Friday, June 30, 2006

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Happy Birthday!


It's my dad's birthday today! I love you and miss you very much Dad. I am sure my sister will make me jealous with a cake (I couldn't bake a special cake for dad this year). I do have a good excuse, though:) Lauren's Wedding and lots is going on at work, might be back with more exciting news soon:) In the meantime, would cupcakies from Teacake Bakeshop count? They are even better a cupcake if you like frosting!

Happy 4th of July weekend!

I am also loving this quote these days...

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain.
Maya Angelou

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Ye:#12 Sutlu Tatlilar (Turkish Food Blog Event)


Bloglar arasi Ye aktivitesi Temmuz'da Baking Fairy'de. Konumuz bu ay Sutlu Tatlilar!!! Hem hafif hem de tatli, hem de yapacak o kadar cok sey var ki....

Tatlilar ile arasi haddinden fazla iyi olan benden baska bir konu beklenmezdi zaten- offff simdi Istanbul'da olmak vardi, firin sutlaclar, sakizli muhallebiler, kazan dibi (tavuksuz olanlarindan cunku ben et yemiyorum), dondurmalar, saymakla bitmez...

Artik annem ve Guliz bir krem karamel dokturur, Cenk degisik bir pudding yapar, ben de uzun zamandir yapmak istedigim panna cotta'lari firsat bu firsat bir guzel yaparim, ve de yerim:)

Temmuz Ye icin linklerinizi bakingfairy@gmail.com adresine bekliyorum. Tariflerinizi 17 Temmuz Pazartesi gunu bloglarinizda yayinlamayi unutmayin!

update:
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Ye 12

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(sitenize kodu eklerken baştaki ve sondaki :: işaretlerini kaldırın...)

Monday, June 19, 2006

Travel like a baker!

I am leaving for Charlottesville and need to pack:)

Travel like a chef: "Filed under: Magazines, Food Gadgets, Did you know? Chefs don't always keep all their gear in the kitchen. Many will want to keep a closer eye on their favorite, personal knives than the kitchen allows and others simply travel a lot. As you might imagine, getting around with a bunch of knives isn't as simple as it looks, given that you can't simply tuck them into a pocket. The NY Times magazine took a look at how chefs on-the-go store their stuff. The cases range from standard, hardware-store tool kits to custom-made Italian leather pouches. Barbara Lynch, a Boston chef, converted a gardener's tool kit (pictured above), which proved to be so popular with other cooks that she is coming out with her own line of similarly designed cases specifically for chefs. Because you can't look at the case without taking a peek inside, the NY Times also looked into what stuff the chefs were storing, from chopsticks and tasting spoons, to knives and pastry tools. One of the more important inclusions for a busy chef? Burn cream. Read | Permalink | Email "

<3 My Dad <3 <3


Bolo papai e bebê...
Originally uploaded by Djalma Reinaldo.
I love love love "heart" heart" heart" my dad. He makes my world so much brighter with his amazing smile and boundless love. I miss you and I love you dad. You are the greatest! Damn, why is mom so lucky??? (insert some Freud quotes here)

The cake is from my good Flickr friend and a very talented cake decorator Djalma.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Cooking is hard for bakers!

Can't agree more with Meg. I love baking because it is scientific, insanely precise and measuring 1/4 teaspoon makes a difference in the end product...Cooking scares me, a dash of that, a dash of this, OMG too much salt...I wouldn't call baking Germany though, maybe France...Cooking, yeah Italy is written all over it! Ciao!

Becoming an instinctive cook: "Last night I made an entirely 'original' salad. I put original in quotes because once you see the ingredients you'll realize it's a pretty unoriginal combination of ingredients. But it was original to me because I didn't use a recipe of any kind. For many cooks that's not a big deal, but for me it's pretty symbolic. I began my culinary journey as a baker. All through junior high and high school, I baked elaborate cakes, things that required my mother stop at the liquor store on her way home from work to pick up my requested boozy ingredients. When I started cooking in college, I was tied to recipes. If I didn't have an ingredient (even something as simple as 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg) I wouldn't skip it, I'd dash out to the store and buy it so that I'd have everything exactly right. I was nervous if I diverged from the recipe in any way. I'd see those people who'd just sort of instinctively throw things into a pot and wonder how they did it. Beginning as a baker taught me to be structured and orderly about what went into my pot. "

Monday, June 12, 2006

Blue Voyage in Turkey

We did the same route last year with my family. This is the ultimate way to calm:)

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Strawberry Spark Cake



Here is my belated entry for Indira's Jihva Event.

I had plans of making at least two desserts but I ended up eating most of the strawberries plain:) Good thing I got the largest box from the farmers market today and whipped up this semi-raw dessert. It is really good and healthy!

