Monday 23 November 2009

Matthew Walkers christmas pudding

Hi All,

I haven't been here for a while and I am back again .I have been busy at work and haven't had time to update my blog.
You may wonder why I chose Matthew Walkers pudding for my blog.I saw a competition in the UKFBA web page and got some pudding samples from MW to create my own christmas pudding decoration with different ingredients.
I used my gummastic desert recipe for sauce on the pudding.Here are my delicious christmas pudding photos.Yummy!
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Sunday 11 October 2009

Lamb chops with french beans and roasted potato


I have heard that there was a cooking competition on the UKFBA website.The recipe should include lamb chops, some herbs and vegetables.Here is my recipe.Tasty and delicious.


Ingredients:

6 lamb chops
Some seasoning dried oregano,dried red flake pepper,black pepper,ground red pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
50 gr French beans
One tomato
One small onion
2 big potatoes for roasting
some rosemary


Marinate lamb chops a couple of hours ago before cooking.Take a bowl, put some dried oregano,dried flake red pepper,black pepper and olive oil.Mix them and add lamb chops and stir until lamb chops are absorbing all sauce.Preheat oven as 200 C.
Take a tray and cover with baking paper.Put marinated lamb chops on the tray and cook them until they are tender.
Peel potatoes and cut them into cubes.Take a tray and put them in the tray.Add some olive oil,salt and rosemary.Roast until they are golden and crispy.
Cut the French beans into half.Chop onion finely.Put some olive oil into the pan.Fry onion and add chopped tomato.Fry them together until soft.Add French beans and stir them.Add some hot water.Cook until it is soft.
Take a plate.Put some lamb chops and serve with French beans and roasted potato.Enjoy!
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Monday 21 September 2009

Apple cookies



After a while,I am happy to write a new recipe for you.My son always wanted me to bake some cookies.I like travelling and knowing new cultures and food.Therefore I usually buy "Food and Travel" magazine and I found this recipe in there.

I have been very busy to take some food photo experiments last weekend.Hope you will like the recipe and photo too.


Ingredients:

50 gr unsalted butter,softened
100 gr brown sugar
100 gr.apple sauce
150 gr plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
40 gr.chopped walnut

Preheat the oven to 200 C.Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.Stir in the apple sauce.
In a seperate bowl,mix flour,bicarbonate of soda,baking powder,cinnamon and salt.Add the apple sauce mixture and stir well using a wooden spoon.Add the walnuts.
Drop walnut-sized spoonfuls of the mixture into the baking tray.Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are golden around edges but still soft.Transfer to a wire rack to cool.The cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to 4 days.
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Friday 28 August 2009

Fried pepper with feta cheese (peynirli biber)

Pepper with feta cheese is my mum's special treat in the mornings for us when I was a child.In the summer she was picking up fresh peppers from garden and cooking in the kitchen.This nice smell was waking me up quickly in the morning.This is very easy but delicious recipe.
You can use red,green,yellow peppers whatever you like.I used red one in my recipe.


Ingredients:
2 red peppers
100 gr feta cheese
5 tbsp olive oil
Black sesame

Cut the peppers into the small pieces.Put the frying pan on the heat.Add olive oil .After 1 min, add peppers.Fry peppers until they are soft and giving their colours to the oil. Turn heat off.Take peppers to the plate and ground feta cheese on the peppers by using hand.Sprinkle some black sesame on it.Enjoy.

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Thursday 20 August 2009

Pudding with gum mastic(Damla sakizli muhallebi)



Hello ,
I was searching some food blogs and came a cross the recipe of ice cream with gum mastic.It was very interesting because I was thinking of making a pudding with gum mastic too.This desert is well known in Aegean area of Turkey.I lived in Izmir Karsiyaka for one year and it was a fantastic place to live.I was working in Alsancak port as an electrical workshop supervisor and climbing cranes everyday as their height about 60 m.I had very nice days in my life there, good friends, good food sitting at the kordon near sea after work eating fresh fish and delicious desert from Bolulu Hasan Usta.


