Yalda a Persian Celebration of the Winter Equinox

I made this korsi for shab Yalda at our Farsi School. Persians celebrate the winter equinox with special snacks and reading poetry. Here is a more complete history:

The Festival of "Yalda" - Winter Solstice Celebrations/Traditions in Iran The winter solstice, December 21st or 22nd, is the longest night of the year. For example, this year, on 21st December London (England) will see only seven hours and 49 minutes of daylight. Near the winter solstice, the length of the day changes very slowly, as does the Sun's height in the sky - one of the reasons why the long winter nights seem to go on forever! In Iran, the winter solstice has been celebrated for centuries and it is called Shab-e yalda, which refers to the birthday or rebirth of the sun. Yalda is a Syriac word and means birth (tavalod and meelaad are from the same origin). The ceremony is traced to the primal concept of Light and Good against Darkness and Evil in the ancient Iranian religion. This night with Evil at its zenith is considered unlucky. The last day of the Persian month of 'Azar' is the longest night of the year. From this day forward, Light triumphs as the days grow longer and give more light. This celebration comes in the Persian month of 'Day', which was also the name of the pre-Zoroastrian creator god (deity). Later he became known as the God of creation and Light, from which we have the English word day (the period of light in 24 hours). The Persians adopted their annual renewal festival from the Babylonians and incorporated it into the rituals of their own Zoroastrian religion. The occasion was celebrated in the festival of 'Daygan' dedicated to Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom. Fires would be burnt all night to ensure the defeat of the forces of Ahriman (principle Evil). There would be feasts, acts of charity and a number of deities honoured and prayers performed to ensure the total victory of the sun that was essential for the protection of winter crops. There would be prayers to Mithra (Mehr) and feasts in his honour, since Mithra is the Eyzad (deity) responsible for protecting " the early morning light", known as 'Havangah'. It was also assumed that Ahura Mazda would grant people's wishes. Early Christians took this very ancient Persian celebration and linked it to Christ's birthday. Today, the date for Christmas has slightly changed, but there are many similarities such as, lighting candles, decorating trees with lights, staying up all night, singing and dancing, eating special foods, paying visits to family and friends, ...

Persimmon Cake

Yasmin and I made this cake with some persimmons we had this fall. It turned out very moist and delicious! Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

4 large ripe persimmons
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or vegetable oil, room temperature
3 extra large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup toasted walnuts

Directions:

Peel and smash the persimmons and set aside
preheat oven to 350 degress
Beat eggs , sugar and vanilla
Add flour, baking soda and spices
Add butter or vegetable oil
pour in your persimmons and mix together with walnuts
transfer batter to prepared pan
bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out dry

Chicken Zucchini Enchilada

I made this chicken enchilada as a low carb alternative to the regular one.

Here's the recipe. It's quick and very easy!

One pound chicken breast

Six zucchini's

Half an onion

One can of diced tomatoes 

One cup parmesian cheese

Cook the chicken breast with some salt and pepper and set aside

Cook the zucchini's for ten minutes or until soft

Chop the onion into small peieces and sauté with olive oil

Meanwhile cut the zucchini's the long way and take out the flesh with a spoon

Add the flesh to the onions

Shred the cooked chicken and add it to the onion mix. Add your favorite seasoning at this point. 

Next set the zucchini's side by side in a pirex. Pour the chicken mix over the zucchini's. 

Add the can of diced tomatoes over the mixture. 

Top with the shredded parmesian cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.

I made these orange glazed scones and they turned out pretty good. Here is the recipe for those of you who are interested, It's from a site called my baking addiction and they have amazing recipes  :)

Glazed Orange Scones

PREP TIME: 15 minutes YIELD: 8 scones COOK TIME: 15-17 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

For the Scones

1/3 cup sugar
zest of two medium oranges
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup Green Valley Organics Lactose Free Sour Cream
1 large egg

For the Glaze

3 tablespoons unsalted butter; melted
1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, combine sugar and orange zest; mix with your fingertips until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

3. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream and egg until smooth.

5. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. The dough will be sticky first, but as you press, the dough will come together.

6. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and prepare the glaze.

7. In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and orange juice. Whisk until smooth. Dip the top of the scones into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. At this point, you can leave them as is or go for the double dip. I glazed my scones twice.

Here is a link to the actual recipe and blog http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/glazed-orange-scones/

Farsi School Norooz Celebration

Here is the flyer for our Farsi school Norooz celebration. Hoping that it will be a success!!

Absent!

I just noticed I've been absent from my blog for a while! We get so busy with work, life, kids, and every thing else that we forget the little pleasures. Well since the last post I've been teaching first grade at a school in West Sacramento. The kids are 13 and 9! My sister has moved to our neighborhood (woohoo!) I wanted to make an effort and put more pictures and recipe's of food...

The kids are 9 and 5 this year. It really is hard to believe how time goes by. This weekend Mahkameh came over and took some nice pictures of the kids. I need to take some pictures myself as soon as we get the yard all cleaned up.