Monday, September 25, 2006

sunday life..heart warmers

we woke up to a sunny sunday.. o joy.. but opening the garden's door.. for an early silent morning coffee..I noticed that the sun is just a show.. it is like a smile.. from an unknown person.. it heats your heart.. but nothing comparable to the summer sun which warms you up like good friend's hug..
my small garden looked very happy though.. all he dust gethered on the leaves..were washed off.. and shiny bright wet gree leaves.. soo beautiful..


but as the day went on ..it started to get really chilly.. the best thing I can think to warm the house and the stomacs is a home made soup.. I read a lot of cooking instructions on the net.. but I have never met the red lentil soup that we make here.. and it is a healty food ..vegetal protein.. antioxidants..and fibre..with a good portion of vit.B and A..

here it is.. 1 cup of red lentil.. half cups of each of rice and couscous..

put them in a pan..and place an onion .. in the middle..
fill the pan with water.. add a sall quantity of olive oil ( or make a mixture of three oils.. olive oil/seed oil(soja..sunflower..or corn seed oils).. and hazelnut oil in same quantities.. and use it for all your cookings).. add some salt..when it starts to boil..add some tomato paste..
and some potato..
when it is cooked.. add some parsley and blend it so that the mixture becomes homogene..
if the consistency is too dense.. you can add some more boiling water.. to your taste..and we like it served with some hot chili powder.. and in the beloving company of the family..
It is the Ramadan period now..and sunday was the first day.. musulmans are fasting from sunset to dawn .. I am not a good praticant.. and I don't faste..but enjoy some special pastries that are sold only during Ramadan.. pide is one of them.. this one didn't survive much.. when I brougt it home.. I took a picture of it.. thinking that it could be nice to show you and the moment after my kids stepped in the kitchen and.. by bye pide.. everyone missed it..they could not even wait for the soup being ready..
I also want to mention something interesting I read on the newspaper today.. another heart warmer happening..the municipalities are having different activities during Ramadan and also invitations for the iftar.. which is the dinner time at dawn.. the Patriarch of the Eastern Armenian Orthodox Church .. who said that fasting is as cristian as musulman.. so he would faste too during this month of Ramadan..
and he went to the dinner of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality .. and he he joined some burocrats for this dinner .. ooo I like people very much when they make an effort for the wellbeing of humanity.. for peace and for union..

my pink fluffy project is going well..I thing I will show in a day or two.. have a nice ..peaceful .. crafty week..

9 comments:

caroline said...

It is wet and cool here today so that soup looks very tempting. As does the pastry. Yummy.

Cat said...

I will try your soup recipe next week, it looks and sounds absolutly wonderful. I love a hot bowl of homemade soup as well. The lentil soup I have made thru the years consists of lentils, tomatoes, onions, and carrots... I like the way you've used potatoes in yours. Yummmmm.
Have a great day. Smiles, Cat

monique said...

It's cool and rainy weather here in the Netherlands as well.After reading this post I got real hungry...I'm sure am going to try your recipe, it sounds very tasty.
There are several Turkish shops here where I can buy those red lentils I think. Here in the shop they don't have it.

AMCSviatko said...

Great sounding soup recipe! Will try it as soon as I have space in my frozenfood-theque! :-)

Anonymous said...

The soup looks nice, I love soup so I am going to make this one next time.

jessica said...

i love the beautiful colors of the cooking lesson. very pretty.

Tongue in Cheek Antiques said...

I remember living in Paris one time when there was the Ramadan...My husband and i ate at a small couscous restaurant often...that evening Ramandan had started...each person sat and waited for the sun to offical go down...each person had a small plate of dried dates and a glass of milk.
Your post brought up my memories of admiring those men practicing their faith

One Crabapple said...

Ramadan is a time of reflection , right ?

This pastry (PIDE)looks delicious.

I have written down your soup directions after shivering a little at your chilly day and it is getting to be the same here (being on the same path of the equator like you pointed out)... I am ready for a soup to take the chill off as well. I love soup ! making it is so fun and it will be really interesting to try to make YOURS and think of you making yours ....Nice pictures too Pinar !

Interesting as well Tounge In Cheeks practice in Paris she noted of eating dates and milk.....sounds very good. Sounds like it goes well with this time of reflection and fasting.

Pink Fluffy project ???
Can't wait to see this.
Mine is a peace project , small quilt. Hopefully done soon.
...time time time.

Hope your day is wonderful - xo - S.

Anonymous said...

I love your blog. It has such beautiful photos with vibrant colors. I now want to get on a plane and come visit. :)

I came across your blog looking for recipes with couscous and lentils. I am going to try your soup recipe tomorrow evening for supper.

Thank you so much for sharing it with us!

~Danielle
(Seattle,WA -USA)