Eid-ul-fitr, one of the two major Muslim festivals, marks the completion of fasting from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. It is a time to rejoice and celebrate by wearing brand new clothes, attending the Eid prayer and wishing each other “Eid Mubarak” or “Have a blessed Eid.” Eid is a sweet time for Muslims, quite literally! While numerous meat dishes are prepared for the main feast, there is no compromise when it comes to desserts on such a special occasion. Kheer is one of the traditional desserts that are prepared on the day of Eid. It is a common South Asian sweet dish, made by boiling rice with milk, sugar, dry fruits and cardamom. This quick and easy recipe is sure to leave everyone with sweet memories of the Eid day (pun intended).

Dish: PALPAYSAM or KHEER

YIELD: 4 Portions

Recommended conversion chart, click here.

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice in cold water for 15-20 minutes.
2. Cook rice in water with half the milk until soft (usually takes 15-20 minutes).
3. Add remaining milk and sugar and cook till it becomes thick and mix well.
4. Fry raisins and cashews in ghee for 5 minutes.
5. Remove seeds from cardamom pods, add to the above and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
6. Garnish with toasted sunflower seeds and serve hot or cold.

I pray you and your families have a joyous Eid. Please tell us what you are doing to celebrate the spirit of Eid this year?

Eid Mubarak from Learn Indian Cooking and American Muslim Mom!

Author Bio:

Kanika has a diploma in Indian Cooking and offers classes in Indian Cuisine in Chicagoland Area. Through her cooking classes she teaches women the secrets of using Indian spices and techniques to cook all their (or their families’) Indian restaurant favorites. Get in touch with her through Learn Indian Cooking to schedule a cooking class with her soon!

Eid Dessert Recipe: Wishing your Eid is filled with sweet memories is a post from: American Muslim Mom Blog

Okay, I have 5 $2 coupons & Recipe books to give away asap as well. They expire June 30th, so the first 5 who comment below with full name and mailing address will get these sent to you. 1 coupon & recipe book per household.

Interestingly, the one and only who doesn’t eat any kind of yogurt actually really enjoys these dips. We’ve tried Cucumber Dill Feta & Garden Herb Ranch. The rest of us all think it’s fair-to-good. It’s an acquired test. But, if you’re up for giving it a try, please comment below!

Otria Greek Yougurt Veggie Dips – 5 $2 coupons & Recipe Book for free is a post from: American Muslim Mom Blog

Mickey is going to QVC again, and in such late notice, she asked a few of us to help her out with a multi-blog giveaway. Now, you’d think my raving review was what made me jump at helping out…no, it was her closing line “…OLIVE U! Are you in?”  I laughed so hard as Mickey’s corny humor shared throughout her cookbook and I can just imagine our kids laughing hysterically at the 2 of us baking together, forcing them to eat sweets, while they’d all rather run the olive oil orchards, hang on branches and just joke amongst themselves how much they love our wacky-mommy ways! And, this is all without Mickey or I even knowing one another kids…its simply from our writing, our social networking, and online relationship-building.

Anyways, this is a big honor for Micki (I’m SO proud), because typically guest have weeks to months to prepare for their live show, but she was gifted with 6-days. So, she’s celebrating with this multi-blog giveaway–pretty sweet, eh!?

So, here’s the deal…if you missed out and didn’t win the last Olive Oil Dessert Cookbook and want to know more about this fab EVOO she’s raving about, here are the details:

By the way, still partial to olives grown in Gaza, freshly pressed into the best  EVOO, and while I can’t enter…given all the yummy desserts this cookbook gifted my family, I know I must get my hands on this stuff.

Oh, we’ve made the Slow Banana cake with icing (delectible!), Silky strawberry cheesecake (to fight over!) and honey cakes, which we renamed to Honey & Sesame treats (yummy!)

Watch Mickey on QVC

To watch QVC online and live, go to www.qvc.com and click on the “watch live” tab to the left of the page. To view the segment after it airs, they can go to www.qvc.com and type Olive Oil Desserts into the search bar, click on the “video” tab just above the cookbook cover.

