Binnur's Borek

This is a typically turkish phyllo cheese burek that I love and is easy to make...


7 sheets phyllo dough
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup milk
2 eggas
1 pinch salt
2 liter pyrex casserole or other casserols dish. I use a 9x13 baking dish.


FILLING

1 pack 300 grams frozen chopped spinach, squeeze with hands to remove all extra water
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 onion chopped
1tbsp olive oil salt
black pepper


For the filling

put salt and perrer and onion ina pan and cook 2 min.. add spinach and continue cooking 2 more min.. put aside and add feta cheese.. stir to mix...

in a bowl, mix eggs, olive oil, amd milk with a whisk. this liquid will go between each 2 layers of phyllo sheets... the filling will go in the middle only...

Grease the casserole dish.. place 2 sheets of phyllo dough in the bottom and over the sides of the dish.. spread 3 tbsp of the liquid on top...take another 2 sheets of the phyllo.. fold in half and stack in the dish... spread the spinach filling on top of the stacked phyllo... continue layering this way until all phyllo is used...
then fold the sides of the bottom layer over.. pour remaining liquid on top...

refrigerate 2-3 hours to make it more crispy ..
bake in a preheated 350 degree F over until golden brown 25-30 minutes. bon appetit

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
1 cup whole wheat flour 2 cups white flour

preheat over to 350 degrees F. combine oil, peanut butter and water.. add flour 1 cup at a time and the knead into firm dough,.. roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out into shapes... bake 15-18 min..cool.. feed to Rover,, woof...

Tempura Batter

This is an excellent batter to fry fish or sliced veggies in...japanese style

2 cups flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup ice cold water

combine well the flour, baing powder, baking soda and cornstarch in a large bowl...

add eggs, salt and water, .. beat the mixture lightly with a fork or whisk until flour us moiatened lumps may appear but don't worry about that...

coat fish and vegies immediately with batter. Tempura batter is best when used within a few minutes after making.. if frying large amounts , make batter in smaller portions...

fry until golden brown

Toys for one year old boys

I am always on the prowl for toys my grandson will like and I think I have found some...

One I think he will absolutely love is Latches Board by Melissa and Doug.. a board of different types of latches ( manly yes ) attaches to colorful entrances like doors and garages etc...

Tobbles, which is a colorful series of bowls that fit into each other at an off angle, cute..

Bug Jug Fill and Spill.. melussa and Doug,, a container or jug and 4 or 5 colorful soft bugs to place in the jug and then to dump out or spill.. might be fun..

what do you think... also a walking toy sounds good right, got to look into that...

Books I Want to Read

Miss Pettigrew's Last Stand... Helen Simonson

Sarah's Key ... Tatiana de Rosnay

The Great Pretender... Millenia Black

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag... Alan Bradley

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie ... Alan Bradley

A red herring Without Mustard ... Alan Bradley

The Forgotten Garden ... Kate Morton

Arranged ... Catherine McKenzie ( Montreal author and litigatior also teaches at McGill....

Spin.. Catherine McKenzie

Lemon Curd Mousse/ Martha Stewart's

1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 tbsp cold water
4 large eggs plus 6 large yolks
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp finely grated Meyer lemon zest ( from 2 lemons)
plus 3/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice, (from 5 to 6 lemons)
6tbsp cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream whipped

directions
sprinkle gelatin over water, let stand until softened about 5 min.

whisk together eggs and yolks in a small saucepan

whisk in sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice.. cook whisking constantly over med low heat.. until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon 8-10 min..

remove pan from heat, add gelatin stirring constantly until gelatin dissolves and mixture is slightly cool.. add butter, a few pieces at a timr, stirring after each addition until smooth.

strain thru a sieve into a bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to remove as much curd as possible, discard any undisolved gelation or egg bits.

press a piece of plastic wrap directly ont surface of curd to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until set at least 2 hrs or overnite. Stir curd and gently fold in whipped cream. refrigerate 1 hr. stir before using....

book review

finished The Secret Daughter... made me very angry and also made me cry. Hasn't happened that a book actually made me cry... read this book... sweet.

next on the agenda is The Book of Fires...