Bonfire and ash-baked potatoes for Iftar

As the fall season approaches, Vecmamma (grandmother) starts a clean-up session in her garden - it is time to cut out the dry branches of fruit-trees, as well as cut off the old shoots of raspberries. This year, Vecmamma had decided to cut down also one whole plum-tree, which was too old for giving good harvest. All of this makes excellent burning material for a great bonfire. Uncle Ralfs came to garden to help with this work clean up work. He showed to Uzair and his friend Roberts, how to cut in pieces the raspberries shoots. After cutting, we put the shoots into our barbecue box, where the fire 'ate' it, letting off into the air thick, white smoke.

The bigger branches could not fit into a barbecue box, so we made a wonderful bonfire on an open field for buring them. When most of the branches had turned into ash, it was just the right time to poke some apples onto long sticks and bake them over the heat coming from the ashes. Although the sticks Uzair and his cousin Rudis had were quite long, both of them could barely survive the intense heet coming from the pile of still burning ashes, as they baked their apples. Rudis even is covering his face with his hand, in order to save it from the heat.

When the cooking session of apples was over, uncle Ralfs suggested that we cook in ashes some potatoes for the kids, who by now were starting to get hungry. He took some quite large sized potatoes, made a pit in the hot ashes, put potatoes in it and covered them with a good layer of ashes. And... some twenty minutes later, the potatoes were ready to eat! Altough first, of course, we had to find them in the pile of ashes.

It was the first day of Ramadan, and so it happened that Uzair and Hafsa had decided to keep a half-day fast. These ash-baked potatoes was their Iftar for the day! Uncle Ralfs carefully cleaned off the black peels of the potatoes, which opened to our eyes the beautifully yellow and soft texture of baked potatoes. Uzair and Hafsa were now ready for their Iftar - they took the potatoes wedges, dipped them in salt and thanked Allah (swt) for giving them the patience to keep a half day fasting. The ash-baked potatoes tasted absolutely wonderful!