Phillip and Rebecca Mefford

23 Nisan class craft Happy National Sovereignty and Children’s Day! Today’s holiday, colloquially known as 23 Nisan (April 23 rd ), is looked forward to with great anticipation by all school children as they, with the organizational help of their teachers, present elaborate ceremonies and performances to commemorate the glad day. Numerous countries around the world celebrate an International Children’s Day, but they do not all happen to be on the same day. Turkey’s Children’s Day is recognized as a gift of the future generations of Turkey and the World by the founder of the modern republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It’s a chance to remember the history of Turkey’s independence, spout wishes for world peace, and for kids to have fun.

The kitchen is the heart of hosting, being the center where hot black tea (rather than blood, if you’ll follow the analogy) is pumped through the veins of the sitting room, supplying energy and life to the party. A few kitchen must-haves: 1)     A small table to eat meals at with the family, to avoid making the real dining table (if there is one) a mess, 2)     A refrigerator, with a spacious freezer for kurban, sacrifice , meat. Ask us another time about when we went on summer vacation and came home to find our power had been out for multiple days and the kurban meat that our neighbor had asked us to store in our freezer for her because she didn’t have space in her own freezer, had rotted and oozed through the defrost vents into the inside of the refrigerator. That is a smell you just cannot recreate. 3)     A stove top, on which to make delicious olive-oil infused meals. Also, to perch your two-tiered tea pots. 4)     A dishwasher, to cram all your tiny tea glasses in