Pirate Party Time: Sakau

April always begins our whirlwind, nonstop, birthday party season.  Last weekend was Little Pirate's birthday.

Can I tell you how much I love my friends?  They are so creative and the parties always are picture perfect.  Little Pirate's birthday was truck themed.  And Mrs. Pirate did not disappoint. 

 Little truck sippy cups dotted each table which was decorated with checkerboard flags.  And there were toy trucks everywhere.  Along with activities involving them, like paint in trays for creating car tracks.  Or a race track set up on a hill.

The kids gathered around the tables for a little bit of singing, and a lot of cupcake eating.

Thatkid is pretty happy Passover is over.  He sure loves his cupcakes!

After the kids were sugared up, the Pirates pulled out the pinata.  Last year, Thatkid was too shy/self conscious to take a swing in front of everyone.  This year he was more than happy to join in the fun.

And he jumped right in to fill up his bag with candy.  He has enough jolly ranchers to lastfor weeks.

The only problem with birthday parties is that it's hard to get some one on one time with the hosts.  Luckily, a couple weeks ago we had the Pirates over for dinner.  It was something we had been planning since January. 

We planned it to be a movie night, but the boys were more interested in running around outside and playing.  The grownups sat around catching up and chatting.  For dinner I ended up making Sakau - an eggplant dish which is a twist on the similar moussaka.  The boys ate the filling with pasta, while I rolled it in eggplant for those of us who aren't 3.   Mrs. Pirate brought rice pilaf with her and it went perfectly with this dish.

Sakau (From Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook)

 2 eggplants

3 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp parsley, chopped

1 lb ground beef

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp uncooked rice

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup tomato sauce

1 Tbsp margarine

1. Heat oil over medium high heat.  Peel and cut the eggplants lengthwise into slices about 1/2 inch thick.
2. Beat 2 eggs slightly.  
3. Dip the eggplant slices in the beaten egg and fry on both sides until brown.  Set aside.
4. Brown the onion in the same pan.  
5. Add the parsley and remove from heat
6. Combine the remaining egg with the ground beef, salt, pepper, and rice. Add to the onion and brown.
7. Preheat oven to 350.  Place a tsp of the meat mixture at each slice of the fried eggplant.  Roll the slices up and arrange them in a baking dish.
8. Sprinkle sugar over all.
9. Add the water, tomato sauce, and margarine.  Bake for 35 minutes.