We had friends over for dinner on Saturday evening and I was trying not to sabotage our weight loss efforts too much. I rarely serve a first course these days, but I wanted something we could have with drinks pre-dinner. We recently visited some friends in the UK, who served some delicious hummus varieties they’d bought from M&S. Continue reading “Kind-of-healthy appetisers”
We are still experiencing the most beautiful Spring weather, so we’ve been out and about enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.
One of the most stunning views around these parts is looking down towards Kaş from the village of Çukurbaĝ, where we own an old almond farmer’s cottage, which we rent out in the summer. We had a few minor chores to do at the cottage over the weekend, so we decided to combine it with the hour’s walk to the viewpoint, known as the Sleeping Giant, which is an enormous cliff, shaped (oddly enough, bearing in mind the monika) like a giant on his side. Continue reading “I can see our house from here”
Once upon a time, in deepest London, I lived with a wicked landlady called Susie. Not really, she was actually a fairy godmother, who rescued me from a disastrous relationship by letting me stay in her spare room. It was so cosy that I refused to move out for several years. Hah! Continue reading “Joyce Pictor’s boiled fruitcake”
Today was the first really warm day of the year. The cold weather has finally passed and the almonds are in blossom – one of my favourite sights of the year, not least because it means summer is on its way. Continue reading “Spring has sprung”
We’ve been having lots of mini-earthquakes over the last day or so, the most notable of which occurred last night when I was laying the table for dinner. Ridiculously, I felt the need to clutch the back of a dining chair – I am not sure why I thought that might help, but I don’t think logic has any place here. It was only a bang and a quick wobble, and the others have been less than that – just like someone bumping into your chair, but I can’t help feeling unsettled by it. Continue reading “Strange goings on”
Disappointingly, we awoke to the patter of rain this morning. Rain rarely patters here – it normally falls in sheets, accompanied by swirling winds and much thunder and lightning, and it sneaks in through cracks in window panes and underneath doors. Today was a much gentler – almost English – affair, but it deterred us from our planned walk and I have passed the day catching up on a few household chores.
A big chunk of the afternoon was spent on the phone, trying to get through to Thomas Cook, who have most helpfully cancelled the return part of our flight when we go back to the UK for a couple of weeks at Easter, and have now put us on a flight two days earlier with no consultation or option to say ‘no, thank you.’ I cannot, apparently, deal with this online, I have to actually speak to a person – none of those people, according to Thomas Cook’s answering service at their call centre, would be available to speak to me for at least 60 minutes and we would be the ones swallowing the phone bill for that wait, from here in Turkey. Grrrrrrr. Continue reading “Raining lemons and limes”
This weekend’s Guardian newspaper published a recipe by Claire Ptak for the most delicious wholemeal apple cake, which I promptly made and which has already disappeared (we did share it with Linda the recipe tester and our local vets, who are fortunate enough to live close by and get regular cake samples). It was everything you want from an autumnal cake, and it filled the house with the most amazing spicy apple smells while it was baking. Even the cats looked interested.
It occurred to me that it might be adaptable for our granddaughters, who have a number of serious food allergies, including egg and dairy products. Continue reading “Scrummy autumn apple cake (egg/dairy free)”
The weather has gone crazy. In January, we had seriously sub-zero temperatures – almost unheard of for our part of the world. The last week has been warm and sunny, with temperatures up into the low 20s during the middle of the day, and guess who came to visit? I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard him chirping away and he stayed for most of the afternoon – probably with one of those beady eyes on our fireplace, wondering whether he could get inside and claim his seat on the sofa. Continue reading “Jumping Jiminy”
aviewfrommykitchen.com 