Last night I went to Ramadan dinner (technically breakfast, the meal at which they break their fast) with Jessi and Ahmed. how much fun was that? A room packed full of happy people filling up on the most delicious egyptian food. Because it was Ramadan we had to wait until the appointed time to eat, but because this was a very popular place for Muslims to eat dinner you had to get there early stake out a table.
It was a room full of people sitting and waiting, there was a buffet set up at one end and it smelled wonderful. It was hard to wait (and I had not been fasting the way they had been). About 10 minutes before it was time to eat you could go up and get your plate, but you could not start eating until the appointed time. Everyone dug in at once, it was a very happy time.
I mean that, this was a really happy time. There was a lot of joy and a lot of generosity in the air. Everyone was kind and smiling. Ahmed knew almost everyone, the room was mostly Egyptians along with some Palestinians and Somalis. How could you not be happy, this was an event, a coming together to share wonderful food with people.
I can’t possibly describe all the food, there were probably 3 or 4 eggplant dishes, 3 lamb dishes, all the vegetables are stewed with tomatos, every dip from baba ghanouj to fava to hummus to tzatziki, 4 salads, rice, falafel and even french fries for the kids. You couldn’t possibly eat enough of anything.
then they brought out the tea and dessert.
I was worried going in to this, I felt like I was walking into a minefield of customs and mores that I would not understand. I did not want to offend anyone. I made it through, I offended no one, i even knew enough not to try to shake someone’s hand when introduced.
Jessi and Ahmed rock, they continue to answer my questions, and I have a lot of them. Also, I notice that they were playing an Arabic language television station. I got to see the weather in India, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia (they all looked hot and sunny). Then they played some sort of soap opera. I was reminded of eating in a Mexican restaurant where they play Univision all the time.
Other than that I did nothing for halloween. I got home too late to hand out candy and I would not have been able to with the dogs barking and jumping the whole time. Last year Alan came over to help me with the trick or treaters, he got to hold Ghengis while I handed out candy. Alan’s great reward was a Ghengis pee stain on his sweatshirt.
in other news…
Ghengis is recovering nicely. He slept under the covers last night. He’s a good, warm little dog.
I’m trying to decide what to make for dinner. I have the house to myself, I should take advantage and cook. I do not know what to cook. Anything I want to cook will require a run to the store. I’ll have to think about it.
Thought about it (i love the way time just flies). I’m thinking pumpkin gnocci with sauteed kale and salmon. Yum? YUM! I’ll let you know how that goes.