Friday Fun

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Mike has been taking Turkish lessons in the mornings in order to maintain his Turkish since his Master's classes are in English. When he went to class on Thursday, his teacher announced that they'd be having a party on Friday after class.  They have these parties once a month and ask people to bring a food that is representative of their culture.  Previous students, family members of current students and other staff members are invited, as well, which meant that I could take a break from binge watching How to Get Away With Murder and join Mike.

Mike decided that he wanted to bring Buffalo Chicken Dip as his American food, which I agreed to, especially because it's pretty easy (see the recipe at the end of the post).  Mike got this recipe from our friend Christina, who made this for Mike, Shawn (her husband) and their friends at some point and won them over.  It's been Mike's go-to dish for any sort of pot luck and, despite it's bright orange color, is actually really good. I was a little hesitant to bring it since it is kind of odd looking and I wasn't sure if people would be daring enough to try it, but it was a huge hit and it was all gone by the time we left.

The other food was delicious as well.  There was a woman from Iran who made a pasta dish with meat and potatoes, an Asian woman and her daughter who made sushi (SO GOOD!) and a few desserts that we delicious.  Unlike the United States, ethnic food is pretty hard to come by in Turkey.  There is one Chinese restaurant about a mile from our house, but that's about it. It's pretty much all Turkish food, all the time.  I think both Mike and I were very happy to have a plate full of food from all over the world.

See that Buffalo Chicken Dip on the left?  Yeah, doesn't look so appetizing does it?  I promise you, it's delicious and we got lots of compliments on it!

After the party, Mike had to go to the NATO base to run some errands, but this also meant that he would stop by our mail box.  We have an APO address, which is extremely helpful because it means that we can order things from Amazon Prime without paying for shipping.  It also means that people can send us packages without paying for an arm and leg for shipping.  We don't go to NATO unless we have to, so we try to buy everything in Turkey unless we can't find it.  Then we resort to Amazon.

Remember how I said I have great friends?  In case there was any doubt about that, Matt and Katy confirmed that yesterday.  Katy told us a few weeks ago that she sent us a package, but it takes about two weeks for things to get here, so we didn't go to NATO until yesterday.  When Mike came back to the house, he had, among other packages, a box from Matt and Katy.  We had mentioned how fall in Izmir means 85 degree weather and leaves that are sporting a bright shade of green.   This doesn't stop people from wearing boots and scarves, but that Pumpkin Spice Latte doesn't do much except make you hot beneath your sweater.  So, Katy being the fall-lover that she is, decided to send us fall in a box!  We opened the box to find pumpkin bread mix, a pumpkin cheesecake candle, a fall edition of a magazine, some Halloween socks and a ton of other fall themed gifts to help us get in the mood.  Thank you Matt, Katy and Beau!

I don't think we'd make it through all of this if we didn't have friends like Matt and Katy (and their dog Beau).  We are so thankful for every Facebook message or Gchat and look forward to every sort of video chat we get to do.

Happy Fall Y'all!

Oh, and Mike also picked up his new Capitols jersey! He was pretty excited, even if he won't get to wear it for a couple of years.

Go Caps!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

What you need:

2 boneless chicken breasts 

2 8oz cream cheese 

1 cup Hot Sauce 

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 

1/2 cup blue cheese dressing

Steps

1) Boil and Shred the Chicken Breasts 

2) Microwave cream cheese and hot sauce until soft (4-5 minutes) and mix 

3) Add chicken, cheese, and dressing 

4) Mix all ingredients together 

5) Bake for 30 min @ 350

Serve with tostitos chips, carrots, and/or celery!