Contest Duration

Beginning May 18^th 8:00 AM EDT.

Ending May 25^th 11:59 PM.

Prizes:

Olive Oil Desserts cookbook + EVOO sent to 3 winners from participating blogs.

About the EVOO…The California Olive Ranch is my favorite for baking desserts. COR’s EVOO is grown, harvested, pressed, and bottled in California. I actually went to their orchards last fall and watched them harvest some of the EVOO your readers can win. In my opinion, this liquid gold is as fresh and good as it gets! Learn more at their website, or at Olive Oil Desserts.

How to Enter

US addresses only. No PO Boxes.

Complete any or all of the below entries and comment below. Actions are not counted, comments are.

1.     Tweet this giveaway. Use the tweet button above!

2.     Follow Micki on twitter https://twitter.com/oliveoilchic.

3.     Follow COR on twitter  http://twitter.com/@CA_EVOO

4.     Blog about this giveaway and link back to this blogpost.

5.     Go to www.oliveoildesserts.com and comment below about something you learned from that website.

6.     Go to www.californiaoliveranch.com and comment below about EVOO.

7.     Leave a comment on American Muslim Mom Facebook page stating that you’re entering this contest.

8.     Like COR’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/californiaoliveranch

9.     Like Olive Oil Desserts Facebook page www.facebook.com/oliveoildesserts

10. For each comment about Micki’s appearance on this blog, California Olive Ranch’s, or Olive Oil Desserts FB page. (1 comment per page).

How winners will be determined

This is a multi-blog giveway. The winner and blog owner will be announced on all participating blogs. All entries will need to be sent to Micki and a random drawing of all entries will determine the winning names. Three cookbook/EVOO sets will be drop shipped to the 3 winner’s addresses. This contest will end on Sunday 05/25/11 at 11:59 pm est.  only comments containing all of the requested information will be eligible for entry. Once the winner is contacted, they must confirm they wish to receive the prize within five days of the winner notification email.

“Going to QVC” Olive Oil Desserts Cookbook & California Olive Ranch EVOO Giveaway is a post from: American Muslim Mom Blog

We are huge EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) family, so when I was given the opportunity to review an Olive Oil Desserts cookbook–I literally jumped at the opportunity!

Now, while I adore cooking and was named “Chef” and favored cook on both sides of our family, I give all praise to Allah, since my art and craft of cooking only came after I got married (though my family insists I was quite crafty before then too)–but, I definitely got better with my hubby’s pickiness and each additional daughter entered our lives.

Anyways, I am a particularly picky cookbook-user. I crave tasty recipes but I crave history, variations, accompanying pictures and the story behind as many recipes as possible. So, the night we received this cookbook, my girls and I read and enjoyed the pictures of this high-quality exquisite “book” first. We loved how Micki correctly states how olives originated from what we call the Sham (Syria, Palestine and Jordan) and that olives are well quoted in the Qur’an (not Koran), and ahadith (plural form of hadith) of our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

My girls and I took much ownership to olives having just returned from Gaza and having pickled olives ourselves, plus using the freshest pressed olive oil for our bodies and hair.  Since hubby’s cousins have olive oil press across the street from our house, we had generous supply–and being home now for 4 months–I have yet to find a tastier one since we don’t have Arab stores near us. Anyways, Micki shares her story about her and her husband’s high cholesterol and her desire to make delicious and healthy heart smart desserts for her family. My girls and I laughed how her kids often were her guinea pigs and craved veggies instead! The book is also filled with funny quotes to keep you smiling.

Delicious Recipes

Finally settling in our new home, since we love anything cinnamon and never heard of Cinnamon twisties, this was my first recipe. Besides the fact that I didn’t read 2+dozen twisties, I had a dozen huge twisties; and did not use all the glaze. And, well–my girls and I all agree they this 1 recipe FAR exceeds our love for cinnamon rolls. Hubby wouldn’t share his opinion, since he’s the one who makes all the cinnamon rolls in our house. But, when he demanded that I heat up his second third one, we all knew it was a good sign. I have to share that these huge twisties were incredibly fluffy with just the right amount of flakiness to the bottom like it’s own “crust”. It was SO easy to make and will be a weekly dessert from now on!

