Family gatherings
I managed to spend two days on the farm last week - that's a record. :P
First, we went to celebrate my sister's birthday on Thursday (12 September). It occurred to somebody that it would be more convenient that way because my sister and all the men in the family work there anyway. So we had a quiet family lunch there, and left my sister and her husband to go wherever they pleased in the evening. It was a hot day, but not unbearably hot. My mother's laundry (the men's clothes) got dry very fast. :)
In the meantime, my brother got so nostalgic for our late grandma's homemade gözleme pastries (or just got a craving for them :P) that he bought the necessary clay griddle and started pestering asking my mother to make him some. And since she didn't know how to make them, she asked my aunt, who told her that she would make the pastries herself if we took her to the farm, and teach her in the process. So off we went to the farm again on Sunday, and my aunt kneaded and rolled the dough; my task was to spread and tuck in the cheese filling, and my sister and my mother took turns to bake the pastries on the griddle over a gas ring (my grandma baked them on a wood fire, but we are a little more modern :P). My mother did roll one pastry sheet herself to get the feel of it, but I didn't even try because it's very delicate work and needs a lot of practice. And then we forgot to write down the recipe. LOL I'm sorry that it didn't occur to me to photograph the finished product.
We sat to eat the pastries in the open air, and I'm afraid that wasn't a very good idea because they and our soft drinks attracted an awful lot of flies and occasional wasps. Village life isn't so romantic as some people say. ;)
And I got to see the farm kittens that had stayed hidden the other day. :)
Photos of cats and flowers to follow. And in the meantime, here is my aunt making the pastries. It turned out that she had a very professional-like apron, and even a headscarf to hold her hair. :) No, she's not really a professional, but she bakes a lot at home.
First, we went to celebrate my sister's birthday on Thursday (12 September). It occurred to somebody that it would be more convenient that way because my sister and all the men in the family work there anyway. So we had a quiet family lunch there, and left my sister and her husband to go wherever they pleased in the evening. It was a hot day, but not unbearably hot. My mother's laundry (the men's clothes) got dry very fast. :)
In the meantime, my brother got so nostalgic for our late grandma's homemade gözleme pastries (or just got a craving for them :P) that he bought the necessary clay griddle and started pestering asking my mother to make him some. And since she didn't know how to make them, she asked my aunt, who told her that she would make the pastries herself if we took her to the farm, and teach her in the process. So off we went to the farm again on Sunday, and my aunt kneaded and rolled the dough; my task was to spread and tuck in the cheese filling, and my sister and my mother took turns to bake the pastries on the griddle over a gas ring (my grandma baked them on a wood fire, but we are a little more modern :P). My mother did roll one pastry sheet herself to get the feel of it, but I didn't even try because it's very delicate work and needs a lot of practice. And then we forgot to write down the recipe. LOL I'm sorry that it didn't occur to me to photograph the finished product.
We sat to eat the pastries in the open air, and I'm afraid that wasn't a very good idea because they and our soft drinks attracted an awful lot of flies and occasional wasps. Village life isn't so romantic as some people say. ;)
And I got to see the farm kittens that had stayed hidden the other day. :)
Photos of cats and flowers to follow. And in the meantime, here is my aunt making the pastries. It turned out that she had a very professional-like apron, and even a headscarf to hold her hair. :) No, she's not really a professional, but she bakes a lot at home.