Here is the recipe for Pudding with gum mastic .

125 gr butter
100 gr flour
180 gr.sugar
750 ml. milk
1 sachet of vanilla sugar
1 tsp gum mastic (you can use 2 gum mastic chewing gums instead)

In a small, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.Blend the flour into the melted butter. Cook over low heat, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes. Cooking for this length of time will minimize 'flour' taste. Don't over-heat it or let it brown, as this will affect the colour and flavour of the sauce. Stir quite vigorously to make a smooth, glossy paste. Add the milk a little at a time stir again vigorously. Then, when this milk is incorporated, add the next amount and continue incorporating each bit of liquid before you add the next. When about half the milk is in, switch to a balloon whisk and start adding large amounts of milk, but always whisking briskly. Your reward will be a smooth, glossy, creamy sauce.
Add the sugar, powdered gum mastic(use a mortar to make it powdery) and vanilla sugar.Stir well and leave it until boiling.Turn heat off.
Take another bowl and put the mixture into the bowl.Whisk it for 15 mins at high level of mixer(not less than 15 mins).
Put the mixture into the desert cups.Ground some walnut or make a strawbery sauce to serve.Enjoy!
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Friday 7 August 2009

Turkish Chicken Pie (Talas Boregi)


Nowadays,I want to cook more pastry recipes.I was looking for a traditional Turkish pastry recipe and found one in klasiktatlar .It is similar to English pie but has more delicious.Originally the filling is made from lamb meat but I used here chicken,easy to cook.


Ingredients:

1 pack puff pastry (ready to roll up)

For filling:
2 chicken thighs
half onion chopped coarsely
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
water
one handful of parsley
1 big tomato
3 tbsp olive oil
1 egg yolk beaten

Cut the chicken thighs and separate bones.Wash them and put in the pan.Add one cup of water.Cook it until the water is finished.Set it aside.Heat a pan.Add 3 tablespoon olive oil.Add and tomato and stir them together for 2 Min's.Add salt and black pepper.Add the chicken pieces and stir them together for 1 min.Add 1 1/2 cup of water and leave it to boil until chicken is very soft.Turn heat off.Take chicken pieces into a dish.Mix it with chopped parsley.Filling is ready (Keep the chicken stock to serve later).

Preheat the oven 200 C.Oil the oven tray.Take the pastry and cut into 4.Put a tablespoon of filling on the pastry and seal it like an envelope.Turn it over and put on the tray.Repeat it for other pieces.Brush egg yolk on the pastry and sprinkle some black sesame.Put the tray in the oven and bake it for 25 Min's.
when it is cooked ,take it to the dish and serve with warm chicken stock.Enjoy it.
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Tuesday 4 August 2009

The pide(Turkish bread) with cheese in a Turkish Holiday Resort







After a hectic life,it was very nice to go to Turkey for holiday.I was very excited when I thought about Turkish food which I would have on holiday.
I and my cousin went to Kemer Camyuva Beach hotel,friendly and very clean.The foods were fantastic and delicious.
The pide chef,Mehmet Usta from Gaziantep was making nice pides for guests.He gave me a pide(Turkish bread) recipe and baked some pides in the stone oven for us.They were mouth watering.


Here is the recipe:

500 g flour
1 tsp sugar
1 sachet yeast
warm water

Mix all ingredients all together.Add enough water to make a soft dough. Knead the dough until it is neither soft or hard.Cut into the small pieces.Leave them 10 Min's.Prepare filling.

Filling:
250 g feta cheese
one handful of parsley
5 tbsp vegetable oil
a pinch of sweet ground red pepper

Put 5 tbsp oil to the pan and heat the pan.Cut feta cheese into the small pieces and put in the pan.Fry it for 2 mins.Add chopped parsley and a pinch of sweet ground red pepper.Stir together for 2 mins.Turn off the heat.

