In 2014 my book Understanding Turkey Today was released by Mitchell Lane Publishers. It was fascinating to research. I was lucky enough to have some help from Heather and Cengiz Cigeroglu. Heather taught art at a school in Istanbul and Cengiz grew up in Turkey. They were super generous with their time, teaching me cool things like how to make a kid-friendly version of ebru (Turkish marbled paper) and also how to cook some delicious recipes eaten by people all over Turkey. Here’s a photo of my first attempt:

Menemen

After reaching out to the Turkish Consulate in New York during the research process, I was invited to meet the Vice Consul, Sadik Serhat Akkoç. So this past Thursday I headed to the consulate where I was able to present a copy of my book as a gift. There we spoke about writing for children and adults, education in the US and in Turkey, and so on. Later that evening the Vice Consul and his wife hosted me to a beautiful dinner full of traditional home-cooked specialties – from soups to pilaf to stuffed peppers. It was, hands down, the most delicious meal I have ever eaten. We talked about culture, food, family and so many other topics. I learned so much and very much hope to go to Turkey in the future to learn even more about this fascinating country!

Turkish coffee

Turkish Delight coated in edible rose petals