Our Family Dinner Book Club selection for the month of March is Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke. Here you’ll find a menu that can be prepared with the help of your children, and will hopefully be a fun and interactive activity for the whole family. Head over to Growing Book by Book for some talking points to get the conversation started as well as an idea for a family service project. Then visit Sunny Day Family for a fun craft. We invite you to share a picture from your dinner with us anytime during the month on our Family Dinner Book Club Facebook page.
Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa, Amazing Africa, and we get to follow her adventures in this book containing four stories. I’m eager to pick up the other Anna Hibiscus books now to see what fun adventures Anna and her family take. In this book, Anna’s aunt comes to visit and they have a big feast. Grandfather is worried that Auntie Comfort won’t remember how to do things “the proper African way” after living in America. Auntie Comfort arrives dressed in a colorful and traditional African dress. At dinner she asks for the finger washing bowl and rolls the eba into neat little balls with her fingertips.
I thought for Family Dinner Book Club we should have an African feast, specifically filled with Nigerian foods because our author is from Nigeria.
Anna Hibiscus
Family Dinner Book Club Menu
Nigerian Peanut Soup
Eba
Suya Spicy Beef Skewers
Rice
Mangoes
Oranges
Chin Chin
Zobo Hibiscus Tea
Kids in The Kitchen:
Nigerian cuisine can be quite spicy, so I have tried to tone down the spiciness of these recipes. If your family can’t handle any spice at all, leave out the cayenne pepper and paprika from the recipes.
I think kids will have so much fun rolling out the Chin Chin and cutting it into fun shapes. Kids can also help add all the ingredients for the Hibiscus Tea and check to see if they want to add any sweetener to it! Use a food processor to grind the spices for the Spicy Beef Skewers and kids can help add all the spices and press the “go” button to watch it all come together.
Oh my, my mouth is watering. This looks so amazing. So many new things to try. I can’t wait.