Category
June 10, 2016
Kol Böreği Kol Böreği is one of my favorite types of börek. It is a Turkish dish with many variations. There are many regional specialties as well. The fillings can be meat, cheese, leeks, potatoes, zucchini, and eggplant to name a few. Laz böreği is made in the Rize region and it is made with an Ottoman-style milk pudding then sprinkled with powdered sugar. One of my other favorites is Talaş Böreği. It is cubed lamb or beef with carrots, peas,...
June 7, 2016
Simple Squash Saute We have a little less than two weeks until the official start of summer (June 20th) but I have already found some great locally grown squash at the Rainbow City Farmer’s Market last week. The ones I picked out were small and delicious. I made a Simple Squash Saute from them to go with our Sunday lunch and they were great with our pinto beans, cornbread, cabbage, mac-n-cheese and my sister’s yummy coleslaw. Of course we had...
June 5, 2016
Chilton County Peach Cobbler My sister, Kim and I have been going to wine tastings at some great Alabama Winery’s the past few weekends. She wants to go to all 16 recognized winery’s in Alabama. We finished the Northeast Alabama Wine Trail last week. It included Wills Creek Winery, Jules J Berta Vineyards, Maraella Winery and Vineyard, White Oak Vineyards, Fruithurst Winery, and High Country Cellars. We decided to check out some of the Winery’s near Birmingham this weekend. I...
May 29, 2016
Teriyaki Chicken Veggie Stir-fry Just made us a fantastic dinner – Teriyaki Chicken Veggie Stir-fry. It was so quick. Only 35 minutes for the stir-fry and I also made steamed rice, which can be cooked in 15 minutes while working on the main dish. My daughter really loved it and that always makes me happy. This recipe can be easily doubled if you have a crowd to feed or if you just want to have left overs for lunch. I...
April 24, 2016
4 Ingredient Cheese Ball I guess you all know by now that I love cheese. Like really, really, really, REALLY love cheese! One of my favorite ways of enjoying cheese is by making my 4 Ingredient Cheese Ball and eating it with some Triscuit or Ritz Crackers. This recipe is so easy and it only has 4 ingredients and takes literally minutes to prepare. You could shape this into any shape you like such as a log. My sister, cousin and...
April 19, 2016
Turkish Food Festival 2016 was held this past Saturday and Sunday, April 16th and 17th in Hoover, Alabama at the Istanbul Cultural Center. It was the third annual event but this was my first time attending and it was very enjoyable. I don’t know how I missed it the past two years. The picture above is the epitome of Turkish hospitality. I am so disappointed because I got the email and names for the nice people serving the tea and unfortunately,...
April 3, 2016
Easy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies What could be better than Chocolate Chip Cookies???? Easy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, that’s what! I was in the mood for something sweet so off to my cupboard I went. I wanted something chocolatey for sure. Since I love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I thought a peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips would taste great. To give a little texture, I added in some oatmeal. The results were fantastic. The best...
March 27, 2016
Meatball Cannellini Bean Ragout This year my sister and I decided that we were not going to cook the traditional Easter meal that we always cook. It is a tradition that we love but this year, we just needed a break. So the three of us (sister, daughter and myself) went to Classics on Noble for Brunch and it was really nice. Since I knew we would be having a big brunch today, I wanted to make something light for dinner....
January 30, 2016
Karniyarik Karniyarik is a Turkish dish that literally means slashed belly. The dish gets the name because the eggplant looks like a belly shape and then you cut it down the middle to stuff it. It is one of my favorite eggplant dishes. Karniyarik is delicious served with some rice and yogurt on the side. Of course, you all know me by now, I would make that garlic yogurt instead. Wow, just looking at that bite of Karniyarik, makes...
December 19, 2015
Lamb Okra Chickpea Stew aka Bamyali Nohutlu Kuzu Et When I think of winter comfort food, Lamb Okra Chickpea Stew aka Bamyali Nohutlu Kuzu Et immediately comes to mind. It is a hearty, satisfying dish that will leave you will a fully belly and make you want to curl up by the fireplace with a good book. If you are not a fan of okra, this dish is one that you should try. It might make an okra lover out of...
August 16, 2015
I thought our Sunday dinner couldn’t get any better but boy was I wrong. The cherry on top was actually the strawberry on top. . . as in Strawberry Guri Guri. We filled our bellies with Boston Butt, corn, purple hull peas, sliced tomatoes and saffron infused ic pilav. I made my basic ic pilav recipe but instead of water, I used saffron infused water. I will have to post the recipe for that soon. I just...
August 10, 2015
Some of my best recipes come about when I am trying to use up tidbits in my pantry and these Cranberry, Apple and Walnut Scones are no exception. I had a small amount of cranberries in my pantry that I needed to use up. I also had some apples and oranges that were not getting eaten up quickly enough. These items were the inspiration for my scones. My cousin/sister Donna loves scones so I had already told her I was...
