Egypt: Raspberry Lemon Cooler {Around the World in 12 Dishes}

It’s time again for a trip around the world from the comfort of our kitchen!  As part of the series “Around the World in 12 Dishes,” each month participating bloggers travel the world with their kids by cooking a dish from another country and perhaps reading a book, doing a craft, or learning fun facts about it.

The country chosen for this month was Egypt.  To be honest, it feels odd to be doing a lighthearted post about Egypt when there is so much turmoil and suffering in that country, but perhaps it is helpful to remind ourselves that beyond the politics, this is a joyful culture with much to share with the world.

I chose two recipes to try with Monkey: Spiced Oranges and Raspberry Lemon Cooler, both from an Egyptian tourism website.  Today’s post is about the Raspberry Lemon Cooler, which I chose because Monkey loooooooves lemonade.

If you look at the full recipe, you’ll notice the word “mint” in the title, which is conspicuously missing from mine.  Monkey and I actually got fresh mint to use, but in the end we decided that since my husband does not like mint, we would leave it out.  (We did have some fun with it, though – fresh herbs just lend themselves to sensory play!  And in this case, great tea, too).

I made a few other changes as well.  I of course forgot to buy pineapple juice at the store, but as it happened, we had some fresh pineapple, so Monkey had fun mashing that up.  Also, I opted not to use a carbonated lemon-lime drink as the base but just used plain lemonade instead.

Otherwise, the recipe is quite simple, involving a lot of stirring, which Monkey loves to do.

I thought the end result was fantastic, though a bit on the sweet side, so we ended up diluting it a touch.  I especially loved having the pieces of fresh fruit floating in the lemonade.  It was so refreshing, considering the unseasonably warm weather.

Monkey, on the other hand, only had one cup, but he was still so proud of it that when Daddy came home that evening he was firmly but politely made to sit and drink some.

To explore Egyptian culture, we also enjoyed reading Goha The Wise Fool, which tells a number of very short stories (often only one page long) about Goha, a popular character in Middle Eastern tales.  These witty stories always have a twist, and Monkey enjoyed them, though the punchline was often over his head.  What fascinated us both, however, were the amazing illustrations, which were actually tapestries, created in a traditional style by several extremely talented tent makers in Cairo.

What have you been exploring with your children?

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Check out the other participating blogs to see what they have been cooking up:

Adventures In Mommydom, All Done Monkey, Crafty Moms Share, Creative Family Fun, Creative World of Varya, Glittering Muffins, Here Come The Girls, Juggling with Kids, Kid World Citizen, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Mermaids’ Makings, The Educators’ Spin On It and The Hands-On Homeschooler

If you try a dish from Egypt, we’d love to hear about it! You can also link up your dish or craft here to share your post on all the participating blogs: