Cafe Fernando

Roasted Beet Soup

Last night I went to sleep hoping that I would wake up to a rainy day. I missed staying at home on a rainy day curled up with a hard disk filled with many episodes of my favorite TV series. Contrary to my heavy Sunday morning sleeping ritual, my eyes opened at 8:30 a.m. The heavy sleeper I am, I think I imagined the sound of wind was in fact the rain I was expecting. My happy soul made me close my eyes and I went to sleep again, thinking what I should cook on this perfect rainy day. When I opened my eyes three hours later, I was craving beet soup.

Strange. After a quick run to the supermarket and an online search for recipes, I decided on a roasted beet soup recipe from Epicurious. I took out a few ingredients, added garlic and adjusted some amounts. Below is the adapted recipe.

Read more >>

Grand Bazaar

Picture this: Shopping (and eating) all day long with two shopaholic friends in a very hot and humid day at The Grand Bazaar, where there are 4000 shops with most of them ranging between 2-3 sq. meters and crammed with people inside, pushing and poking while shopping like crazy. Oh and you hate shopping. Well, hate is a big word actually. Let’s say that unless it is Williams Sonoma or Dehillerin or A l’Etoile d’Or, it takes me 10 minutes to look around and see if there is anything I like and then comes the feeling of being trapped inside a box with overly attentive sales staff who I never seem to get along with.

I must say that The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul has never been a favorite spot for me. As you can guess, the thought of 4000 shops and a billion items in these shops makes me dizzy. But when you think about the fact that it was constructed even before the discovery of America, you can not help but pause and admire the historical significance of this bazaar. Also, if you happen to have two Grand Bazaar experts with you, it is a lot more fun.

Read more >>

The White Mansion

It`s been quite a while that I haven’t posted anything. Work had been hectic, spent a week in Bodrum at the dreamy White Mansion (summer version of The Mansion but without Ralph) and mostly because I have been extremely lazy. But here I am now.

Read more >>