Dates, Dates, Dates!

Repost from 2010. We lived in the UAE from 2009 to 2012.


We’ve been blessed this year to have a house with date palm trees, alhamdulillah:
image

On the first day of Ramadan the boys got some dates from the tree. Their haul, alhamdulillah:
image

So far, we’ve broken all our fasts with dates and water, ma sha Allah and we’ve only eaten about half the dates.
We Made Date Cake

….and we love Date Milk. The kids love to make date milk by pitting dates, and boiling them in water to form a runny paste then adding milk and straining it.


Health Benefits of Dates
I was reading up on the health benefits of dates and came across these articles:
Health Benefits of Dates (Organic facts.com)


Sevian Kheer (Vermicelli Pudding)

Another one I haven't tried, but would like too, in shaa Allah. This is a vermicelli pudding.


Sevian Kheer
Source
Source: DinnerCoop
  • 1 stick butter
  • 6 oz. sevian   (vermicelli), broken into 3 inch pieces  
  • 4 cups of milk
  • 1 pint whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 almonds (optional) peeled and thinly sliced
  1. Melt butter in a large heavy bottomed pot. If you use a light pot, the milk will likely burn at the bottom.
  2. Over low heat stir vermicelli into butter until it turns lightly brown. 
  3. Pour in the milk and stir over medium heat until the milk boils. 
  4. Put in the raisins, almonds and sugar. 
  5. Continue to cook under low heat for 10 minutes. 
  6. Add whipping cream and continue to cook for a couple of minutes. 
Serve hot or chill in fridge for an hour before serving.

More...

Sengalese Thiacri/Thiakry


Now, this I haven't tried, but I love couscous, so while compiling recipes, I decided to include it and hope to try it, in shaa Allah.  I understand that it is especially popular during Ramadan.

Ingredients: yogurt, sugar, condensed milk, vanilla extract

Qatayef

Pancakes with a stuffing.  A neighbor of ours brought some of these over to us one Eid when we lived in Yemen.



Qatayef Recipe 1

Ingredients
  • 3/4 teaspoon dry yeast 
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water 
  • 1 teaspoon sugar 
  • 1 1/2 cups flour 
  • Pinch of salt corn or vegetable oil for frying 
  • Pour batter into frying pan and make in a similar way to making pancakes, or buy ready made from Middle Eastern food markets.
Cheese filling
  • White sweetened cheese 
  • Pinch of cinnamon 
  • Sugar to taste 
  • Ground teaspoon of Arabic gum.
Nut filling
  • 1/2 lb. walnuts, chopped 
  • 3 to 4 teaspoons of sugar 
  • 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Syrup composition
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar 
  • 1 teaspoon orange flower water 
  • 1 1/2 cups water 
  • 1 teaspoon rose water 
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Stir continuously until it boils. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens and the sugar is totally dissolved.

Place a small amount of either one of the fillings in the center of the Qatayef (pancake) and fold one side towards the other and stick them together by pressing on the sides. You now have a crescent shaped pancake. Fry or bake until golden brown on both sides. Dip into the sugar water and remove. Serve hot.

Qatayef Recipe 2

Source: TourEgypt.net

3/4 teaspoon dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
corn or vegetable oil for frying

Sugar Syrup:

2 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon orange flower water
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon rose water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Nut Stuffing:

1/2ib. walnuts, chopped
3 to 4 teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon

Instructions:
  1. Blend yeast with sugar and 1/4 cup of the water. Stir to dissolve. 
  2. Sift flour and salt into warm mixing bowl and make a well in the center. 
  3. Pour 1 cup water and yeast mixture into the center, gradually stirring with a wooden spoon until smoothly blended. If lumpy, stir with a whisk till smooth. 
  4. Cover bowl with a cloth and leave in a warm place foe 1 hour or until batter has risen and surface is bubbly.
  5. In a hot greased frying pan, pour about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the batter and tilt the pan around so it spreads a little into 4-inch diameter circle. (if batter is too thick, stir in remaining water.) 
  6. Cook until golden brown on the underside. The top shoulder be full of air holes. Fry only ONE side before stuffing. 
  7. Remove to a plate or towel. 
  8. Prepare sugar syrup (below) and set a side to cool while stuffing pancakes.
  9. Put sugar in water in a small saucepan and heat without stirring till it dissolves and starts to boil.

Sugar Syrup:
  1. Stir and boil rabidly. Remove the foam that rises to the top. 
  2. Add orange blossom water and lemon juice. Continue boiling till syrup is like thin honey.
  3.  Add rose water last to keep its perfume. Set aside to cool but don't refrigerate.

Nut Stuffing:
  1. Combine all ingredients. 
  2. Spread about a tablespoon of mixture on the unfired side of the pancakes. 
  3. Close by folding over in half and seal by pressing the edges. 
  4. Fry 2-3 minutes in hot oil until pale golden on both sides OR bake them on a greased tray in a hot oven for a bout 30 minutes, turning once, till golden. 
  5. Dip hot pancakes in room temperature sugar syrup, and serve hot or cold.




Jalebi

Love these, but it took me forever to figure out the name of these little rascals (of course in different places, they go by different names). They sell these for example in the bakery section in Yemen and UAE.





Luqma Al Qadi

This recipe name translates into "judge's bite/morsel"

These have got to be one of my most favorite middle eastern sweets recipes.  I made these one time when we were in Damaaj and I "swear" that they tasted exactly like Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  I've made them many times, but don't always get the Krispy Kreme results.  I always wanted to get the little shaper contraption that I would see in the stores, but I always ended up just dropping by spoonfuls into the oil.


