Accidents happen. And sometimes they turn out to be more happy that they may have seemed at first. Take today's accident, in which for the first time in my life I broke my own bottles (yes, 3 of them, all at once!) of perfumes. I coudln't for the life of me even recognize the scent that I lost; it smelled like nothing I've smelled before, nothing I've made before to be sure of it.

And that's because it wasn't just one scent; it was two which knocked into each other as they broke their necks, spilling out their guts and mingling with one another.

The two scents where two I would have never in my dreams think of mixing, and the result was intoxicating. If you guess what they were, you'll win a special prize... I'm not sure what that could be... How about those two perfumes mixed together in equal amounts just to prove my point?

On another note, my day was filled today with a photo shoot for a really, really cool display gadget for my perfumes; and also I made some amazing teas from some of those incredible materials I had to buy from the market for the photoshoot. One tea was jasmine green tea mixed with spearmint and omsanthus blossoms; the second being lots of freshly sliced lemongrass with a hint of lemon verbena and jasmine green tea. Both were very refreshing and thirst-clenching.

Happy Sahvuot/Bikurim/Hag Matan Torah!

The day was mostly spent baking while the evening was spent celebrating with friends and eating the fruit of my labour - blinztes, cheescake and cheese and wine of course. It's a cheesy holiday ;)

For those not in the know, Shavuot occurs 7 weeks after Passover, which is when Moses got down from Mount Sinai with the Torah and gave it to the people of Israel. It also coincides with the beginning of the wheat harvest season and celebrates the first crops of summer - hence the first fruit, vegetables, wheat and the infant stock animals would be brought as offering to the temple when it was still standing. Nowadays, what we just stay up late for Tikkun Leil Shavuot and/or eat cheese...

As far as fragrance goes - since the weather was so un-summery and inappropriate for the holiday (at this time of the year in Israel it's unbearably hot and the air is full of little black flies that were disturbed from their home inside the wheat straw stems) I wore my interpretation of In A Station of the Metro which reminded me of the beginning of spring when the weather is mostly gloomy and is only cheered up by the presence of myriads of pink cherry blossoms.

The parcel that arrived from my mom today delivered more than silk scarves with shimmering coins. It brought with it the mountain air, filled with the mosque-chants of mouazines from nearby villages and the rustic perfume of za'atar. An herb grown wild mostly in Lebanon and the northern parts of Israel, with aroma reminiscent of oregano but milder and sweeter (less pungent and peppery). It can be used fresh, but is more commonly used after it has been dried - it is than kept for seasoning all year around, mixed with sesame seeds and sumac (the latter adding a salty-soud flavour).

This mixture is a staple food in the Middle East, and when mixed with olive oil is used for pita-dipping or spreading on bread, it's as popular as butter, really (only with none of the cholesterol associated with butter). It is also used to top-off Labaneh (a yoghurt cheese, which you can easily make at home yourself, by straining plain and pure yoghurt, preferably of the most sour type you can find, through a cheescloth or a coffee filter; add salt to taste and sprinkle with za'atar and drizzle some olive oil on top before serving). It can also be used to season salads - no salt will be necessary if your mixture includes sumac. The fresh sprigs can be fried lightly in olive oil and than served on fresh bread. They can also be added to salads, pasta sauces and stews.

Half of the small bag of za'atar got spilled on my kitchen floor, unfortunately; the better part was that for several moments, the kitchen smelled like a walk on the mountain behind my house in my home village, in the end of the winter when there are za'atar leaves in abundance and awaiting harvest by shepherds and other passersby.

On another (mental) note, I spent the best part of the morning in the lab replenishing jus for many perfumes that were sold out. The latter being Sahlab, a creamy-starchy orris and musk scent which I decided to wear for the rest of the day. Flavours of my homeland been an important part of my day.