my courdon bleu mince pies |
It has all been such a rush and here we are right at the point of Christmas itself. Here in Turkey we have to work at it a bit as the rest of the world around us is oblivious to the approach of our most special day in the whole calendar. But we do our best ….
In practical terms this means decorating the house, getting out the tree, writing cards furiously, and of course spending time in the kitchen and creating those aromas that spell only one thing: CHRISTMAS!
Son Cem was due in from London late Tuesday night so the whole morning was spent cooking all those things that I know he likes. This involved two kilos – yes really! – of zeytinyağli barbunya/ beans in olive oil. I had frozen 3 kilos of borlotti beans at the end of the summer, shelled, in plastic bags, so there they were all ready to haul out. I realise they are not at all Christmassy but he misses them …. A huge pan of mercimek/red lentil soup. 18 mincepies. 18 chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. I thought that would keep him going till the next day!
If you click on the highlighted texts here, you will find my past posts with the recipes for the following: give them a go, I’m sure you’ll love them just as much as Son Cem does!
thick, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies – from the wonderful blog Smitten Kitchen
It is hard to believe that here we are almost at the end of another year but we are:
Merry Christmas to you all from this Seasonal Cook in Istanbul!
hi claudia! i skipped making my mincemeat tarts this year since i made plum puddings. i am sort of sorry i didn't make them. i'll make them again next year!
It sounds like you have had a busy run up to Christmas but I'm very jealous of the results of your baking. I hope you have a fantastic Christmas Claudia.
Love how you decorate the tops of your mince pies. There's a Claudia twist 🙂 And your tree looks great. Merry Christmas, Claude!
Merry Christmas,dear!All the best!
We've been running our tails off here too, but your Christmas house kind of puts ours to shame. Still, we really managed to make the best of things and now my parents are here, one cleaning the oven and the other prepping a hunk of prime rib they hauled over with them. It's been a delicious couple of days and I just finished making your acuka recipe.
I do love your description of what Christmas in Turkey feels like.
A very merry Christmas to you, my dear. I hope you're having a wonderful, Christmas-y day. I've got a break coming up and I'm definitely going to hunt you down for that coffee this time!!
xx
And now thankfully it's Boxing Day and we can all relax! Cem goes back to the UK tomorrow and I must now turn my thoughts to packing my suitcase for ….SYDNEY!!!
Thank you for all your Christmassy wishes.
October Farm: I skipped the brandy butter for the Christmas pudding and I missed it!
Froggie and Lenia: my warmest wishes to you too. x
Ali!It was lovely to speak to you yesterday! Glad you approve of the mince pie stars etc! x
Stranger: I've missed you! Glad your parents are over. Mine always used to come too and it was an instant injection of Christmas spirit as well as more hands on deck!
I will be back at the end of Jan so keep that coffee ready for when I come back, OK? x