Hide the wine! I'm hosting my first Eid al-Adha feast

"A few days ago, my dad gave me a call. "When we land in D.C., it's going to be Eid al-Adha," he said. "You know, the one where we eat kharouf."

No, I did not know. I had never observed the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Although my father is a Muslim, my mother is Filipino and a strict Catholic. My parents divorced when I was a child. For most of my life, my dad lived in Cairo while I grew up in Southern California. I'd visit him in the summertime. But the trips never intersected with an Eid celebration.

Now that he and my little brother Ahmed were coming to the States for a few weeks, it seemed like a good reason to host a big Eid feast in their honor.

"Very cool," I said. "We'll definitely have some kharouf ready when you get here." I searched my mind for the English translation of the word. I knew it was some kind of animal. Perhaps ... goat?"