My Last Sapanca Dinner -Summer 2007

The guy who never complain..Without him... Sapanca wont be so much fun...coz he is the one we always *bully* to do all the odd jobs heheh sağol mıstık! Allaha Razı Olsun

Sucuk, onions,green pepper

Plain meat

Köfte

Can u guess what this is? It is good for ur blood production u know... BBQ ed? love it loads!


onion rings (my fav!)

Fried potato wedges n normal julienne shaped fries

Turşu (cucumber n red pepper pickles)

Fresh onion salad

a simple green salad

grated carots fried with olive oil, mixed with yogurt

Fried eggplant slices with some sort of a tomato sauce topped with fried green pepper on top

This is what Kerim called Summer rice.. sort of rice cooked with tomato juice...

ala..mcm nasik tomato kita la jugak...

cauliflower topped with bechamel sauce, sprinkled with white cheese and topsed with kaşar peynir (another type of cheese)

The drinks.. quite a variety eh?

Oh yeah..my last Sapanca dinner... Yum yum! we went there last wekend for 2 days n one nite only... I was really sad inside that saturday coz when we went for jungle trekking that one last time, the terrible heat that is affecting the whole turkey was affecting sapanca as well... my beloved berries though still loads of them red...were drying up due to the heat...i was really sad for the animals (even cows love to eat the berries.. honest! i had seen cows eating them last year) wouldnt be able to enjoy the berries... We left on sunday... and I suppose, perhaps it was due to the barakah of the nifsu Syaaban..the holy month perhaps.. Allah had sent rain for two days all over Turkey! Meaning... my berries r saved! Alhamdulillah...I am sure all the plants n animals were rejoicing the rain! I know i did!

Again... i havent been able to blog hop...so so sori... summer is definitely a difficult time to blog hop...

l will also be in hiatus...will be right back here again on the first of Ramadhan (12th).... dont forget me ok?

Ah...the freezing sea water... the pebbles...the fresh fish... my squid...perhaps octopus? *wink*

The kids n i cant wait to go there... And just the perfect place too to celebrate our wedding anniversary.. I wonder whether he will give me a stone or a leaf this year... hmmm..

Some people think that going to holidays with kids r so tiring... if given a choice they would rather leave the kids at home...

But for me... a holiday without my kids wont be a holiday at all!They r the reason why a holiday is such a holiday... when they r happy... everything is worth it...and i will be lost without them by my side...

My dearest tem... Thank u for such interesting, mind wretching.. heart breaking..never boring 8 years... for the best gift of all from this union is these two angels...May Allah bless our life together till death do us part..Amin..

And to all the Muslims all over the world...

Happy Ramadhan Month!

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Where r they going?

Well... if u r among those asking for the köfte recipe, please see my previous entry...

This is my daughter (u know that)

This is my son (Well.. u know that too)
But where are they going????

To find out..please hop to ...

http://www.haticeveokul.blogspot.com/

HAVE A NİCE WEEKEND EVERYONE!

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Köfte recipe -Simah's style

I love to eat..so i cook..I am no professional cook... though i have created a recipe blog..i am guilty for not updating it for a long long time too.... (summer la.. mana ada lekat rumah heheh)....will start updating the zaimladies recipe book blog after summer is over...including this köfte recipe with pic...

but for now... wahhhhhhhhhh ramainyaaa yg interested in the making of the köfte... here is my own recipe... the köfte that i always make.. the köfte that hatice n baddin love to eat...they have no choice but to say sedapppppppp sebab kalau tak anne dia muncung hahahahahah

Ingredients

-minced meat (as fatty as possible)
-Big onions (3-4) *blended or grated*diblend halus atau disagat (orang turki suka sagat..saya malas saya blend ajer)
-bread crumbs let say half a glass for 500 g of minced meat?(orang turki guna crumbs dari roti biasa.. the bread must be at least a day old)..kalau roti fresh tak leh pakai or u can use the ready made breadcrumbs sold in supermarkets..
-olive oil (utk senang uli)..or u can use water.. but olive oil gives it a better taste definitely
-1 egg (i usually use one egg yolk)
-salt
-black pepper
-2/3 tablespoon of the kofte spice (the magical works of the msg hehehe--- for better tasting)- u can opt this out if u dont wanna use msg at all... original recipe mana pakai köfte spice pun..
-baking powder (supaya dia nampak tak flat...:0)
optional things: u can also add cummin, dried oregano n dried mint as well...

