Red, White and Blueberry Recipes!

In honor of the Fourth of July, this week we challenged ourselves to create a full meal based on three different colors: Red, White and Blue. It turns out that the internet is chock-full of patriotic-themed recipes. Because we have a dedicated staff (who like to eat!) we whittled down the sixty-gajillion available color-themed ideas we found into a somewhat healthy and nutritious three-course meal with lots of blueberries. Well, the dessert’s not the healthiest thing we could come up with, but it sounds delicious!

Let’s start with a “Patriotic Salad” with quinoa and berries, as found at Yummy Mummy Kitchen.

5 ounces arugula or other salad greens
3 cups cooked, cooled quinoa
1.5 cups blueberries
1.5 cups raspberries
Sliced watermelon cut into stars with a cookie cutter
favorite salad dressing, served on the side

On the bottom of a medium trifle dish or clear salad bowl, arrange one third of the greens. Top with half the quinoa, all but 1/4 cup blueberries, the remaining quinoa, another third greens, all but 1/4 cup raspberries, and top with the remaining greens. Arrange the remaining 1/2 cup berries over the top. If using watermelon stars, tuck into the sides and arrange on top of the salad. Make this salad up to 5 hours in advance, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Serve dressing on the side.

 

For the main course, let’s continue with blueberries since they are in season right now, and enjoy a Chicken and Blueberry Pasta Salad, from Eating Well:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of fat
8 ounces whole-wheat fusilli or radiatore
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place chicken in a skillet or saucepan and add enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to cool. Shred into bite-size strips.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until just tender, about 9 minutes or according to package directions. Drain. Place in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, place oil and shallot in a small skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to brown, 2 to 5 minutes. Add broth, feta and lime juice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the feta begins to melt, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the chicken to the bowl with the pasta. Add the dressing, blueberries, thyme, lime zest and salt and toss until combined.

Finally, let’s have a Red, White and Blue dessert, from the blog of Taste of Home magazine.

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
2 quarts strawberries, halved, divided
2 quarts blueberries, divided

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and extracts until fluffy. Fold in whipped cream. Place a third of the mixture in a 4-qt. bowl. Reserve 20 strawberry halves and 1/2 cup blueberries for garnish.
Layer half of the remaining strawberries and blueberries over cream mixture. Top with another third of the cream mixture and the remaining berries. Spread the remaining cream mixture on top. Use the reserved strawberries and blueberries to make a “flag” on top.

You’ll have plenty left over after this one, but on the other hand, you could certainly adapt this as a single-layer recipe for your family. If you’re planning to take a dessert to a July 4th party, on the other hand, this looks like a treat fit for all the founding fathers!

 

Meet the Holidays: Purim

One of our favorite Museum programs is “Meet the Holidays,” in which we learn about and celebrate the traditions of cultures all around the world. “We live in a global community and Atlanta is an extremely multi-cultural city,” explains Pam Duncan, manager of public programming. “Meet the Holidays allows our youngest visitors to learn about cultures different than their own as well as re-affirm those cultures for folks who celebrate them. In the end they find out that their cultures have much more in common than they thought.” We really love the experience of people having a great time and also learning about the special days on their neighbors’ calendars!

This Sunday, we’re having some special events to commemorate Purim. This is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire, from a plot to annihilate them all in a single day. According to the Book of Esther, Haman, the royal vizier to King Ahasuerus, planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by the prophet Mordecai, and his cousin and adopted daughter Esther. Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, which is the day following the victory of the Jews over their enemies.

It sounds like the setup for a pretty sober and serious commemoration, but based on the text of Esther 9:22, Purim is celebrated with joy and good spirits. The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, all of the observances are important, but they are equally “serious and silly.” The Book, or scroll, of Esther, is usually read aloud twice during the celebrations. The recitation is called the Megillah, and it comes with a raucous audience participation component, as the audience is armed with graggers, special noisemakers that you shake or whirl to drown out the evildoer’s name:

“It is crucial to hear every single word of the Megillah! At certain points in the reading where Haman’s name is mentioned, it is customary to twirl graggers and stamp one’s feet to “drown out” his evil name. Tell the children Purim is the only time when it’s a mitzvah to make noise!” The USCJ goes on to say that when Haman’s wife, Zeresh, gets mentioned in the Megillah, the crowd is to hiss at the sound of her name!

For our Meet the Holidays celebration on Sunday March 9th, you’ll be able to make your own gragger before listening to the Imaginators’ retelling of the Meglliah story. Every time Haman’s name is mentioned, shake your gragger and boo! Afterward, enjoy traditional hamantaschen cookies. Hamantaschen is a Yiddish word meaning “Haman’s pockets.” Jews eat hamantaschen on Purim as part of the celebration of the holiday. One explanation for the triangular shape of these pastries is that Haman wore a three-cornered hat. Another explanation is that the three corners represent Queen Esther’s strength and the founders of Judaism: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

We kick off the fun at three on Sunday, and look forward to seeing you there!

