Monday, September 6, 2010

Of Sons, Buns And What Not....






My children are still on holiday. School reopens here ( Saudi Arabia ) after the Ramadan.Ramadan,is the month in which the Muslims refrain from eating and drinking, from dawn till evening.As it is considered the holiest month for the Muslims, we take extra time to pray and read the Quran ( our holy book ).And thats the main reason for being away from the computer.

Even though I had decided to lay my hands off the computer for a while ,I cannot resist ranting about the excitement happening in my house . My two young sons are fasting,with a lot of motivation and support from the daughters, who have been duly following the one month obligatory ‘fast ‘, since the last few years ,And it’s wonderful to see the two girls encouraging. The children are keeping me fully occupied making me prepare their favourite food for iftar. ( the time to break the fast). Hence the other reason for the short break from cybernet.

My husband and I didn’t strictly impose on our sons to fast , as its not advisable at this age and as also children under the age of puberty are exempted from fasting.It took all of us by surprise at their endeavour. May God accept their fasts …

From the beginning of Ramadan ,I have tried my hands at various recipes . Even though sometimes it doesn’t exactly turn out as I like them to, I am happy that I did try. Until quite recently , the buns that I made never raised but hunched into disastrous flops.. But all of it changed this Ramadan, watching Jamie Oliver demonstrate the recipe for bread dough on the cookery channel. I seized the opportunity to follow the instructions carefully. From that time on I have been happy with my baking . Furthermore every one is enjoying ! Hurrah!! to Jamie Oliver and to the buns!

Another much preferred I made this time for Ramadan is - a dish with pasta and meat , topped with cheese . I have still not given this dish a name ,So my children call it ‘Mama’s Macoroni’. In fact , most of the time, I do make something with pasta, because the children love it, But this is one favourite that I enjoy cooking, even though it takes a lot of my time and effort. I make an attempt to try out various recipes, to satiate my family’s taste buds..And silently , I blush when I get a rating from my children, my  best culinary critic .