Preheat the oven 200 C.Take a small dough and roll it untill it is oval shape.Put some cheese filling.Close the dough with your fingers.Make pides all dough is finished.Put them in the oven till they are brown.(10-15mins)

The Turkish recipes from my holiday will carry on....



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Friday 24 July 2009

Covent Garden Market 2


I had a great experience last Thursday in Covent Garden Market and learnt many things about food presentation and sales.
I had a couple of busy days to prepare all the food and then the big day came on Thursday.When we arrived at the market,the UKFBA stall was ready.Ben,the Market Manager greeted us and introduced himself and gave us a lot of information about the stall and market and made us feel comfortable.Throughout the day we saw Ben many times and each time he checked if we were ok and gave us many useful tips.
I prepared Turkish boreks with potato and feta cheese and some Turkish apple pastries with apple and cinnamon.I made bulghur(similar to couscous) salad and english traditional sponge and carrot cakes.



It was fantastic how I sold the traditional Turkish boreks so easily but found it much harder to sell the english cakes.After some feedback from Ben and looking at other stalls, I thought that the customers were looking for nice and interesting food presentation and a consistent food theme.
It was a hard work but rewarding.I really enjoyed it and slept very well that night!
I am going on holiday this week but I will post my borek and apple pastry recipes as soon as I can while I am lying on the beach :)
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Tuesday 21 July 2009

Covent Garden Market

Hi Everyone,
I am delighted to announce that I will be having a food stall at Covent Garden Market on 23rd of July with the UKFBA(UK Food Bloggers Association) .I will be selling some Turkish food.

Nice,fresh and different Turkish food like boreks,kisir,gozleme are waiting for you.Hurry!
Hope to see you there.

Turkish/Turkce

Bu persembe Birlesik Krallik yemek sitesi blogger sahipleri birligini temsilen Covent Garden Yiyecek Pazarinda olucam.Elmali Kurabiye,Gozleme,Borek ve kekler olucak standimda.Simdiden cok heyecanliyim.Kisa zamanda size o gunden resimler gostermek umuduyla...
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Sunday 19 July 2009

Mother nature's goodies



We dont notice mother nature's goodies during our daily routine do we?I was out going to hospital to take an x-ray and I was a bit upset about it.

After hospital,Peter and I decided to walk along the canal near the hospital to feel better.We saw canal boats and goodies as we walked.It was lovely to see them.It is the season of blackberries and plums in the UK and we picked nice and sweet blackberries and some green plums.I was obsessed to eat all the blackberries according to Peter.He was right!

I took a photo to show you how irresistible they look .


Turkce/Turkish

Bazen gunluk kosusturmanin icinde dogadaki guzellikleri farkedemezsiniz.Hastaneye film cektimek icin gitmistim biraz moralim bozuktu.Hastaneden sonra bana iyi gelir diye Peter ve ben hastanenin yakinindaki su kanali boyunca yuruyuse karar verdik. Birlesik Krallik'ta bogurtlen ve yesil erik mevsimi simdi.Tatli ve hos kokulu bogurtlenlerden ve eriklerden topladik kanal boyunca.Peter'a gore butun iri ve olgun bogurtleri yemek istiyordum.Hakliydi da. Onlarin size ne kadar dayanilmaz olduklarini gostermek icin fotograflarini cektim. Iste bazi ornekler...
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Wednesday 15 July 2009

Home made strawberry jam


Two days ago,I bought some really nice strawberries to make a desert but I didn't have time to make it.I was thinking how I can use these strawberries and then I remembered my mum's home made jam.
In Turkey,April is the time to buy small,sweet and nice smelling strawberries.My mum was usually buying a couple of kilos and giving them to me to wash.I ate half of them as I washed :)
These days I don't have several kilos so I must save every single strawberry, no matter how delicious they look, to make my jam.


