Busy Holidays...

   OMG, it's been more than a week, I know I am being lazy. Actually I am being pretty busy with all the catering arrangements, and New Years parties. Seriously...? It shouldn't be this difficult, right? Noooo it sure is not effortless at all. Everybody is running somewhere, shopping for gifts, planning for the parties and all...    
   Beyond all that, last week my service was auctioned at a benefit thrown by a New Yorker socialite for the animal rescue. I was really honored to be asked for a charity like that. Being a part of that benefit made me really touched and happy. In the mean time, mom came to our place to stay with us few days, it was great, and we ate...!!! Really, just ate... cooked and ate, nonstop... :)  Since my mom came I gained 7 lbs, I know... It is horrible, but now I am back to my gym and my busy schedule.



Pogaca with feta cheese



Kiymali Borek ( borek with ground beef)

  So when she was here, she cooked for us "Dolma, Borek, and Pogaca". I am not even counting the other dishes that she made, but those three are the real gems of Turkish Cuisine... My favorite is definitely the Dolma, there are two kinds of Dolma, oh by the way Dolma means "stuffed". Well you can stuff the peppers, zucchinis, squash, cabbage leaves, or the best one is the grape leaves. As I said we stuff them either with the meat mixture (and is my beloved) which is eaten warm, or the rice mixture which is eaten cold as an appetizer or a meal...  So my mother made the one with the meat mixture. Basically it is made with ground beef 75% lean 25% fat,( although a lot of people uses ground lamb too, lamb was not really a staple ingredient in our household when I was growing up, so I'd rather go with beef) rice, crushed or chopped tomatoes, parsley, onions, salt and pepper. This time my mother brought the grape leaves from Turkey, actually my cousin gave them to mom, and she brought them here, so they were incredibly tender, just like the ones that we used to pick from our summer-house's backyard, memories memories... Anyways, so she stuffed those wonderful grape leaves with the meat mixture, and she cooked them with the beef broth and tomato paste mix. It was incredible, nothing left from a medium size pot full of them... We had a great time together, now she's back with my sister, and probably she will be back again to our home next week.
 



Dolma was amazing...



 I am not quite sure, if I am going to be able to post a lot in this holiday season, but I sure will try my best. I am wishing all of you my dear arkadaslar (friends) the best holiday season, and happy New Year...

Beyond Bosphorus...