With Ramadan already half way done I have finally found the chance to blog alllllll about it! From Ramadan preparations to showing off this year's Ramadan cookies and decor, the Bubbsters' gifts and sending/receiving Iftaris to and from Bhai ka Ghar ... here are all of my Ramadan's happenings with some super pretty pictures to enjoy along!
Ramadan Cookies
My Ramadan Cookies this year featured my traditional New Moon sugar cookies in a beautiful shade of bright pink! They had their signature embossed swirls and quilted patterns with white pearls studding them throughout and a nice coat of shimmery glitter! I also made another set of really pretty sugar cookies which I have as yet not named! I went with a matching pink and added yellows and whites for these cookies. I wonder what I could name them? They remind me of sunsets somehow! Maybe something sunset-y? Of course Ramadan does not happen without my Snickerdoodles! They haven't been pictured here but they showed up to welcome Ramadan as always!
Ramadan Preparations
Life has been hectic and busy, like I always mention in my blog posts. So my goal this year was to do some serious extra planning for Ramadan so we could cruise through it smoooooothly with minimum work to do. No matter how hard I try, energy levels are low for me throughout the month and it becomes tough to cook and clean and all while fasting. So my plan this year included a heavy duty load of cleaning and lots of bulk cooking to fill up the freezers. Abbie and I put our heads together and stocked up on lots of frozen store bought snacks too so we wouldn't need to cook for Iftars every evening! On the other end of the street were my nieces who were getting ready for Gubby to try her first partial fast and this year we all prepped for that too!
Gubby Bubby got to choose her first adult Ja'anamaz (prayer rug) because she was planning to practice offering her prayers this year. We had the new Ja'anamazes so when bro texted us to see if we had one for Gubby we ended up doing a full video session with her from the basement closet where she saw "Bua Beeya's Ja'anamaz Shop" and chose her favorite prayer rug! Hahaha! It was so much fun pretending we were selling her one. She had so much fun! Bro selected new rugs for the rest of the fam too and next morning he picked them all up and set up their prayer corner in their house! Check out how adorably cute the tiny Ja'anamaz looks along with the rest of them - that one is Chunky's!
Now let me talk about the cooking preps! I made and froze DOZENS of Chapli Kababs and Chicken Tikkas. I think I made almost fifty of each? I'm forgetting now! Somewhere along those numbers. Dozens!!! These were to be our Sehri's main food items as well as for mama and dad's lunches and dinners. I also cooked and froze Cholay and Abbie and I cooked some chicken curries for freezing too. The rest of the freezer was stuffed to the last possible capacity with store bought samosay, rolls, vada pavs, nuggets, patties, chicken tenders, and what nots! As I type this up I have reached half Ramadan and thank God it was all so well planned we still haven't run out of anything! It has helped keep cooking at a minimum because all Abbie and I need to do now is cook rice, daal, sometimes dad's fish for lunch, and mom's sugar free dessert whenever these things finish up. It leaves me energy to spend on my Ramadan dessert baking fest too! *heart eyes* Really good planning!
Ramadan Wishes Treat Box
My beautiful cookies, Abbie's killer delicious Habshi Halwa, chocolates, and dates. Our Ramadan Wishes Treat Box looked so pretty and was full of such deliciousness! Of course we didn't send it to all our friends because of Covid but we did give it to our immediate Muslim neighbors and one more special person. It is my friend's first ever Ramadan this year. She just converted and became Muslim a couple months ago and I desperately wanted her to have my cookies as a celebration of her first Ramadan. The problem was, I had no way of going and delivering the box to her. So I asked if she could come and pick it up from my door step and she's the sweetest and she agreed! She came over, the cookie box was wrapped in extra packing because it just had to rain that day! Hahaha! She was in my front yard and I was in the window upstairs and we were shouting and waving and I don't even want to know what the neighbors thought! Hahahahaha! My doorbell cam recorded her shouting, "I love you!" and then she LOVED the cookies and the Halwa so much. I was so happy! Happy tears level of happy.
Bubbsters' Ramadan Gifts
It's my favorite when I see the Bubbsies' eyes light up at the sight of their Ramadan presents! This is Hushly baby's first Ramadan too so this year it was the first time Bua Beeya had to put together THREE Ramadan gift packs. The Bubbster Ramadan Gifts included a Ramadan themed book and a llama. Hushly got a pack of Potter themed bibs and Potter utensils to match while the little ladies got new snack bowls shaped like Sping flowers. We also gifted the nieces the same Ramadan decor we had in our home because it is their first Ramadan in their own house and we wanted them to decorate too. They've put it all up in their play room and are so happy with matching decorations. They also got a letterboard to display Ramadan messages on and a set of cookie cutters and stamps that are all Ramadan themed. I love the set so much I have already placed an order for myself as well! Heehee. Ohhhh and because it was his first ever Ramadan Hushly also got his first namaz ki topi! A green one. Hahahahahaha! He looked ADORABLE when we made him wear it!
Special mention for the llamas here. We named them of course. Gubby named her's SNICKERDOODLE because she loves our Snickerdoodles tradition every Ramadan. Chunky's llama was named JALEBI and Hushly's was named LADDOO!
Our Ramadan 2021 Decor
Instead of decorating it all in one place on the island in our kitchen we decided to decorate all around the living room/sunroom/kitchen this time. I love it! I like it when there are several areas decorated instead of everything being all busy and congested in one place. I think it looks much more prettier and everything can be appreciated much more! Abbie made the Ramadan countdown packets (secret: she only made like seventeen because she was lazy and late! Hahahahaha!) in pretty pink wrappers that completely match my cookies! Even our fridge has pretty stuff on it this year!
Fireplace in our living room!
Our kitchen/dining's wall collage!
The pretty pink and orange Ramadan countdown packets! Full of delicious chocolates!
Look at our new Masjid lightbox! This is one of the new decorations we got this year. It's gorgeous!
This is on our kitchen's island. Abbie's countdown packets stay here too!
Look how cute our fridge looks!
Finally this one here is from our sunroom!
Iftari From Bhai Ka Ghar
If you can't already tell, we're enjoying our bums off being neighbors! Hahahahaha! It felt SO great when this year Iftari came from Bhai ka Ghar for the first time ever! SIL sent samosay, tikkay, kabab, and cutlets. The baby dollies baked sugar cookies for us and used the Ramadan cookie cutters and stamps we'd gifted them! LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL THEY WERE!!!
Iftari For Bhai Ka Ghar
More fun round the neighborhood! Mid Ramadan we sent Iftari for Bro's Ghar too! I made Kababs, Chicken Tikka Boti, Cajun Stir Fry, and Chocolate Chunk Fudge Brownies. Mama made Hash Browns. Abbie made Sooji ka Halwa and Keto Lemon Pound Cake for my KetoBro and Onion Bhajiyaas! There was something for everyone's diet! Hahaha!
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