It's Friday - Christmas Past*

It's Friday and time again to join in with Willy Nilly Friday and Amy at Five on Friday.   All is well here at Lilly My Cat.  The Christmas holiday will soon be here and I do think that I'm ready.  Next week I hope to bake my Christmas cookies.  There's so many things I would like to share with you but it's the holiday season and I feel my post should reflect this special time of year. 

The other night I called my dear friend in Washington (state).  We were neighbors for over 20 years and we've known each other for 39 years!  I sat in the living room and turned on the Christmas tree.  No one sits in this room except when we have company or celebrate an event; like Christmas eve and Christmas day.  It was fun to reminisce about the old days when we used to bake Christmas cookies together.  The years have been good to us but I feel I'm still the same person I used to be.  It makes me sad when people forget where they came from.  I always tell me children to never forget who they are and to have compassion on others. I'm happy to be who I am...

We went to the annual Christmas tree lighting in our little community for the first time this year.  It was really a lovely evening sitting on a bench and listening to a music group sing Christmas carols.  Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived by boat and turned on the tree.  Hot chocolate and donuts were given out to all and it was such a festive evening ...

Here's my husband and I enjoying the evening.  We were with our grandchildren and my little grandson so enjoyed this special time . It reminds me of years ago when my parents used to take my children to the tree lighting.  The roles are reversed now.  It's an odd feeling really but I'm so thankful that we're here to see our grandchildren grow up...

Lilly is really liking this time of year.  She usually likes to sit under the tree.  I placed some metal bell decorations on the bottom limbs and she likes to make then sing.  This is my little tree which we bought at Home Depot for $24.99.  I don't think you can find cheaper that this now days. I remember one year we bought from the  local Boy Scouts for  under $10.00 and they DELIVERED the tree, too!  Am I showing my age? 

This is my daughter's beautiful tree.  The day we bought our trees, she got hers' home and decided that it didn't look right.  So, her dear husband loaded it again on the car and they came back with this one.  Remembering back many years ago, I recall going Christmas tree shopping with my dear dad.  We (I) found the perfect tree at a little community market and it was a $1.70!  Yup, really expensive..haha.  That would have been like 1969 to 1972.  We brought it home and Dad and I "flocked" it with white snow.  We had a special contraption that attached to my Mom's vacuum cleaner and it sprayed the white snow on the tree.  I remember it being cold since we lived in an area that had real, cold winters but it didn't bother me.   But, the tree was so pretty.  My dad was such a kind, patient man.

I love the Christmas season.  Growing up we used to go to my Uncle's home and celebrate with the whole family.  Sadly, those family members are long gone.  It's just me and my brother now and my dear brother will be joining my family this year for the holidays.  My Mom used to buy (or make) me a Christmas outfit each year along with a new pair of Christmas shoes.  Oh, how I longed to wear those new shoes but they were always put away until Christmas eve.  My Grandma would share with us all her buttery, homemade Danish cookies along with her red cabbage and Danish meatballs which we always had on Christmas Eve.  I've tried to keep these traditions for my family.    I don't have lot of Christmas memories with my Grandfather since he died tragically when I was 12 years old.  But my dear Grandmother lived to 97 years of age; and she was very active up until age 95!

Wherever you are, I wish you peace and joy at this time of year. Although there is sadness in our world, there is always hope.  I've love to hear from you if you have the time.

My best to you,

Pat

*I like the phrase "Christmas Past".  I've been reading Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol with Ebenezer Scrooge to my little grandson and it reminds me of the "ghost of Christmas past"...

Five on Friday Christmas Happenings

 Hello dear friends and new readers.  I had this post all written up and saved to publish today but I feel I need to add a footnote.  As you may have heard, a terrible tragedy took place in San Bernadino, CA yesterday.  My heart and prayers goes out to the families who have lost loved ones and those who are injured.  This has hit really close to home.  Our world needs fixing...

It's Friday and time again to join in with Amy for  Five on Friday.   I'm going to share five photos with you this week along with a recipe...

