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Petersons Fund for Children Charity Fundraiser & Some Delicious Nibbles to Share

I was delighted to be a part of a good cause last week; Petersons Fund for Children Charity Fundraiser in Surrey, England.

Peterson’s Fund for Children’ is a registered local charity that supports children who struggle with cerebral palsy and other similar mental / physical disabilities. It has been in existence for nearly 4 years and through extensive fundraising efforts has provided therapy and equipment otherwise unavailable at the NHS in England. The aim of the charity is to help as many local children in need as possible in the hopes of improving their quality of life and offering them opportunities in order to maximize their individual growth and potential.

Twice a year, Charlene Peterson hosts this fundraiser and kindly opens her house to vendors to raise money for the charity. Wonderful vendors from different lines of businesses have joined forces together last week to help raise funds for the charity, and it was a big pleasure to be a part of this wonderful event. Here are some wonderful vendors from the fundraiser:

Ilgen’s Peshtemal towels can be used as beach towel or sarong or other outdoor use.

Here are Ilgen’s wonderful Turkish Peshtemal towels and natural soaps from the fundraiser event. Her light, super absorbent 100% cotton peshtemal towels (or mixture of luxurious blends including bamboo and silk) are simply wonderful and practical. llgen’s website Cotton & Olive will be up and running within a month, for further enquires please email ipaydas@btinternet.com.

Anila’s delicious home made curry sauces

I was delighted to meet Anila’s and taste her award winning curry sauces and samosas!!

Maro’s wonderful herb infused olive oil

Maro’s Kitchen was another wonderful vendor, with her herb infused extra virgin olive oil from Crete, so delicious. She also carries individually made spice mills; for further enquires, please email maroskitchen@gmail.com.

Home made baklavas for a sweet treat

I had some delicious home made baklavas, walnut, red pepper paste and olive oil dip over crackers at my table. I served the dip with rocket salad over the top; very easy to prepare and great for entertaining. The spice bowls are hand painted from Turkey, they have been a big hit. My heartfelt thanks goes to my parents and my sister for providing them 🙂

Walnut and red pepper paste dip on crackers and spice bowls from Turkey

Olives with Red Peppers, Spring onion and Parsley

I would like to leave you with this easy to prepare but very tasty, refreshing mezze, appetizer. It’s ready within minutes and goes very well over crackers or toasted bread. I also like to mix it with cooked pasta, bulgur or couscous for a healthy and delicious meal. Pomegranate molasses, a southern Turkish dressing, adds a wonderful, sharp and tangy taste to it. If you can’t get pomegranate molasses, you can replace with a good quality balsamic vinegar.

Seasonal, fresh ingredients make refreshing, healthy, delicious meals

Serves 4

Preparation time:10 minutes

175gr/6oz Turkish, Greek, Italian or Spanish olives, pitted

1 small red pointy or bell pepper, quartered and sliced coarsely

1-2 spring (green) onions, finely chopped

Handful of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

10ml/1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

5ml/1 tsp pomegranate molasses or balsamic vinegar

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Simply mix the chopped vegetables and olives in a bowl. Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil and the pomegranate molasses (or balsamic vinegar) over them, combine well. Season with salt and ground black pepper.

Olives salad with red peppers, spring onions and pomegranate molasses; summer on a plate

Olives salad with red peppers, spring onions and pomegranate molasses; summer on a plate

Serve the mezze over crackers or mix with cooked pasta, bulgur wheat or couscous for a delicious and light meal.

Afiyet Olsun!

 

 

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14 Responses to Petersons Fund for Children Charity Fundraiser & Some Delicious Nibbles to Share

  1. Claudia May 7, 2012 at 7:02 pm #

    Hi Özlem! I am so impressed that you would make baklava from scratch!!! It looks just fantastic. Güllüoğlu couldn’t do better!And your dip looks so pretty in those lovely bowls and on the crackers … you are amazing!

    • Ozlem May 7, 2012 at 7:23 pm #

      Merhaba Claudia 🙂
      Huge compliments, thanks a million – you know, when you can’t have Gulluoglu next door, you just do the baklava yourself! Surprisingly the fillo pastry sheets really work well and it’s much easier than you think. Many thanks again 🙂

  2. Alida May 8, 2012 at 1:24 pm #

    This food display is so beautiful. A joy to the eyes. I am also very impressed by your baklavas. They are just so perfect and I cannot imagine how good they must be. Yummy!!!

    • Ozlem May 9, 2012 at 8:25 am #

      Many thanks Alida, homemade baklava is easy to make with the fillo pastry sheets, so worth trying out 🙂 Gald you enjoyed the post.

  3. CuisinedeProvence May 8, 2012 at 3:47 pm #

    How I wish I could have been there, everything looks so tempting.

    • Ozlem May 9, 2012 at 8:24 am #

      How I wished you were here too Barbara :)!

  4. Nadine Ismail May 8, 2012 at 8:38 pm #

    I love the simplicity of the olives and crackers.

    • Ozlem May 9, 2012 at 8:24 am #

      Hello Nadine, I feel the same, fresh, simple ingredients don’t need much to impress, I love a good bunch of olives too! 😉

      • Nadine Ismail May 11, 2012 at 4:46 pm #

        Ozlem..thank you so much for the kind words you posted on my new blog. I have always been a reader of your blog and a big fan of Turkish Cuisine. It made my day!

        • Ozlem May 12, 2012 at 1:51 pm #

          Dear Nadine,
          You are very welcome; I am delighted to find your blog, and appreciate your efforts, please keep blogging 🙂

  5. Jay May 8, 2012 at 11:02 pm #

    wow…this looks truly amazing..delicious..
    great job with this one..
    new to your space
    lovely space you have
    happy following you..:)
    do stop by mine sometime
    Tasty Appetite

    • Ozlem May 9, 2012 at 8:23 am #

      Many thanks Jay, glad you like it – look forward to checking out Tasty Apetite!

  6. Peri May 9, 2012 at 5:27 pm #

    Dear Ozlem, what a wonderful cause to be a part of…and raising funds can be a great experience when you have such lovely wares from different places. I loved the Turkish bowls, they are beautiful and colorful.

    Plus a new way to serve out favorite red dip, on crackers with salad on top. The olives look delicious, Ozlem, i’m going to try them at my next party instead of picking them up at the store.

    • Ozlem May 9, 2012 at 7:29 pm #

      Many thanks Peri; the olive mezze is really neat; great on crackers, as well as mixed with cooked bulgur, pasta etc, glad you will give it a go : )
      I was thinking of you at the fundraiser event with the Indian curry sauces and the samosas next to my table !:)

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