Steps

-Mix all the ingredients...since i do not use specific measurement, i usually add in the wet stuffs last... (ie-olive oil, egg n bawang kisar) .. u dont want the minced meat mixture to be soggy kan... -knead the mixture for 7-10 minutes.
-give ur meatball the shape that u want.. (round, oval, long etc)
-put inside the fridge to rest for at least half an hour...
-Then grill it or fry on a pan... preferably teflon pan coz u need only use very little oil..

am in a hurry... so the spelling etc.. semua tunggang langgang.. lepas cuti summer i masukkan balik this recipe properly inside my recipe blog ok? Good luck!


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Funda.. please learn from me :0)

It was one Sapanca day... whenever there r kids, among the safest menu (among the BBQ meat/chicken or other normal menu) has been and will always be köfte (meatball)...

It was dinner time. As usual, the kids ate first...Upon seeing the köfte, the kids shrieked in happiness. They were saying something like,

*the köfte is so cute*...

Zeynep (selim n funda's daughter) in particular loved the taste and shape of the kofte.

She asked her mom...

*anne, bu köfte çok guzel. kim yaptı?*
(mom, this meatball is very good. who prepared it?)

Funda replied,

*simah teyze yaptı*
(auntie simah prepared it)

Zeynep continued...

*anne, simah teyze dan tarif alır mısın?*
(mother, can u get the recipe from auntie simah?)

Funda trying to hold a straight face, as i was holding my laughter,...funda calmly answered..

*tamam zeynep*
(i will zeynep)


coz the köfte in question was actually the ready made köfte in which all i needed to do was to just cook it on the pan! hahahahahahahaha...


Oh yeah funda... LEARN THE RECİPE PLS! *wink*

Pınar deep frozen köfte... the perfect köfte when u dont feel like preparing ur own köfte heheh..

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Looking back..

It was at this table(in the picture). It was spring. The location? Sapanca.

Ur Anne (mother), halil n i were having dinner. Selim was married. Halim was married. Ur anne and i were talking about finding a wife for Kerim. Suddenly, Halil said to us... * I wanna get married*. He explained his internet love etc..etc... as ur anne and i listened to him. We were shocked.


After he had finished talking, i told him...



"My son, u have just finished ur master. u r tired. ur mind is overworked. u r a grown up man. u r intelligent. Rest and think about this for a few months and later tell me whether u have changed ur mind or not. "


A few months later, he again popped up the same topic and said,

"baba, i am still with the same decision"

Well... u know the rest... Halil and i got married and we have 2 wonderful children together... Alhamdulillah we r happy...though we drive each other crazy..

These were what baba told us at that exact table yesterday (saturday night)when we were at the sapanca house.... about how halil approached him and anne about our cyberlove.

When he was telling the story to kerim, meşe, merve,safa, halil n i,..... my ears were listening to him ...but my eyes were on him... as he was retelling this... he was smiling... ...that put me at peace... coz from what i can see from his expressions....... i think he bears no regrets in approving halil's choice of a wife..so all these 8 years... as a daughter in law... i havent been that bad after all :0)....

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Tomatoes

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Tomatoes had no great significane to me when i was living in Malaysia.. all i remember is.. i love tomatoes in the fish curries my mom made.

But tomatoes in Turkey, i cannot live without.

Why the sudden change? Didnt i even vomitted from eating too much tomatoes when i first came to turkey? Didnt i have a certain phobia towards tomatoes?

Well.. people change… at least i did… my taste bud did…as i assimilate my life into the turkish culture, i have started to admire the value and taste of tomatoes…

Maybe it is because of the fact that tomatoes is a very important ingredient in the turkish cooking… and salad with tomatoes is basically a must (at least for me)..i dunno… but if i am to buy tomatoes, i will make sure that it is of the good quality ones…and definitely without the hormones….!!