I always try and put up the Christmas decorations the weekend following Thanksgiving.  Each year it gets harder and harder. I think my OCD kicks in and I anticipate about having to take all this stuff down at the end of the holidays.  But, nevertheless, I finished decorating and all is ready for the family to celebrate.  Here's the fake tree in the living room...

It's the family's tradition each year to buy our fresh Christmas trees the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  This year our new little baby granddaughter joined in for the festivities.  And, afterwards, we always go to Starbucks for holiday drinks.  Here's my fresh little tree that I decorated this year for the family room.  Please excuse the messy tree skirt as Lilly loves to sleep under the tree...

In the first picture you can see my fireplace mantel all decked out in gold and white.  This is the mantel in the family room.  I found these poinsetta lights at the bottom of my Christmas box.  I think they're at least 20 years old.  I experimented and this is what I came up with.  The snowmen were made by my daughter, Heidi, when she was in 6th grade.  I shared this photo with my daughter and she told me it was "unique".  When I told her I was going to post it on my blog, she replied "that will definitely attract new readership"....(haha, she was being sarcastic, of course)

I have so  enjoyed reading various blogs about making Christmas cakes.  It's really not a popular item here but I was so intrigued with the recipes that I decided to make one myself.  I read through Amy's  post which was most helpful.  I also read Sue's post and took down some notes.  Here is my first Christmas cake.  I was most pleased the way it turned out.

It's now all bundled up (after having a bath in brandy) and in a couple of weeks I will feed it a little more brandy.  I'm excited to see how the flavors will ripen when I serve it on Christmas day.

 

Besides reading online about baking Christmas cakes, I watched my favorite program, At Home with Venetia in Kyoto.  Venetia is a British woman who has lived in Japan for over 40 years.  This past week she shared her version of Christmas cake along with her recipe which makes two loaf cakes.  I halved the recipe in half to make one loaf cake.  Here is what I did:

Venetia's Christmas Cake (with some tweaks)

 At least 12 hours before mix the ingredients below in a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter until the next day.

1/2 cup almonds

1 1/2 cups raisins (I used small raisins)

1 cup walnuts

1 four ounce container of red glace cherries, cut in half*

1/3 cup brandy

 In a large mixing bowl combine these dry ingredients:

225 grams flour

125 grams brown sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, mix the ingredients listed below:

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup (scant) orange juice

2 tablespoons molasses

3/4 cup oil

zest from one orange 

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Take a 9" x 5" loaf pan and grease and line it with parchment paper or wax paper.  (I used a long and narrow loaf pan and it worked fine).

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and then mix in the fruit and nut mixture.  Spoon batter in the prepared loaf pan.  Level the top of the cake and decorate with walnuts or almonds.  Place in the preheated oven in the middle rack.  Bake for 1 hour and test with a toothpick to see if cake is done. If it doesn't test done then continue to bake it for longer.   I baked mine for 1 hours 15 minutes.  Remove cake from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes or so before removing the cake from the pan.  Let cake cool completely and then brush the cake on all sides with 1/4 cup+ of brandy (or alcohol of your choice; whiskey, rum, cognac, etc.)

I put my cake into a tight fitted tin which I lined with plastic wrap.  I wrapped the cake in wax paper and a tea towel.  I placed a layer on plastic wrap on top of the tin before I placed the lid on it.  Place in a cool place and in two weeks time, feed again with alcohol.  

I hope you have enjoyed this post.  I would love to hear about your Christmas cake baking and/or decorating.  (I was confused as to whether I should soak the nuts along with the fruits but I think it turned out ok). 

Until next time my best to each of you,

Pat

*Note:  Venetia's recipe called for only 10 cherries and a 1/2 cup dates.  I omitted the dates and added more cherries instead.  She did not add orange zest to her cake.  Neither does she frost her cake with marzipan and fondant.  I was so confused as her recipe was listed in grams, cups and mils.  A total mind teaser for me as a US baker only using cups!  (I do have a scale now in my kitchen but it puzzles me each time I try and use it :(

November's Scavenger Hunt

Hello dear friends.  It's been awhile since I took part in Greenthumb's Scavenger Hunt.  I hope you like this month's selection.  It has a "Turkish" theme since I just returned from Turkey. 

