Chic Ramadan

Three ways to make the Holy Days hip

NEW DETROIT, Mich. (RWN) - June Burns has the same problem every year. People are coming over to break the Ramadan fast - mostly her son's friends - and she doesn't want them to be bored.

"I'd like to follow all the rules," Burns said, "but we're moderates and our son's friends are relaxed moderates. So we want a way to get them into the spirit of the holiday without turning them away from it."

It's a real issue. How do you keep the appropriate sense of gravity about the holiest month of the year while not making it boring for everyone?

Jaimee Macur, a party planner in Bloomfield, Michigan, has some ideas.

First, make it interesting.

"You've got an entire month of fasts to break," Macur said. "So make some theme nights. For instance, maybe the first night, you do the traditional iftar, the traditional breaking of the fast with dates and sweet drinks, followed by a nice dinner. The next time you have people over, maybe you do a "foods of the world" iftar. You can go to the Arab world, of course, and do some traditional dishes, like shwerma, or you can go totally multicultural and do, say, Mexican. The next time, switch it up. Maybe it's ballpark night and there's a late game on television. Do ballpark food, with popcorn and Jihad Cola as snacks."

Macur's next tip is to make your suhoors something special.


"That morning meal is so easy to just ignore, but if you think about it, it's the key to your entire day," Macur said. "You want something yummy, and you can also use the opportunity to get the entire family together. We like to change up our breakfasts, which are larger that time of year, anyway. Probably three mornings a week, we'll do our normal breakfast of oatmeal and some fruits, but we'll add in a few more carbs, just to help get through the day. The other weekdays, we'll do something entirely different. Maybe it's Parisian day, or maybe it's a "What we'd normally eat for lunch" day. We always make sure that Sundays are the biggest breakfast days. In my house during Ramadan, Sunday looks like a buffet before the sun rises."

A third tip is to get the kids involved.

"The night before, during the iftar, get your kids and guests involved in preparing the next night's meal," Macur said. "This way, you're not tempted to snack a little while preparing it before the sun goes down. And kids love doing this, even the teenagers. If you choose the menu right, it can be a hit. We'll have my teenage son's friends over on, say, a Wednesday and feed them whatever, and tell them 'You're all invited back tomorrow night for monster sandwiches, but you have to make them tonight.' They always do."


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