My oldest even answered when I asked ‘can anything be better than these cookies??!” “Probably Micki’s Mama…pause…after all, Mama…she’s the inventor of this recipe…” My 2 little ones took great offense and yelled, ‘But, Mama decided to put our 2 favorite things instead! White chocolate and macadamias.” I chuckled and my eldest agreed but gave me the eye like “but Mama–can’t Micki’s be better?” so I grinned back and said “Maybe”. We all laughed.

Another favorite in our home that never of us ever tried to make homemade are white chocolate macadamia cookies. So, I took Micki’s New Toll Cookies substituted white instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and adding 1-cup of macadamias. While in a hurry, I had the girls start mixing the ingredients to find out that I didn’t have butter extract (never have, and according to my 10 yo, her research showed is unhealthy), so I quickly emailed, facebooked and tweeted for Micki’s advise. She shared it’s optional, and that if we love butter so much, we could’ve taken 1/3 of the EVOO needed for the recipe and used that equal amount of butter. Having already stirred the EVOO, we were fine. Then, she recommended 1/2 cup of nuts when I asked, but when I returned to the cookbook I saw it had optional 1-cup of pecans, and well–how much can I ruin for 1-cup of the nuts we love ONLY in cookies & candies. So, with all that preparation; we quickly learned that it’s best to coat our hands in EVOO before making the balls of cookie. That rolled balls make nicely smooth cookies like the huge ones shown to the right, versus the pops of dough to make multi-shaped cookies. I obviously didn’t flatten the cookies out like Micki’s pictures, and probably never will–because these were the single best cookies I have ever eaten in my entire life! We had to pace ourselves, because I actually read how many cookies this recipe would make and 2-3 dozen cookies in one-sitting no matter how healthy they are, were WELL over limit!

NOTE: Because I made the big cookies first and cut through 1 at 10 minutes (between Micki’s recommended 9-11mins.) and I thought it was a bit gooey, so I put it in for 13 mins.–but these cookies hardened up quicker then the next 2 batches that I put for 11 then 9 mins. 9 mins were the best! We actually add that dozen in a snap after the first tasters.

MashaAllah, God has willed, I’ve never had a weight issue, so I’ve never been a supporter of low-fat desserts for simply it’s non-taste-element. I always tell people, just EAT LESS and keep the taste.

So, now that I’ve read even more wonderful health reasons for using EVOO in desserts, seeing that they make fluffy, buttery (and we’re a huge butter family) in our 2 favorite debut recipes of this book, I think every single household truly needs to have this cookbook in their kitchen. I just organized all my cookbooks into 4 nice shelves in my kitchen and I have my 1-daily shelf–this cookbook made the Top-quarter-cut! And, it’s the only all-dessert-cookbook that made this prestigious cut. To be in my daily shelf, I literally have to use them all the time. 2-times in 4-days is pretty awesome!

Purchase Olive Oil Desserts Cookbook Today

Available at fine booksellers nationwide, or on amazon, or for QVC fans follow this link.

Enter to win Olive Oil Desserts Cookbook ($24.95)

Deadline date: Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.

Contest Rules

• You must adhere to all the rules as stated. Shall a winner be chosen who did not complete these rules, he/she will not be eligible to win.

You must visit the Olive Oil Desserts website comment below telling us what recipe you’d try first.

• To be eligible to win you must be a U.S. resident, and 18 years of age or older.

For Additional Entries

For additional entries, you may chose to complete any one, or all of the below actions. You must write a separate comment for each additional entry you complete below. (A winner is chosen by the number of comments, not the number of actions taken.)

