Civic Involvement Committee: Shoebox Project

Kim Strathearn, Christina Bache Fidan and Joanne Yildirim want to thank all the PAWI members who made this project possible. Thank you to all who made shoebox gifts – and some of you who made extra shoebox gifts – and some of you who organized family, friends and work colleagues to make shoebox gifts!

Because of you all, we were able to bring beautifully-decorated gifts to the refugee boys at the shelter. (And thank you Michelle Green for the duffle bag full of Farsi, Arabic & French dictionaries!)

The holiday party at the Kadikoy Boys’ Shelter took place yesterday afternoon and was attended by 8 PAWI members, accompanied by 2 children, a husband, a mother-in-law, several friends and the devoted English tutor of some of the boys.

The 2-meter tall live holiday tree given by PAWI 2 weeks ago stood tall and healthy in the big cafeteria and was later fully decorated by the boys themselves using the ornaments each received attached to their gift box.

We had lots of laughs with the boys playing pin-the-nose-on-the-reindeer too!

You can see from the photograph that the smiles on the boys’ faces were priceless! YOU have made a difference for a young man this holiday season and he can carry this memory in his heart … and know that someone cared! Thanks again PAWI ladies.  You are the best!

Foodies: Holiday Recipes from Joy!

Foodie Coordinator Joy Ludwig-McNutt shares two of her delicious holiday recipes below.  Enjoy!

Gingerbread Truffles

½c.      Heavy cream

1tsp.    Ground ginger

½tsp.    Ground cinnamon

¼tsp.    Freshly grated nutmeg

¼tsp.    Ground cloves

5oz.       Dark chocolate, 64% or 70%, preferred, chopped

1T.          Butter, room temperature

Dark chocolate melted for dipping

Cocoa powder, pre-sifted for coating

1.  In a small pot, bring the cream and spices to a boil.

2.  Immediately, pour over the chocolate in a metal bowl. Let rest for about a minute, and then whisk together to combine until smooth. 

Add the butter, and stir to combine. ( If your chocolate is not completely melted, place the bowl over a small pot of simmering water.)

3.  Pour the ganache into a shallow 8-inch dish or pie pan. (This will help cool the ganche down faster since it’s a more shallow surface area.) Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 30 minutes.

4.  Then, using a teaspoon or a 1/2-inch melon baller or a smaller cookie dipper, scoop balls of the ganache, transferring them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you work. Refrigerate truffles 10 minutes.

5.  Using plastic gloved hands or hands dusted with cocoa powder, dip each truffle in cocoa powder to coat, then quickly shape truffle into a rough round.

6.  Melt extra chocolate in a metal bowl placed over a small pot of simmering water. Then, hand roll each truffle in the chocolate to “precoat” it, being careful not to form a “foot” on the bottom of the truffle. Set on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Rest until the chocolate is set.

7.  Using the same process, coat each truffle in a second layer of melted chocolate. When finished, roll the truffles in 1 c. of confectioner’s sugar sifted with 1 T. of  ground cinnamon. Or for a more chocolate taste, add the cinnamon to cocoa powder instead.

8.  If not using immediately, refrigerate the truffles in an airtight container until ready to serve, up to 2 weeks.

20-Minute Dried Cranberry Sauce

Serves: 10-12+ people

Ingredients:
3 c. dried cranberries
6 oz. fresh pomegranate juice
6 oz. fresh orange juice
1 ea. zest of an orange
2 ea. cinnamon sticks
pinch salt
1 T. cornstarch mixed with enough water to make a paste

In a medium sized pot, place all the ingredients, except the cornstarch, cover with a lid and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour the cornstarch into the pot along the side while whisking. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add a bit more juice or water to adjust the consistency of your sauce.

For a smoother sauce, use a stick blender and puree, after removing the cinnamon stick and orange zest.

Foodies: Thanksgiving

Often, the Foodies group hosts monthly get-togethers at cafes, restaurants or bars in Istanbul. Sometimes, there is a theme to the events such as truffle making for Valentine's Day, beer outing for St. Patrick's Day or a full Ramazan dinner in August.

In November, PAWI friends, family members and even some husbands gathered for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at Molly's Cafe. Molly treated the group to a full spread of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, salad and more. The cafe was closed for our PAWI Foodies event.

Molly also made two beautiful pies for our dinner - pumpkin and apple. Both were delicious! Thanks to Molly and her staff for the delicious food and hard work!

Thanks to everyone for coming! Watch for the next Foodies event in the new year!

If you have any suggestions for upcoming events, please contact Joy or Banu.

Foodie Group Coordinator: Jade York

Food plays such an important role in every culture, and here in Turkey, where people sit down to fresh, home-cooked meals every day with their extended families; where people are fiercely proud of their cuisine; where no matter how little food you have, it is generously shared with strangers; food plays an integral part of Turkish culture.

