Croque, Gear Up!

After long hours of planning, I’m finally done with packing for a week in Paris plus a weekend getaway in Casablanca!

Taken from Pinterest

When I first started neglecting you guys, I was working on a post about my past road trip in Morocco. Now it has come to the time that I’m visiting Morocco once again this weekend.

Taken from Pinterest 

I totally can’t wait to take thousands of pictures and report about the most delicious foods I will be trying. I happened to find this online guide to Moroccan restaurants and I have to say, I’m amazed.

Taken from Pinterest

Last time, I couldn’t get to spend much time in Casablanca. It was only daily stopovers between two cities. Life on road was good. Now it’s time to enjoy Casablanca for the full weekend and a day. My friends and family are waiting there so I promise to bring you the most local, the most non-tourist trap information about Casablanca.  Also, expect to hear about the new places I’ll be discovering in Paris.

If you’re curious about what to pack to Morocco I can give you a little pre-information since I’ve been there before. Moroccans are relaxed and understanding people. Since they know you’re a tourist they will do anything not to bother you. But tolerance should come in both ways. As long as you’re not provocative and offensive you need to to worry about what you wear.

Taken from Pinterest

Last year I was there in August and replacing mini skirts/shorts with long or mid length skirts/dresses a la boheme was extremely a comfortable solution for me. You definitely don’t have to cover your hair. But a hat could come handy if you’re planning to visit during summer.

Taken from Pinterest

But thanks to my in-laws, they gift me many beautiful local clothes. So, I don’t have to worry about what to wear. I can’t wait to put on my djellaba and stroll the streets of Casablanca. Djellaba is a part of daily life in Morocco, you can see many people wearing them in variety of colours in their house on streets and it’s not only peasants who holds that tradition and that’s what I love the most, everyone embraces it! They’re so lovely even some high fashion designers attempt to design djellabas.

Now, I have to go back to my holiday planning and you be a doll, make your own plans for the summer. Feel free to shoot any questions about Morocco, or Paris. Or maybe İstanbul? 

Earl Grey Chocolate Tea Cake

AAAaaaaAAaAaaaa...!! This is a super lame and awesome post!!!
Kill me, I've been MIA for months!
Good news, I got a job also started studying wait for it... at London School of Economics!!!! 

Work is awesome, excuses are lame. 
FACT: Blogging is for jobless Aslı.
FACT: Blogging is for drop-out Aslı.
FACT: Cooking is still so much fun! 

Today I brought some Earl Grey Chocolate Tea Cake for tea time. It was indescribable. Actually I'm posting this to take advantage of the impact of my little cake. People asked for recipe, people will get it.

For a second, noting it down on a paper didn't seem right. So, I decided to make my grand opening with this amazing cake. Did I tell you, I'm not a sweets person in kitchen? Oh, well... *rolls eyes*

Another lame side of this post is, we couldn't take photos since I had to carry the cake in metro and it didn't look as pretty as it did at the end of the day. I could have still do something with it but office in not the best place for that. Therefore, all the photos are taken from Pinterest.

So, before moving on with our recipe, here're some comments about the infamous cake:

What did they say:

"Oh.My.God! Chocolate is bursting out of it!!" -E.A.Ç.

"I liked it so much that I ate the most of it, when will you give the recipe?" -Y.Ç.İ.

"This is amazing but I dare you! I will do better than you!" -E.A.

Ingredients:

3 egg's yolks

1,5 cups sugar

1 cup cooled Earl Grey tea

1 cup sunflower oil

25gr cacao powder

2,5 cups flour

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 pack of baking powder

Handful of nuts

1/2 cup of milk

• Whisk egg yolks with sugar finely then add cacao powder, tea and oil and keep whisking. Spare a cup from this mix and put aside.

• Add flour and vanilla extract and keep mixing.

• Add milk and nuts then set the oven to 175°C/350°F

• Mix in the baking powder on low speed.

• Oil your cake pan and fill your batter in then bake for 40 minutes.

• When it's done, stick your knife all over the cake without cutting any piece and pour the cacao mix you set aside at first place leave it to rest for a while.

Pull Apart Bread Is The New Nachos!

This pull-apart bread recipe is not an über complicated extravagant recipe that you could find at a Michelin star restaurants but it's a complete life saver when it comes to the question of what to serve. It is super easy yet, perfectly chic appetizer to share with a large group of guests for any occasion. Another thing I like the most about this recipe is you have no obligation when it comes to ingredients you would like to use except for the melting cheese and bread. And it tastes MARVELOUS! Thanks to cheese!

In my recipe, I used fresh onions and nigella seeds since I like them very much. After baking is done, I also spreaded some feta cheese on top hoping that they would melt on the bread but it didn't happen like it did with my pizza earlier. No harm done, it still tasted good and we all liked pulling the squares up and munching them along with a bottle of beer.

