Cooking inspiration

After my last post, I began to consider all that was in my fridge, which was a lot of food. So today I decided to whip up a vegetable sauce, similar to a ratatouille. My mum used to make lots of yummy ones back in the day so I thought I could cook that in order to reduce what was in the fridge in order not to waste. I hate to waste.

I diced up some eggplant's, zucchini's, onion, garlic, mushrooms, green peppers-sweet and mild, and used fresh tomatoes as the base- peeled the skins off them and roughly cut them up. I then added some salça, tomato paste, salt and pepper, a dash of sugar and some dry mixed herbs and let it reduce for about 20 minutes.

But then, what to do once that cooked? A post from a blog I read a while ago reminded me of the open lasagna whereby you boil the pasta sheets separately and then on the plate build your own lasagna. I put one sheet on the base of the plate then added some cheese then sauce and repeated this with 3 lasagna sheets. On top, I added some more sauce, fresh chopped parsley and cheese and presto! You have an open lasagna. It was very tasty and easy and you can make loads of sauce and then freeze.

Fridge stuffed full

I haven't had much to blog about these past weeks, which I guess you can tell.

My out-laws are here for the week. Although it's a bit cramped at home, it's nice to come home to a warm house with the smell of delicious home cooked food floating in the air, not the mention the three large boxes or food, including meat, dry ingredients and fruit and veggies they bought with them. My fridge, needless to say, is busting at the sides due to the fact that we stocked the near empty thing prior to their arrival in order to avoid the embarrassment that would follow when his mother inspected the fridge!

Cooking is a chore for me, especially since I work full-time and dinner is never on the table before 8pm, unless we called out for it! It's hard to be inspired about food when you have slaved over your job all day and then need to muster up some energy to do it all again at home. I wish I didn't feel this way about cooking as I love food and love all that Turkish food has to offer. I find it hard to think on the spot about something to cook and feel that cooking a meal is a great effort.

Recently though I have been thinking about taking a cooking class. I'm not totally hopeless in the kitchen, don't get me wrong, but living in Turkey requires some know how in the basics of Turkish cuisine in order to whip up meals any night of the week without sending myself into a panicked frenzy.

I've made an inquiry about a cooking class and hope to be able to take some casual classes in the coming months. It's not easy to find the time for that also with Turkish classes on Saturday and Sunday. But it might be a nice break away from the languages classes maybe once or twice a month in order to give me some time for something that I want to be good at, ah, not that I don't want to be good at Turkish, but, you know, something else. And also something that I can impress my husband with. He always says how good my lasagna/pasta/roast lamb is, but I can't keep cooking those same things all the time.

For you Turkish cooks out there, what are some easy Turkish meals that you whip up in no time? I'd be interested to hear.

My freedom to speech

Access to blogspot and blogger were temporarily blocked/shut down from last Friday. This is not the first time something like this has happened here. Since May, youtube has been blocked and not to mention the other 1,000 sites that have been blocked. I have my ways around such blockings but it makes things a bit difficult. The reason behind the block came about through a complaint by Lig TV, the founding broadcaster of the Turkcell Super League. Apparetnly, the two blog-hosting services (blogger and blogspot) were enabling their users to watch soccer matches without any subscription to the TV station. Really? Well, it certainly was not me so why did my blog become blocked for the last couple of days? Madness really.

Turkey is trying to overcome the problems it has with blocking information as opposed to whole websites but I sense it could take some time to overcome the problem....

Moleskine Istanbul City Guide is here!

They have arrived! The Moleskine City Notebook series now has an Istanbul City Guide. It contains key maps and metro routes, large scale city centre maps, blank pages for jotting, archives pages with tabs so you can personalise your guide and many, many more great features!

image from amazon.com

Can't wait to get my hands on one and check it out. These would make great gifts for those visiting your city and there are City Notebooks for most major cities around the world.

Tea time!

Since moving to Turkey not only has my love for Turkish tea grown, but I have also developed an interest in tea pots. In every Turkish home you will find tea pots of all different shapes and sizes and most likely you will never see the same one twice.


I was excited to find some gorgeous tea pot pictures on Etsy and purchased this one from FlowerPress from Sydney.




I also have my eye on this original giclee art print from mizudesigns from Melbourne.

And this stunning one from studiolyon which I think is so beautiful with in blue.

To France and back

We headed to France for a quick weekend away to attend Kenan's sister, Ayşe's, wedding.

They live in Saint Claude which is about 60kms from Switzerland. The landscape as we flew over Switzerland towards Lyon was stunning with snow capped mountains which looked like fluffy milk floating between blocks of Swiss chocolate. And then flying over France where everything became green and lush. Saint Claude is beautiful and picturesque, surrounded by mountains which are covered in trees with autumn leaves.

The weather was beautiful and mild and the town was very green and lush. What is interesting about Saint Claude is that there are about 2,000 Turks living in this town of about 13,000. We were told that about 35 years ago one or two people from Yozgat in Turkey went there to work and since then many others from Yozgat have followed. Most of them are there for work and there are many Turkish restaurants and cafes. The groom's father told us that he lived there for 15 years without his family while he tried to establish a business and a life for the family there before bringing his wife and three children across about six years ago.

Saint Claude is really beautiful. In summer Europeans go there for walking and hiking in the surrounding mountains. I'd love to again and visit and see more of the town. I learnt that the town is famous for pipes and diamonds (yes, big ones!), not that I came across any myself, but apparently there are diamond factories there. In the town centre there is a large pipe and diamond, see the pic below.

