Tuesday 20 March 2018

Delicious yogurt

Turkey is the land of yogurt in all its glory and variety. It can be made from cow, sheep or goat milk. The enormous variety of yogurt in this supermarket section shows what an important item it is in the Turkish diet.



The meal could start with a bowl of yogurt soup, [called yayla corba = mountain soup], perhaps with a dash of fiery red pepper and dried mint to garnish it;

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Iskender Kebab is a dish of spit-roasted lamb, served on a bed of pide, with tomatoes, long green peppers and a buttery spicy pepper sauce, together with a generous dollop of thick, creamy yogurt.

 Yogurt is served as a salad with chopped cucumber in it or mixed with aubergine and garlic as a mezze. It may be cooked with rice and spinach. There is also a mouthwatering salad of grated, cooked carrots tossed hot in yogurt. In addition, many cakes and desserts have yogurt as an ingredient. Laz Borek is one, made from simple ingredients but pretty to look at and a delight to taste.


And then there is ayran, a drink made of yogurt mixed with water and a tiny pinch of salt. This is the most refreshing drink in the scorching heat of summer. The yogurt can be made from cow, sheep or goat milk. 




The photo shows the size of pots and pails of yogurt which would last a Turkish family two or three days. I put a four-pack of western style yoghurts [with the pink tops] next to one pot to compare....

Kaymak is the cream skimed from the top of freshly made yogurt. It is ften served instead of butter at breakfast, or perhaps with some fruit or honey as a dessert.

Kaymak in Turkey.jpg


Sütas, Icim, Pinar, Yorsan,.... They are all good brands of Turkish yogurt.

Milk from the water buffalo is mainly used to make the heavenly tasting Marash icecream, much more consistent than normal ices.



Sunday 4 February 2018

Summer in Brighton, 1814


The Rake's Challenge is set mainly in Brighton in summer 1814, after the grand Peace Celebrations in London, to mark the defeat of Napoleon and the restoration of the Bourbon king, Louis XVIII to the French throne.
In Brighton, the mood is relaxed - the long years of war are over and people want entertainment. There were visits to the races, to the theatre, sea bathing, promenades along the Steyne, card parties, and for the lucky ones, [or not always so lucky] an invitation to an evening at the Prince Regent's Pavilion.


 Below are some of the places visited by Anna during her seaside holiday.




























The Steine in 1805


Image result for Brighton in 1814


Photo:Brighton Race Course, 1805: Painting showing the race course on the Steine with the original Royal Pavilion in the background. Featured in the picture are important local people of the time, including George, Prince of Wales, on horse back.



The Castle Tavern




               [ digital image owned by the Society of Brighton Print Collectors.]




THE BRIGHTON THEATRE
As it appeared 1814-19

 
Image result for Brighton in 1814

[ http://www.mayhum.net/hcobb_theatre.htm ]




Anna does try sea bathing but she ends up in hot water with Giles.


and in one of her dashing new gowns

1814 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 11 - June Issue
[from Ackermann's Repository series 1]






Thursday 28 December 2017

Off on a new adventure

THE OUTCASTS

The year is 1818. In Paris the French king, Louis XVIII, is doing his best to establish a peaceful regime. The Duke of Wellington, along with the other members of the Alliance, wants to withdraw the Army of Occupation and allow France to be independent. 

At the other end of France at the Chateau de Fontanes in the Pyrenees, Joachim de Montailhac, the youngest of the three brothers, has the job of caring for the family estate. He deals with replanting and maintaining the woods, organising the work of the tenants, villagers and farmers, supervising the family stables and other livestock.

Into his busy life come some unexpected problems, in the form of two sisters. He senses from the outset that they are going to be trouble. And at the same time the unrest that has simmered in the southern French towns spreads into the local area. It is clear the rebels are targeting his family.

Helen [Nell] and Sophie Hartford are cousins of Joachim's sister-in-law, Olivia [see Scandalous Lady]. In the Spring of 1818 they find themselves outcasts from their father's home and are forced to accept Olivia's assurance that the Marquise de Fontanes and her family will make them welcome. Two unhappy girls struggle to fit into the very different lifestyle of the large and slightly exotic Montailhac family. 
 


Wednesday 20 December 2017

The Rake's Challenge - on Free Offer this week - 20th December 2017

The Rake's Challenge by [Elliott, Beth]




                               click here :    The Rake's Challenge



REVIEWS  

5.0 out of 5 starsAh, a life of adventures
on 19 December 2017 - Published on Amazon.com
4.0 out of 5 starsDelightful
on 18 December 2017 - Published on Amazon.com
Verified Purchase
5.0 out of 5 starsLovely
on 18 December 2017 Published on Amazon.com
Verified Purchase

"Rake reformed by love. Young lady finds a very different adventure than the one she had planned.