Maybe the only tricky thing about this recipe is cutting the bread lengthwise then sidewise without reaching the very bottom. And also picking a good bread is important. You can also bake your own but this may take time. When it comes to baking breads Barbara and her yummy breads comes to my mind. Still, I bought a nice firm German bread and it worked well for me. I strongly encourage you to use mushrooms, scallions, olives, tomatoes or any kind of ingredients you could possibly wanna have on your pull apart bread.

I discovered that witty recipe on Beantown Baker's blog and it appears that she took it from The Girl Who Ate Everything. Well, great thanks to both who shared that recipe with us and I'm delivering it to you. Please feel free to spread it around with many more different combination of ingredients. And note to use PLENTY of cheese! Cheese makes perfect. If you could think of any type of fruits you may want to combine with cheese I say go for it! My favourite combination when it comes to that is, pear and gorgonzola or figs and goat cheese. But note that you may wanna add the fruits 10 minutes before you take the bread out from oven. Share if you have different interesting ideas and have a splendid weekend everyone!

Fall Fatigue

Can somebody kill me, please? Me, who usually jumps and sings till people are about to pull a gun out to shoot themselves, I can't even move my head. I actually like every season and it's not even getting cold here yet, well, it's chilly at times but we still have this sunny and hot weather most days. Is it already cold out there? Well you're lucky because I have few suggestions for you so you won't end up miserable like me!

1. Stay Active!
Don't just sit around and wait for your tiredness to go away. Keep up with your daily routine. Since you're here already I can suggest you to try few of my recipes! I suggest myself to keep up with working out meanwhile. Yes, Should. Be. Done.

2. Listen to Good Music
By suggesting this, I don't just throw the idea and get away with it. I did stick my neck out and prepared two awesome playlists for you! You can find them under page called Kitchen Playlist. There's only 2 for now but there's more to come. One includes Mediterranean and Latin sounds that I enjoy the most while working in kitchen and the other has tunes from 20's up to 50's, mostly jazz standards. If you haven't tried yet, do try dancing while cooking. It's absolute fun and food turns out just so fancy if you ask me. I know I should get this recorded on video someday.

3.Cherish Fall Fruits
Everybody loves summer fruits. So do I! Yet, fall fruits are also something special for me. I always remember how I used to sit under a big parasol while it's raining, watch the scenery of Bosphorus and munch on my fruits all day. My favourites are Isabella grapes, walnuts, figs, pumpkin and apples.

Taken from Google Images

Taken from Pinterest

In case you haven't tried Isabella grapes yet, you definately should. If there's a fruit that smells as beautiful as peach or strawberry it's Isabella grapes. When you hold the grape between your fingers and press slightly, the peel comes off and you eat the fruit that way. Lately I tried to decorate my cheesecake with them and it turned out just great. I find all the desserts made with fall fruits very comforting and soon there'll be a lots of recipes. What is your favourite  recipes with them?

4. Don't Sit Around, Chill Out
Apples and oranges here! Sitting around and doing nothing is not a constructive way of spending time while chilling out is the one you could benefit the most. What's the difference? It's the mindset! If you sit and say, "Oh I'm so tired I have no energy for nothing, poor me..." you would surround yourself with negative thoughts. But if you say, "Okay, since I'm feeling tired I can just make myself a power smoothie, read a book and get some rest to build up my energy back." it means you're a natural born winner!

Taken from Pinterest

5. Watch Movies/Series, Just Not Like Me
If you feel up for a movie while chilling out, go for it. You can even grab a friend and go to cinema or just watch series online. But don't do it mindlessly. For example, when I start watching series I just don't let it go until I finish few seasons. At the end my brain feels like exploding. Don't do it. Yesterday I was out to see The Dark Knight Rises, it was nice overall. I liked the Moroccan Arabic touch the most. Ever since I watched Lost, I've been trying to replace it but no series could manage it so far. We have a love/hate relationship with Lost right now. Damn... I always wish I didn't watch the last few minutes of it. So here's my current watch list to basically numb my brain;

• Game of Thrones: Both the series and books, I'm addicted. It almost reached the Lost level in me. I wish we didn't have to wait for so long. It's very dark and bloody at times, it might not be everyones cup of tea but I just enjoy the show. Because there's an amazing visiuality and work of art there. Also I like the dialects of English they use. I usually capture what I hear like a parrot unwillingly and start using the dialect. So, watch the trailer I picked for you here that still gives me goosebumps and decide yourself.