Konafa


Konafa is very popular in Egypt. When we lived there, the pastry used to make this was readily sold on the streets during Ramadan by many vendors.  I also had the opportunity to see this being made by an Egyptian sister that we knew, although I don't remember if I actually made it, but it is yummy!

Basbousa

We first had basbousa when we lived in Egypt. It is a cake made with semolina.

Baklava


I've only made baklava once,  years ago, but it surprisingly came out really good. It's super rich and sweet and I hope to get around to making it again.

Easy Baklava Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Crescent Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup ground blanched almonds (or use pecans)
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar

How to Prepare:


1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla, mixing well. Add almonds and flour, thoroughly incorporating.

2.Using walnut-size pieces of dough, shape into a crescent and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 20 minutes or until slightly brown on the edges.

3.While still hot, roll in confectioners' sugar. Re-roll in confectioners sugar when cool and store tightly covered



It's a Date! (A Unit Study on the Date Fruit)


It's a Date (Unit Study on the date palm and its fruit)

Back in 2011 I wanted my kids to learn about dates. I looked all around the internet and couldn't find any unit studies on them. So I decided to make one.  This is my 42 page unit study on the date palm and its fruit.

Here's what it contains:




Note: in the unit study, there is a link to The Four Types of Dates (originally from dtssbc.com) The link is incorrect in the unit study and you should be able to access the printable here: The Four Types of Dates





It's Ramadan! 30 Day Ramadan Curriculum

Back in 2006, I came up with a curriculum for my kids with lessons for each day of Ramadan called "It's Ramadan!"


We had a lot of fun with the curriculum and used it a few times afterward.   You can download the original materials below. A lot of the links to the supplemental sources are not longer working, but you should still be able to follow along with the lessons and I'm working to make sure that all the supplemental material I made can be found here.  If Allah wills, I hope to soon remake the lessons.

Here is an outline of the day to day lessons:

Shaban 28/29/30
The Approach of Ramadan, Sighting the Moon
Ramadan 1:
Fasting During Ramadan/How to Fast
Ramadan 2:
A Day of Fasting
Ramadan 3:
Why Do We Fast During Ramadan?
Ramadan 4:
Ramadan in History
Ramadan 5:
The Importance of Suhoor/Good Suhoor Choices
Ramadan 6:
Examining and Improving our Suhoor Choices
Ramadan 7
Common Medical Problems During Fasting/Remedies
Ramadan 8:
Fast of the Traveler
Ramadan 9:
What Breaks Your Fast?
Ramadan 10:
Handling Anger/Controlling Speech 
Ramadan 11:
Children and Fasting
Ramadan 12:
Iftar: The Importance of Hastening It
Ramadan 13:
Eating at Someone’s House During Ramadan
Ramadan 14:
Salatul Taraweeh
Ramadan 15:
The Benefits of Fasting
Ramadan 16:
Laylatul Qadr
Ramadan 17:
Battle of Badr
Ramadan 18:
The Last Ten Days of Ramadan
Ramadan 19:
Itikaf
Ramadan 20:
Fasting Other Than Ramadan
Ramadan 21:
Good Deeds and Sadaqah
Ramadan 22:
Preparing for Eid I
Ramadan 23:
Planning and Making a Ramadan Dinner
Ramadan 24:
Zakatul Fitr
Ramadan 25:
Ramadan Around the World I
Ramadan 26:
Ramadan Around the World II
Ramadan 27:
Ramadan Around the World III
Ramadan 28:
Preparing for  Eid II
Ramadan 29:
Preparing for Eid III
Ramadan 30:
How the Companions Celebrated Eid

Download the Calendar that shows the day by day topics:
It's Ramadan Curriculum Calendar

Download the PDF of the 30 days' of lessons:

It's Ramadan Curriculum


















I also created a Ramadan Journal that is coordinated to follow along with the lessons:
Ramadan Daily Journal
If you follow the curriculum and  have trouble finding the supplemental resources, you can leave a comment or email me and I'll try to get you the links to the material or make sure they are reposted here, in shaa Allah.





Ramadan Around the World


I haven't gotten a chance to revamp Around the World since 2010, so here are previous offerings.

2006 TJ Ramadan Around the World 
The very first TJ Ramadan Around the World feature. A great deal of seems to still be intact. 
In shaa Allah, you can navigate through to find appropriate materials for your studies. I hope in the future to update the Ramadan Around the World feature.

Remaining Steadfast After Ramadan

Remaining Steadfast After Ramadan

Points of benefit, in shaa Allah to help us remain steadfast in our ibaadah after Ramadan, in shaa Allah....

Ramadan Clocks

My kids kept asking me what time does fajr come in (so they would know how much time left they had to eat) and of course, they are more keen to know when maghrib comes in, so I decided to make some Ramadan themed clockfaces to hang up so they could check for themselves. I laminated them with some cut up page protectors so that they could write the timing of fajr and maghrib in analog form and digital.

I am only using the fajr and maghrib ones as you can see, but I went ahead and made a clock for each of the five daily prayers in case others might like to post all the timings.  

Another great way, alhamdulillah, to incorporate secular studies (math) into Ramadan time.

Download Ramadan Prayer Clocks

Mini Prayer Clocks (title bubble letters) - these don't have a Ramadan banner but are smaller versions of the clocks for each prayer shown in the picture above.

Mini Prayer Clocks 2: (solid title font)