Woow, it has been a long time since I have updated Yogurtland.  Life seems to be consumed by work, home and our soon to be 2  year old son.   Between all these, I am trying to continue my hobbies, trying to take on new ones, and seriously failing miserably when it comes to making time for anything new/fun.  This blog has suffered a lot, and lets see if I can continue updating as I once used to…

Like many people, we also have a veggie garden in our backyard.  For years we have grown the usuals; tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, squash, eggplants and various herbs.  Some years there were okra, lettuce, spinach, carrots and even fava beans.   And my artichoke plant never failed – still going after 4 years.  They all grew in the raised garden beds my husband put together 5 years ago, using the boards we have already.  It was about 6 inches (15cm) deep, and I wanted them deeper.  For the veggies to grow deeper, stronger roots.

While my husband was getting ready to build a sandbox for the little guy, he had to level off  the surface and some nice dirt was going to be moved out of the way.   And my veggie patches desperately needed an overhaul as the old ones’ boards were rotting.  So, it was a good excuse to build new veggie garden boxes that are deeper, so they hold that dirt that’d come out from floor leveling work.

And we went to the home improvement store.  All we knew was I wanted 12 inch deep, and this time no messing with boards that’d not last long ( at lest 10 years was my aim.)  There was a debate on whether to use pressure treated or not, it didn’t bother me to use them despite what some claim about the chemicals leeching out to the vegetables.   Decided to go and look what the options were.  We ended up choosing redwood.  Got them cut in the store. This was a really good decision as it made it easy to carry them!  Redwood, especially the ones soaked up the rain are HEAVY!

We bought some heavy duty bolts to hold them together, along with the nuts and washers obviously. Bolts were 1 3/4, and 6 inches long. Oh, the size we decided to build them was 6ft x 8ft (1.8m x 2.5m.)

My husband gave me the idea of making a template at where the bolts should so I do not need to keep measuring the distance from each corner. That really saved a lot of time.  And he also gave me the hand drill to pre-drill every hole so the 2 inch drill bit we’d be using later on (for the bolts to hold the whole structure together) would not wander off or cause damage to the wood.  While I was drilling, there was a little person helping me to clean off the wood shavings with the brush.  He kept finding the marks I made for the holes to be made, and telling where the drill next. ;)

When the small drilling exercise was finished, I moved on to the real deal.  That 2inch drill bit was quite crazy stuff!  So I started drilling, about 8am in the morning :)  When I started using the 2 inch bit, I have realized that it was not long enough for the boards and definitely not the posts.  I ended up using the drill press, too.   It was an adventure :)

The only part I have not touched was the cutting of the boards or the post.  I am still not quite sure about those tools – will let someone else deal with them.

There was no was I would be able to move them once they were assembled. Had to assemble them on the patio, since you definitely need a flat surface for that task.  My husband and I moved them, and I was exhausted by the time all took their space in the backyard.

But the sense of accomplishing this task mostly by myself was immeasurable. Now, I can proudly say that I build those boxes!

Since then we have planted tomato, pepper, eggplant, zucchini, melon, watermelon seedlings and various herb seeds.  Patiently waiting for some produce :)  Oh, I had to “shave off” some of the root from the artichoke plant to be able to place the new box, and instead of throwing that root piece away, I have put it in one of the gardens. Seems like it has rooted and will take off. So excited about it!

Are you growing anything in your backyard, or in your balcony this year?  What do you like growing?

This is a very common dish with the red lentils and bulgur made all over Turkey. It is one of the dishes that can be eaten as a main course for a light meal or served along with homemade pastries in the afternoon tea gatherings.

I remember the first time I ever made this with a friend, 4 or 5 years ago, the taste was there but didn’t look anything like what you see in the picture. This is not to say that it needs to be mastered, but you need to be careful of the water amount used when cooking the lentils. If you put too much, you might end up adding more bulgur than the recipe calls for otherwise. So, I suggest starting with the amount I give here, but keep a boiling cup of water close by to add on if needed.

It goes well with the basic onion salad I am going to share. In fact, I do not think I have ever seen it served without this salad. Also, I like serving on a bed of lettuce leaves garnished with olive oil + salt + lemon juice trio. The more lemon juice the better, if you ask me. Using the lettuce, parsley and green onions growing in our backyard makes it easy to gather ingredients for this meal without a trip to the grocery store…

Another side note: the recipe calls for fine bulgur, which is easy to find in the Middle Eastern stores. If you use the coarse bulgur, not only it might take more water to “cook it” but also it will not be as easy to shape as using the fine variety. Here, bulgur is not cooked, but rather soaked with the steaming hot lentils.

• 1 cup of red lentils
• 1.5 cup of fine bulgur
• 1 bunch of flat leaf parsley (chopped finely makes about 1.5 cups)
• 4 – 5 green onions (chopped finely makes about 1 cup)
• 1/3 cup of olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 1 medium onion
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 Tbs red pepper paste
• salt to taste

for onion salad

• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup parsley leaves (finely chopped)

extra: lemon juice as extra garnishing

In a medium size pan, put the red lentils and 1.5 cups of water, cover and cook on low heat until water evaporates, lentils are cooked. If lentils are not cooked yet, add more boiling water but make sure not to add too much to leave the mix watery.

Put the bulgur in a big bowl, add the cooked lentils mix well and cover the bowl — strech film works great.

In the mean time clean and cut the parsley and green onions fine.

Cut the onion in very small pieces, cook them with olive oil using a small saucepan. Add the tomato and red pepper paste, cook until onions are very soft.

When the onion mixture has cooled down, add it along with the chopped greens to the lentil mix.

Now you have all the ingredients to make your lentil balls in one bowl. Mix them by hand, lightly knead as needed. If too dry, you can add more olive oil or hot water to the mix — again be careful not to add a huge amount at once.

Take a chunk a bit bigger than walnut size, roll in your palm and fingers to give it a shape. Shape all of the mix in this way.

Salad:

Cut the onion in half. Making very thin slices, cut it all the way. Add the sumac and salt, work them through the onion making sure the onion releases its juice. This will make it easy for you to digest the onion. Add lemon juice if desired. You can add finely chopped lettuce if you would like as well.

Serve room temperature or slightly colder.