Stay Tuned...

Hello Friends,

I'm still working on my new blog. I should have it up by August 5th. I'll keep you posted.

May God bless you all on your summer endeavors.

Love,
Olive

Summer Cooking: Turkish Rice Salad

With summer heat in full swing, I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel much like cooking. My kitchen is an oven between 4 and 6 p.m., so I try to stay out of there as much as possible. Turkish housewives are practical; many of them cook in the morning, when it’s cooler, and then they have food ready for later in the day.  I, on the other hand, am not so organized. So I’m always on the lookout for quick and easy.

Here’s a simple recipe, great for summertime. Turks call it “Chinese Rice,” which mystifies me. As far as I know, there’s nothing remotely Chinese about it.

Turkish Rice Salad (Cin Pilavi*)

1 cup rice

2 cups water

1 tsp. salt

4 TBSP olive oil

¾ cup frozen corn 

¾ cup frozen peas

¾ cup carrots, diced in small cubes

1/3  - 1/2 cup dill pickle, diced in small cubes

3 TBSP chopped fresh dill weed (or 1-2 tsp. dried dill)

1.  Cook the rice by sautéing it in 1 TBSP olive oil; then add 2 cups of water and 1 tsp. salt.  Let it simmer 10-15 minutes, until the water is absorbed.  Stir to fluff it, and let it cool.

2.  Thaw or gently cook the frozen vegetables.  (If you live in the U.S., simply thawing them works fine. If you live in Turkey, these need to be cooked 2-3 minutes.)

3.  When the rice and vegetables are at room temperature, gently toss them together with the chopped carrots, pickles and dill. Drizzle with 3 TBSP olive oil and continue tossing.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

This serves 4-5 as a vegetarian main dish, or 8 as a side dish. Turks fill a small bowl with the salad and unmold it onto each individual plate.

Afiyet Olsun!

*I’ll correct “Cin Pilavi” as soon as I find the Turkish keyboard on my new computer! 

"Do What You Can" Summer

What is summer like in your corner of the globe?  Here in our Aegean home, summer’s all about a laid back, slower pace.   Ramadan started this week, so many friends and neighbors will be lying low during the hot afternoons while they fast long hours from food and water.  

I’m taking advantage of extra free time to start a new project. In a few weeks, I’ll start a new blog, and I’m already excited about it.  Change and variety add spice to my life, so I decided to try a new angle on blogging.

"Do What You Can Plan"   

One thing that’s encouraging me to make time for a new project is Holly Gerth’s Do What You Can Plan: 21 Days to Making Any Area of Your Life Better.  Holly’s book is great encouragement for taking baby steps towards big dreams that seem out of reach. My ultimate dream is writing a book, but for right now, blogging seems like a more attainable goal for this home schooling, church planting mom. 

Meant to be read over 21 days, the book has a short devotional reading and an application point for each day.  Holly talks about starting small, doing what you can each day, and not waiting for the perfect time to start!

I have other summer projects that aren’t so exciting, like de-cluttering and organizing closets and drawers, but I’m trying to set aside some time each day to work on my new writing project. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. 

How about you? 

Do you have any summer projects that you’re working on?  Any dreams you wish you had time for? I’d love to hear how you’re spending your summer.

Enjoying the Journey

Travel is part and parcel of the cross-cultural life, but let’s face it, most of us dislike airplane and car travel. We look forward to arriving at our destination, but the actual trip is a drag.  Last month I took two trips: a 27 hour airplane journey over 10 time zones from Izmir to Los Angeles to stay 6 days and come back, and then a 9 hour car drive to stay at the beach for 2 days before returning home.

I dreaded our first day of air travel because it included a 5 and a half hour layover in Munich. 

To my surprise it was an eye-opening epiphany.

Taking a Break When Life Gets too Fast

Life is going too fast for me to find time for writing, so I’m taking a break.

The last month has been full of teaching commitments, end of the school year events, birthdays, trips, meetings, and home schooling. This week I'm remembering that God is in control as every day brings news of people getting hurt during the political protests here in Turkey.  At the same time I’m preparing for a trip to the U.S. June 11-19. Life is a whirlwind, but God is in the center. 

I will return to my blog July 4^th.

Until then, I hope that the Lord gives you joy and peace for each day. 

Taking Hospitality With a Grain of Salt

“Blessed is the man who can laugh at himself, for he will never cease to be amused.” This proverb is one of my favorites. It reminds me not to take myself so seriously.

Being able to laugh at myself certainly helped me during a recent catastrophe. My husband and I had guests, and when I stood up to re-fill the tea glasses, the slip I was wearing under my skirt mysteriously slid down in perfect ring around my feet!  I won't go into that story now, but I'm pretty sure it broke the norms of hospitality in any country, not just here in Turkey. (I still can’t believe it really happened.)

Why I Can Now Be a Real, Bona-Fide Turkish Housewife

Yesterday I celebrated my 49^th birthday and made it to #2,985 on my One Thousands Gifts List.  See my list below to find out which gift makes me qualify to be a real-life, bona-fide Turkish housewife:

Hope for When You Still Don't Speak the Language

It’s easy to get discouraged about language learning, especially when you still don’t speak the language after five years!   During our fifth year, Turkish neighbors asked my husband, “So you’ve been living here a long time now.  How come you don’t speak any better than this?” They didn’t mean to be unkind, but we were left speechless and discouraged.

My Husband and Daughter

My husband Javier is my language learning hero. Although he scored in the 25^th percentile on a language aptitude test given by our organization, he came to Turkey at age 48, determined to learn Turkish.  It’s been a long road, and we’ve learned some things together about language learning:

Follow this link to read the rest of my post on Cross-Cultural Mom's Companion