Ingredients

500 g strawberry
500 g caster sugar
1/2 lemon

Put all of the strawberries in a bowl and cover with sugar. Leave it overnight. The next day, you will notice all of the sugar has been absorbed by the strawberries and now you can see the sugary water and strawberry combination.
Put it in a saucepan. Heat the pan until the water becomes sticky. Take a spoonful and pour some of the mixture on to a dish. If its thick and doesnt run it means the jam is ready. Add the lemon juice to the mixture and stir before turning the heat off. Leave to cool and pour into a jar.

Spread some on your hot toasted bread. Enjoy!
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Thursday 9 July 2009

Chicken with mushroom and red pepper

I haven't added anything from last weekend because I was so busy taking some food photos.It is amazing feeling to get some shots and see how you created them.I will add these shots my flickr and UKFBA(UK Food Bloggers Association) page soon.I also joined Jamie Oliver recipe challenge with this recipe.


It is very healthy,easy and delicious meal which you can cook for loved ones for any occasions.


Ingredients

4 chicken thighs
150 gr mushrooms
1 big size red pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Parsley and black olives to serve

Cut chicken tighs into small pieces without bones.Cut the mushrooms and red peppers.Heat a fry pan and add 1 tbsp olive oil .Add the chicken pieces .Fry it until chicken colour is changing.Add mushroom and stir 2 mins and red pepper.Add a pinch of sea salt.Stir all mixture together and fry it until all ingredients well cooked as red pepper and chicken give some colour and oil in the pan.Serve with parsley and sliced black olives without stone .Enjoy.

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Saturday 4 July 2009

Turkish bulghur pilaf -Bulgur pilavi



I would like to give you very nice and healthy Turkish recipe which is called "Bulgur Pilavi".Bulghur is more nutritious than rice and couscous, because it contains more fiber, more vitamins and minerals.Bulgur is a common ingredient in Turkish and Mediterranean dishes.

Ingredients

500 gr Bulghur
1 onion
1 big tomato
1 cube chicken stock
2 tsp tomato puree
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Chop the onions finely. Cut the tomato like cubes. Dissolve chicken stock in hot water.

Heat a pan.Add oil and chopped onions.Fry onions until they are soft.Add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree.Stir and fry all for 3 Min's.Add bulghur and fry all mixture for 2 Min's again.Add the chicken stock to cover the mixture.Water level must be 2 cm higher than the mixture surface.Boil it until water is completely disappeared.Turn heat off.Put two kitchen paper towel on the pan and cover with seal for 10 Min's.This will give it more taste.Enjoy it.
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Easy desert-yoghurt with honey and walnut



I had been in Athens 6 yrs ago and loved Greek food which is so tasty and light.Most of Turkish and Greek recipes are similar and even sometimes the dish names.Dolmaki in Greek is dolma in Turkish and Caciki is cacik.I can give you many examples like that.
I would like to give you a Greek desert recipe which is very light and easy.

7 tsp Greek yoghurt
3 tsp honey
some walnut

Take a small desert ramekin.Put yoghurt and add honey on the top.Sprinkle some walnut on the desert.Enjoy.
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Friday 3 July 2009

Kofte with roasted potato and tomato(firinda kofte)



My grand mother and father have moved from Thessaloniki in Greece in Balkan war,1911 to Trakia part in Turkey.Some of my mums recipes are influenced from Greek kitchen.Kofte with roasted potato and tomato is one of them.



12 Koftes
1 big size potato
1 big size tomato
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato puree

Prepair koftes as my previous recipe.Preheat oven t0 200 C.Peel the potato and slice it.Take an oven tray.Put sliced potatoes first and drizzle olive oil on the top.Put koftes and sliced tomatoes on the potatoes.Put it in the preheated oven and cook for 15 mins.Mix one tbsp tomato puree with 1 cup of hot water and stir well.Add this sauce on the koftes in the tray.Cook it for 20 mins.Serve with a fresh salad.Hope you will enjoy it.
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My son's favorite pasta


Hi everyone,
I am enjoying with the cool weather today after yesterdays hot weather.As I mentioned yesterday,I went to watch my son while he was attending the sports day in his school.He came near me and said "Mum,can you cook my favorite pasta today.I am so hungry now and I am thinking about it".And I cooked his favorite one" pasta with bolognaise sauce".Kids love this recipe.If you would like to know where bolognese sauce is coming from here it is .



