All posts tagged: Christmas

roast quail, Christmas, New Year

Roast Quail with a Chestnut and Prune Stuffing

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Christmas this year was the quietest in my living memory, though not the most modest in the gastronomic sense. I had the pleasure of cooking the last jar of duck confit I made last winter and this decadent roast quail stuffed with the season’s staple vegetable. It being my LM’s 300th day birthday gave more of a reason to celebrate over this special meat and wine. My little mouse has been enjoying chestnuts, which are, strangely, recommended after 2 years of age in the west, 1 year in Turkey, and 6 months in Asia. What is allowed for a baby varies depending on the country and I get confused because our baby is mixed. So glad that the LM is now at the stage where she can eat almost everything we eat and her latest obsession is toasted seaweed 🙂 These birds had been providing my LM with fresh eggs over the past 3 months and, when they stop laying eggs, they finally ended up on our plate. Quail eggs are another forbidden food item …

pumpkin soup

Spiced Pumpkin Persimmon Soup

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I’ve been almost three years…already. 2014 has been the strangest year for me because I’ve been in and out of Turkey and travelled three continents in a short period of time. So what is it like celebrating Christmas in Turkey? As far as Christmas decorations are concerned, the festive seems to be in the air, and especially the shopping malls are crowded with people hunting for sales. A little Christmas tree is standing in the corner of my living room and the fridge is filled with dinner preparations such as duck confit and mincemeat, though it’ll be a low key affair compared to the previous lavish feasts. Still, I can’t help myself planning menus and drawing mental pictures of a Christmas feast laden with scrumptious dishes as all foodies would be doing around this time. Around this time, you will see many guys like this cutting pumpkins in streets. As a pumpkin lover, I bought a big bag and made a pumpkin bread and ate with clotted cream(kaymak) and honey, nibbled with cheese, and made …

Let me fill your glass with my past stories – Part 1: Australia

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I’m back! I disappeared without a trace 2-3 months ago. I even let my blog stranded. A lot of people might have wondered at the missing domain page. Today, in my defence,  I’m going to fill your empty glass with what I’ve gone through for all that time. I finally worked up the courage to buy a flight ticket to Australia after 4 years on the road; it was about time I pick up the broken pieces of my past. Well, more honestly? I was getting more and more agitated about the wines I’d tucked away when I left Australia 4 years ago. It’s a long  and expensive journey and you have to have a good excuse to go, except those who have a family over there. But missing this gorgeous beach was a good enough reason for me. Australia, for sure, has the most beautiful beaches in the world and I haven’t found any equivalents yet through all my travels. In all discussions about beautiful beaches, my vote always goes to Australia. First, I …