May 01, 2019 3 min read

 

One of the blessings of Holy Month of Ramadan is being able to share it with our friends. Unfortunately, it can be tricky to share with our colleagues and neighbors in an approachable manner, so our tags hope to accomplish this, and paired with the right "gift" -- you can truly achieve your goals.

We wrote these to make the Ramadan gift giving approachable and easy for anyone to give - even to those we aren't that close to!  The tags, which you can download here, are TOTALLY free, and below are just a few ideas on how you can use this. (AND PS - they match our "Ramadan Blessed Month" tees- which can be found here).

For your neighbors

I tend to err on the side of caution when accepting food from others - did they prepare it with clean hands? Is it allergy free?  How will it taste? Does it abide by my dietary restrictions? So, for neighbors, who you may not know incredibly well, you might consider pre-packaged items, or non-edibles.  Take a loo below at my list.

1) Plants

Since Ramadan comes just after Earth Day and during Spring, you can go to your favorite home improvement and garden store and buy a potted plant.  We like succulents because they're easy to maintain - and relatively inexpensive.  Nothing says Spring and happiness like plants!

2) Bottle of Apple Cider

A simple bottle of Apple Cider is a great and inexpensive way to share the season with our neighbors.  Tie a pretty ribbon around the neck along with our tags, and done!

3) Box of chocolates

Candy always goes a long way.  Boxes of chocolate are an easy and sweet way to share our Holy Month with our neighbors and friends.  Please remember, due to the rise of allergies, giving a packaged box is always the correct way to go about this gift so that families can thoroughly read ingredients before sharing with members of the family.  Avoid giving bags of small candies since families can't always read ingredients - and allergy families due often look for cross-contamination info.

4) Basket of Fruit

Fruit baskets are an easy way to commemorate Ramadan!  Whole fruit is easy and can be made really beautiful.  Get a variety of at least three color variations if you want an aesthetically pleasing basket -- bananas, apples, oranges, and toss in a few mangoes if you want to pay homage to the Middle East! :)

 

Colleagues

Since colleagues know you and you may have a more personal relationship with them,  food that is not pre-packaged is appropriate.  You can share your ethnic cooking with them in safety, or go the easy route.

Here's what I've done with my colleagues in the past -

1) Box of Donuts

When you're fasting, nothing is simpler than grabbing a few dozen donuts and leaving them in the break room with a simple card explaining Ramadan.  Colleagues love free food - and who doesn't like donuts?

2) Samosas / Other Ethnic Food Favorite

Use this as an opportunity to share a delightful snack that pays homage to your heritage.  In the past, I've brought fresh samosas to the office to share Ramadan with my friends.  Tip: prepare a vegetarian batch for anyone who doesn't eat meat -- and be sure to fry the veggie batch in clean oil so as not to contaminate!

3) Sugar Cookies / Other Cookies

If you're a mini Martha Stewart, put your sugar cookie baking skills to the test and use cookie cutters (LINK HERE) or (LINK HERE) and decorate for your colleagues.  This works well if you work in a huge office and can only share with a few members/friends.  You can use our tags for treat boxes and share them with colleagues with a jolly note.

4) Chocolate Covered Dates

Food blogger Blend of Spice creates an art out of her chocolate covered dates, masha'allah.  Normally I'd suggest against doing dates since not many in the West eat dates the way we do, but, given how pretty her dates are, I'd suggest giving these a shot.  Check her gorgeous dates out here.

What do you like to give neighbors and friends for Ramadan?

Head on over to download them by clicking this link here

 

PS - they match our "Ramadan Blessed Month" tees- which can be found here.


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