• Follower Sparkle Farms on Twitter @oliveoilchic
• Become a Olive Oil Desserts Facebook Fan page.
• Follow American Muslim Mom on Twitter @PonnSabra
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• Tweet about this contest with @ponnsabra Tweet this message, but don’t forget to comment below with the new tweet link
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SAMPLE TWEET. ENTER UP TO TWICE DAILY.

RT @ponnsabra #GIVEAWAY Win @OliveOilchic #Desserts Cookbook – Delicious Heart-Healthy #Recipes-Yummy pictures! (Value $25) http://ow.ly/4JXBA

Determining a Winner

Each comment below designates an entry number. We will use And the Winner Is… plugin to pick a random winner from the total number of comments below. The winner will be contacted by email. If no response is received in 48 hours, another winner will be chosen. Confirmed winners will be announced on our Contest Winners Page, where you may refer to at anytime.

Disclosure: We received review products free of charge. We not influenced in anyway to share only positive remarks. After all, lying is haram (prohibited). You’re welcome to read American Muslim Mom’s disclosure policy and contest disclosure.

Olive Oil Desserts Cookbook Review and Giveaway is a post from: American Muslim Mom Blog

Eating Healthy with Barley

Since Barley is rich in fiber, it’s a great staple to add to your kitchen for your family’s Regularity, Lower Cholesterol, & Intestinal Protection...among other health benefits. There are numerous varieties of barley, and the one readily available in 2 local grocery stores was Pearl Barley. But, just like all grains, the more they are in the kernel the healthier it is; so we’re still on the hunt.

While there are dozens of barley recipes offered on this great website (that I’ll try soon, inshaAllah, God willing), I just added a cup of barley into a Moroccan stew-spiced-up-and-turned-into- a-soup-recipe below.

This easy, healthy, pot of soup helped sooth a couple of our sore throats this week, so we were very satisfied.

Peppered Chicken Barley Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken quarters (thighs & legs), skinned
• 9 cups of water
• 1.5 large onions
• 7 cloves garlic
• 2 chicken bouillons (preferably Maggi)
• 2 teaspoons ginger (substitute fresh ginger if you have)
• 1 teaspoon paprika (preferably Turkish spicy paprika)
• 2 Cherry peppers
• 2 carrots
• 1 medium sized potato diced
• 1 cup of pearl barley

Instructions:

• Cut the chicken quarters to 2 legs & 2 thighs.
• Add water, chicken, onions, garlic, chicken bouillon, ginger and paprika. Boil for approximately 45 minutes until chicken is nice and tender (but not shredded). We boil with a pressure cooker for a steam time of about 20 minutes.
• Take out the chicken bones and and cut the chicken to bite-sizes.
• Slice the cherry peppers into slivers, with the seeds.
• Slice the carrots into bite-sizes.
• Add the cherry peppers, carrots, potatoes, and barley. Boil for approximately 45 minutes. Pressure cooker steam time was about 20 minutes again.

Serve hot with pitas, French or Italian bread and salad.

I made this as a light late lunch meal, much to our amazement we were stuffed that everyone thought it was dinner. Hubby and the girls convinced me that because they were filled, alhumduililah, Praise be to God, that I didn’t have to make dinner, and they would have a cup of soup and some more salad if and when they were hungry…just as long as they could have a big ice cream waffle cone for dessert.

Undoubtedly, I agreed! Yum, yum.

Have a great barley recipe to share? Please comment below. Or, if you know where we can buy other varieties of barley please let us know.

Barley Benefits and Recipes is a post from: American Muslim Mom Blog

When I asked my girls, what do you want with ground beef tonight for dinner one chimed, “we haven’t had tacos in a while”…hmmm, “Not since I made our own tortillas, right!?…(eyes waiting for my next phrase)…okay, I’ll make the dough”.

Now, tacos has always been a family-fun dinner night because its fast, healthy and everyone, hubby included, helps to prepare the nearly dozen bowls of add-ons, such as tomatoes, avocado dip, sour cream, lettuce, etc.

