Ramadan has officially started here in the Middle East. This is a religious time of fasting for the Muslim faith. The people here that practice the Muslim religion are fasting from all food and drink for the entire day, from 4am-7:30pm each day. This time last for approximately a month. Durng this time those of us who are not of this faith, out of respect for those around us, do not eat or drink in public buildings, your car, outdoor areas, etc. We can eat and drink in our homes with our blinds and curtains closed. This is done strictly out of respect for those around us. Now Ramadan has exceptions. Young children, pregnant women, menstruating women, diabetics, and the sick are not expected to fast.
Another tradition of Ramadan, is for the people to do acts of kindness toward others. They also will bring a food item over to their neighbors to say hello, just to be nice, or welcome you to the neighborhood. This isn't much different than what we do in Texas....or other places in the states for that matter. It is just being kind. Well part of this tradition is that the person receiving the food is to return the bowl/dish to the owner with a food item of their own within a few days of them bringing it over.
Our neighbors did just this a few days ago. The woman of the house, Riyah, brought us a traditional dessert that resembled doughnut holes covered in a lightly sweetened syrup. It was pretty good! So today I baked (instead of fried) some little apple pies. I did them just like you would a fried pie but baked them instead. I decided to bake them for no other reason than ease of clean up...frying is soooo messy in my opinion! I had to wait till after 7:30pm to take them over because I didn't want to offend them by taking them during the part of the day that they were fasting. I just felt like that would have been rude of me... It would have been like, here have these tasty, good smelling pies but you can't have any for a few hours! If they are like me, that would have made things worse!
So I made a dozen pies and then I made 5 little pastry cups in my cupcake tin using the remaining pie crust and apples. I gave the family next door the pies and kept the pastry cups for our dessert this evening. See pictures of our dessert below....top it off with a scoop of Pecan Praline ice cream! YUM!
Another tradition of Ramadan, is for the people to do acts of kindness toward others. They also will bring a food item over to their neighbors to say hello, just to be nice, or welcome you to the neighborhood. This isn't much different than what we do in Texas....or other places in the states for that matter. It is just being kind. Well part of this tradition is that the person receiving the food is to return the bowl/dish to the owner with a food item of their own within a few days of them bringing it over.
Our neighbors did just this a few days ago. The woman of the house, Riyah, brought us a traditional dessert that resembled doughnut holes covered in a lightly sweetened syrup. It was pretty good! So today I baked (instead of fried) some little apple pies. I did them just like you would a fried pie but baked them instead. I decided to bake them for no other reason than ease of clean up...frying is soooo messy in my opinion! I had to wait till after 7:30pm to take them over because I didn't want to offend them by taking them during the part of the day that they were fasting. I just felt like that would have been rude of me... It would have been like, here have these tasty, good smelling pies but you can't have any for a few hours! If they are like me, that would have made things worse!
So I made a dozen pies and then I made 5 little pastry cups in my cupcake tin using the remaining pie crust and apples. I gave the family next door the pies and kept the pastry cups for our dessert this evening. See pictures of our dessert below....top it off with a scoop of Pecan Praline ice cream! YUM!
ugh this post is gonna make me go buy something bad! lol.
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