In the name of Allah, most gracious, most
merciful.
Ok, so I packed away the cough syrup, flu
tabs, but the honey and vicks have just got to stay. Enough of this flu, there’s
work to be done!!! Putting away laptop with addictive series and starting a much needed
spring clean to welcome Ramadhan.
Alhamdulilaah and Shukr for good weather,
the sun has been out for a few days – much needed warm rays for all the plants
and all of us of course. What with all the preparation for the start of Ramadhan
the weekend. Celery strong – check. Turnips big enough – check, carrots bit too
small – check (sad face). The spinach stand strong in saf, waiting to be
chopped up for bajias and daltjies and spinach and cheese wraps. Spring onions
ready for cheese and corn samosas, and enough danya chop chop chop. Mints and
lemon grass for teas. Ramadhan calendar stuck to the wall in plain sight,
scrimmaging through cupboards to take out falooda syrup and took maria
seeds. Stocking up with fresh chana flour, sago and vermicelli and replenishing
spices. Fresh dates for boeka and some to share inshaAllah.
Just
a side note. I had a look at the stats for the blog and to date 1146 pagesviews
yay!! And then I had a look at the audience and about 29 pageviews of readers
come from Russia with love. My daughter and I wonder if this can be true, the
only way we would know was if we had a Russian comment, Nyet? So we do hope
that in Russia, in South Korea, in Abu Dhabi, Ghana, Malawi, Malaysia, Brazil.
Heck ALL OVER THE WORLD, there are people
preparing for a Ramadhan, (Есть замечательный Рамадан) Yest' zamechatel'nyy Ramadan – in Russian I hope it means have an awesome
Ramadhan!
Back to Ramadhan in Cape Town. I am making samosas to
stock up and for a few personal friends and family. So tomorrow we start
preparing and hope to fold a thousand inshaAllah. Wish a fairy could come and
clean the house so all I can do is spend time folding ha ha.This year I am preparing some menus in my
head and it should be wholesome and balanced. For too long Ramadhan is
wonderful fasting and then gorging ourselves on too many sweet things and
platters of food. Our excuse is that we will get rid of it in the Taraweeg solaah. We really have to usher in more fruit and veggies and lots of water to balance our diets. The rule of thumb for me is always how nutritious and delicious it will be, to the dismay of my family sometimes, BORING! But I insist, well at least for myself and the ones who will join me. I don’t see the sense of the fast when we do this and stuff ourselves to the brim. We should be learning self-restraint and self-discipline as one of the spin offs of fasting. We fast for the sake of Allah and to develop taqwa. So what better an opportunity to start eating more healthy? Right? Right?
Don’t get me wrong, I just plain love sweet stuff – pancakes and fritters and waffles and shakes and dates. I also love all the savouries. But always in moderation, should be the spirit. Now some people eat solid breakfast for Suhur and some eat light. All of my kids wherever they are – everyone comes forward to help, shukran jazeelan. Lay the table, make some toast, warm milk, make tea and for the more adventurous fry some eggs and maybe some strips of rump steak with onion, green pepper and garlic, yum. Personally that’s a bit too heavy for me. I like to make smoothies with juice, yogisip, banana, apple and half a carrot and a small hand of oats. One or two dates and cuppa and I am good to go.
Ramadhan is also the time where one has the
attention of the whole family, some crawling out of the woodwork to come and
help, just love it. These were the moments that my sons learned to fold samosas,
flip a pancake, make a fruit salad and really became interested in cooking and
trying out new dishes and recipes. My daughters were stalwart taking charge
especially in the times when I was pregnant or studying, ensuring that
everything happened smoothly. My mother fashioned a Ramadhan environment that
is with us forever. Joyous air in the house, about
sharing, being helpful and being creative. We are all constantly creating new
family rituals – for example for us this month is also a month of learning new things.
Come on, there is so much time to do all of one’s obligations and recite a
chapter for the day (or more if you prefer), help with chores and have some
time left to learn something new.
Every year I set out to learn a lekker
intricate challenging dessert or dish, that’s how I learnt to make cashew nut
baklava, crème friache pavlova, paellas, and inshaAllah this year I want to
make my own pasta!! Yay! Of course if I could learn to make hard cheeses would
be superb but let me not get ahead of myself.
So as I sign off for the evening, a big
cheer and shukran to the Hydepark College in Rondevlei, staff and learners of
grade 6, 7 and 8. We had a smashing time planting strawberries and spinach and
getting our hands dirty in the soil and compost and good conversation of the
role that we need to play as custodians of the earth, recycling and respecting
resources. The staff is always so supportive and helpful from the principal
to the ground staff. May Allah bestow His barakah on everything that we do and
every effort we make to plant. Ramadhaan Kareem to everyone where ever you may find yourself!
Ps. In the Popular Mechanics of March 2013
there is a wonderful article on how to create a seed bank. “How do seedbanks
preserve their stock” by the author of the book The Seed Underground, Janisse
Ray. Oulike article– how’s that as leaving a legacy for the future. The gist of
it is to dry leftover seeds until they are brittle, store them in airtight
glass containers and pop the in the freezer. This may last from between 20
years to 1000 years depending on the species and variety. Abu has started
drying and packing but heck with our electricity outages can't risk freezing
them here!Plant food, eat seeds and save some
Yasmine
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