 A stranger we met along the roadway on our drive up the mountain.  Goats are very popular in Turkey and they have some of the most wonderful goat cheeses I have ever tasted.

Looking down onto Alanya harbour from the castle hill.

Pop Culture is worldwide.  This is the best I could come up with.

The weather was amazing and the best part was enjoying the sunsets each night.

Big bags of tea were spied at the grocery store.  They were marked 5,000 grams - over 11 pounds of tea in each bag!

Sign down the road from our home which actually an outdoor restaurant. It's a great place to experience homemade, authentic, Turkish cuisine.

Bottle(s) of water are popular since many people don't like the taste of the tap water.  It tasted fine for me but I obliged and bought bottled water.

Out and about each day was fun discovering different places.  This is the courtyard of a restaurant downtown Alanya.

My husband wearing his favorite hat and enjoying the view.

This may look like a hole in the wall but it's actually a built in bar-b-que on a balcony.

One more beautiful sunset that I just had to share with you.

Whatever you want....maybe to live in this lovely Turkish villa!

I hope you enjoyed these photos.  I'd love to hear from you when you have a chance.  Have a wonderful week!

take care,

Pat

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that those traveling to friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving, have a safe and enjoyable trip.  And, for those staying close to home,  I wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

 

 Thanksgiving wishes from Lilly my Cat!

Pat

Photo courtesy of my daughter Heidi.  It's her tablescape from last year's Thanksgiving celebration at her home. 

Setting Up a Home in Turkey

It's been awhile since I last wrote so I thought I'd let you see what I accomplished on my vacation.  You may recall that my husband and I purchased a home in a city on the southern coast of Turkey.   We visited this last month to set everything up and have the home ready for our family next time we visit.  I'm also linking up today with Amy for her fabulous Five on Friday.  Please check out this link to some great blogs if you have the time.

Grab a cup of coffee, tea or your favorite beverage and come inside for the home tour if you wish.  Everyone is welcome.

I'd have to say the kitchen is probably one of my favorite areas as I love to cook and bake.  It's really set up quite efficient.  Although one night I went to use the oven (which was brand new and still had the packing in it) and as soon as it started to heat, the breaker would trip and all electricity in the home would go off.  The Siemens repairman came the next day and he replaced both oven elements.  Luckily, it works great but it cost 325 TL (approx. $115.00).

The dining room adjoins the kitchen.  I love the table we chose as it reminds of a French country farmhouse table.   I'm still missing one dining room chair.

The kitchen and dining room are one large room.  You can see the living room area.

Here's a photo of the main floor guest room.  I brought the comforter from home. I folded it and put it in one of those space bags that takes out the air and put it in my suitcase.  Although there are some beautiful bed coverings I am finding in the Turkish shops here.

This is my favorite view outside the living room window.  It looks onto the mountains and you can see the clouds roll over the top of the mountain along with the delicious smell of wood smoke from the area.

This is my husband's favorite view looking out of the sliding doors.  The hill to the left of the pictures is where the ruins of the castle are located.

The home is two stories.  You enter on the main floor which has the kitchen, dining, living room, bathroom and guest room.  These are the stairs leading to the second floor.

On the second floor is located the master bedroom.  As you can see, it's a work in progress.  To the right are sliding doors to a rooftop terrace.

This is the opposite side of the master bedroom. This little triangular window looks out onto the mountain view.

This is my little grandson' s room...

And here's his little bed with his "Istanbul" carpet.

It's been fun putting the home together.  My son ordered all the furniture for us from Ikea in Turkey.  I have been to Ikea many times but never have I purchased furniture from them (oops, except a couch for my family room).  It really turned out quite well since the furniture in the local stores can be quite modern for my taste.

If I had my choice I would have ordered this style of Turkish furniture....

