Yum!!

Last week, just before a joint school visit with author Reza Jalali in Brunswick, Maine, we received this email:

The Jordan Acres staff is cordially invited to a buffet lunch

served in the library Friday January 14 from 11:45 – 1:00.

Please help the library welcome authors

Reza Jalali and Anne Sibley O’Brien.

A Middle Eastern inspired menu has been selected to celebrate the book

The Moon Watchers written by Mr. Jalali and illustrated by

Ms. O’Brien.

Menu

Iraqi Flat Bread (freshly baked Friday morning)

Curried Chicken Soup with Carrots (an Israeli recipe)

Tabouli (Lebanese salad)

Vegetable Dol Made (Arabic recipe with wrapped grape leaves, rice, & vegetables)

Hummus (freshly made by StarEast Café in Portland)

Fatima’s Fingers (Tunisian recipe using egg, ricotta cheese, & phyllo)

Ghorayyibah (Egyptian sugar

cookies)

Dates (from Saudi Arabia)

The feast was a delicious treat for everyone, and a good chance to relax with staff members between presentations to grades 3, 4 and 5. The students had been well-prepared to engage with us, all thanks to librarians Margy Soule and Persephone Ditzel. I love my job!

Moon Watchers: Shirin's Ramadan Miracle, about an Iranian-American family's observance of Ramadan, is, of course, about fasting, but it's also full of the delights of the special foods prepared to break the fast.

For the next decade or so, Ramadan dates will fall during summer months when schools are not in session, but learning about the observance can happen anytime during the year. Find an extensive list of internet resources on Islam, and activities, discussion questions and a recipe for Persian Rice, in the Teachers Take Note section of Tilbury's website.