Food and New Friends?

Last March I see a small paragraph in our Star Tribune about Turkish American cooking classes saying "you will not only learn new dishes but get some tips, learn about different cultures, make new friends, taste delicious foods and have fun. So I signed up for 3 classes. So June 12 Sunday afternoon was the day. I'm a little tired, whiny, it's more than 25 miles from home but I would not be so rude to cancel and thought 2 hour class is about right. Wow - it was a most amazing experience. The menu: Domates corbasi, karniyarik, sebzeli bulgar pilavi (tomato soup, eggplant stuffed with meat, Bulgur pilaf) - all from scratch.There were 5 women (4 from Turkey, 1 from Uzbekistan, all young moms, well educated from RN to PhD in engineering, physics etc. Their goal is for good international relations so they like to welcome people into their homes. Below was not part of the cooking class but only the appetizers set out for us to try made by two Turkish sisters.Centerstage is the one who did a lot of the translation for the chef (later photo). She has lived here 19 years and she and her husband came to the UofM for their doctorate work and ended up staying, having a family, home and all the regular ties that people have except their parents still live in Turkey.

Pointing out the Bulgur pilaf (delicious); left of her is the young mom of a darling 8 month old who just received her RN and is in the job application process.
Meat filled eggplant - everything totally made from scratch and much from a Turkish market or Costco (where else!). The blonde is the chef and the only one who wasn't totally fluent in English but loved having all these people around (I think there were at least a dozen plus the 5 hostesses).

The cute mom and baby. The two sisters encouraging everyone to have more appetizers and everything was served on china (no paper plates or cups).




Senay is the chef in white - the other two are Esra and Cengiz who are sisters and the 3rd in green scarf is a friend. When I asked why some had scarves and others not we talked about the Koran, women and how covering the head is voluntary and differences are accepted and they appreciate that about the US. The talk proceeded to France and the recent ban on head coverings.



The talk soon went to 9/11 what else. They tell us how they were so sad (they lived here too!) and I said there are just bad people in the world and not all Muslims or Somalians or whomever are bad. The talk went to Hitler and how the Germans must have felt to be blamed for a lot of things. Since it is a Women's Society group it was only women in attendance but men would have been welcomed. The group attending seemed a bunch of real independent women many of whom had travelled to many places. It was so much fun that I ended up staying longer (the class was to be 2-4pm) with the encouragement to please stay for Turkish tea. I was excited and wired when I got home (ask Ross!!!) and I can't wait until the next one which will be at a different home and the young mom from Uzbekistan will be the chef for Ozbek Pilavi, Rus salatsai, tiramisu pastasi (translated to Uzbek Pilaf, Russian salad, Tiramisu). While visiting with her I mentioned growing up thinking Russia was huge and fearful to us. She said Russia was one big place also until she was about 8 or 9 when the split came.


I'm still excited today and feel that this is one of those moments of serendipity in life (Ross' mom's favorite word). Oh I almost forgot - since the cost was $20 one guest said "it's good to have this many people because then you can make money" - all the time I had been thinking this was costing them much more than we paid. The host's reply and not in a bad way: "Well, it's really not about making money, it's about making friends" - WELL PUT!!!