Now, the girls help roll and fry our own tortillas too.

Tortilla Bread Machine Recipe

We started out with this recipe, and made the following adjustments:

• We do not grease the pan
• We do not wait for dark brown-black burnt marks.
• We flip only once.
• We set our gas stove at medium high, 5 out of 6 on our dial.
• We made this recipe the third time with corn flour and it was delicious. It was just much harder to roll them into nice circles with rounded edges.

Homemade Taco Seasonings Recipe

Considering we have almost hundred different spices in our cabinets, literally, we actually had everything on this list except onion powder.

• This recipe lasted 3 (1.5 pound meat) dinners.
• Storing it in a sandwich bag worked perfectly fine as well.

We added half a jar of medium or hot salsa to our meat, and yum-yum our tacos were done!

Taco toppings

So, what do you put on your tacos?

We always have the following dishes for everyone to fill their own tacos themselves:

• lettuce
• tomatoes
• medium  or hot salsa
• sour cream (we put this on last as the “glue” to hold the rolled soft taco together)
• avocado dip (one avocado with the juice of half a lemon or one full lime, both are delicious!)
• shredded cheese (we prefer white or orange cheddar rather than ‘taco’ or  ‘Mexican’ shredded cheese mixes)
• fresh or pickled jalepeno peppers
• Tobacco sauce

On ambitious days, we make chicken and beans dishes too.

So, what do you add in your tacos? We always have room for another topping or side dish, so please share below.

Homemade Soft Taco Dinner is a post from: American Muslim Mom Blog

‘Awamee – Deep-Fried Sweet Balls Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon instant dry yeast

1.5 cups warm water

1 quantity sugar-water syrup (qater): 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, and (optional) 2 tablespoons rose water or orange blossom.

~ 2 cups cooking oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt; then pour in the yeast and mix well. Add the water and stir until the mixture resembles the texture of pancake batter and cover and set aside for 1 hour [or overnight in the fridge--the longer the better. It never made it past 1 night at our house. ]

Meanwhile, prepare the qatar as follows:

Heat water and sugar in a medium pot on medium heat. Watch and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside. While off the heat add the lemon juice and optional rose water or orange blossom.

Add the cooking oil in a pan and heat it on high. Once heated, reduce to medium-high heat and add a teaspoon of batter sporadically in the pan.

If you like to make small ball shapes, you need to fill your pan full of cooking oil, make sure it’s very hot and drop less than a teaspoon of batter. The oil will fry it up on all sides by itself and float to the top of the pan. This is the typical way it is made with much more qatar as well.

However,we like the deep-fried crunchy on the outside, soft & chewy

inside. It takes less oil and a lot less qatar (sugar water). So, while this is not the healthiest dessert, our version is a bit healthier, if that’s possible

Once they are a nice crispy fried color, turn over to the other side and you’ll have funky shapes resembling PBS’s beloved Boobahs!

Take the balls or Boobahs and set them on paper towels to soak up some remaining oil.

The traditional way is to soak the deep-fried balls ‘awamee in the qatar until it it sinks to the pan. The taste is good, but extremely sweet, that when you bit into the ball the qatar squeezes out from inside.

As I explained above, we like the crispy sweet taste on the outside alone, and the fluffy, airy test and texture in the inside. So, we hold a fork and slotted spoon. Drop in the ‘awamee, flip quickly so it is coated with qatar on all sides and quickly take it out. Place it on a plate and eat it hot.

If made the traditional way, it’s more like a candy and can be placed all together in a clear cellophane baggy and stored in room temperature. Beware that they are drippingly-sticky and usually eaten at room temperature. Our new way is eaten hot, fluffy and just enough sweetness to say “Yum, I want more!” But, by the time the plate is done you’ll be saying “Alhumdulilah, Praise be to God. That was enough sweets for the night.”

Homemade ‘Awamee Recipe – Deep-Fried Sweet Balls, or Boobahs – Slightly Changed is a post from: American Muslim Mom Blog