sheftali52

Thx Dragon, "seedlings" sound correct. I'm not sure about my friend's tree farm policy. I would hope, too, that it's a cut-it-yourself place, as that sounds more efficient to me. I'm certainly no tree expert, but it makes sense to me that trees would have to be planted each year or so to keep them replenished

Maddy, I guess you'll have to avoid the apple cider to prevent your tongue from tingling. You can go for the hot chocolate instead.

Sheftali went to the post office today to mail Christmas cards to some of her international friends. The line was verrryyyy long at the counters. However, there were just two people in line at the automated post office machine. I asked the gentleman who was helping patrons there if I could use that machine to get postage for international mail. Yes!!!! The helpful gentleman even worked the touch screen for me, I inserted my credit card to pay for the postage, and out came the exact postage I needed. A few minutes later, I was on my way, and the line at the counter had not advanced more than 1-2 people. Sometimes Sheftali gets lucky.

Dragon

I have never heard of an automated post office machine before. Sounds wonderful. I have mixed thoughts about the self serve check out lines at the grocery stores (sometimes they're more trouble than they're worth) but a postage machine really makes sense. I guess we have a postage machine at work but it will only work for letters (not packages ir oversized) and it's only good for postage within Canada.

sheftali52

Our post office has a machine that just sells stamps, but the machine Sheftali used was capable of more services. I could've bought stamps, weighed and gotten postage for domestic parcels, and gotten postage (as I did) for international first class mail. The machine could not be used for international parcels. However, I share your mixed feelings about the self-serve checkout lines at the grocery store, Dragon. Sometimes I breeze through those and consider myself lucky. Other times, I wind up swearing (silently, of course!) at the danged thing when it keeps telling me to do something I've already done. Then the nice checkout person has to come over and help me get back on track. Grrr.

Dragon

I find it's alright if you just have easy things with a bar code on them but if you have produce you better know exactly what it is you have. The local superstore has 5 different option for celery, I didn't know celery could be so complicated!

Baldur

Baldur hopes everyone is having an enjoyable evening. My night was made more pleasant by Maddybob's new profile drawing which looks like a TASERed cat.
'Way to go Madlyjoe!'

I was otherwise thrilled beyond belief when a cursory search on eBay revealed that one can indeed buy 'Turkish Delight' through the site.
Baldur ordered 2 pounds, let us hope it arrives before Christmas.
In my odd little world 'Turkish Delight' exists in only one form, a rose flavored jelly studded with pistacchio nuts and dusted in powdered sugar.
Bravely however I ordered an assortment of flavors including rose, orange, lemon and bergamot some without nuts other contained 1 of several varieties, be they pistacchios, walnuts or almonds.
This will be quite exciting.

Baldur

Several times I have made this confection on my own, but finding rose water locally has become increasingly difficult.

It was my own fault that I even thought to check eBay.
You may remember that Baldur is also a member of another online community called 'Steampunk Empire'.
There I decided to start a discussion on people's Christmas wish lists that is quite similar to what I started here at Radio Baldur not too long ago.
One of the things on my own list was 'Turkish Delight'
Then, thought I, why not see if it can be purchased online?
Indeed it's available.

Baldur

My Christmas list on the other site differed a bit from my list here
I asked for:

an espresso brown velvet waistcoat with lapels and multiple watch pockets
several pairs of plus fours
paddock boots
a box stuffed with vintage gaslamp parts
a Copeland & Sons 'Denmark' pattern tea pot (well make that a complete tea set and I shan't ask for it next year)
crystalized ginger root
my English/Latin Latin/English dictionary is woefully inadequate, and requires replacing
Volume 3 of the collected works of L. Frank Baum is yet missing
A pair of dove grey spats, size extra large
gloves that match said spats
another pocketwatch
a bottle of absinthe
a bottle of Domaine du Canton ginger liqueur
a greatcloak
a wheel of mild Stilton
some Turkish Delight
A pair of Kilim slippers
more shed antlers to mount in the study

Baldur

In that list Baldur showed a great deal of restraint for indeed I'd also request:
48 matching pearl handled dinner knives to coordinate with my sterling pattern
A wall of golden oak bookcases with beveled glass doors
Draperies for the living room and office in William Morris's Sunflower or Blackthorn pattern
A brass fireplace fender

sheftali52

Oh my, Baldur--can imagine how pleased you were to locate some Turkish Delight. Sheftali has fond memories of wandering through the bazaar in Izmir, Turkey, and buying Turkish Delight at one of the shops that sold candy, nuts, and other goodies. I believe I bought something very similar in Greece, too. What I liked about the Turkish Delight was that it was not overly sweet, and the pistachios made it quite tasty. And by the way, your Christmas wish list is very refined.

Baldur

Sheftali, did they sell the other variants of it there as well?
Baldur would love to visit Turkey some day.