The Festival of Fast-Breaking: Eid al-Fitr

Thankfulness, joy, generosity, and gratitude are the focus of the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr.  The three day celebration, pronounced eed al fitter, is the Festival of Fast-Breaking.  It starts on the first day of the month of Shawwal, following Ramadan, a fasting holiday.  Eid al-Fitr is so significant that in Saudi Arabia the civil service minister declared that it would be celebrated for 12 days this year!

Since the lunar calendar is followed, it is hard to put an exact date on which the holiday will fall, but most believe it will be the 28^th or 29^th of July in 2014.  The confusion with the lunar calendar is that the new crescent moon will be sighted at different times in different parts of the world.  Some believe that when it is sighted in a Muslim country that is the sighting for all Muslims around the world.  Others believe that each individual can sight the moon for themselves to begin the holiday.  Then there are some Muslims who are okay with using scientific data to determine the beginning of Eid al-Fitr.

Similar to many other holidays, one of the most important parts of the celebration is the sadagah al-fitr or the charity of fast-breaking.  It is typically done before the holiday begins, and includes giving different types of food from cheese to fruit to barley.  Each family donates food to the poor on behalf of every member of the family, including the children.  This is done so that everyone will be able to eat the traditional holiday meal, celebrating the strength it took fasting for Ramadan.

The day begins with the whole family dressing up in their nicest clothes and decorating their houses with lights.  Greeting cards are given to family and friends with the message Eid Mubbarak, or blessed Eid.  A morning trip to the mosque is made where special prayers are done and sermons are read.  Then families visits their friends and family to give thanks and eat together.  In some countries there is a tradition of gift-giving, mostly to children.  There are also parades and outdoor activities where members of the community can come together to celebrate and give thanks.

The holiday meal has a particular emphasis on sweets and varies by country, with each one having their own traditional special sweet.  In Pakistan it is Zarda, a rice dessert with sugar, nuts, and dried fruit.  In Bangladesh one is Jalebi, a pastry filled with sweet syrup in the shape of a pretzel.  Dates, cardamom, and yogurt are commonly found in the holiday meal.  In America, some say the meal is similar to a Thanksgiving meal, with turkey, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese!  A quick search on the internet can find you Eid al-Fitr recipes to try at home, such as this Jalebi recipe from www.epicurious.com that makes 8 pastries:

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon plus 2/3 cup water
• 1 ½ cups maida flour
• 2 teaspoons Bengal gram flour
• 1 ½ tablespoons ghee, melted
• 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 drops yellow food coloring
• 2 cups ghee for frying, melted
• 1 ¾ cups lime-saffron syrup

To make the batter:
Dissolve the yeast in 1 tablespoon of the water and let sit for just 10 minutes, and no longer. In a large bowl, combine the maida flour and Bengal gram flour. Add the yeast, melted ghee, sugar, lemon juice, yellow food coloring, and remaining 2/3 cup water and mix until there are no more lumps.

To fry the jalebis:
Melt enough ghee in a heavy-bottomed pot to fill it 1 inch deep. Line plates with paper towels for draining the fried cakes. Pour the lime-saffron syrup into a saucepan over low heat, to keep it warm. Fit a pastry bag with a small writing tip, and pour the batter into the bag.

Squeeze 2-inch round whorls of batter into the hot ghee, working closely from the center out. Fry until golden brown on the bottom, then flip to fry on the other side until it’s golden brown. Remove the jalebis from the oil and set on paper towels to drain. Transfer the hot cakes to the lime-saffron syrup and let soak for a minute or two.

To serve:
Serve the jalebis warm in small bowls with syrup. Or you can remove the jalebis from the syrup and set on a rack to dry for 3 to 4 hours, until the syrup has formed a hard shell.

 

I know some of those ingredients have brought up questions and worries, but the Atlanta area has many Indian grocery stores, such as Indian Bazaar and Cherians.  Why not take a family trip to one? Pick up some groceries while learning about another culture!

Did any of these Eid al-Fitr traditions sound familiar?  This holiday is a great example of how we all celebrate and give thanks in similar ways.  Parades, gifts, charity, decorations, and food are central to this Muslim holiday as well as most of the holidays that we are more accustomed to.

Learn more about Eid al-Fitr this weekend at The Children’s Museum of Atlanta.  We will celebrate with storytelling and crafts on Saturday, July 26 at noon and 3:00 PM and Sunday, July 27 at 3:00 PM.

 

Sources: BBC | wnyc.org | Islam.about | TimeAndDate.com | Fountain Magazine