Morocco

Back for our very last country in west Africa, Morocco. A blend of Africa and the Middle East with a little European thrown in it's a country with a lot to offer. From wild coastlines, to high mountain passes, to an endless sea of sand dunes, it has something for everyone. 

Our landmark is less about Morocco and more of what sits just off the shores. The Strait of Gibraltar is the strech of water that separates Europe from Africa. The strait is the only connection between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Hundreds of vessels pass through it daily, making it one of the busiest shipping ports in the world. At it's narrowest point, there is only an 8.9 mile gap between Spain and Morocco. While a bridge, or a tunnel has been talked about for years, the only way to cross from Morocco to Spain is taking one of the daily ferries that cross the strait. 

I don't feel like I need to go in depth with Morocco here- I mean, it's straight out of a scene from Arabian Nights, or a magic carpet ride. There's snake charmers in the streets of Tangier, and a whole blue-painted city in Chefchauen (where everything is painted blue as a symbolic gesture that the Jewish refugees of the 1930s could live peacefully with their Muslim neighbors). Oh, and don't forget Casablanca, because... well, Casablanca. 

Called the 'most complete city in the Arab world', Morocco has the city of Fez, a town full of locals wearing the red felt hat with the black tassel that dates back to the Ottoman Empire in 1828. 

The city of Marrakesh is known for it's spices and open-air markets. 

There's the less-touristy capital city of Rabat sitting along the Atlantic Ocean with a central beach, an intact and evocative kasbah, and an attractive walled medina

And ergs! Or, you know, sand dunes, well sand dunes on steroids. Erg Chebbi is one of Morocco's two Saharan ergs. It can reach heights of nearly 500 feet. Plenty of travel companies will take you out on an overnight trip to see the stars- on camelback! During the warmest months of the year, people go out, and get buried in the hot sand up to their necks to help with joint and muscle pain. 

Kashbahs, Medinas, Berber-era royal forts,  date palms,mint tea, quality rugs and the world's tallest minaret can all be found in Morocco. 

The boys made their Morocco postcards. 

Calib drew the blue city, along with a ferry headed to Spain and a snake charmer. 

Peyton put a guy in a fez on top of an erg. 

And Hayden's is a 'Google maps' type of view from overhead, so he could include the Strait of Gibraltar. 

Of course, Morocco is all about making the most of their food and spices. Ginger and Cinnamon smells waft through the cities, and couscous is the national dish (Peyton was very excited about that). In fact, Morocco leads the world in couscous (called Seksu) production. Their's however, is steamed for hours with meats and veggies- not made on top of the stove in a quick five minutes. 

For Morocco dinner I made a fruit salad with oranges, kiwi, apples, bananas and strawberries (though they do have to import the strawberry plants from Spain, apparently). 

Along with that we had cous-cous of course, and slow cooker Chicken Marrakesh. 

And for dessert, we had Moroccan Orange Cake. (Excuse the lack of powdered sugar on top, I opened the container to sprinkle some on, and there was nothing left in it- so I scraped the sides, sprinkled on the little dust I could get out and called it a day). 

This meal earned four spoons up. 

But to be clear, the Marrakesh wasn't a hit. It was just kind of... eh. Sometimes stuff in the slow cooker just tastes.... muddled. It never, ever looks like the pictures in the recipes. I probably should have picked something to use Asa's Tajine, since he loves that thing, but we did Morocco on a busy day, so a slow cooker meal it was. 

Obviously Peyton had like 8 helpings of couscous, because that's pretty much his favorite food ever. 

But oh my goodness, that cake! THAT's the reason for the four spoons up. (I was the hold out for the five spoons up- I can't in good conscious give a meal a spoon up if I'm not a fan of the main dish). 

It was just the right amount of sweet and tart, it was light and fluffy- and delicious. I will admit my family ate about 3/4 of the whole thing at dinner- and then I caught the boys that night stealing pieces from under the glass cake dome. 

And lets just take a second to appreciate how far Asa has come with his desserts. I mean, shout out to Teresa for that mixer, because it certainly helped! But, he's knocked it out of the park with his baking lately. Color me impressed. 

Speaking of coloring and impressive- Hayden pleaded to color in Morocco. Peyton doesn't like him to do it after he messed up Myanmar, and Morocco sits right on the crease in the center of the table, so that can be tricky. I let Hayden do it, and I think he did a stand-up job! 

Morocco got colored in bright blue on the coast of Africa next it it's neighbors, red Algeria, and yellow Mauritania. 

That's 178 down, 18 to go! 

Next Up: The Federated States of Micronesia