We are off to the UK at the weekend for five weeks, so we’re really looking forward to that lovely moment when we step off the plane on Sunday evening into the cool climes of Birmingham Airport. I will probably be the only passenger who will be delighted if there’s a bit of summer drizzle going on. Only for ten minutes, mind you, I’ve got walks along the canal in mind, and I’m definitely a fair weather walker.
This week we are racing about like idiots, trying to finish all the last bits and pieces before we go. I think the more time you have, the more you faff about, then always end up running out of time at the last minute. I’m clearing out fridges and cleaning cupboards, while trying to simultaneously pack my suitcase and get things ready for our visitors. Continue reading “Sweet and spicy baked beans”
We have guests arriving at our rental cottage this evening – they have stayed with us before, so at least when they arrive in the middle of the night, they know where they are aiming for.
Yesterday was the final, chaotic, day of the 9-day Şeker Bayramı holiday. Over the last week, Kaş has been practically under siege.
Sausages are not common around these parts. The Turks make sucuk (pronounced ‘sujuk’), which is like a cross between pepperoni and chorizo, though obviously no pork is involved. It comes in two forms – sweet and hot – which refers to the heat level of the paprika which forms its main flavour. It appears with alarming regularity on pizzas and in toasted sandwiches, as well as being the main ingredient for sucuk yumurta, a breakfast dish where beaten eggs are added to sliced sucuk which has been fried in olive oil – you end up with a kind of hot, oily, spicy, sausagy scramble. I’m not a fan of either eggs or sucuk, so that particular combination of ingredients would definitely constitute my Room 101 breakfast. What’s wrong with a bowl of cornflakes? 
Today is the first day of Şeker Bayramı, the ‘sugar feast’ which follows the holy month of Ramazan, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Today will be a day of family celebrations with everyone contributing special dishes and plenty of sweet treats for the children.
No posts for 18 days, now two come along at once.
When I opened the editor to add this new post, I noticed it is 18 days since I last wrote something. Appalling behaviour – I WILL do better.
Before we came to live in Turkey, when I had a proper grown-up job, I was working on a major project just outside Lisbon in Portugal.
We’re back in Turkey after a very swift visit to France, with a night in Amsterdam thrown in on the way home.
I am very excited because tomorrow we are off on an unexpected jaunt to the Jurançon wine district in France and then travelling back here next week via Amsterdam – a city I have always wanted to visit. Getting to places from here is never simple, so we are going by a very convoluted route, which involves four different airlines. (*Sighs dramatically*) The route was originally going to involve the TGV, but in view of the strikes, we’ve decided to avoid that option. 
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