Or, this couch which I saw in a furniture store where we purchased a washing machine.

The process of buying and setting up this home has been pretty stress free:

1.  We purchased the unit directly from the developer.

2.  There's a management company that takes care of the running of the complex; the majority of the owners are foreigners like us.

3.  Turkey has some wonderful big box type stores which has made is very easy to buy miscellaneous accessories for our home.  Think of a smaller Home Depot  or Costco or Ace Hardware. It's fun to go to these stores and see them filed with Scandinavians and Germans looking for items for their homes.

4.  Turkey manufactures a lot of the goods they sell.  We bought a vacuum, end tables, small kitchen appliances and beautiful Turkish porcelain dishes all made in Turkey.  And, it's very nice quality, too.

5.  The Turkish people are so kind to us. And, they are always willing to communicate with us in English since our language skills are limited. We really need to learn Turkish!

I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into our new adventure.  We're hoping to make lots of memories in our Turkish home.  Thanks for stopping by today. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

My best to you,

Pat

Treasures in Istanbul's Hagia Sophia

Greetings my friends.  If you recall, back in June I visited Istanbul, Turkey.  I shared with you some photos from that trip.  At that time, I mentioned that I would share more photos at a later time.  I'm a little bit late in posting this but I hope it may be something you will enjoy seeing.

Hagia Sophia was constructed as an Byzantine orthodox church beginning in 537 and until 1453 served as the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople.  From 1453 until 1931 it served as a mosque.  In 1935 it was opened up as a museum.  It is quite fascinating to see this magnificent building that holds treasures from both religions.

This is a mosaic that is located on the second floor of the museum.  On the left is the Virgin Mary with Christ in the center and St. John the Baptist (forerunner) on the right. To this day, you will find this same icon in present day orthodox iconostasis.

Here is a placard describing the mosaic pictured above ...

And here is a picture showing how the mosaic would have looked like in it's original state ...

Another mosaic in the museum showing Christ and I believe the other two are Ss. Constantine and Helen ...

Again, on the second floor of the Hagia Sophia there is a marble divider/door.  In this picture you can see the cross design in the marble* ...

I thought I had a better picture than this but this is one of the doors of this magnificent building.  There is a raised horizontal bar on the door.  If you look closely, you can see there there would have been a vertical bar too at one time forming a cross.  Sorry for the poor picture.

Here is a picture of the interior of the Hagia Sophia.  The scaffolding is still in place due to the ongoing restorations.  Can you see the magnificent calligraphy from the time it served as a mosque?

Here's another view without the scaffolding...

The area around the Hagia Sophia is so beautiful with fountains and a beautiful park area which leads to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque aka Blue Mosque ...

On this trip I did have the opportunity to go inside the Blue Mosque.  The admission is free, however you are asked to wear a long robe/head covering before entering (that's me with the sunglasses) ...

The architecture inside the mosque is quite amazing ...

This is a photo of the artistic tiles in the ceiling ...

This was my second visit to this area and if I return to Istanbul one day, I will visit again.  The area is very well maintained and very tourist friendly.  There is a clean, well maintained, small bazaar area next to the Blue Mosque.  And, there are some great restaurants too in the area.

Notes:
1.  Hagia Sophia means "Holy Wisdom in Greek"
2.  Byzantine "of or relating to Byzantine Empire" i.e., Eastern Roman Empire
3.  Iconostasis is "a screen of written icons separating the nave from the sanctuary in an orthodox church".
4.   Patriarchate of Constantinople is in modern day Istanbul and the current Patriarch is  Bartholomew I.
5.   The Blue Mosque was built between 1609 and 1617 and has six marinets.  

Speaking of Turkey, I will be returning again.  This time to a town in the south of Turkey on the mediterranean.  We are now officially Turkish homeowners after purchasing a home there this past summer.  It will be a fun time (I hope) putting the house together and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Antalya province.  I will keep you posted.

Until next time, my best wishes to you,

Pat

Linking up with:
Five Star Frou-Frou ...

Amy at Five on Friday ...