Ramadan Journal 2013: Day 3 – On My Table

The theme for the third day of the Ramadan Journal Challenge is "On my table", I would have shown you a nice table set with elegant crockery and matching place settings laden with well-presented food.  But I cant because I don't have a dining table, have mismatched crockery and I have four messy children which keep me very busy.

Instead we have this blue fabric which my grandfather bought about thirty years ago from Green Street market and which I ended up with when I left home after getting married.  A good wash every now and again and we're set to go.

Darling is usually the first one by the spread, we usually hand her a de-stoned date to keep her busy.

As with previous years I am trying to minimise fried food and get everyone to eat healthily.  We only get to eat one good meal aside from a  light sehr (pre-dawn meal), so I want the meal to count rather than everyone eating junk and looking haggard by the end of Ramadan.

This is my mum-in-laws dhai-ballay - yoghurt, diced tomatoes, diced boiled potatoes, chickpeas, onion and mini dumplings made of lentil flour mixed with spices.

Fruit salad which we make every day with mango, melon, apple, pear and whatever other fruit we have to hand.  We add some spice to give it a kick, so that you get a bit of fire and then the rush of cold juice from the ripe fruit.  No matter how much we make it all gets scoffed down.

This is a dish called Babu Kachri (recipe here), I tried this once and I am hooked.  I ended up eating half for iftar and half for sehr, because everyone else thought it looked strange.

My mum-in-laws pakora's were the exception to the healthy eating rule.  But they don't count because they were left  overs from the day before.

In lieu of a dining table, I took pictures of my bedside table (a chic dressing table would have been nice , but I don't have one of those either!).  My bedside table is a magnet for bits and pieces from around the house.  I clear it off every few weeks, so clearly from this picture I need to again.

The box of creams is my attempt at a self-care routine.  If I don't remember and I am tired, they are right next to me at bedtime (I have put a smaller box of similar next to hubby's who actually remembers to use his).

The purple diary is my indispensable organiser, the pile of books is what was left after I cleared out the ones I knew I wouldn't have time to read.  I suspect that I won't be touching them till after Ramadan.

The egg is a room thermometer that was  a gift for the baby and which is bright red at the moment - meaning too hot. 

The tray of beads is for whenever I get a moment to play around with some ideas for necklaces and bracelets.  So much bead candy so little time!