11"x17" poster and a 12"x17" pan of home made baklava in red white and blue cupcake cups for consumption.
The homemade baklava tray placed on a pedestal, created a center for conversation like the water-cooler in an office, as people had their slice conversations where had about nationalism, naturalization, assimilation, consumption, community and food.

July 15, 2017     Performed in The Food Show, curated by Daniel Rolnik, bG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.
July 11, 2018     Performed in Let Them Eat Cake, curated by Kristine Shoemaker, A part of July’s 31 days of Kamikaze Exhibits, PØST, Los Angeles, CA. 

My family had built themselves from factory work to creating a wholesale bakery from scratch delivering Lebanese baked goods to restaurants, grocery stores, masques and universities for nearly two decades in cities across Northern California. Working in large factories and bakeries upon their move to the United States, my father knew his talent. It was baking and spreading love. My mother was the head of the bakery enterprise and was famous for her baklava. Event and holiday planners would book her well in advance to bake them her special baklava. My father was famous for his pita pocket bread. He provided daily fresh bread to many stores and restaurants in northern California, including but not limited to: Modesto, Stockton, Lodi, Tracy, Oakland, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
It was with Lebanese baked goods, my parents could raise a family of 5 and put my mom through college. She graduated with honors from the University of the Pacific in Computer Information Systems, while baking her baklava and Arabic feasts for foreign exchange students missing home during the holidays.
After 20 years of baking, my parents retired from the bakery.  My mother started to create her own healthy version of Baklava for family and friends: still crispy melt in your mouth but with half the butter or with coconut butter substitute for ‘veggie people’, and syrup that is ripe in sweetness with half the sugar and honey.
She still bakes but for her family, friends, neighbors and co-workers for holidays and special occasions.For the rest, as my mother would say, “GOOGLE IT!”

The Baltagi Family recipe includes
Fillo dough, Walnuts, Sugar, Butter
Syrup: Sugar and Honey, Rose Water, Orange Blossom Water