Turkish Hospitality, Hosting a Dinner Party

I cannot believe we are celebrating our 1-year anniversary living in  Istanbul!

My husband arrived in mid-June last year and I landed on July 22, so I guess technically I haven’t reached my 1-year milestone yet.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed living here, and I’ve been told by our new friends that they are amazed at how well I’ve adapted here. I’ve just sort of thrown myself into my daily life here. I try to keep an open mind and live by the mantra that “Everyday is an adventure here.”

I decided it was high time Jason and I hosted a dinner party, and we invited his staff over to our place. So this weekend, I prepped and cooked for two days for my Latin-inspired meal. I wanted to cook dishes you don’t normally eat here in Turkey, and Mexican food is one of my favorite cuisines (see previous margarita night.)

Here was my menu:

• My Mexican tomato salsa served with tortilla chips (I had to go to 3 different stores to get the chips and cilantro. I don’t understand why they are so difficult to find here.)
• Shrimp seviche
• Chipotle-tomato salsa
• Shredded chicken in mole sauce for making your own tacos. Served with diced green onions, shredded kasar peyniri, canned jalapeños and steamed tortillas.
• Pickled red onions
• Dulce de leche cupcakes with dulce de leche-vanilla cream cheese frosting
• Black bean and bacon taquitos (made from yufka)
• Sliced proscuitto and several cheeses with crackers
• Homemade sangria and margaritas (This was hubby’s area of expertise.)

The table filled with all the delicious food.

For several of the recipes, I relied on my dog-eared copy of Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen. I didn’t have all the chili peppers used in the recipes so I improvised with dry spices and Turkish peppers.

Shredded chicken tacos with pickled red onions and chipotle-tomato salsa.

It was fun to meet and socialize with my husband’s staff. I’ve met a few of the co-workers before, but I was happy to be hosting them in our home and so was Jason. I wanted to do something special for them and the best way for me to do is to cook. I often bake special treats for Jason to share at work. So I was surprised when we received some very nice gifts (housewarming presents) from his staff. The staff really went out of their way with their kindness and gave us gifts that will remind of Istanbul no matter where we live. Çok teşekkür ederim!

One of the gifts - a beautiful vase with the Galata Tower in the middle.

During this past year, I’ve been lucky to experience the generous hospitality and kindness of the Turkish people on many occasions. Whether it’s a Turkish man offering me his seat on the metro or the dolmuş, tossing in a few free lemons into my bag at the pazar, not allowing me to pay for the 2 macaroons I wanted at the pastane, physically walking me to a place because I was lost, helping me carry my groceries up to my apartment to the butcher rounding down the price of my meat purchase. Who does these kinds of things? Only in Turkey, perhaps.

Generally, the people I daily encounter greet me with charm and conversation even when I respond with my broken Turkish and incorrect grammar. People seem to understand me, telling me my Turkish is “çok güzel” while I try hard not to laugh at my own conversational skills. I enjoy these encounters.

Afiyet Olsun!

The cupcakes weren't perfect with their soft frosting,
but they still were yummy.

For the dulce de leche cupcakes, I pretty much followed the recipe found on Joy the Baker’s blog. The recipe yields a large batch and easily could be cut in half.

To make dulce de leche, follow the directions here. Another method is to boil the cans of sweetened condensed milk in boiling water for 3 hours. Just make sure the cans are completely immersed under water the whole time. (I purchased my cans of condensed milk at the REAL store in Fulya in the dairy aisle.)

Dulce de leche-vanilla frosting

Ingredients:
400 g. krem peynir (cream cheese), room temperature
3-4 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 each vanilla bean pod, scraped
5 oz. /110 g. dulce de leche
100 g. powdered sugar

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, blend together the krem peynir (cream cheese) with the vanilla bean until soft and creamy.
2. Add the butter and mix well, being sure to scrap the bottom of the bowl well with a spatula.
3. Add the dulce de leche and powdered sugar; mix well again.
4. Place the frosting in the fridge, allowing it to chill for awhile before using. (For some reason, whenever I use the krem peynir, it never seems to set up as well as American cream cheese, but it’s still tasty.)

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Gelato Istanbul'da

Today, hubby and I are enjoying a lazy Sunday strolling through Taksim. We stopped at Cremeria Milano, near the Sishane metro stop on Istikal Cad. This small gelato shop is a recent discovery for me thanks to a long-time resident and friend.

My 2-scoop cone of Tirmisu and caffe' was delicious! Perfect for this warm day. A little pricier than my normal dondurma shop - 7tl vs. 2tl. But oh so worth it!

