January 2014 Host:  Sarah

 

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Summary

 

This piece of historical fiction is based on the life of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, who is mentioned briefly in Genesis.  The lives of Dinah’s friends, mothers, and aunts are described with the ‘red tent’ serving as the structure women would retire to during menstruation.  It was here where they would rest/recuperate, share stories, and celebrate lives, births, and deaths.  The structure was considered sacred as only women of child bearing age could enter and the red tent provided many women with joy and strength.  It is a place where women can pass stories down from generation to generation and talk freely about themselves, and it is also a place where births and deaths are witnessed by the women.  Dinah becomes a midwife and the author describes giving birth in biblical times, the joy, the pain, and the sorrow of babies born dead and mothers who die in childbirth.  We all enjoyed this book and anyone will definitely learn something about this time and place.

 

Menu

 

I forgot to take pictures and wish I hadn't since we had an awesome spread of Mediterranian food which included chicken and beef, tabbouleh salad, baba ganoush, and bakery cookies.  I did take a picture earlier of the greek meatballs and tzatziki sauce I made so I will include them here.

 

Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce

(recipe adapted from Rachael Ray's recipes at foodnetwork.com)

 

For the meatballs I combined one pound of ground beef with one pound of ground lamb, 1/2 cup feta cheese, one egg, 1 teaspoon ground mint, 1/2 grated red onion, 1 tbsp. oregano, one pinch cinnamon, 2 grated garlic cloves, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/3 cup bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste.  Form into meatballs (makes about 30).  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. 

 

For the tzatziki sauce I combined in a food processor 1 grated seedless cucumber (after pressing into a strainer to remove excess water), 1.5 cups of greek yogurt, 2 tbsp. dill, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 clove garlic, 2 tsp lemon juice, salt to taste.  Chill for at least one hour before serving.