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolognese_sauce



Any kind of pasta cooked
250 gr minced beef
1 tomato
1 tbsp tomato puree
half medium size onion
1 piece of garlic
parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
salt

Chopped the onions and garlic.Add olive oil to the pan and heat it .Add onion and garlic.Stir just 3 mins.Add minced meat and fry untill meat is browned.Add chopped tomato and tomato puree and fry for 1 mins.Add a half cup of hot water ans some salt and boil it until the water has gone. Add some parsley and parmesan cheese on the top if you like.Enjoy.
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Thursday 2 July 2009

Fresh avokado salad with pasta



There is a nice recipe for hot summer days if you would like to have something light and healthy.


1 ripe avocado
1 tomato
some feta cheese
Pasta cooked

Cook pasta as usual.Strain the water.Take a salad bowl.Slice avocado, tomato and feta cheese into the bowl.Add cooked pasta and some dressing on it.(I usually prefer lemon and olive oil dressing).Enjoy.
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Figen's Rasberry and meringue desert
















Today, my son had a sports day in his school and most of parents and kids we all went to park nearby.

It was very hot again and we were carrying water bottles.It was nice to see kids racing.My sons team won and became first.He was so happy.

I will give you a desert recipe to make you feel fresh and cool . :-)

These ingredients for two:

300 ml double cream
2 meringue crushed
Rasberry fruit frozen or fresh
Vanilla ice cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp caster sugar

Whip double cream with icing sugar and make a cream.Put rasberry fruit, 1 tbsp water and sugar in the pan and boil it to make a fruit sauce.Turn heat off after boiling it and leave it cool.

Take one ice cream goblet.Put fruit sauce first and add cream ands crashed meringues. Add ice cream on the top and serve with some fresh rasberries .Enjoy it.






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Wednesday 1 July 2009

Home made lemonade in a long hot summer












Hellooo everybody,

Today is the hottest day in UK isn't it? I was suffering with hot temperature and drinking plenty of water.Suddenly,I have remembered my mum's home made lemonade.She was prepairing it in hot days in my village in Turkey.My village is near sea side where is called "Kiyikoy"(old name is Midye).It is very lovely small town.I have spent all my summer holidays in there until 16 yrs old.

If you are interested in seeing it,here is a link for you.I am sure you will love it!


My refreshing lemonade recipe here it is:

6 middle size unwaxed lemon
1,250 lt water
120 gr caster sugar

Put 100 gr sugar and 250 ml water in a pan stir well until sugar is dissolving under heat.Turn heat off and leave it cool.

Take lemon zests and squeeze all lemons in a bowl.Add 20 gr sugar in to the zest and lemon juice mixture and leave it for 15 mins.Strain it to remove unwanted lemon particules.Take a jar and add 1 lt water,cooled shorbet,zest and lemon juice mixture.Stir them well together and put it in the fridge to cool.Serve with mint in this hot summer!


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Sunday 28 June 2009

A Turkish night

Hello everyone,

I usually cook a very nice dinner when Peter is returning from a business trip.Last time I had cooked an English meal as sausage and mash potatoes and this time I have decided to cook Turkish as a starter and main meal.But at the end it must have been a very nice desert like my favorite one chocolate souffle.mmmmm.

My menu

Rice and youghurt soup(yayla corbasi)

Turkish meat balls with fresh salad(Kofte)

Chocolate souffle


Ingredients for soup;

1 lt water
1/2 cup of rice
1 egg
3 tbsp of greek yoghurt
2 tbsp of flour
salt
4 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 tbsp of dried mint
1 pinch of ground red pepper


















Put 1 lt water into the pot.Add 1/2 cup of rice to the pot.Boil rice until it is soft. Reduce the heat and beat egg,yoghurt and flour well until it is smooth and slowly add to the pot and mix consistently until it is starting to boil.Add salt .

