Courgette soup

Maikel was talking about this soup occassionally, and stating how tasty it was. I guess he knew this soup from his mum, albeit a different version.

Then he cooked it for us when we visited him with Alfonso in June.

It was at least as tasty as he described it. I got the recipe from him.

And I had the chance to try it yesterday.

This recipe is for 2-3 people. I used a little bit more water than stated (0.7 liter rather than 0.5). I boiled a tablet of boullion in water. Then, I added two medium-size courgettes in chopped form (or zucchinis; the name in american english) and 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic. I let them boil for 15-20 mins till the courgette pieces get very soft.

Then I have blended the mix using our blender, leading to a very homogenous mixture. Then I added 75 g. plain cream cheese. Normally, Maikel had used a cream cheese with herbs and garlic (Boursin is the brand I guess). But I could not find this type here in Istanbul in the supermarket nearby; and I added garlics externally therefore in the first phase.

After mixing the whole thing and letting them boil for a short while, I added two teaspoons of curry powder (Maikel's recipe was for 1 teaspooon, and I later thought 1 would be more than enough).

Then, I ended up with the following soup.
My mum really liked it.

Only a physical farewell...

Everything has an end.. And my stage in Netherlands had an end too.. And that end was on last Saturday..

I had some other things on my mind:

• We had already started our inter-faith activities; and I would very much wanted to go on with it..
• I like inviting people over dinner or lunch . I was going to invite Andreas Karoly Gombert from Delft with his family for a dinner (or BBQ at our roof); and Yvonne and Eric from Eindhoven, Saadet and Daniel, Tjeerd and his girlfriend, Isabella and her husband, Kelly and S, Johan from WKZ ... I was going to have Olja and Hans meet Defne and Hans, and talk about raising kids with parents from different lands... We were going to have another BBQ at Funenpark roof with all my Amsterdam research group.
• I really wanted to go to some museums, to Artis zoo .... We were going to have a bike tour with Maikel, have a stroll in Pijp area of Amsterdam.. this and that..

I had started my dutchistan dairies not because of the urge to be read by others, but solely for myself. I did not want my good memories in Netherlands to fade away over years. I preferred to write them online and in english, however, so that other people may learn from my experiences; I would be helpful to them somehow; and also to force my english writing skills. And also, I thought it would also be a nice site for people I have spent times together to remember our nicely spent moments together..

And leaving the country does not mean that I won't write anymore. it is only a physical end I would say. Thanks to internet, i will stay in touch with those nice people I had the chance to meet in Amsterdam. I will still read Isabella's, Kelly's and Tjeerd's blogs, which will help me to keep up with the dutch life there. And I still receive DutchNews newsletters, this will make me updated with dutch daily agenda.. And, there are many moments here that make me remember my dutch life. There are recipes I want to get from dutch friends and try.. So, all such things will certainly help me go on writing my dairies here: the ones related to my dutch experiences, my dutch life.....

Thanks God; I had this chance to meet such wonderful people, to experience such wonderful moments in this country.