Life in Photos

1. A happy discovery of a Thai restaurant

2. Green tea along with Thai lunch

3. Walking along the Asian side of the city

4+5. 2 Dali sketches.  Small, full of detail, and beautiful.

6. Picked up a small jam jar for $2.  I decided that it was so cute that I should use it to store my rings.  I am a sucker for glass domes!  Now, I want to buy several more and actually use them for jam and host large breakfasts.  Anyone want to come over for breakfast so that I have an excuse to buy more?

Life in Photos

1. At the airport 

2. View along the Bosphorus 

3. Istanbul traffic 

4. My favorite Starbucks, with the most amazing views 

5. Yummy macarons, raspberry was my favorite 

6. Mocha and dessert

The past few weeks have been a bit of a transition for me.  I am currently in Istanbul and will be for some time.  I also realized that in the past four years, since I have graduated college, I have moved over 9 times.  Some moves have been large, others smaller but I am pretty exhausted from all of the packing and moving.  I find that I am enjoying it less each time. 

Coming to Istanbul (for the second time) has left me in a bit of a 'shock'.  Not culture shock, luckily I have traveled enough that I can adjust to new surroundings.  It is more of a cooking shock.  As in, I find it difficult to find so many of the necessary items that I could easily pick up in any store in the US.  Because the few days I had to pack were so stressful and my suitcases were stuffed to maximum capacity, I ended up leaving behind most of my kitchen necessities in the US.  And yes, I agree, that was stupid. 

I thought that it would be easy enough to find what I need but after visiting many stores I have begun to think that baking desserts is not a popular activity here.  I have had trouble finding measuring cups and measuring spoons, baking dishes, and many of the spices that I need.  And vanilla extract-almost impossible to find!  I finally tracked down a small bottle in a 'specialty store' and it cost about $20!  For a bottle that would cost $4-$5 in the US.  Needless to say, I will not be baking chocolate chip cookies anytime soon! Most of my frustrations will be solved tomorrow after a much needed trip to Ikea.  As for the vanilla extract, I am still kicking myself for packing so carelessly.

~Rona

To A New Year and To Inspiration!

Happy New Year everyone!  And a HUGE thank you to everyone who has taken the time to stop by and comment to us!  We love hearing from you!

Since starting Two Minds Cook Alike last year, Alyssa and I have been growing and evolving along with the blog.  Both of us really enjoy cooking but we often do not have time to spend preparing a fancy meal.  So we try to share recipes that aren't too complicated even for those people who may not enjoy cooking!  We love it when our recipes inspire you to get into the kitchen and make the item for yourself! 

Of course, as I consider the time and effort that went into the blog over the past few months, I have also been thinking of some goals for improvement over the next year:

1. Eat healthier and include more healthy recipes on the blog!

2. Post more frequently!

3. Continue to interact with our readers and include more posts about what you want to read!

4. Improve the quality of posts with better pictures and by presenting food in new and creative ways!

Speaking of my last goal, I am constantly looking for new ideas on how to photograph and present the food that I cook and share on this blog. There are so many great food blogs out there with beautiful pictures. I always want to make the food look as appealing as it tastes and to really stand out in pictures.  I think that a lot of the cute ways for presenting food can also serve the dual purpose of decorations.  Here are some of my inspirations:

I bought these cake domes recently because I thought that they would be a cute way to show off any cookies or desserts that I made.  I have actually been using one to store my ever growing jewelry collection thanks to chloe + isabel. The other one has not been used for food yet :)

Both of these items can be found in my good friend Annie's etsy shop where she sells many great vintage items!  I love these two items because of the natural wood.  I think that they easily transition from serving as a decoration to a dinner party or to staging great blog posts.

Cake stands, cake stands, and more cake stands.  It doesn't matter if they are clear, colorful, or made of milk glass. What can I say?  I love all of them! 

Source: pinterest 

Chalkboard trays!

Source: pinterest

Milk Glass bowls

Source:  Etsy, pinterest

Thanks for reading!

~Rona

Part Two: Western Turkey

After Istanbul, we traveled west along the Aegean sea.  Next stop on the trip was İzmir: the third largest city in Turkey and a beautiful coastal city with a nice sea walkway.  Also, on the agenda were Çeşme: famous for wind surfing (there was a wind surfing competition when we went there).  Additionally, we stayed near Fethiye giving us a break from the heat by swimming in beautiful, clear blue water.  Here are some select pictures from the past week of traveling.

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Part 1: Istanbul Sights

Here are a few pictures taken over the past few days of traveling in the city of Istanbul.

Pictures taken in Istanbul's Spice Market.

Various views of the city taken from different points along the Bosphorus.

~R