• Breaking Bad: I stumbled upon this one quite recently with my boyfriend. It's also very very dark and if you don't trust your guts better avoid from this one. There's drugs, guns, murder, crime, prostitution and all but there's absolutely no black or white. Moreover, it's very similar to Lost in few aspects. You remember flashbacks and flash forwards. Something bad happens and next scene starts with a flash forward from somewhere irrelevant. Which I enjoy very much. And there's also psychological thrills during the series. Like they make close-ups with annoying sounds behind so you get tense. I know I sound sick right now, nevermind. If you like criminal thrillers this is your thing. Also note that there's pretty splendid acting being delivered. See trailer here.

• The Big Bang Theory: This is my favorite comedy of all. I'm feeling so so glad to discover this one. It's so hilarious and boosts my mood after watching it. No need for more words, try it if you haven't yet and you will thank me for this! Season 6 Promo.

• How I Met Your Mother: My second favorite after TBBT. It has its ups and downs like every series on the market but when it's funny, hearing the intro of it is enough to make me smile. Please be my guest and watch a part from my favorite episode.

• Lie To Me: Too bad that it ended too soon. Great acting and an interesting story. I won't talk much about it since it ended but I really did enjoy watching it. See, promo here.

• Person Of Interest: That one is a great time killer. I love Michael Emerson and his acting skills.There's not much deepness in that one but that definately doesn't make it a bad series to watch. See the promo and decide yourself!

• Gossip Girl: It might be the most cheesy series I ever watched. At first drama looked interesting but then it started to repeat itself. So now I only watch it for the glamour and clothes. I kinda like following fashion but my interest is usually limited with few top maisons in haute couture. For the rest, GG is a good way for me to keep track all the street fashion and new designers. If you expect something more than good time and fun, I don't recommend this one for you.

Those are the series I watch I would also like to make few movie suggestions from my all times favourites list but it deserves a post for itself. Yet, I watched 50th anniversary edition of Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's my favourite mood booster after Friends. When I need a good smile I just open up a random episode from Friends and start watching. Or curl under a blanket and go with Breakfast at Tiffany's. If you're a fan like me, 50th anniversary edition will make you a happy human being.

Taken from Pinterest

How To Train Your... Duck?!

I wake up early many mornings to work out but guess what I end up with? Blogging! My family has been suffering from my healthy diet lately because I mostly cook healthy except for some treats. But we have a bigger problem, reader! Caution! This post contains unlimited amount of wrongness and cuteness!

My Swede friend Per engaging an interesting convo with Buddy about a vegan cat during his visit to our place.

 We are living in a four floors villa which a villa can perfectly turn into a cottage house when it's in wrong hands.Trust me with this one. Last year we used to keep ourselves busy with growing plants in garden but this year we decided to discard the garden and got some animals... TO PET! Yes, we got 6 geese and a duck to pet. Currently there's daddy&momma geese and 4 children and the duck.

Daddy goose pictures himself as Don Corleone and managing also us with cats and 3 dogs, not only geese family. We prefer to call him Suleiman, after the famous Ottoman sultan and momma goose is called Hurrem as his wife. I know this is very wrong but they are just so cute. They have their own life and territory (like.. the whole garden?) and they're happy with it. They don't let dogs to go out to garden, however we encourage them doggies are just so scared of this tiny Corleone family. But well, they handle their business delicately. They don't react as long as you don't step into their territory.

If there's one big mess, it's called Buddy the duck aka drama king. He's the Niko Bellic and shame of the whole duck nation. A duck only could be that lunatic. He walks around as if he owns the whole porch since Corleones also doesn't let him to step a foot into garden. He would come after you everywhere not to be alone but also beats the hell out of you by nibbling on your toes for no reason or thank you with a bite attack when you feed him or fill his pool for him. I don't want to give him away to a farm since I don't want him to end up on someones plate. That's why I decided to train him.

I ran a research about dealing with aggressive ducklings and found out that you need to be a bigger bitch and alpha duck if you want him to respect you at least. How to show him who is the boss? Of course I'm totally against violence and these methods I found are kinda fun.

First they say he's trying to take your attention. It can't be the case since he's always like the center of attention. As per, duck people says I gave him a toy to keep him busy. One of those things that makes the annoyng sound when you press. It kept him busy a while. Second thing to do was, spreading your arms to the sides and walking towards him to show who is the boss. Well, it's kinda difficult to look serious while doing a Titanic pose in front of that little fellow.

 

The last and the most difficult mission to train this dragon is to ride him! YES! You pretend to mount him and hold him down gently and squat a little or kneel down to prove your superiority. Of course I should add try not to be seen by neighbours for their sake and not to break them or labelled as sex offender. Tsktsk... That wouldn't be nice.

