Let them eat cake

I love cake. Especially home made cakes.

I hadn't done much baking here as I find the ingredients harder to understand in the supermarket and it's just easier to get my fix from a few bits of bhaklava.

An expat posted a great site with pics of cakes and she had made the carrot cake ("havuç kek"). I bought my first cake tin on the weekend and decided to give it a go. I was most worried about the philly cream cheese substitution but thanks to handy tips from other expats the suggestion was to use 'labne' which is more of a yoghurt based spread but very similar in texture to cream cheese.

I have to admit after labouring in the kitchen it was very much worth it!! The cake was delish and moist after adding some crushed pineapple. The frosting was perfect too!

You can check this recipe and other here at Joy of Baking.

Mid week day off...

Today, 23 April, was a public holiday here in Turkey for National Sovereignty and Children's Day. The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated April 23 to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation. It was on April 23, 1920, during the War of Independence, that the Grand National Assembly met in Ankara and laid down the foundations of a new, independent, secular, and modern republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

So, I decided to go to my first ever expat meet up. I'm glad I went. It was nice to meet new people and put faces to names. I am a member of an expat web portal here called Sublime Portal and a few people at the meet up are members of the site.

One of the members owns and runs her own pizza shop in Sultanahmet and it was decided the meet up would be there. I took along my new Aussie friend Angela and her English teaching Ameican boyfriend, Travis. I had not met him before, so it was nice to catch up with Angela and meet her man and get to know him. He teaches at a high school and is very passionate about his work and students.

I met several other members from the forum, some of which are part of a writers group in Istanbul. One of the writers writes for my fave newspapers Today's Zaman and some of the others were teachers and artists. I think Trav was a bit overwhelmed with all the ladies, but all in all, we had a nice day.

We then headed to Beyazit Mosque as Trav is reading a book set in the 1800's and the current chapter is based around the Beyazit Mosque and the murder of a man. So we took a stroll around the mosque as he read to us from the guide book.

We also checked out Istanbul Univeristy which sits right next door and then headed down the back way from the Grand Bazzar and onto Eminönu where we arrived to the Egyptian Spice Market. We parked up for a few glasses of taze portakal suyu (fresh orange juice) and then said our goodbyes as they headed for the İskelese to take the ferry to Üsküdar and I jumped on a tram to head back my way. I must say the weather was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold with a lovely breeze. This week has been so weird with the weather, 34 and humid on Tuesday, 26 and perfect today and tomorrow the forecast is 12. Go figure...

Saving the planet

Lately I have been thinking about what I can do to save the planet a bit more. Turks are not very earth friendly with their endless packaging, plastic bags and littering. Recycling is not that popular and I must admit I recently reverted to throwing the bottles in with the rest of the garbage; something I would never dream of doing in Australia. We have a recycling hub (one of those big dome shaped things) in our compound which requires me to walk with a bag full of items and post them into the right slot whether it be paper/cardboard, plastic or glass. I have no problem with this although when the dome is full and remains full for weeks on end, I become reluctant to visit the hub to make my deposit. In Aus people recycle all things; tins, paper, glass and even food scraps which are collected on the same day of each week or recyclable collection can occur on alternating weeks. I feel here we are behind the eight ball a bit maybe by about 10 years or so with the 'westernised' concepts of earth saving habits.

Yesterday, care of http://www.pukkaliving.com/, (a great web site for those living and visiting the Bul) an article about Baggu Reusable Shopping Bags. Designed by mother and daughter team, Joan and Emily, you can do your bit to save the planet and still look cool. They are great bags and what I like about them is is that the length is spot on so you can carry it by had, on your arm or on your shoulder. I like that. I was thinking to pick some up via their website. Not only can you fit 2-3 plastic bags of groceries in one Baggu but 6 bags can hold a whole shopping trolley worth! They are ethically made in China from 100% ripstop nylon.

Long time

It has really been a while since I posted due to the busy time we had in the lead up to the wedding and the wind down afterwards.

All in all we had the most fantastic time; wedding day, week before, week after and all in between. It was fairly hectic with family and friends arriving and me trying to keep track of everyones movements, flights, hotel arrangements, transfers and flights. But it all went off without a hitch and we had such an enjoyable time. We need a rest now.