crocheted purse and ripple afghan

Crochet time! After how many months of struggling with this crochet project of mine, at long last...its done!! 

crocheted purse

 Thanks to the CraftPassion.com for the clear and easy step by step tutorial on this purse. The pattern and tutorial can be seen in this link:http://www.craftpassion.com/2012/04/african-flower-crochet-purse-part-1.html.

There are two (2) parts on this, first for the motifs, and the second part is the sewing of lining.

crocheted ripple afghan 

After all the afghans that I have been seeing in the internet, this ripple afghan just caught my attention much. It has given me such a challenge on how to organize or to have a good color combinations with all of my stash here. In this afghan, I used crochet hook I and the main stitch here is just a double crochet (dc) st, bordered with 2 rounds of scs in dark brown yarn.

kandil simit

Good day everyone! Today is the observance of Regaip Kandili here in Turkey. I have been receiving lots of food from my neighbors, and in return i just made this kandil simit as a gift  to my neighbors too.

Ingredients:
 1 pack( 250g)  margarine (softened)
 1 teacup ( 84g) yoghurt
 1 teacup (100 ml) vegetable oil
 1 egg (separated.. eggwhite for dipping)
 1 pack baking powder
 2 tsps. granulated sugar
 1 tbsp. refined salt
 2-3 cups flour ( add more when the dough is still sticky)
sesame seeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease or line your baking pans with wax paper.
In a mixing bowl, mix margarine, oil, yoghurt, eggyolk, sugar and salt together till thoroughly mix. Add flour and baking powder, mix till you can have a nice soft and pliable dough. Roll out into small balls and form them into rings.
In another bowl, prepare the eggwhite for dipping, and another bowl for the sesame seeds.  Deep the simit into your eggwhite then to the sesame seeds. Put your simit into the greased baking pans and bake for 20 mins. or until golden brown. Enjoy while its hot!

Stuff Artichoke ( Enginar Dolması

Good day everyone! Starting this day with a new recipe from one of the foods here in Turkey.

Enginar Dolmasi ( stuffed artichoke)

Enginar (en-ghi-nar) as they call this,  is usually found in the Mediterranean Region of the country. This soft plants just grow well in that region. There are many varations in cooking this dish, but right now this is how i have made this dish. 

Enginar Dolmasi

Ingredients. (Filling)

2 med. onions (grated)                            1 big artichoke, washed and drained

300 gr. ground beef                                 1 lemon

2 cups rice (washed and drained)

1-2 tomatoes grated

black pepper, dry mint, salt

2 tbsps. red pepper paste or tomato paste

100 ml. vegetable oil

Procedure:

In a bowl, mix all the filling ingredients. Cover the bowl with a stretch film for few minutes for the flavors to enhance. 

On the other hand, while your filling is at rest, if your artichoke has little thorns at the end of the leaves, cut off the thorned leaves at the tip. Pull off any smaller leaves towards the base and on the stem. Try to open the center of the artichoke, and at the heart of it, with the use of a knife or spoon, scrape out the inedible fuzzy part called the choke,(hairy-like), that covers the artichoke heart. Once it has been scraped, immeditely drop and swipe some lemon juice on the heart to avoid its discoloration.

In a large pot just enough to cover the artichoke, pour in water, add salt, and lemon and merge in your washed artichoke and boil for 20 mins, or till the leaves are soft. Remove the artichoke from the pot, and fill in your mixed fillings on each every leaves of the artichoke and so at the center. (as seen in the photo). Put this filled artichoke back to the same pot that we have used for boiling.. Cook the vegetable for another 20 minutes or till your rice is soft and tender. When cooked, transfer the whole vegetable to a serving platter and serve with greens.  Bon Appetit!!!

Welcome to my World!!!

Good evening everyone! This is just an introduction to my new world again wherein I will be sharing to all of you about my life here in Turkey, being married to a Turkish man for 10 years now..Just so happy to have a loving husband.. :)) Probably you would be wondering whats in CookingNeddles...is it..cooking with needles? LOL..Honestly, it was so hard for me to think of a blog name wherein I can merge my handicraft projects and cooking at the same time..with lots of thinking..well here it is ..CookingNeedles. I'll start posting my latest projects and recipes tomorrow...for it's late  now...see you all on my first journey to my world tomorrow. Take care!