Put oil in the pan and add dried mint and pepper and mix them until gives their colour to the oil.Add the sauce to the soup and serve it.


Ingredients for meat ball (Kofte):

500 gr mixed minced meat well grounded (lamb and beef)

One small size onion grated

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 egg

2 slices white bread( preferably two handful of bread crumbs)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

Parsley finely chopped(one handful)





















Take a one deep bowl and put the mixed mince meat first and add grated onion,black pepper,egg,oil,salt, bread crumbs and parsley.Mixed all ingredients together by using hand.It takes 5 mins to do it.They must be stick together like a dough. Take a small piece from meat dough and make a kofte.When you finish all meat dough to make koftes,take a fry pan add some frying oil to fry koftes until they are well cooked.Serve with a fresh salad like tomotoes,lettuce and spring onion(you can use lemon and olive oil salad dressing on the salad).

In the summer time, you can grill koftes on the barbeque instead of frying.Enjoy it.


Ingredients for chocolate souffle:

100 gr dark chocolate bar ,melted

4 eggs seperated

100 gr caster sugar

50 gr cocoa powder

300 ml milk

50 gr plain flour

icing sugar to dust

Butter

















When I have decided to make it ,I have checked the plenty of recipes, books and videos.The result was surprising.There were many different recipes to make it.Most of people are thinking that it is not easy to make a chocolate souffle.This recipe I followed will not let you down if you want to make a surprise to someone or special occasions.

Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Brush ramekins with soft or melted butter and sprinkle some sugar to coat them with sugar.Put them in the fridge while you are preparing souffle.

Mix the egg yolks with half the sugar and then stir in the flour and cocoa powder.
Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring the milk to the boil. Gradually pour half the milk onto the egg mixture and whisk. Return the milk and egg mixture to the saucepan and reduce the heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens and no longer tastes floury.

Remove from the heat and pour the custard into a clean bowl, cover with a disc of greased greaseproof paper.

Whisk the egg whites and add the remaining sugar. Mix the melted chocolate into the custard. Fold half the egg whites into the chocolate custard using a metal spoon and then fold in the remaining whites.

Spoon the mixture into the ramekins and level the top with a palette knife.
Place the ramekins into the preheated oven. Bake for 8-11 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust with icing sugar.

Serve the soufflé with chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Serve immediately and enjoy.


Our night started with soup ,kofte and after chocolate souffle.We were enjoying with pleasure.In my culture we say" the way which is going to men's heart is via stomach".
It is working on my boy friend.You can try too.:-)

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Thursday 25 June 2009

Yummy mummy muffins!

















As you see, some muffins have gone before taking part in the car boot sale. Luckly,one Japanese lady came and bought all to bring them to her friends in Japan.Lucky muffins!
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We are making Blueberry muffins




















Hi again,

Today, I would like to tell you our car boot sale adventure.There was a car boot sale in my sons school and we have decided to take part and at least it could be a good opportunity to reduce the number of toys at home.My son and me have checked which toys could be sold.After all checking, I got only a few toys to be sold.Suddenly, all toys became very precious.
My boy friend suggested to bake Blueberry muffins to sell in car boot sale.It was a good idea.But he must have gone to buy some blueberries.He came back with two boxes of blueberry and we started to eat them instead of using them in the muffin.I stopped Peter to eat all and rescued some to be used in the muffin.:=)

Peter and Umut used the ingredients to make a muffin as follows:


125 gr plain flour
110 gr butter
65 gr caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp milk
125 gr blueberries

Beat butter and sugar together and slowly add the eggs.Add the flour,baking powder,salt and milk, mix them and refrigerate for an hour.Put a spoonful of muffin mixture into each muffin case,filling each to just half.Add two or three blueberries on the each muffin or you can add blueberries to the mixture after refrigerated.

