Phillip and Rebecca Mefford

Neighbor ladies in action! One of Isparta’s local delicacies is a tahini, cinnamon, and walnut infused puff pastry known as nokul. Nokul is generally homemade for special occasions or afternoon teas.   Or during this season, after the sun sets and the day’s Ramadan fast has ended. Here’s the basic recipe, as far as has been observed: Dough: 1 packet of Instant Yeast 1 Cup Milk 1 Tablespoon Sugar ½ Cup Sunflower or Olive Oil 1 teaspoon salt Flour, as much as needed for the right consistency Tahini-Mixture: 1 Cup Tahini 1 Cup crushed Walnuts Cinnamon Sunflower or Olive Oil Preparation: Mix all the dough ingredients, slowly adding flower until the dough is firm. Roll dough into a large ball and let sit for about an hour, until the dough has risen to two to three times its original size. Meanwhile mix together the ingredients for the Tahini-Mixture. When ready, spread the dough out with your hands into a large flat circle

Over the last few weeks, as spring slides into summer, the weather has warmed, flowers have popped open, and the days have gotten longer. Translate: it’s time to party in Isparta. Without fail every weekend we hear echoes of electronic keyboards, rhythmic drums, and the reverberating zurna ( oboe-like reed instrument). The night is topped off with fireworks and slightly sore feet after hours of dancing. What are people so vigorously celebrating? Wedding engagements, henna nights (a sort of bachelorette party), wedding receptions, but that is not all. Circumcision parties. Who knows what else, but they all look eerily similar to what we would call a “block party,” and what carries the night is the dancing. Turkish dancing has its varieties, but the basic gist is you lift up your arms to shoulder-level, snap your fingers, and shuffle your feet, moving in a circle with the rest of the party. As a general rule women dance in circles of women, guys dance in a cir

For today’s blog we would like to shout out to our middle child. In looking through past entries we realized that there are more photos of Lincoln and Sofia Ezgi than of our little bundle of energy and mischievous smiles known as Hudson Kerem. So typical of the middle child. Also so typical of a toddler, always moving, so hard to capture in a still photograph. Here are a few things that make our Hudson so dear, unique, and very loved: -        Unlike Lincoln and Sofia, having been born in the United States, Hudson is eligible to be a president of the United States. -        Hudson will naturally learn two languages simultaneously, having spent his major language development in a bilingual environment. -        He gets to be both a kardes (younger sibling) and an abi (older brother), which neither Lincoln or Sofia can claim. -        He did not have to acquire a taste for ayran, olives, and other foods that his Mom and Dad weren’t exposed to growing u