As an American living in Turkey, food continues to be an important part of my life here, from learning how to cook Turkish cuisine, to sampling Turkish food from all the different regions of Turkey, to searching out new restaurants, and in preserving my own culture's and family's recipes and trying to recreate them here.  I remember my first days here, getting to know my new Turkish mother-in-law by watching her expertly cook a variety of dishes from simple pilaf (pilav), vegetables slow-cooked in olive oil  (zeytinyağ yemekleri), wholesome soups (çorba), to labor-intensive stuffed grape leaves (yaprak sarma) and hand-formed meatballs (köfte).  She spoke no English and I had just begun to learn Turkish, but the language of food and cooking is universal and food has a wonderful way of bringing people together.

When I moved to Istanbul 3 years ago from New York City, my life completely changed.  PAWI helped me to adjust to my new life here, and is an amazing social network which brings people together.  Priceless advice is shared on all topics, and if you are interested in food and want a great restaurant recommendation, or hunting for a specialty food item, or need a useful ingredient substitution, just post it to the group.

My name is Jade York, and as one of the PAWI Foodies group coordinators, I invite all our members to share their favorite recipes from home or here, and any difficult to find specialty food items they may spot while out shopping or a great ingredient substitution they have used when cooking. Please send to me and I will add it to the PAWI google site for everyone's reference.
Afiyet olsun!

PAWI Meeting: November 19th - A Special Thanks!

A huge thank you to PAWI member Jan Kilner, wife of US Consul General Scott Kilner, for opening up their lovely home to host the November PAWI meeting. A record-setting 65 ladies attended and listened to Mr. Kilner talk more about the ever crucial Turkish-American relations. After a fascinating discussion he turned the floor over to three members of the consular staff, to explain the services offered by the American citizens service branch of the consulate. They answered many questions from our expat ladies, and helped remind us of some important details. Thank you to Lisa, Seth, and Susan! 

No small endeavor, Jan Kilner and her staff worked hard to ensure that the large crowd of women were fed, provided with coffee, and that things went smoothly. A fantastic turn out, we were able to also show the Kilners how dynamic the Canadian/American women in Istanbul are.

Thank you again to the Kilners, and to all of the women who attended.

Welcoming Team: Note from Dayna

Welcoming Team:

One of the best parts about living in Istanbul is the variety of fun and interesting things to do!  This year we've rolled up our sleeves for cooking lessons at The House Cafe, pampered ourselves with professional makeovers,  learned about organic skincare at Nerolinn, met for a summer toast at 360 and just recently met at Molly's Cafe for a delicious lasagna feast and jazz entertainment…..WOW!  There's much more to come as we approach the holiday season. 

PAWI socials are a great way to meet new members and connect with existing friends.  We look forward to welcoming you to the next event!  Please let us know if you have an idea for a great get together.  

 

Dayna Tellibayraktar has been in Istanbul for two years and has been a part of the Welcoming Team for the past year and a half.  She stays active with her work for Cornucopia magazine and with her own business exporting silk trimming to designers in the US.  She enjoys touring around Turkey and finding new inspiration.

PAWI Turns 5 - Thank You!

Thanks everyone who came out on Saturday to celebrate PAWI turning 5!  Despite the cold and very rainy weather, we had a turnout of about 45 people for the potluck.  There was quite an array of food and it was nice to meet new people and see familiar faces.  Check out our Facebook page for more pictures.

The backbone of PAWI has always been bringing like-minded women together in effort to empower and support each other through professional and personal growth.  In the fall of 2006, a small group of women gathered to form Professional And Fabulous, which then in early 2008 went on to become PAWI as we know, founded by Christina Bache Fidan and Joanne Yildirim.  Now in 2011, we are proud to say that PAWI is still going strong and has reached an all-time high of 240 tightly-knit American and Canadian professional women living in Istanbul... and we are only continuing to grow!

Looking back through the years, it is interesting to see just how many PAWI members there have been. Taking into account our current members as well as members who have moved out of Istanbul, there have been a total of 325 members coming through PAWI's "doors".  In addition to today's current 240 members, the group also has 6 active sub-groups organizing events throughout any given month, plus separate teams managing our communication platforms, membership database, and Friends of PAWI for those who have moved away but still want to keep in touch.  A special thanks goes out to those individuals and teams who help make PAWI "go".  

At the potluck picnic there was a board posted where members and their families could share what PAWI means to them.  It was encouraging to see some common themes among the comments and we thought they were worth sharing:

• good friends / friendship
• great resource
• support
• network
• inspiration
• empowerment
• synergy
• great energy
• laughter
• community
• sharing ideas
• a lifesaver
• full of energy
• initiatives
• women empowering each other!

 

PAWI is truly a dynamic group of wonderful women and we are proud to look back on the past 5 years and see how we've grown together.  We hope that as a group we can keep this positive momentum going and continue to inspire each other to achieve and share success!