Bake in a oven at 200 C for 20 mins. or until golden on the top.Take them out and leave them cool.Serve with a cup of tea.Enjoy it!



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Tuesday 23 June 2009

Healthy breakfast




A friend of mine ,Kadriye, complained about delicious cake recipes and she wanted me to post some healthy recipes.She is right.
I care about having good breakfast in the morning and helps me to make a good healthy diet.
My secret to have a nice body is to eat everything but in good proportion.For example,don't eat potato and rice at the same time because both of them are carbohyrates and don't eat huge amount.
Tips for healthy living:





Your daily diet should be a balance of carbohydrate and protein. As a guide, your plate should contain twice as many carbs as protein.
Base each of your meals on a complex carbohydrate such as potato, wholemeal bread or brown rice, and include vegetables. Finish the meal with fruit, and this should ensure you get a balance of complex and simple carbohydrates.
Use high fibre wholegrain cereals as part of your breakfast, and use wholemeal bread for your toast.
For lunch, choose lean protein such as fish or chicken with only a small amount of carbohydrate to get you through the afternoon.
Large carbohydrate meals will make you slow and sleepy so save your big pasta meal for the evening.
Cut down on the amount of refined white flour products in your diet such as white bread, pizza and white pasta and rice. The refining process produces simple carbohydrates and many vitamins and minerals are lost.
Fruit is naturally high in sugar, which means so are fruit juices and smoothies. In liquid form these sugars can damage your teeth, but these drinks count towards your five a day and contain fibre, vitamins and minerals. To avoid tooth decay, it's best to drink them with a meal.(www.netdoctor.co.uk/focus/nutrition/.../carbohydrates.htm )


Here are my healthy breakfast suggestions.Enjoy it!


sliced tomatoes


Mozzarella cheese


olive oil


scramble egg


one glass of juice


I love breakfast and it is my favorite time to have a nice food and chat with my family and talked about everything.
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Carrot cake




















Hi all,
I would like to tell you my first carrot cake experience.Peter was always talking about carrot cake and it seemed nice to bake it .
I have baked it one day and made him surprised.Umut and Peter loved it again.My son said this is a 5 star cake!.He usually doesnt say this kind of words.I am happy with the result.Hope you will enjoy it too.


150 gr.sugar
4 eggs
150 ml. sunflower or vegetable oil
150 gr.grated carrots
55 gr.walnuts chopped
175 gr.flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
icing sugar for dusting




Preheat the oven 180 C and grease a 23 cm springform cake tin.Place the sugar,eggs,sunflower oil,carrots and walnuts in the bowl and mix them.Add flour,salt,baking powder and beat the mixture until smooth.
Turn the mixture into tin and bake it until golden brown and check centre with a knife comes out clean.Leave in the tin for 10 mins and transfer to the wire rack to cool completely.
Dust some icing sugar on the top and serve with cream or yoghurt.

There is a summer fair in my son school this weekend.I am planning to bake it for fair.If you want to taste it ,see you there!

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The delicious image of sponge cake


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sponge cake experience

I love sponge cake and my boy friend bought a sponge cake for our monthly anniversary.It was delicious and we loved it!.So I wanted to bake it myself.I have searched many web sites, recipes and I have decided to use my own recipe.Here it is:

175 gr. soft butter
175 gr. self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
175 gr. caster sugar
3 eggs

For filling

8 tbsp strawberry jam
300 ml.double cream
icing sugar for dusting



Preheat oven to 180 C and grease the cake tin.I have used 23 cm cake tin but you can use 20 cm cake tin too.I mixed butter, sugar and eggs first and add flour and baking powder.Then beat well all until smooth.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins until well risen or golden brown.Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins and transfer it to the wire racks to cool completely.Seperate it into two pieces by using a knife.Spread jam and whipped double cream on the one piece to cover it completely.Sandwich the two pieces together.Sprinkle icing sugar on top and serve.

Tips:If you leave it on the fridge over night,the taste will be more delicious.Yummy!:-)
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