As alinlai has discovered herself…. Tomatoes here can be really sweet… there r many types of tomatoes of course… cherry tomatoes r cute n wonderfully decorative in making salad of course..but i find myself more attacted to the big sweet ones in which when to take a bite….the sweetness and the goodness and the juices of the red tomatoes just feels like heaven…dont be fooled by the looks of the tomatoes from the outside (like the one in the Picture below).. some tomatoes may look so crooked… but the inside…..yum yum…so sweet! So satisfying!

but like i said, make sure the tomatoes r not with the hormones ones… how do u know they r with hormones… as Halil is fond of saying… just cut the tomatoes into half, if u see the part where the seeds should be… r quite empty…..it would suggest an addition of hormone for the plant’s growth… organic is always best :0)

One type of tomato..from Çanakkale..

Another type of tomatoes..this is usually much cheaper (it only comes out in summer) and is usually used for the production of tomato paste...


2 tomatoes side by side... see? the rounder one looks crooked isnt it?

wait till u see the inside....


The oval shap one (the one for making tomato paste)..it is quite meaty..the seeds part is full..suggesting that is is without any hormones..



Crooked at the outside..but a jewel in the inside...
The çanakkale tomatoes... see the middle part? it is soooo sweet and juicy and red! !



2 types of tomatoes (there r other types of course)



After looking at these tomatoes, arent u tempted enough?

I still owe a lot of people a visit to their blogs... so sori...
have just finished packing for another get away for the weekend... i suppose for the last time this summer...so this will be the last splash splash for us all in sapanca...



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Last Weekend..

Oh dear.. it was not intention to let the sad entry (my previous entry) hanging like that for long. i was planning to update with a much happier note almost immediately.. but then, things just got in the way.. and before i knew it.. it was time to again pack our bags and start our journey to u know where :0)

Baby brother all ready to jump..

From the balcony..big brother all ready and excited as well...

and so..the JUMP! Splash!

Baba's new method of not getting tired while swimming..He is 80 plus u know :0)

Situation 1

There we were eating breakfast... and baba was saying...

*everytime u all enter the pool, u should read Al fatihah for ur dear anne (mother). She was the one who insisted that i built the pool at the Sapanca house.

Situation 2

As observed by funda

There we were at the Kırkpınar football field, Zeynep and hatice made friends with this one girl..and the girl was saying something like...

*i have seen a swimming pool but i have never been into one*

Hatice and Zeynep was shocked..it never crossed their mind that other people have never been into a swimming pool...

But then... that is the reality... i mean our children..and ourselves (myself included), we should count our blessings... whenever we feel like jumping into the pool, we go to the sapanca house.. and basically each family in the zaim family, every year, do go for a holiday somewhere to places with pools and beaches... the kids for example never stop to think that there r people who do not do as what they do.. or may have the opportunity...

Looking at myself... i grew up in islands (first penang n then langkawi).. true.. i went to the beaches... but did i ever learn to swim? No. when was the first time i entered a pool? that would be while i was in PPP doing my matriculation (tertiary education).. it was then i started to get used to a pool.. and when did i ever learn to swim? in sapanca!

Everything is a matter of the culture one live in...well at least in my family.. going to holidays or going into the pool is not something we do (come on..we already lived in holiday islands hehe).. and to try to learn swimming with all the waves in the sea? u have got to be kidding!! i would be scared :0) i wouldnt wanna learn even if my dad forced me..

My kids... if they had lived in Malaysia... they would have had the same fate as mine..unless of course if i marry a rich guy wth a pool in front of the house (which i doubt)..instead... living in another family culture...hatice and baddin have been into a pool year in and year out every summer...splashing themselves to their hearts' content......

