A very Turkish meal: Kabk Mücveri and Yogurt Soup

If there is anything that fascinates me more than Germany, it is Turkey...its people, its religion, its culture,and its intimate connection with Germany. But, what concerns most people here is its food. I can't tell you how much I miss döner kebabs! I've been looking all over the bay area for a place that sells real döner kebabs and so far haven't had much luck. They were everywhere in Italy. There was this one place a block from where I lived in Torino, and I went there almost every other day. I made friends with the two Turkish guys that worked there with my broken Italian. One time they even asked if I had a boyfriend, I said no, and didn't have enough Italian in me to explain further. Good times. Then few weeks back when I went to visit Doug in San Francisco, we went to a Turkish restaurant and I ordered the lamb kebab dish, and a cup of Turkish coffee. I asked the Turkish waiter for a little cream for my coffee, he laughed and said I should never ask such a thing if I was in Turkey. He brought me some though, and taught me how to read fortunes from my coffee. My cup said good luck is coming my way.

Turkey Day 2010

This might actually be the first time that "Turkey Day" is an appropriate name for my Thanksgiving, although I am deeply disappointed at my first turkey. In fact, I'm so disappointed at my dry turkey, I don't know if I will have the motivation to try again in the future. I brined, I buttered, and I labored, but my 10lb petite turkey still turned out like chopped winter skin. I checked the internal temperature around 2 hrs, and its fat little thigh registered at 153 *F of unsafetyness. I let it roasted for another 45 minutes but covered the white meat part with Alton Brown's aluminum turkey diaper...it simply was not a good turkey day in terms of turkey for me.