a sunny thursday afternoon...

So, the rain has been gone for about a week now and consequently my initiative and energy levels have increased since last week. Inspired by our potluck for American culture/tv night planned for this evening I actually planned my cooking schedule ahead of time and soaked beans overnight and am currently simmering them on the stove. Last week for our potluck I made mashed potatoes, a dish that I love and have been meaning to cook since I came here a year ago but for whatever reason, whether it was the lack of a potato masher or the lack of a desire to carry a bag of potatoes from the grocery store to my apartment on the top floor, I never got around to making them until last week and were well received by my friends. This week, when attempting to come up with an easy enough dish which I had faith in my abilities to make successfully and which other people would eat and enjoy I decided on a bean/pasta salad. Tomatoes, beans, onions, olives, garlic, a little lemon, salt, pepper, and olive oil - sounds delicious and healthy, right? Oh, and plus some white cheese, similar to feta. I recall making a version of this salad a year and a half ago in NYC, except with orzo instead of beans, and I remember being very impressed with myself and my cooking skills. So hopefully I will be able to recreate the deliciousness...it is the type of salad where as long as the ingredients are good then the whole dish will be good, right? It can't go wrong with such yummy, Mediterranean fresh foods....we will see. 


Another part of my increasing energy levels, at least where food and cooking is concerned, was my use of the leftover mashed potatoes. All weekend I had been thinking about it, researching the different recipes online and finally I got around to making some potato pancakes. It wasn't hard at all and a delicious way to reuse lots of leftover mashed potatoes. I actually had left them on the counter to cool down a bit before I put them away since I had already eaten dinner. But a little while later I heard a knock on my door...it was a couple of my roommates, they then asked if I had made that delicious food that was just sitting on the counter when they came home tired and hungry.  

                                                     potato pancakes with yogurt!

Every time I do get around to cooking I realize how much I like it, especially the part where you have great food to eat afterward. But it is the making time to cook and the planning ahead to have the right ingredients. As a grad student with little money and little energy when I get home in the evenings this is a difficult lifestyle to achieve since I never mastered it before I came. In a way it even reminds me of doing math homework in high school, when I actually sat down and did the homework I did rather enjoy it...but actually getting around to sitting down and doing the work is the most difficult part. There is a farmers market in our neighborhood every Wednesday, which I had never had the opportunity to go to since I either had class or errands to run for my professor. But finally, yesterday morning I tagged along with one of my friends who has been going every week. Of course, forgetting I am still a tourist, I did not bring a camera to take pictures of the fresh veggies and fruit and nuts and cheese and olives and fresh filo dough sheets. Maybe next time I can share pictures of the bazaar, complete with the sock and fake bag sellers next to the pomegranate and lemon sellers. I wasn't completely ready to stock up on vegetables so I only bought some garlic, tomatoes and bananas but after vacation in a couple weeks I'll be ready to fill our kitchen with fresh, local, turkish products...and then I'll be forced to cook even more food...


there is more that i could say on the topic but i will save it for another post...now it is time to go to class...


lots of love.em