 

Just to warn you those tricks doesn't work on dogs :D
I've been riding my Jack Russel for years and she seem to enjoy it a lot. Riding a Jack Russel could be tricky. You pretend to mount it and then jump forward with her as she runs and hold her collar gently. I also shout "Yeeehaaaw!!" and punch the air. It appears to be so motivating. She's a jolly one who gives high fives and she jumps on me licks my face when we're done.

Another good method is, when she's laying on her back after a good meal, I just jump on bed and straddle her as she's facing me. Of course no weights given on the tummy, just standing on my knees. I take her hands in mine and pretend to ride while tickling her and singing Rossini's William Tell Ouverture. She enjoys it big time. I also taught her some ballet moves, when I say "C'mon girlie! Let's do some ballet!" She stands on 2 feet and gives me her hands so I help her to spin around and when she's done, she gets a big sloppy kiss as a treat and sometimes doggie biscuits with big applauds. She also applauds herself. Since I'm totally against circus kind of organisations it's also nice to see how pets can do funny stuff when you teach them with games and treats. So do you have pets at home? Tell me how do you train them!!

Flowers or Cheesecake?

That was the question keeping my mind busy today. It's indeed a cheerful way to receive tons of flowers on your first working day at somewhere. I always wished that for myself. But... My experiences taught me that if you're dealing with a guy here you should think like a guy a bit. Well, of course there's nothing wrong about sending flowers to a guy, yet I'm pretty sure they would pick sweets over flowers. And it might look funny at office, don't you think so?

Taken from Pinterest

Here's my idea of office that I will have at my home one day. Honey!! Note that down, if you're reading this *grins*
We like girly! There's absolutely nothing wrong about girly. World would be a better place if it was all girly, pink and sparkly! Not for some of us, I guess. So, let's keep things as it is and don't embarrass the best intern in Paris! 

I know it's kinda lame to bake a cheesecake for someone who won't be able to eat it but well, cheesecake is not the point. I just wanted to do something for my amazing boyfriend so I dedicate this post to him and one of first steps to a successful career. Yes, today is first day of his internship that will last for a year and he looks soooooo handsome in suits!!

Baby, I hope it's gonna be a very good year for you. You'll meet many people and learn many things. (Hope you'll also learn to obey my supreme intelligence in business, my frrrieend! :p) I'm so proud of you and I'm sure this great opportunity didn't come to your way for no reason. You earned it with everything you did. Your determination, your ambition and hardwork will finally pay off (and you'll start ruling the galaxy :p) 
I wish you all the best, love and I wanted to express it my way. I hope our future will be as delightful and peachy as this cheesecake I baked for you and ate on your behalf.

I love you
A.

Ingredients
100 gr gingersnap cookies
55 gr cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted
400gr cream cheese
100ml heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 medium eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
Fruits or preserves that you want to use as topping
Lots of love
Good wishes
Hugs
Kisses

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C
• Crush the cookies finely and mix with 1tbsp of sugar, cinnamon and butter.
• Oil a your baking pan and lay the mixture make sure it sticks together by pressing with back of a spoon.
• Put it in freezer and leave it to chill for an hour.
• Mix cheese, cream and sugar well.
• Add eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest in that order by mixing after each ingredient.
• Take the crust out from freezer and pour the batter over it.
• Bake for about 30-45 minutes and garnish as you wish after chilling. I used fresh peaches and some peach preserve.

How To Make Packed Brown Sugar

 Taken from Pinterest

So, brown sugar it is. Do all of us have it at home available at all times? Personally, I don't. I only have it in cubes and when I needed to use it, I would crush the cubes and add to my recipe. Oh what a mess, right?! Or run to store and lose a good 15 minutes.

It may sound weird to you not to have brown sugar at home but in here people mostly use white sugar for almost everything. But since I had a nice espresso pot at home I felt need to buy some. That reminds me of many habitual differences on eating and everyday life. So, why not making series of posts from them? Yes! I like the idea :D

Well, back to our main subject; I said I made my own packed brown sugar at home for M&M's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. You don't need to go chemical or anything. It doesn't require machines or complicated techniques. All you need is molasses and white sugar!

Well if you say it's more likely to have brown sugar at home than molasses it's all good. But for me, I always buy some tahini for hummus and some brands sell it with a bottle of molasses because mixture of tahini and molasses is like Turkish Nutella. Well yes, that deserves another post for itself so here is the recipe!

Ingredients
1 cup of white granulated sugar
1 tBsp of molasses if you want it light
Or 2 tBsp of molasses in case you want it dark

• Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well. 
• It will have a moist texture so you can press from above before adding to your mix and that's how you get packed brown sugar!

That recipe really helped me on my cookies and saved my life. Also my mom said molasses added a nice taste to the cookies besides peanut butter. For about 30-40 cookies has been consumed in a day by 4 people and our furry friends!! :)

I hope that tip will be helpful for you too.
Cheers! ♥