I spent most of Saturday helping the bride prepare with her new sister-in-laws helping out. They helped her prepare her turban and makeup and then one of the sisters husbands came with his car all decked out in flowers and ribbon (and Turkish flag!) and drove the bride, groom, Kenan and myself around town for some pictures. From there it was back to the house to greet the visitors and family.

The wedding took place at the Turkish-France cultural centre that the Turks had built. The area contains some small Turkish shops, cafes, hall and mosque. The wedding reception was basic in order to cater for the 600+ people. It seemed more like a relaxed gathering than a wedding with kids of all ages running around the place and the three Turkish MC's talking too much and no one understanding a word of what they were saying. During the recent Bayram, one of the groom's uncles' passed away which meant that the plan for the wedding had to chang in that there was no dancing and not much music. There were some more low key songs that were sang, but certainly no dancing. The reception started from 4pm, which is apparently common in France and ended around 8.30pm. After the gift giving ceremony took place, where people come to the front of the room and present the bridge and groom with their gift of gold or money, we headed back to the sisters house and prepared supper for the guests. Turkish hospitality requires a lot preparation, food, tea and stamina in order to prepare all the food and eat lots of it too (even when you are full).

There were loads of great photo opportunities in Saint Claude which is why I would love to visit again and take photos in a different season. Below are just some of the lovely buildings with gorgeous flower boxes and shutters. There were also some interesting bridges around the town.

Parlez vous Francais?

Or Türkçe biliyor musun?

These are the two questions I know I will hear many times over the next few days.

Tomorrow we are heading to France for my husband's sisters wedding. Her husband-to-be is a Turk, living in France. He speaks French and Turkish, my sister-in-law speaks Turkish and a little French mixed with a little English. My husband speaks English and Turkish and I speak English and some Turkish and a touch of French (all that I can remember from year 9 high school). The rest of his family speaks French and Turkish, so I could be having some nice conversations with myself over the next couple of days. Hmmmm...

They live in Saint-Claude, which is about 1.5 hours east of Lyon. Saint-Claude is located closed to the border with Switzerland. It would have been nice to have some more time to visit Paris so I could show Ken, but time is not on our side as usual as I have to get back for work on Monday.

We are lucky in fact that we could go. I don't require a visa but Ken had to apply for one and wait. 200 euros later, he got it. We are the only ones going from the bride's family as Ken's parents could not go. His mother was not granted a visa (after two applications) and his father is not fit to travel due to an operation he had recently. So, amongst the 'French', we will be the only two from her side of an expected 500+ people they are expecting. It should be interesting. I'll take lots of pics and post here next week. Hopefully we can see their little town and check out the sights too.

Bon voyage to me!!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Siobhan from her blog realmotherhood and so I should answer the questions from the Aging meme that appeared on the blog of nobel savage, who originally tagged Siobhan. So, here goes.


At a certain age women should accept their age and appearance and age gracefully.


At a certain age men should stop driving like lunatics.


When I was a kid I thought I would travel the world.


Now that I am older I wish to see more.


You know you are too old to stay out all night when you are wishing you could take off your stiletto heels and are dreaming of your bed at 11pm.


You know you are too young to go nightclubbing when you have to use your older sisters id to get in.


When I was in high school I listened to the music of Backstreet Boys, Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, JLo, New Kids on the Block, Britney (Baby one more time!), Bon Jovi, R.E.M, Snoop Doggy Dogg, anything rap, hip hop or R&B.


Nowadays I find I like the music of Madonna, Kylie, Hills, Turkish acoustic music, French/Turkish hip hop (nothing much changes) and whatever is on the radio.


On my last birthday I turned 30. I was more focused on celebrating my birthday back home four days later in Melbourne with my family and friends. On the day, I worked all day and went to dinner with my husband and sister-in-law.

On my next birthday I will do something for myself.


The best birthday present I ever got was a surprise birthday party thrown by my friend Kate when I was living in London. All my work friends were there as well as my other London based friends. It was the best surprise to see a big group of my friends in the one place to celebrate my birthday. I even cried.


The first time I felt grown up was when I told a Family Law client that it was 'OK' to leave her husband in order to protect herself and her child.


The last time I felt like a kid was when I went to Disneyland in Anaheim and spun around in a tea cup.


When I read A Purpose Driven Life it changed my life.


Last year was a challenge, but also exciting. It was also the beginning of a new chapter in my life here.


Next year I hope to see my family and maybe start my own.


I tag my sister and verity.

I heart Marimekko

Image from marimekko "Unikko"

I am loving Marimekko fabrics. I would love to get my hands on these pillows featured on Etsy by ihamai. Simply stunning!

Out of Istanbul

We spent the week holiday of Bayram in Ankara and Konya. Most of Kenan's family (grandparents, Aunties, Uncles and counsins) still live in the village his mother was born, Sarayönü.

Village life is great. Fresh everything straight from the garden including eggs and chickens, mulberries, mint, granny smith apples, fresh ripe juicy tomatoes, massive pumpkins, long skinny eggplants, parsley, leek, cucumbers, deep purple shining plums, long green string beans, huge bright green quince, apricots and more. Inside the house there was more treats. Dried eggplants and peppers ready to be softened and stuffed (for dolma), sun dried tomatoes, bulgar, rice and lentils and dried beans from the fields, home dried mint for cooking, handmade makarna (macaroni), homemade salça (tomato paste) and pickled cucumbers, peppers and cherry tomatoes and apricot jam.

My cupboards are now neatly stocked with much of the dry ingredients and the fridge with loads of apples, salça, homemade butter, jam and a farm yard turkey.

Life in the village is much more slower than city life. But, the air is clean and so is the food and it's a nice escape from the real world hussle and bussle of Istanbul. It was nice to see the smiles on everyones faces when we arrived and the enjoyment we all shared together for those few days.