Strawberry Spark Cake
(for 2)

1 cup plain yogurt, (I used 0% Greek yogurt, I am sure other versions would be as good).
1 cup strawberries
2 tablespoon agave nectar (you can also use powdered sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
12 ladyfingers
Spark of your choice***


Blend all the ingredients in a blender until mixed and pink. Add the spark.

***Spark, this cake gets the spark from the raw cacao nibs. They are very bitter on their own but extremely delicious and addictive with agave. If you can't find raw cacao, you can use dark chocolate.

Fill the ramekins 3/4 full and line with ladyfingers.
Refrigerate until firm, for about 2-3 hours.

Inspired from Foodbeam

Friday, June 09, 2006

Jihva For Strawberries-Part 2




Here are more recipes with strawberries. We have to hurry up and get the last of the strawberries from the farmer's market tomorrow! I would love to try them all but I have my eye on the popsicles first:)

1. Happy Burb: Strawberry Yogurt Cake
2. Ô délices: Strawberry Soup
3. My Workshop: Strawberry Salsa
4. Spicyana: Strawberry Lime Pavlova
5. Vinela's Cuisine: Strawberry Kulfi
6. Cafe Fernando: Strawberry Cobbler
7. Mahanandi: Strawberry Popsicles
and
Strawberry Mango Scones
8. Hooked on Heat: Strawberry Banana Almond Muffins
9. Ahaar: Crisp Green Salad
10. Aayisrecipes: Strawberry Paank and Fruit Gateau

Ratatouille Trailer! Pixar 2007


Ratatouille
Originally uploaded by Baking Fairy.
Featuring me, must check it out:) I can't wait until 2007 to see this movie:) Oh, the streets of Paris, the kitchen, pastries...Too bad Erdem went back to Turkey. Must find a new connection at Pixar. Do you know anyone?

Jihva Strawberries: A long due round up (PART 1)




The first Jihva Event was Mangoes and now we are on to the second one with Strawberries. It has been crazy over in San Francisco so I haven't got a chance to do a beautiful round up as Indira, but I wanted to start posting these recipes before the JFI 3 kicks in. Thank you all for participating!

Here are the first 10 entries, in the order I've received them. Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3!

1. Ramya of Culinary Gems: Roasted Strawberries
2. Hooked on Heat: Freshest among the Fresh
3. My Life as Reluctant House Wife: Strawberry Coulis
4. Manpasand: Strawberry Shake
5. Cooks Hide Out: Strawberry Bread Pudding with Strawberry Compote
6. Cook almost anything at Once: Strawberry Pudding
7. Trial and Error: Strawberry Bread
8. Santhi's Kitchen Strawberry Crumble
9. Food for Thought: Strawberry Shrikhand
10. Sweet pleasure : plaisir sucré: Strawberry Terrine with Sweet Coconut

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Tiramisu Cake and Ekin's Engagement Party



My good friends Ekin and Ozan got engaged a few months back in LA and they drove up to the city to celebrate. I was part of the organization committee and we had a lot of fun planning and spending countless hours on the details, especially with Cagla (Ekin's sister)!

Ekin's favorite cake is tiramisu, so making the cake was easy. I used Heidi's Beeramisu recipe and added pastry cream and used Kahlua instead of beer. It was really delicious!

For the decorations, I was tempted to make the box from fondant but went to a BBQ instead, so I used a real box. (Yes, I do have Tiffany's boxes at home, and yes, Ekin's ring came from there:)

Lots of pictures on Flickr but here are my favorites. I've always wanted to try the custom ordering with M&Ms and they turned out great. M&M execs loved our idea and now they will be mass producing E&O, 3-JUN-06 and L-U-V engraved mms, only available in blue and off white:)))....joking of course!



Monday, June 05, 2006

Married!


sedatzeynep 070
Originally uploaded by Mochi83.
My cousin, Sedat, got married this weekend in Istanbul! Damn teleportation research! I missed another once in a life time family gathering.

Bir yastikta kocayin sekerler! (May you age on one pillow, a Turkish saying:)

They are honeymooning somewhere in the Mediterranean...Life must be good over there...

Friday, June 02, 2006

Drooling! literaly:)



:-)___...__________O

Ladurée Macarons in Paris...o la la!!!


Happy Birthday Sera!

And it is my dear friend Sera's birthday today! She is going to Istanbul this summer so I thought one my dad's palaces would be a good "sneak peak"! :)
 
 

 

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Jihva for Strawberries


Smell The Red
Originally uploaded by aqui-ali.
My inbox is full of amazing recipes and pictures. I promise to get the wrap up by the end of the week. Thank you for participating. I haven't realized what was involved before signing up to host this event but I am excited to discover so many new blogs that I love and meet many of you. Stay tuned!