Starting My First Blog Post

Hello! I have been wondering what I should write about in my first blog post! It doesn’t help that as the days pass, I eat different foods that make me go “I should write about that!”. But today, I’ll start with what gave me the inspiration to start this page. It all started with a sweet potato. This innocent looking tuber that was sat in a grocery bag for weeks, forgotten amidst the other more interesting, tasty food (in my eyes…or tongue, atleast). Something magical happened and one thing led to another, resulting in me starting The Noor Atelier Eats.

The Forgotten Sweet Potato

I was living with my sister for a year, and we would take turns doing the grocery shopping. One time, one of us bought a sweet potato, I forget who. Somehow, that person forgot to store it in a place where we could see it and be reminded to eat it. About 2 months later, my sister graduated and moved to a different state. She left a bunch of little things behind that I was slowly finding around the apartment. When I was on a call with her at some point, I noticed a plastic bag with a plant in it, under the chairs near the kitchen. I thought my sister had bought a new plant but forgot to bring it with her. She had also briefly mentioned weeks ago that she was interested in getting an English Ivy plant. You know, one of those vining plants that grow up along the walls and makes any building or house look like a fairytale or straight out of a Studio Ghibli movie? Yes that one. This thought came across my mind when I saw the plant in the bag because the leaves had that similar 3-5 pointed tips, kind of like a maple leaf. I had asked her about it and she was confused because she did not purchase any new plant at all and also why would she do that right before moving? I proceeded to open the bag and saw this brown thing at the bottom. I assumed it was extremely dried up soil that was in serious need of watering. I took it out of the bag, stared at it for a while in confusion and realized it was a sweet potato that we had clearly forgotten about! One side of it was rotting while the other side had multiple stems growing out of it!

Reflecting on Growth and Trust in God

I was in awe of God’s work. That He could make fresh healthy leaves grow out of a rotting vegetable in the dark, with no water or light or anything really. It reminded me that our growth too comes from God. That we should always trust God because even if the environment may not seem right in our eyes, ultimately He has the power to make growth happen no matter where we are. It made me realize how growth can often happen while we are in the dark too and that we don’t necessarily require a bright happy space to grow (although that might be what we want).

A Small Harvest and a Big Lesson

I removed the stems, put them in water to let the roots grow. After about a week, I transferred them to a larger pot of soil and placed it on my balcony so that the plant can finally get the bright sunlight that it deserves! Now I get to enjoy a fresh harvest of sweet potato leaves every few weeks that helps me add to the nutrition in my diet. Alhamdulillah. Trying to incorporate this into my food made me realize how much I enjoy nature through food, especially trying different foods that I can easily incorporate into my working lifestyle.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I have not figured out how to do email newsletters or any subscriptions so I can’t tell you to subscribe for more just yet. But if you’re interested in my little anecdotes and food insights, please note down the website somewhere so that you can come back to it again!

Love, Noor ❤