Copyright 2011, Linda Mae Dennis

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January 5th, 2012 - Middle Eastern Day

We never came up with any Middle Eastern ornaments for the tree.

We were supposed to have apples and toasted almonds mixed together with honey for breakfast, but Patrick got a wild hair, and ate a scone. So I ate the last rice bun with peanut butter. Hmm.

After looking at lots of pictures of Persian kittens and Arabian horses, we came up with a plan...

We went to the Jerusalem Cafe for lunch, and some authentic Middle Eastern food.

The food was very good - Patrick had the daily special, I had Mediterranean Salad and Falafel, and they brought us a bunch of little appetizers as well.

Then we drove to Portland.
We walked around on Mount Tabor for a while, not because it's Middle Eastern, but because we were there, and it's a beautiful place.

This is a view north from the green trail.

Then we walked a long way down Hawthorne to our planned destination, the Bagdad Pub.
It's actually a McMenamins (it's also a theater), so naturally we had a hard cider and a snack.

Not Middle Eastern except the name.

For dinner, I made a big batch of hummus, and we scooped it with carrot slices, red bell pepper bits, and apple wedges. It was yummy!

We didn't even attempt to watch Arabian Nights, or Hidalgo, or anything. We were excited about getting back to our regular schedules and activities, and just watched what we normally would on a Thursday evening.