Afiyet olsun!

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How to Celebrate the Fourth Abroad

While I did miss being back in the U.S.A. this past weekend to celebrate Fourth of July, I decided to make the best of it.

For me that involved food - as most holidays do!

My husband’s parents hosted a slew of relatives over the weekend and did all sorts of barbecuing on the grill - pork ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob. We were able to chat via Skype with everyone and at least say hello while I drooled enviously over the slab of ribs.

Here in Istanbul, I made beef hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, deviled eggs and Red Velvet cupcakes. My friend, Sheryl, made the classic American concoction of a gooey, Velveeta cheese dip and chocolate chip cookies.

An American-style hamburger made in Istanbul with a medium red center,
just the way I like it!

While living abroad as an expat, a holiday you’ve grown up with can suddenly be anything you want it to be. For Fourth of July,  that meant I simply wanted to celebrate with familiar foods and friends. We didn’t have fireworks, but that’s okay. We sat around our dining room table, eating, laughing and having a good time.

Homemade potato salad and deviled eggs garnished with paprika and pul biber.

To celebrate a holiday abroad as an expat, here are some of my thoughts:

1. Make the best of your situation. Try to incorporate some of your family traditions into your own celebration no matter where you are.

2. Ignore the holiday if you want. You don’t have to celebrate it.

3. Cook familiar foods. For Americans, Fourth of July is all about hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad, pie, etc. I thought about using kiraz to make a cherry pie here, but decided against it because of the workload involved. Instead, Red Velvet cupcakes and my friend’s chocolate chip cookies made great substitutes and are perfect representations of American desserts.

4. Celebrate with friends and neighbors. It doesn’t matter if your friends are French, Turkish, Australian or whatever. Invite them over, cook some food and have a great time!

And that’s exactly what we did!

Afiyet Olsun!

"Grilling" hamburgers and hot dogs inside our apartment.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Adapted from Paula Deen’s recipe. Click the link to see the American version. The recipe below uses Turkish substitutes.)

Ingredients:
435 g. pasta/borek unu (flour)
350 g. granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 T. cocoa powder

330 ml. ayçiçek yağı (sunflower oil)
2 ea. large eggs, room temperature
230 ml. ayran (or homemade buttermilk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. elma sirkesi (apple vinegar)
1 T. red food coloring (I used a spoonful of Wilton red food coloring paste I found at a bake shop behind the Spice Bazaar in Eminönü.)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/175 C.
2. Use whatever muffin pan you have. I made small and large cupcakes. Line the muffin pans with cupcake papers.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and cocoa powder.
4. In a large bowl, gently mix together the oil, ayran, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients above. Mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Red Velvet cake is very red!

6. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake papers, about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 18-20 minutes for larger ones and 10-12 minutes for smaller cupcakes. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick or metal skewer for doneness.

7. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting
400 g. krem peynir (cream cheese), room temperature
200 g. Dr. Oetker pudra şekeri (powdered sugar)
3-6 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

1. In a medium bowl, cream the krem peynir (cream cheese), using an electric mixer, until smooth.
2. Add the powdered sugar and blend well.
3. Add the unsalted butter. The more you add the richer the frosting will taste.
Tip: I find the frosting to be a bit runnier than what I’m used to in the U.S., so it would not hold its shape. However, it tastes great and works well enough.

My Turklish Red Velvet cupcakes with white and blue frosting.

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Fourth of July in Istanbul

Today, back in the U.S., many friends and family members have the day off to celebrate this American holiday. I can't but help missing all this - the get-togethers, the food and the fireworks - a little bit!

However, I plan to make the best of this day in Istanbul anyway. Hubby is still at work but has asked that I make deviled eggs and grilled hamburgers. The eggs are cooling now. Why celebrate alone? So I've invited another American couple over for dinner.

Dessert will be these red, white and blue Red Velvet cupcakes I baked yesterday. To me, this is definitely an American invention. A little tacky, but oh so tasty!

Happy July 4th to my friends back home and abroad!

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Pamukkale: Where To Stay - The Best Small Hotel

Pamukkale - From the moment, we walked into this small hotel I felt like I was at home.

I greeted, Mehmet, the hotel’s owner, in my basic Turkish. He remembered me as we had communicated a few times by email for our reservation. Turns out, he speaks great English. “Problem değil.”

The Melrose House Hotel is located in a peaceful neighborhood surrounded by a large garden in Pamukkale. One afternon, Mehmet, gave us some freshly picked yeni dünya (loquats) to snack on from his garden.

