We say September flyer because, as usual, another month has flown by. But we do have another reason for the slight lateness with the roundup of our news from Fethiye…
We’ve Been Away
Our first few days of October were spent in Bodrum where we took part in the Bodrum Yarı Maratonu (half marathon, 10k and 5k races).
It’s so lovely to see running events taking place in Turkey again. And to be part of them.
We can’t make it, but this weekend is also Yarımadaton in Kaş.
If you’re anything like us, you will understand that when you leave things to the last minute, you end up rushing round for the few days before you go away.
Before we knew it, the 1st was upon us. Time to head off for our short break, no news article written!
Anyway, we’re back now, feeling refreshed and ready to get back to blogging again.
With that in mind, here’s a roundup of what we got up to. And what other goings on occurred last month.
Out Of the Red
Of course, the big news for September was that the UK government finally removed Turkey from its red list.
Especially for this area of Turkey, it’s a welcome, much-needed boost at the end of the season for the businesses that have stayed open.
We noticed a lot more people starting to look at our travel articles as well as our Turkish recipes. So it’s just all looking a bit more positive and encouraging that people are feeling they can travel again.
Our Fethiye Must Sees page got a revamp, as a result. Just to make sure people were looking at up to date information.
As the days have progressed since that announcement, Turkey also removed the requirement for a PCR test.
Even better news for UK travellers.
And the UK will now also recognise Pfizer vaccines that were administered in Turkey, removing the need for quarantine on arrival in the UK.
For now, this is of no comfort to people who had the Sinovac vaccine. Fingers crossed the UK will review that decision soon.
We’re getting there, slowly…
Fethiyespor
As are Fethiyespor.
Actually, they’re not ‘getting there slowly’ at all. They’re flying at the moment. Which is great news!
Goals galore means they are currently sitting at the top of Group 3, 3. Lig. Early days and a long way to go but a fantastic start to the season.
In The Kitchen
September is activity time in the kitchen and we love it!
It’s the time of year where the stalls of Çalış market and the Tuesday market are weighed heavy with end of summer gluts of tomatoes, peppers and vegetables for the pickle jars.
Saucing & Pickling
The saucepan has been simmering and the oven has been roasting.
Everything coming together to make jars of kahvaltılık sos. Think high quality homemade ketchup!
The pickling jars were sterilised. The vinegar prepared.
And we now have four big jars of turşu – Turkish pickled vegetables – tucked onto the top of the cupboards where they are difficult to reach.
This helps to prevent the temptation of opening them too early!
And Frying
Kızartma, to be precise. For anyone who is a reluctant eater of their vegetables, frying them is a great way to encourage conversion to vegetable love!
Barry’s kızartma recipe has a bit of tomato sauce that is added just before the end of cooking. It’s so tasty and makes a great side dish to grilled meats.
It’s also plumps out the Turkish breakfast table, wonderfully. As if it needed plumping out.
Loving Figs
On the fruity side of things, the other seasonal eating treat of September was fresh figs!
We combined Turkish and not-so-Turkish ingredients to make this figs and blue cheese platter.
And James Martin
Ahh, yes. It was lovely to be watching TV chef, James Martin one Saturday morning in September.
One of his guests made a couple of Mediterranean dishes. We got very excited to see this guest make kısır.
Kısır – bulgur wheat salad – is one of our favourite dishes. But we don’t often hear of it outside Turkey. So yes, that boosted the Saturday morning feelgood vibes!
A good dose of Turkish cuisine appreciation on British TV!
Out & About
Not much out and about in September as we were getting ready for Bodrum.
Cooler weather, however, has meant strolls to Paspatur are much more pleasant. So we’ve caught up with everyone at Deep Blue Bar.
We also treated ourselves to a pre-holiday lunch, too. We are happy to report that the wraps at Cafe Park Teras are still as tasty and satisfying as they always were.
And that just about wraps up September in Fethiye. Not much by way of news but lots of seasonal cooking.
October is going to be a busy month, however, with lots going on.
We have the return of Ölüdeniz Air Games for a start.
Can’t wait!