Everybody in the family learns to swim... last year, hatice started to swim wonderfully...and this year baddin too... if the family culture is not into swimming, hatice wouldnt have been able to be motivated enough and dived from one end of the pool to the other end (22.5 metres in length).. and baddin wouldnt be able to touch the 2 metres depth of the pool...at such young age, they have learnt to swim..am i proud of them.. Alhamdulillah for their achievement.. and can bet i am proud of them :0)

it is interesting isnt it how a different family culture produces a different perspective in one child?

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And this weekend, selim and family and kerim (baba n mıstık of course) were in Sapanca... I dunno who enjoyed sapanca most really... was it the 4 truly young kids who had spent time with each other from the moment they woke up till the moment they sleep harmoniously (i mean come on.. 4 kids and a harmonious life for 3 days?? but they were harmonious!! it was a miracle!)....and they still couldnt get enough of each other hehehehe

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or was it the 3 siblings (not young at all) who chatted...all day long into late mornings....splashed themselves into the pool and played football till they sweated as if they just took a bath....??

The rest r still there in Sapanca but halil n i n the kidshave returned home last nite...and i.. from 10am till 3pm.. hatice, baddin and i were on our feet from one place to another..trying to finish some chores needed to be done outside! ...Penatt......Here r some of the photos i snapped... not much i am afraid.. i was lazy to play with my camera this time... after all... Funda, the zaim family photographer was there! *wink*

Zeynep's first büyük tür (funda.. kalan reimler emaile göndericeğim sonra)

3 siblings all hot n sweaty

Funda, selim n kerim

Halil n the kids

4 kids who had spent three days together with the most minimal fights (this time around)
(p.s.. hatice has got a new haircut )

Zeynep

Baddin n Elo

Hatice

Like i told Funda, i will put all the sapanca pictures this summer all in one go later whenever i have the time... i promise... i just dont have much breathing space right now...

Forgive me if i am as slow as a snail dalam blog hopping.. tak sempattt...off i go again to my chores (dah pukul 5pm..tak masak lagi! hahahah) kang laki kebuluran kang! muah! missed u guys! and for the unanswered emails... sori sori sori.. tak sempattttttt

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I shall bear another year..

u may wanna turn off the song at the bottom of this blog before attempting to listen/watxh this video :0)



If i am to be honest to myself.... this summer is the hardest to bear...4 years may not seem like a long time without seeing the faces of my love ones in Malaysia... but to this heart who bears the feeling of being away... it takes a lot of courage and pretences... that i am ok...even when i am not...sadness only my tem can detect..and in his arms only could i silently cry my heart out without having to say a thing..

it gets the hardest when all the zaim siblings got together every weekends in Sapanca with their families...

True... they r my siblings now...but my heart could not help crying desperately for my own flesh n blood siblings....mak and ayah.... along n his family...joe n his family...ayed... yana.. abi....



The news of my nephew's death feels heavy on my shoulder... i needed...i need to be there...to be among the family members in their time of sadness. I couldnt. I needed to see my brother esp to see for myself that he is ok....he.... the only one i dare not call on the phone... coz i just simply know not what to say.....i am a coward...who only ask for his feelings thru sms....

Even as i was trying to talk to someone from home desperately yesterday... his number was not i dialled...


my parents r still grieving as well... for the first time, 3 days ago... my mom asked to talk to baddin... something she never requested....talks r gloomy...of a grandson in alam barzakh...


My already gloomy heart needed a cheerful voice yesterday... and i finally got thru yana.. my younger sister... it is then she revealed that she is planning (insyaAlllah) to get married on the 8.8.2008.... to the guy who has captured her heart.....a policeman...that cheered me up....


Can u just imagine....? my youngest sister will be getting married... !! When i myself got married, she was just a kid...now.. she will get married...!!how time flies by huh? I am happy for her... Among all her admirers (trust me she has a lot)..others much richer n with higher salary jobs... her heart chooses not the money..but the goodness of the man... i really hope that she will find her happiness with him... ....

And yes my dear sister...that is a date! insyaAllah....i will be there with my family to see u being crown as the queen of the day... As much as i miss them badly this year...i shall bear another year......to see the day when my younger sister will be called a wife.