On the first day, we arrived late in the afternoon after having spent several hours on the road and sightseeing at Aphrodisias. Mom and I decided to cool down by getting into the swimming pool while the guys pulled up chairs and ordered drinks.

The swimming pool photographed at night.

It was so easy to relax in the pool while enjoying a glass of local wine before dinner.

Speaking of food, this is where Mehmet’s wife, Ummu, takes charge. She helps cook, takes your order and brings out the food. Sometimes their daughter also would help out or you’d see other staff members. Apparently, we were so hungry every meal that we forgot to take photos!

Melrose House: the dining area late at night.

I took a photo of our yummy salad one night via my cell phone.

The menu consists of Turkish staples such as a daily soup, salads, a few mezes, tavuk güveç, roasted chicken with rice, fish, etc. (Dad enjoyed a bowl of yayla çorbası (a hot yogurt soup) both days.) We saw no reason to go elsewhere so we enjoyed dinner and drinks both nights as well as a full breakfast buffet, which was included in the room price, at the Melrose.

The hotel itself is well-maintained with clean, large and comfortable rooms. Room prices start at 25 EU and go up to 50 and 60 EU for a deluxe room. We stayed in a stone suite room at 40 EU per night.

Our stone suite room was quite comfortable. It was the first time we
had ever slept in a round bed. Çok romantik! 

What should most be noted is that Mehmet went out of his way to make each one of his guests feel welcome and special. When we were there, we noticed a family from Holland, several Japanese tourists, a German family as well as several English and Australian-sounding tourists.

The view from our balcony of the dining area below and the swimming pool behind the olive tree.

The view to the left looking out our balcony.

From our hotel, it was an easy stroll, about 15 minutes, to the south entrance of the travertines in Pamukkale. We left around 9 a.m., with a map and tips, to see the sites and returned late afternoon to enjoy some more pool time and drinks.

If you visit Pamukkale, Melrose House is the place to stay. We wish we could have someone like Mehmet and his family at every hotel we stay at in Turkey.

For reservations: sales@melroseresidence.com 

Address: Vali Vekfi Ertürk Cad. No:8
Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey

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Pamukkale: Blinded By The Light

Pamukkale - As we approached from the southern entrance, we were shocked by the whiteness of the travertines here.

As the day wore on and the sun came out in full force, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a favorite late '70s pop song called “Blinded by the light.” The hot sun reflected off the calcified stones, which later resulted in some spicy sunburns as well.

The rocks look like they are almost covered in snow, but they aren't. :-)

I had seen many photos of Pamukkale online, but still I was amazed at this site - nothing like I have ever seen before. I’m sure it’s a natural wonder I’ll never see again. I'm thrilled we were able to share this experience with my husband's parents too.

 

Mom and I pose for photos at Pamukkale.

According to the Pamukkale guide book I bought on-site:

“the thermal waters, which are on an important fault line in western Anatolia, are heated by subterranean heat. The waters, which contain calcium hydro carbonate in its formation, come out of the ground at 33-36 C. The water loses its warmth and thus the carbon dioxide and the carbon monoxide are released and the calcium carbonate is precipitated.”

Unfortunately, the travertines used to be even more beautiful - as is evidenced in old photos found online or in books - and more were open to the public. However, years of neglect and too many tourists destroyed some of the travertines, which are now closed off and have reverted to an ugly gray color.

You were forbidden to walk on this old section of the travertines.

In 1988, the area of Pamukkale and the neighboring ancient city of Hierapolis was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. From what I understand, the Turkish government later sought assistance; and in 2006, UNESCO stepped in to help restore the natural whiteness of the travertines. To maintain the travertines, the water flow now is controlled through select channels and reaches the terraces according to a weekly watering schedule.

The water flow is now controlled through channels in the rock like this one.

Walking barefoot on the calcified rocks, you may think you might slip, but you don’t. Because of the flowing waters, the rocks have rippled grooves in them.

Hubby's foot in the cool waters at Pamukkale.

We had an enjoyable experience in Pamukkale and absolutely loved our small hotel, the Melrose House Hotel. Here's that post: Pamukkale - Where to Stay - The Best Small Hotel.

The landscape of Turkey continues to amaze me.

This summer, we have a few more road trips in Turkey planned. Stay tuned!

Tip: Arrive first thing in the morning so you can avoid some of the crowds.
Admission: 20 TL

At the top located in Hierapolis, you'll find a few ancient sarcophagus embedded into the travertines.

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