Haj Feast

This photo was taken in the spring, but it is exactly what our streets looked like last week. Many families slaughter a sheep or goat for the Haj feast. Some even kill a cow. They are slaughtered by cutting the throat, making it halal. Many times they kill them in the garden/yard area of their home thinking that it will be good for the grass. Afterwards they hang them up on the gate and clean and cut everything up. Then all of the meat is portioned out for family, friends and neighbors.

Our streets are designed to catch water. Water from our kitchen sink, bathroom sinks, showers, rainwater from the roof and any water used to clean the floor drains out to the streets.

Coconut Kada

A week or so before the Haj feast, I saw my neighbor coming out of the bread bakery with flour and yeast. She told me that she was going to make Kurdish cookies, "kada", that night. She invited me to come and watch. Her kitchen was full of ladies. They graciously allowed me to take pictures, but did not want me to take pictures of their faces since they were in their house dresses.

Megan at Work

Megan couldn't wait to get her hands dirty. She loves to help in the kitchen anyway.

Ladies at Work

My neighbor's kitchen was full of ladies and girls helping make cookies. The tables in the center of the picture are used to make their Kurdish thin bread. The ladies at the end are rolling dough out, preparing to fill them. There is a cookie mold on the table in front, and the lady in the right front is busy filling her dough with a coconut mixture.

Handmade

I tried to make these, but they make it look so easy. The cookies on the table were filled with a coconut/sugar mixture and then pressed into a cookie mold. The one in my neighbor's hand was a circle cut out with a chai glass. It was then filled with a walnut, sugar, cinnamon mixture then folded in a half-moon and sealed by hand.

Date Cookies

This version of cookies were made with a date filling. Every family has their concoction for the filling. It can have a mixture of dates, coconut, almonds, sesame seeds and cardamon. A combo of any of these things may be found inside. The outside of the cookies are more like a pie crust. These are our favorite of the different varieties, but they are best served with chai.

Kurdish Cookies

These are fresh and hot out of the oven. "Kada", kurdish cookies, made by a group of ladies at my neighbor's home.