Our feast

Tonight we hosted some local friends for a large evening meal. They are fasting each day from sun-up to sundown, and the meal that breaks the fast in the evenings is often eaten together with family or friends. Since we aren't fasting, and the preparations for such a large meal when you aren't even supposed to taste test anything, can be difficult, we're trying to bless a few friends by preparing the meal for them and giving them a break.

Here's what we had to eat:
dried dates (traditionally used to break the fast along with a glass of room temperature water)
rice stuffed grape leaves (I bought these ready made at the grocery store - yahoo!)
tomato soup (homemade and not too shabby)
salad
pickled veggies (out of a store bought jar)
bread (right out of the baker's oven - piping hot - mmm, mmm good!)
a vegetable medley (potatoes, tomatoes, green/red peppers, eggplant, zucchini, garlic that's all fried/sauteed first then all placed together and stewed. Yummy!)
bulgur pilav
a local version of chicken stir fry (with onions, garlic, peppers, and tomatoes)

And after all that, our guests were too stuffed to eat the dessert I made, so we just sat on the balcony and chatted while we drank our tea. (I didn't think the dessert turned out all that great anyway. It's these bland little cookie things that are soaked in a sugar syrup and serve cold with cream or coconut.)

We had a great time with our friends, and if I must say so myself, "It was delicious!" I will also tell you that I've never chopped so many veggies before in my life! There is a reason no one cooks like this every day of the year!!!