A Slice of England

I prepared a Turkish stall for my son’s school’s Christmas event; there were yummy Turkish Delights all the way from Istanbul (my heartfelt thanks to my sweet sister Oznur and my parents who very kindly provided them); lovely Turkish “blue eyed” key chains and necklaces; wonderful dried peppers, baby okra, aubergines (eggplants);

I made some spinach and cheese fillo pastry and let folks try them. There were copper pots, Turkish coffee pots and lovely little hand painted pottery for spices and dips. It was just wonderful to talk about food, hear everyone’s happy memories visiting Turkey. And it was wonderful to share all good things Turkey, my homeland has offered.

I just wanted to express how grateful and thankful I am for all the support from my family, friends and you all, who kindly share love of cooking.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and Festive Season; it is time to be thankful. And why not revisiting some wonderful appetizers like the cheese & spinach pastry, or red pepper paste & walnut dip or a lovely aubergine (eggplant) recipe from the blog to share with family and friends? I feel they all taste better when shared 🙂

My best wishes,
Ozlem

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure to attend the wonderful food writer and the cookery author Anissa Helou’s -www.anissas.com- Middle Eastern cookery demostrations at the Leighton House Museum, London. She kindly shared with us her extensive middle eastern ingredients and explained us how they are used in classic dishes. A very informative class, learned a great deal on especially Persian cuisine – it was also wonderful to sample the delicious Turkish dried apricots and sumac berries!- Anissa will continue to be the chef-in-residence at the Leighton House Museum on November 10th and 17th for more demonstrations on Middle Eastern cuisine. Delightful and very informative sessions, if you can make it. For more info, please visit http://www.nourfestival.co.uk/courses1.php

We have been enjoying a glorious Indian summer here in England over the last 10 days or so. In the last few days, the temperature reached its peak to 30 C (86F), breaking the records! So we are back into shorts and sandals, fantastic!It is quite surreal to see the beautiful autumn colors on the trees and kicking the leaves at the unsually warm weather, enjoying while its here!:)

We were in Malmesbury last Saturday, visiting friends. This photo is from the 12th century Abbey in Malmesbury with lovely autumn colors.

And here is the French Market in Malmesbury at the historic Market Cross,

and the Turkish Delight stall,what a pleasant surprise!

The flower baskets looked gorgeous in front of the Old Bell Hotel in Malmesbury, regarded as the first hotel in England.

It has been wonderful to be back to Malmesbury; and even more special to see friends.

Wishing you a good week ahead!
Ozlem