Tag Archives: couscous

100 posts!

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This post is the 100th post on my blog.  100 posts!  100 posts in 270 days.  Yikes!  That equates to a new content every 2.7 days.  It seems like only yesterday that I started this blog, mostly to keep me occupied and also to update my friends back in Australia and around the world.  I am pretty proud of myself for committing to it (I never finish anything I start) and frankly a little amazed that you people keep coming back for another episode of my crazy life.

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I’ve got a few other stats for you.

350 subscribers is amazing (a big thanks to each of you) and 217 ‘likers’ on my Facebook page.

802 published comments.  I’ve had to cull a few of the nut jobs from publication.

Nearly 20,000 page views is phenomenal!  I mean that’s a big number.  That’s a lot of people that either stumbled onto this blog or intentionally went out looking for it (which is nice).

I’ve had some crazy search terms as well including: “hot bitchy wife” – I like that one.  “Will cheese fill you up?” – the answer is no, no it will not.  How about “Screaming sex on rooftop” – not recently.  I have also helped people “Muslim sad funeral Turkey” and made people laugh “crazy, funny mersin”.  One final search term that made me scratch my head “cat, elephant goes out out out by the bell 101” – worryingly this search term has been used 3 times.  Three separate people have typed those words into a search engine and somehow ended up at janeyinmersin.com.

Most viewed?  All About Janey … in Mersin and Contradictions

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First ever post? You’re Moving Where???  Originally titled “Where the Bloody Hell Are You?” I thought it wise to not alienate my PG audience with swearing.  Now, of course, I swear like a feking trooper!

Most likes?  Coucous Kofte.  This makes me laugh as honestly I am no chef.

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My Personal favourite?  Ancient Wonders.  This one was only recent but Daughter and I had such a great day together exploring the ruins and just talking about ‘stuff’.  ‘Stuff’ is important you know?

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Least viewed?  Let’s talk about cheese.  This makes me sad as it is one of my favourite memories with my mother in law and after all who doesn’t love cheese?

Daughter’s personal favourite?  Five things in Istanbul.  Daughter wanted to be included in today’s post because she is a big part of this blog and, of course, my life.  Why did she choose this post?  “Simple mum.  Shopping and Istanbul.  What else is there?”  Of course.

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So that’s my first 100.  What have I learnt about myself over the past 270 days?  I think I am funny (sometimes).  I am happy (most of the time) and, most importantly, I am enjoying myself.

Here’s to the next 100.

Coucous Kofte

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My next couple of posts may or may not be about food.  My sister in law has been home the last few days so I’ve been going backwards and forwards between houses drinking copious amounts of çay while watching and attempting to learn how to make a few different Turkish dishes.

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In Mersin most of the meals are simple and grain based so I’ve been cooking a lot of couscous, boreks, pirinç (rice) and the like as well as finishing off the last of the Swedish chard.  Daughter loves my sister in law’s kofte (I call them balls) made from couscous and because they are so simple I thought I would take a crack at it myself and you know what?  It really was that easy.

To start I made the couscous.  I used 3 cay cups of bulgur and 1 cup of warm water and then put it aside.  I would say that was the equivalent to 1 metric cup of coucous.

My sister in law’s recipe calls for a couple of large bunches (2) of maydanoz (parsley) and one large bunch of nane (mint).  I chopped them up quite finely and then put them aside.  I also boiled two potatoes and left them to cool.

I think the important part of the dish is the sauce.  A good serving of vegetable oil along with two soğan (onion) kimyon (cumin) for taste, and my mother in law’s chilli paste which we made last spring.  Once all are in the pot I left them to simmer for a good 15 minutes.  I added sarimsak (garlic) into my recipe (I add garlic into everything).  My sister in law was horrified but I don’t think it took away any of the flavour in fact I think it probably made it richer.

Once that sauce has simmered I add the maydanoz and nane and mix it well while it was still on the stove.  The aroma was sensational (I think it was adding the garlic).  I was feeling pretty good at this point, nothing was going to stop this from being a success.

Now it was down to mixing all the ingredients together.  It was hot and messy work and it took some time to ensure that everything did mix sufficiently well.  Once mixed I rolled them into balls and threw them on a plate. 

I had kept a small amount of the sauce aside and added some chilli powder and put it on top to finish the dish.  With a Turkish salad dinner was served. 

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To finish off this post I just want to say that my father in law (famous or infamous for hating my cooking) ate a huge plate and gave me the two thumbs up.  Progress!

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