learned this hack from my boyfriend's sister. It involves shaking the egg in a glass cup with a bit of water until the egg shell breaks into a million shards. It seemed completely unfathomable until I tested it out myself and discovered it's completely legitimate! Here's how it's done.
Fill a glass cup or a mason jar with about 1/2-inch of water. Then add the egg. If you have a mason jar, screw on the lid.
Turn the cup to the side, pressing one hand over the open end so the water doesn't pour out.
Start shaking! Don't let the egg roll around the glass but rather make sure it's hitting the sides of the glass. You'll begin to see the egg shell cracking . . .
Keep shaking until the shell slips off! Rinse the egg under cold water to remove any small shell shards then enjoy.
On July 1, new laws were implemented to make the roads in Dubai safer than ever.
From driving a noisy car (fine: Dhs 2,000), to littering from a vehicle (Dhs 1,000), to leaving your car running while you're not in it (Dhs 300), a number of new fines and violations have been introduced over the past few weeks, and a video has even been released to make drivers aware of the new rules.
It's not just motorists that need to be careful, though-- bike riders may also be subject to new regulations, and Dubai Traffic Police have already confiscated over 200 bikes from people who were not following the rules.
#DubaiPolice confiscate 225 bicycles within a week
Details:https://t.co/OARFa5bnhm#News#YourSecurityOurHappinesspic.twitter.com/OeegUeSoQ5- Dubai Policeشرطة دبي (@DubaiPoliceHQ) July 24, 2017
The stricter rules are part of Dubai's #YourSecurityOurHappiness campaign, which aims to keep Dubai's residents safer than ever. "The campaign targeted bicycle riders who were riding in the direction opposite to the traffic or ride on high speed roads and those who failed to wear safety equipment such as helmets and phosphoric jackets," Dubai Police wrote on their Facebook page.
"Colonel Jamal Al Bannai, Acting Director of Traffic Department at the Dubai Police, said that the campaign was aimed at reducing the number of run-over accidents involving bicycle riders. The campaign also includes spreading awareness among the riders to follow the safety rules and regulations."
Trump took to the stage last night to bash Obamacare, but the Internet was focused on something else. Behind the president, a woman who has not yet been identified, stood listening, but it was her very unique eyebrows that got all the attention.
Oddly pointy and angular, Twitter erupted overnight with Tweeters wondering if the eyebrows were "a pre-existing condition."
Click through to see the funniest reactions!
VoIP services--including Skype calls, WhatsApp calls, and FaceTime-- are blocked in the UAE, but things may be changing soon.
The technology on which these services run is called Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and it's illegal in the UAE and Oman. This means that the WhatsApp and Skype call features are blocked, and iPhones are sold with FaceTime disabled.
Just last month, Skype became unavailable in the UAE because of its use of the technology, and the company issued a statement on the matter: "It has been brought to our attention that our website and services have been blocked by both of the ISPs in the United Arab Emirates. That means you won't be able to use Skype in the United Arab Emirates," Skype said. "Unfortunately, there is very little Skype can do about this situation. The best course of action would be for you to speak to your ISP and ask why they are blocking Skype and request that they unblock our site and services."
The suspension of the service led to some confusion, but UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)said that its policies regarding VoIP have not changed.
"Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are considered part of the UAE's regulated activities. The TRA has granted licensed operators the eligibility to provide such services across their networks," TRA said in a statement. "Companies wishing to provide such services should coordinate with the UAE's licensed service providers in this regard."
The statement opened the door for companies like WhatsApp and Skype to operate legally in the UAE, and now, the chief commercial officer of du, Fahad Al Hassawi told The National that du would be open to allowing VoIP calling services on the networking, as long as there is a formal agreement between du and the company.
"We have an open invitation to any provider, be it WhatsApp, Skype or whoever, to come and partner with us, and we can come up with the right offering that falls within the licensing requirements here in the UAE."
"There's an obligation on us as operators to make sure that we're offering such services according to the terms of our license from the regulator," Al Hassawi said.
Could we be seeing WhatsApp and Skype calls in the UAE sometime soon? Sure looks like it!
