First and foremost, I would like to wish all Muslims in my community Ramadan Mubarak! Or as we say it here in Cameroon, Barka Dassala !
As was the case a year ago, I again felt that fasting was easier this year than the year before, and even considerably easier than during the past ten years. This isn't really surprising, since the month of Ramadan is currently shifting back ten days each year towards winter in the calendar. This fortunately makes the days shorter compared to the nights, and consequently, fewer hours during which one has to fast.
Although the three-day Eid al-Fitr/Festival of Breaking the Fast fell very conveniently on a weekend this year, for the first time in over 10 years I couldn't take the day off. The reason was a very important meeting at work that I couldn't reschedule, unfortunately forcing me to work last Friday. So, on the morning of Eid al-Fitr, I got up very early, enjoyed a wonderful morning coffee, treated myself to a nice shower (the first in ages!), performed my usual Eid rituals, put on my festive clothes, and for the first time in four weeks, applied my makeup and my favorite lipstick, which isn't allowed during the fasting period. Then, all dressed up, I started work. It was really unusual for me to have to work on this festive day. Fortunately, I was at least able to do it from my home office.
To ensure my family could enjoy a feast that evening despite my illness, I had already made numerous preparations the day before. When I finished work in the early afternoon and was about to start preparing the meal, my daughter came to me wanting to take some photos with me for the family in Cameroon. This was, of course, very important, but it also took up another precious hour of my tightly scheduled time.
This meant I couldn't start preparing anything until more than an hour late, and unfortunately, I had to deal with a few mishaps along the way. My beignet dough did n't rise as well as it had in previous years. And between sending out congratulations and making numerous phone calls, I accidentally added too many tomatoes to my haricots . I forgot to deseed the pomegranate I had intended for the salad, so I had to leave it out… In the end, I didn't even have enough time to prepare my dessert.
Fortunately, it wasn't all bad. My obligatory lamb, for example, turned out really well again this year. You can definitely look forward to my next post, where I'll publish the recipe.
Despite all the mishaps, it was still a wonderful celebration, as we were all able to enjoy the feast together in the evening. The numerous mishaps were hardly noticed. After all, the most important thing on such a significant holiday is spending time with family. And I certainly succeeded in that.
In that spirit, Eid Mubarak!