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Sapanca 3

Well... if u wanna see more pictures of these plump voluptious sweet black pearly wild berries... please... do hop to

http://www.haticeveokul.blogspot.com/

*hugs*

I really am glad to be home...i have missed u guys!

What happened after my last entry?? did i go to sapanca...??? Well... That friday, the hot news from Sapanca was the fridge was broken...it was not working.. the repairman would only come the next day (saturday)...so what to do?

I was in no mood to go definitely.. i mean come on.... no fridge???? all my life i cannot live without the luxury of a fridge (BUT HOW DO THE OLDER GENERATİON LİVE WİTHOUT FRİDGE::any idea?)..

Ok..ok..call me a spolit brat..but that is God's truth.. Sapanca without a fridge was not inviting at all...Furthermore, i had tons of things to do at home.. the clothes had not been ironed... the house needed to be tidied up vacuumed... I worked out all my energy that day till i was almost drop dead..still not in the mood to go to Sapanca..in fact wishing that by the time halil came back from his night lecture that nite (10.30pm) , he too would see my point...BUT MEşelar were already there...n hatice n baddin were looking at me pleadingly... saying that they had missed sapanca very much n the pool was inviting to the max in contrast to the istanbul heat....

And at 11 plus pm... after dinner...we all packed out bags n left our home...

Of course what we didnt know was... what meşe didnt tell us was... the other * better working tv* was dead as well.. the *old.. very hard to watch tv* was back on...huwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Saturday was a gloomy day as well for me n meşe... we didnt know what to do... the thing is... if the fridge could not be fixed, we would all return to istanbul on Sunday... and well..well.. what do u know? we waited for the fridge repair man to come.... they said they would come in the morning... noon passed... still no news....

Meşe and i was in dilemma... what were we supposed to do? Bengong ja we all.. what do we cook? but no fridge... how much should we cook? should we go shopping for the veggies etc..etc..the supermarket etc..etc...

we were both at loss on what to do...

I for one didnt bring too many clothing for all of us.. i was very confident that we would all be returning to istanbul the next day.. i was hoping for it too coz frankly speaking... with no fridge.. and no halil (he was planning to return to istanbul on monday)... there was no point in staying... we couldnt keep the yogurt or the milk or cheeses in the *dead* fridge... it was not logical to stay..

it was after 3.30pm that a guy came... he told us that to fix the fridge would cost a lot of money and to buy a new fridge was a better choice...we all discussed the matter with baba... (i was hoping he would say get the fridge fixed... then we would be returning to istanbul heheheh)...

but of course, baba is brighter than i.. he wanted to stay in sapanca for that one week...(if he stayed, i have to stay as well)..and so in the end... he instructed all the children to go down to sapanca town n buy a new fridge! hehehehe and so this is the story of how i stayed in Sapanca for 10 days this third time around...

I melompat mcm budak budak tau bila fridge tu sampai hehehe memang rasa nak balik istanbul tapi bila sampai ja fridge baru tu seronok pulak rasa..so terubat jugak la hati sebab tak boleh balik istanbul ikut halil....shhhh.... jgn citer kat sesapa tau heheheh

The dead fridge with mıstık n safa

(av revoir)


the new fridge with some of baba's grandchildren posing with it...it is bigger of course... we had to move the new fridge to the living room instead of putting it inside the kitchen......

And guess what? my ginger (zencefil) plant is alive!! i thought it wouldnt be alive but it did!..


i just pray that it will be able to withstand the harsh sapanca winter...we will see... if it is alive next summer, i will get my own fresh ginger right from sapanca's garden :0)


weiiii.. mana ada pokok ginger kat turki oo... kalau mau carik halia kena pi beli kat carrefour...
tu pun dah lama..tak fresh..



A lot of interesting things had happened... i wont bore u all with them :0).. but i will bore u for sure with these pictures.... for the first time ever,my kids have abandoned being beautiful n handsome in front of the camera... and they have decided to ACT LİKE A KİD!


so here r my kids ...

ok..now that i am back home..time to do the laundry..ironing ..bills payment..etc...etc...etc... the house fridge is bare even! off i go!

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