Another Fantastic Foreign-Food-Friday!

We had the opportunity to share our foreign food night tradition with our world-traveling family last Friday. The cuisine of the evening was Turkish food. AMAZING! Not spicy like Thai food but full of lots of different spices and flavors, it was so delicious. Here is what we ate:

Appetizers were hummus with Pide (pita) bread, olives, goat cheese and Turkish Cacik which is a yogurt/garlic/cucumber/mint type dip that was a huge hit with everyone.

The main meal was Turkish chicken (which was marinated in a minty-yogurty-spice laden marinade), Pilav (which is a simple white and brown rice pilaf) and a Turkish salad full of tomato, bell pepper, cucumber and fresh parsley.

For dessert I made 2 different recipes of the famous Turkish Delight which were such a hit that they were nearly instantly devoured. There were only a few lingering ones left for the next day.
Here we are enjoying all of it:


The food was fantastic and we happily ate all the leftovers the rest of the weekend!

On Your Mark...

Mr. Meticulous had a very fun time building his first ever Pinewood Derby car with Big Daddy. After a few weeks of planning and sanding and shaping, he got to paint it and put the finishing touches on it in preparation for the big Derby day. He called his car the Predator and I think he did an excellent job!




Race day was very exciting since none of us had ever been to a Pinewood Derby before. We had a BBQ before the event and afterward, all the cars had to "weigh-in". They could not be more than 5 ounces. The Predator weighed in at a whopping 4.9 ounces! After a few practice runs down the track, Mr. Meticulous took his place on the side lines to await his turn. Finally, the time came for the Predator to hurdle itself down the track for all its worth....



...despite starting very strong out of the gate, it didn't quite have the umph to stay ahead of the lightning fast car in the other lane. It was oh so close coming in a hundredth of a second behind for second place! Well done!



We were extremely proud of his efforts and his good sportsmanship. The Predator has since been retired since this was the last year Mr. Meticulous could participate in the Pinewood Derby as he is about to cross over from cubscout to boyscout in May. He has been working really hard on all of his requirements and putting in lots of EXTRA effort toward earning the Arrow of Light award which is something not all scouts do. What a fine young man he is turning out to be.