Last night the whole family went out for dinner in celebration of my Mum's birthday. We surprised her and took her to a restaurant she had never been to before, one that we had all been to and enjoyed before.
The Meze Turkish Grill in Bexleyheath is our closest Turkish restaurant (yes, even though we are Turkish we still like to go out for turkish food!) Hubby and I first ate here with friends in the Summer of 2015 when I was pregnant with our second and we had such a lovely time.
4 comments
Growing up I loved my Mother's winter soups. Autumn/ Winter is my Mums favourite time of the year and it really reflected in her cooking as she would make completely different meals for me and my sisters. She would cook stews, different types of soups and Turkish soups and more comfort food style meals served with warm breads and rice.
Reading with my children is something I have done with them both since they were little bumps in my tummy. I love reading and have done from a very young age, whether its reading by myself or reading aloud, it helped me improve my speech and language when I was growing up. I grew up bilingual, my first language being Turkish and my second language being English. Both my parents are Turkish Cypriot so at home it was all Turkish speaking until I started Reception Year where I started to learn to speak English.
Last week was the first week of the school summer holidays and even though we are not at school age yet Hubby took a week off to enjoy some family time. So we took our little preschooler to our local garden centre; who ever year during the summer holidays, put on a free Fairy Hunt for the kiddies. Ruxley Manor Garden Centre is a family run garden centre, literally around the corner from where I grew up so I was there a lot with my mum when she would buy her lovely plants and bits for the garden. I now take my children and love it just as much as I did as a child. The beautiful gardens with such an amazing variety of plants, trees, garden and home bits with a kids play area and the Mulberry Cafe, perfect for breakfast, teas, coffee and cakes. It really is a lovely place for an afternoon out with the kids.
This post is a little late as my birthday was at the beginning of the month but hey ho parenting comes first :) This year my birthday celebrations were spread out over a week and a bit, spending time with both close friends and family.
I will warn you that this post will mainly be a gallery of my photos from my birthday celebrations as the photos are mainly food haha...I do like to eat!
When the weather is grey, wet and cold, I just love staying indoors and doing some rainy day baking and cooking. This recipe is for a traditional turkish style olive bread, one of my favourites and the smell of this bread baking reminds me of when I used to live at home. My mum used to always make this when she had time and it would always seem like a treat where we would sit in front of the TV with a pot of cinnamon tea and enjoy her freshly baked olive bread.
There are so many ways to make this bread and if you ask any turkish family I guarantee their recipe will be slightly different, you can add halloumi/hellim instead of olives which is another favourite of mine. Even though this is a yummy recipe its not quite like my mums but I think thats why this comfort food is so special to me, my mums cooking will always be the best.
Here is my recipe perfect for all the family to enjoy for breakfast or for you mid afternoon snack with a nice cup of tea...
INGREDIENTS
(8 Muffin Sized Rolls)
80 grams Black Pitted Olives, cut in half
1 small Onion, sliced and chopped
7 grams Dried Active Yeast
360 grams all purpose Plain Flour
300ml luke warm water (add more if needed)
Half tsp Salt
1 tbsp Dried Mint
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Sieve the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl.
Add the water slowly to combine these ingredients and knead the dough for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and slightly elastic. Cover with a warm tea towel and leave in a warm place (like on a radiator or warm cupboard) until the dough has doubled in size.
Once the dough is ready add the remaining ingredients and cover again with a towel and return to a warm place just to let the dough rise slightly again.
Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees fan oven.
Once this final preparations is ready take the dough and take it apart in muffin size chunks and roll into a large ball and flatten slightly on a baking tray. Bake for about 20- 30 minutes until cooked and the top is a lovely light golden brown.
Bon Appetite!
Love & Light
Yesterdays Mother's Day was my fourth as a mother and my first with Luca. I was surprised with cuddles and presents in bed in the morning after both of my babies let me sleep in. The sun was shinning and the smile on Melis' face eager to help me open my card and presents was all the happiness I could ever ask for. Firstly, my card was a personalised one with a lovely photo of both of the kiddies having a cuddle when Luca was only a few weeks old. Followed by a Boux Avenue bag (my favourite) which contained new fluffy pink slippers and a sleep mask (just what mummy had asked for) but then there was another box which to my surprise was my favourite perfume, Stella fragrance, which I wasn't expecting. The kiddies spoilt mum and I'm very grateful that their Daddy was so helpful in doing the shopping for the lovely gifts :)
Late morning we all got ready and went to my mums for a lovely Turkish style brunch with my two sisters where we spent the afternoon, eating, drinking tea and watching films, a nice relaxing afternoon. I even made a nice Victoria Sponge cake :)
Then we ended the day as a family again with a lovely meal at Pizza Express where we all enjoyed our dough balls and garlic butter and I had my favourite pizza ever, the Sloppy Giuseppe! Finished with a nice lemon sorbet (Obviously diet started again this morning!)
I hope all the mummies, nannies and great nannies had a wonderful day!
Here are a few snaps from my day...
Love & Light
Yesterday, my sister, mother and I caught the train to London for my sisters Graduation Ceremony. Officially a graduate, my beautiful sister Derya has graduated with a BA Honours in Fashion Promotion.. My fashionista sister is ready for the world, but is the world ready for her?!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)