the wing quest continues…
Coming back to the states for the holidays has satisfied many of my cravings for home, family, the familiar, Santa Clauses and jingle bells. But perhaps one of the best things about being back is, well, the buffalo wings. Yes, those lovely little hot wings that I miss so much in Turkey. If you’ve been reading my blog, you are well aware of the lack of good wings in Istanbul. And hey, I can’t blame them, it’s not their schtick. Just like borek and baklava are not America’s schtick.
Anyway, being back has given me the opportunity to indulge in as many wings as I can. And fortunately, or unfortunately, almost every place I go to eat here offers wings. So I’ve been indulging. In fact, so much I thought I would take a day off today. My stomach begged me. But I am happy to report that I have been repeatedly happy with the wing quality I’ve experienced thus far.
Check out my latest Ohio wings… next week is NY wings. :)
The Boulevard ~ Eastlake, Ohio
28 cent wings and $1 beers — can’t beat it! Wing quality is superb, perfect crispyness, and fantastic hot sauce. Although I got hot twice now, and medium once (to appease my mild-spiced friend), I think I will go for inferno next time. I like a little more heat with my hot wings. Oh and the celery is great here – fresh, juicy and not dried out in any way. Blue cheese is pretty good. Overall 9.5 on the Chicken Wing Scale of Loveliness.
And as an added bonus for those burger lovers, not only are the burgers great, but all toppings are only 15 cents! I love Ohio.
Panini’s ~ Willoughby, Ohio
On to Panini’s, an establishment known for their famous panini sandwiches, which come complete with fries inside the sandwich. I was told I have to get the wings, which I didn’t really need much arm twisting for, so I got them — Buffalo Hot, extra crispy (the later part which was recommended by a seasoned Panini’s hot wing friend). These wings got a solid 10 on the scale! There was a perfect amount of sauce, they were cooked to perfection, and the size and juiciness of the chicken was like no other. At first I thought the hot was not hot enough, but after a few wings, I was happy with the heat level. I could have kicked it up a little, but maybe next time.
And I can’t forget to thank my friend Tsam for sending me a write up on the best hot wings in NYC. I read it, studied it, and can’t wait to go to the Blind Tiger Ale House next week when we’re in NY. Thank you Tsam!! To read the review yourself: NYC Best Wings Review by nycfoodguy
our christmas tree made Turkish headlines!
It all started off with wanting our first Christmas in Istanbul to really feel like Christmas. Even though we will be in the states for the actual holiday, it’s the leading up to it that gets you in the Christmas spirit. So what better way to do it than to start with a Christmas tree?
Believe it or not, Istanbul has Christmas trees. Real and fake ones galore. Granted, the real trees are different of course – they are shorter, smaller, and have less pine fragrance than those you would find in North America. But it’s still a real Christmas tree. And as an added bonus they come in a pot! Yes, potted Christmas trees. Makes it easy for use again the next year, of course pending you have space in your yard or on a balcony to keep it.
My dilemma was I did not want to get a tree just to have it for one week. Since I’m leaving for the states in a few days, it would have been a waste – of money and a tree – to only have it for one week. So in times like these we have to get resourceful. So what does someone who is now well-connected with the ex-pat community do? Yep, I pimped out our Christmas tree. After all, sharing is caring. And it made it into a Turkish Newspaper here.
Read here for the article: The Sharing Tree of Christmas
While we may be home in Ohio for Christmas, our Christmas spirit will reach much further than that. And a friend’s Christmas in Istanbul was made a little more merrier in the process.
May you have yourself a merry little Christmas, too.
i’m baaaack!
Ok so I owe you an apology for falling off the face of the blogging earth. Sorry for the brief departure. But I’m back!! And I’m happy to say that I have nothing to blame other than the fact that I actually have a life now!
After we got back from our NY/Germany trip in September, I realized that I needed to learn some more Turkish. The Turkish courses that I took at NYU gave me a good base for communicating when we first moved here, but I realized it was not going to cut it if I ever wanted to have a semi-intelligent conversation with anyone here. So I enrolled at a language school and began taking two different levels of Turkish at the same time, which meant I was in class 5 days a week. Like a full-time job… with homework… and I was not getting paid for it – I was paying them.
I say this all in the past tense because just this week I finished both courses. Yes, I graduated! So I have a comfortable fluency level now, but will take at least one more level after the holidays. I must admit that it feels good to finally be able to get complete, coherent thoughts and ideas across to others. I realize now how much we take advantage of the natural things in life like communicating in your native language.
So that’s been consuming my days and most of my nights, but my social life has also picked up at the same time. To add to our great friends that we already had here in Istanbul, I’ve since made a lot of friends who are in similar expat situations… many of who moved here because of their husband’s job, they are having a tough time with the language, they are adapting to a new life and culture, they are having difficulty finding a job too, etc etc. I’ve also connected with a group of professional foreign women here that are personally and professionally inspiring. And out of all of this there are some that I’ve really really connected with. And when you really gel with someone it’s beyond great. Yay to good friends!
So classes are done for now, my personal life is feeling more settled, my social life is back, Onur’s company is continuing to do well, so what’s next? Home for the holidays! Yep, next week we head to the states for an OH and NY trip. So excited! Really can’t wait! US here we come. 