I suspect my family has lied to me all these years when speaking of our Lithuanian heritage. The foods that I truly enjoy are often from the mideast, not the cabbagey Baltic (though that stuff is good too).

Hummus, falafel, tabhouli, baba ganoush, souvlaki, Turkish Delight, Baklava, Halvah, dates, figs etc etc It's all excellent

sheftali52

Baldur, I'm only aware of one type of Turkish delight--the rose water/pistachio type dusted with powdered sugar. At least that's all I seemed to find in my wanderings in Turkey. There's no doubt Baldur would love Turkey--the food is fresh and the veges tasty. I know you're not a fish eater, Baldur, but the very best sea bass I've ever eaten was in Turkey. Sigh, Sheftali would love to go back to Turkey to visit. I spent most of my time in Izmir, where I was stationed. Spent brief times in Ankara (very hilly, and the consulates were located there), and just passed through Istanbul. However, some of the best times I spent in Turkey were away from the big cities, exploring ruins and occasionally intereacting with the locals. The fields of leeks and the peach orchards were memorable. As I may have mentioned before, the Turkish fruits and vegetables appeared to be on steroids--huge in most cases, no doubt aided by ancient fertilizing methods--but tender and delectable (+3). As an American woman, I felt safe and comfortable in Turkey. I was treated exceptionally well for the most part, and I loved the sights and sounds. Too bad I didn't have a digital camera there, or I'd have taken tons more pictures than I did in 1999.

sheftali52

Oh, and the Turkish word for "peach" is seftali (the s should have a little tail hanging under it, and is pronounced as sh). My real name (honest!) is Peaches, so I adapted the Turkish name for peach as my on-line name, sheftali. Gotta have a little fun!

Baldur

Now that is interesting,

I got my name when first learning my way through the bear community.
It helps to have a memorable name, and most bears chose something descriptive: Redbear, blackbear,goteebear, Rasslebear, Nascarbear, Thongbear etc etc. In doing so people would associate the name with the person and remember itl.
I chose Baldurbear only because I liked the singsong quality of it, plus it was reminiscent of Balderdash. Plenty of people took to just calling me Baldur so I used that here.

Baldur

itl -l =it

Baldur

A bonus that came with that name was the deceptive spelling.
At bear functions I would tell anyone my screen name, but only those who I wished to hear from learned it was Baldur, not Balder.

sheftali52

How you got the Baldur name is interesting--had always wondered about that. Permit me to extol the wonders of Izmir, Turkey. I lived down the street from a very old 10-story high elevator that joined two parts of the city in the Jewish quarter. It was built in 1907 I think. The view from the elevator as it ascended was marvelous, overlooking the Bay of Izmir. Google the Asansor in Izmir and you're likely to find some very scenic views. Yup, Sheftali loved Turkey and would go back in a heart beat. Hope you get the opportunity to visit that wonderful country, Baldur.

Baldur

Wow, the Asansor is brilliant. Is it a free public conveyance(+11 points)?
I did not expect it to look like a tower.
People being what they are Baldur expects there is an Izmir version of the mile high club connected with it. 'The 30 Metre Club' perhaps.

sheftali52

Yes, Baldur, the Asansor was free, at least in 1999 it was! It did seem a mile high, too. I lived perhaps not a quarter mile down the street (Mithatpasa Avenue) from the short street (Dario Moreno) that led up to the Asansor. My apartment was the top floor of an 8-story apartment building that overlooked the Bay of Izmir. I did not want to live that far out from central Izmir, but when my sponsor took me there to look at the apartment, I was smitten by the view. One whole wall of the apartment was floor to ceiling sliding glass doors, and as soon as you entered the apartment, you saw that wonderful view of the Bay of Izmir. The apartment was old and thus slightly worn, but it had character along with the great view. My rent was about half of what my compadres were paying in the ritzy section of Izmir, but they did not have the million-dollar view that I had. Many an evening, I sat on my balcony, with a glass of wine, watching the sun set across the bay. On Thursday evenings, all the mosques had their lights lit, and they glistened like diamonds across the bay. I had to pinch myself to believe my good fortune. Okay, I'll shut up now, but it was a marvelous experience to live in Turkey.

Qsilv

(happy sigh...) you guys tell the loveliest bed-time stories...

Just a quick FYI - I've been buying turkish delight and variations from Liberty Orchards for mumbledyleben-years and love their stuff. And yep, I've had plenty to compare it to, including truly heavenly home-made, offerings from Turkish expats in the UK and Germany, and a huge nearby neighborhood here in So Cal of Armenian equivalents... delicious as those all are!

Now off to dream a list of xmas yearnings with a decided steampunk bent...

; >

Baldur

Wow! an Americanization.
I had actually heard of Applets & Cotlets somewhere but never personally encountered them. That is definitely Turkish Delight.
Thank you Qsilv