When I posted my apple beet fennel salad recipe, some of my OS friends admitted they hate beets. How could anyone hate beets?  Beets are very good for you !  So I have been thinking ways of how I could present this hearty, healthy vegetable to them that would please/… Read full post »

Although I am born into a Muslim family, I have never worn a hijab, abaya or burqa in my entire life.  Nor has my mother or grandmother done so.  In fact, I had not even heard of the burqa or knew what one looked like until recently when the Taliban came unto/… Read full post »

Above: Love and let love

Mosques are lit up with messages during Ramazan -

Below: Most precious inheritence is character 

A page from the Quran

Typical Ramazan Pidesi

Some of the sweets of Ramazan Bayrami   &nbs… Read full post »

It is said not to judge a book by its cover; and it is so true. The same philosophy applies to many culinary creations and the ingredients which go into them. For instance in the innocence of my younger years, I used to think that sweetbreads was some kind of a… Read full post »

The brief period of my childhood spent in the country of my birth includes fading memories of my life in Edirne, which was called Hadrianopolis, before its conquest by the Ottomans in 1361.

Certain events stand up in my mind when I look back and try to remember a life of… Read full post »

My Father with my Mother at age 63

I may have mentioned that English is not my native language. I learned to speak it from the age of thirteen on, when I was planted into the Canadian school system whose curriculum included French as the second official language. Fulfilling ou… Read full post »

Whether it's called aubergine, berengina, patlican or melenzane, eggplants got their name because not only did they originally come in one color – white – but also, hanging from the plant, they looked like eggs.

image credit 

The eggplant is a member of the solanaceous,/… Read full post »

When it comes to traveling, by car, by plain or by train - I am a miracle to be alive and tell my story at all.  You see, eversince I was a tiny little girl, I could not withstand sitting in a moving vehicle and contain the insides of my stomach. … Read full post »

Rich in tradition and flavor, Turkish coffee remains a favorite today.

Turkish coffee is a flavourful and often strong coffee, prepared in a special pot called 'cezve'. Cezve holds one, two or three servings. In most households the flame of the gas stove is used for cooking the coffee.

 … Read full post »

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Wit… Read full post »

Yogurt has been the soul food in my family ever since I can remember, but we consumed it in its most modest form: plain. Occasionally we’d be adventurous and spike its flavour w… Read full post »