Last
weekend was the date of our annual Eid party.
This year I kept it small to make life easier, with family and neighbours
invited. I had my decorations from Eid which let me indulge shamelessly in my
love for colour and rainbows:
I
found some rainbow roses and mixed them with these creatively named “bubblegum
chrysanthemums”
This
unicorn piñata was a hit. I didn’t manage to get it back home without bending
the horn, but it was very strong and no amount of whacking it with a wooden
spoon by little girls seemed to make a dent in it. I also learned that giving little girls free
reign with a wooden spoon is equal to taking your life in your hands, I had to
grab the spoon off at least one who I thought was going to hit me with it. In the end I had to rip it apart and shower
the girls with sweets.
Harlequin Sister did the work of wrapping all the prizes and gifts including two for pass-the-parcel,
one for adults and one for children. If
I had realised that she had wrapped the ladies pass-the-parcel in about 12
layers I might have stopped her at some point.
We
added a traditional touch with henna and these little packs of Pakistani snacks
called “Shahi Meva” which I really like (it’s basically a small handful of
chopped almond, dry dates, fennel, coconut & sugar).
As
it was a hot day, I put out drinks, strawberries and cubes of watermelon beforehand
alongside this little drink dispenser full of cheats mojito mocktail (recipe to
follow). I had to top up three times
because everyone was chugging it down and asking for refills.
I
had asked guests to bring a dish (less work for me and I get to taste other
peoples amazing cooking). My neighbour bought this amazing channa chaat that
was full of flavour and a good solid kick from the spice.
Alhamdullilah
there was a lot of food: chicken pilau rice, lamb kebabs, lamb seekh kebabs,
chicken tikka, tandoori chicken with roast potatoes, channa chaat, mousakka, potato wedges, lamb chops, two types
of salad and chicken sandwiches which got polished off very quickly. It all tasted good and everyone was full of
praise and satisfied bellies.
My
aunt (mum’s younger sister) made the moussaka and the dish was enormous – the layers
of aubergine, potato and yoghurt were really very refreshing.
The
kids got free reign on the sweet stuff while I was distracted. I saw baby going past with a cup brim full of
water more than once, until I realised she was helping herself to the mojito
and put a stop to it.
There
were lots of party games and in time-honoured fashion there was very loud howling going on at losing,
followed by some not-so-subtle engineering of games by the adults so that all
of the little ones got a prize for something.
After
the food and games, everyone relaxed, chatted and nibbled on fruits and sweets
while my very talented neighbour put henna on everyone.
My
neighbours equally awesome mum made short work of all the dishes in no time
despite our protests. You can always
tell when you have had a good party by the aftermath. I made the babies pick this up off the trampoline:
This
year’s party was so easy and relaxed, that I am almost tempted to do another
after Eid-ul-Adha – we shall see.
My
thanks to Harlequin and Shutterbug for helping with photos and to set things up for the party, there is a very
pretty photo from the party on Harlequins blog here.
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