I truly enjoyed this sweet Regency romance." 



Thursday 23 November 2017

A visit to Brighton, Prinny included in : - "The Rake's Challenge"



Do you know how there are those authors you buy no matter what? Those authors who you love and get so excited when I new book comes out. Well that is what Beth Elliott is to me! She is an amazing writer and a fantastic person! I even got to meet her on a trip to England and we had a lovely high tea together. If you have not read Beth, please do! Her books are reasonably priced, things I read over and over again, filled with new words for my vocabulary, and she has written one of my all time favorite heroes. His name is Greg, and yes, it's serious.  Rachel Joyce


I am deeply touched by this kind tribute from Rachel, herself an academic and writer and a keen fan of Regency England and stories thereof, as well as loving Wales, where she spent a year. 

             Rachel, I put a Welshman in this story [although in a very minor role].

                                            The Rake's Challenge by [Elliott, Beth]
                                         

                          https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077K221F4


Another day, another duel for Giles Maltravers, Earl of Longwood. London’s worst rake lives up to his scandalous reputation, but begins to find it’s all getting wearisome. When his father, the duke, orders him to reform and marry. Giles responds by driving out of town in search of fresh adventures. On his way he sees a young lady being molested by a couple of drunken young bloods, and rescues her.
Shaken by her narrow escape, Annabelle Lawrence reluctantly allows Giles to drive her to her destination. She declares she is setting off on a life of adventure and he recognises a kindred spirit. A month later, they meet again in Brighton. But the agreeable summer holiday nearly goes horribly wrong when the Prince Regent is the target of a sinister plot, involving Anna. Giles has to rescue her yet again. He comes to realise that looking after her makes life more worthwhile, but of course, the path of true love does not run smooth.






Tuesday 7 November 2017

Inspiration: what sets the process in motion?


In her monthly column "The Ideas Store" in Writers' Forum, Paula Williams examines how fellow writers find inspiration. 

For the issue No 192, published on 14th October 2017, I was one of the three featured authors. 


Each one of us has a different method of finding that initial spark to set a story forming in the mind. Here is the way I get drawn into creating another story, as recounted by Paula.

Historical novelist Beth Elliott writes stories of adventure, intrigue and romance, set in the time of Napoleon. Her late husband was a Turkish poet and linguist, and Beth has lived in France, Turkey and England, so she has a great mix of backgrounds and experiences to weave into her stories. Her latest publication is Scandalous Lady, published by Endeavour Press in December 2016.

 'For me, inspiration for a story always begins with a picture, maybe from an advert in a magazine or even a fashion catalogue' she says. 'That’s where I saw Olivia with her red curls piled high and a provocative look - the rebel! And soon her opposite appeared, leaning over a railing, his huge dark eyes calm and steady, but from the little smile I could tell he liked to tease. It was definitely a tale of ice meets fire.
Somehow the whole setting and the plot appeared so quickly, so easily, it felt as if I was simply recording events, rather than creating them. Even the year came quickly: 1811, the year Lady Hester Stanhope spent in Istanbul -or Constantinople, as it was called then. This real-life socialite and adventurer would serve as a model for my Olivia. It was also the year the Turkish Sultan was negotiating with the Russian Tsar to end a long-running war, so my hero was a diplomat. He suspects Olivia of being a spy, and sparks soon fly between them.'

    

                                                               Scandalous Lady        


[Beth adds: Scandalous Lady is the first story in the series about the Montailhac family. The next story,  The Rake and His Honour, is also available from Endeavour Press ]
                                                                                         
                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 PAULA WILLIAMS is a writer, speaker, workshop leader and tutor.

You can see her wide range of writing skills by following this link







Tuesday 31 October 2017

"Over the hills and far away..."



Fans of the Sharpe TV series will perhaps hear an echo of the melody as they read that title. It kept sliding into my head during a recent visit to the wilds of north-east Portugal, in the Peneda-Geres National Park. The landscape of sharp [sorry] hills, winding roads and mighty rivers is breath-taking. 



                     View across the River Lima from the Roman bridge at Ponte da Lima


St Barbara's Garden in Braga

 and the main square with several sets of fountains








There are frequent festivals and feast days in Portugal. The picture above shows the square being prepared for the festival of Braga Branco, a 24 hour festival of dancing and music.

File:Casarotas.jpg


Dolmens at high altitude in the Serra Amarela. A suitable landscape to imagine a troop of British soldiers scouting for signs of the French army in an episode of Sharpe. As we didn't see any such thing, here's a couple of pictures to fill that missing link.

                  Richard Sharpe and his faithful sidekick, Sergeant Harper





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         All in all, plenty to set the imagination working on a new tale set in Portugal.