STREET VENDORS OF ISTANBUL

SHOE SHINE MAN

The dignified shoe shine man of old Istanbul, dressed in a fine jacket for his fine customers.

STREET VENDORS OF ISTANBUL

SEWING MACHINES, REPAIRS, HUNDREDS OF SERVICES ON WHEELS

The backstreets of Beyoglu -- Cukurcuma here -- are filled with hardworking vendors, peddlers and more.

STREET VENDORS OF ISTANBUL

BAKED BREADS ON THE HEAD

Ara Guler told me in the old days, lots of vendors carried baked goods on their heads.

Simit sellers specialized in balancing hundreds of the crispy, sesame seed crusted delights on their heads while walking from the bakery into rush hour crowds craving the quintessential Istanbul street food.

STREET VENDORS OF ISTANBUL

SUT MISIR + KESTANE

Hot Buttered Corn -- roasted or boiled -- and roasted chestnuts. On the Bosphorus

THE PEOPLE OF MIAMI DESERVE BETTER FROM FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT

IF FPL INVESTED HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN "HARDENING" ITS SYSTEM FOR HURRICANES, THEN I'M THE KING OF SPAIN.

THE REALITY IS MOST OF MY NEIGHBORS ARE SUFFERING BEYOND BELIEF WITH NO POWER FOR A WEEK AND COUNTING.

PLEASE, ELECTED OFFICIALS, BACK A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT TO STRIP FPL OF ALL PROFITS FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.

USE THAT CLAWED BACK MONEY TO FUND UNDERGROUNDING OF LINES

Forcing FPL to do better is something every elected official -- from US senate down to commissioners of the smallest village in Dace County should get involved in.  Whether you are Republican, Democrat or Independent, or in a nonpartisan seat -- you must be a leader who demands this.

FPL is a monopoly. It is regulated (should be regulated much more heavily) by the state.  The stuff it claimed about spending billions "hardening" the system against windstorms the past dozen years is clearly the biggest crock of BS ever dumped on South Florida in history.

I think there should be a class action, claw back lawsuit.  The past 5 or more years of profits should be stripped from FPL and put into undergrounding of lines.

If this abusive utility is left to its own devices, it will claim to be spending our hard earned money on improving the system.

We all know darn well that is a total crock. Their upper management is getting rich, their shareholders are making zillions and their lobbyists bill hundreds of thousands to make sure profiteering -- not people -- come first in Tallahassee and at every local city hall.

The only way I can see my loved ones and neighbors going only 48 hours (this was a tropical storm in Dade, folks, not a Cat 1, not a Cat 2, not a Cat 3) instead of a soul-klling week and counting -- is to strip hundreds of millions in profit from FPL.

Then dedicate that money to undergrounding and reliable rewiring.

Mayors Bloomberg of NYC, Norquist of Milwaukee and Diaz of Miami all dedicated them to people-based causes after being termed out of office.

I challenge Mayor Regalado, soon to leave office, to dedicate the remainder of his life to forcing FPL to make things right...or suing in the courts (since we cannot trust FPL to make things right) and using the multimillion, maybe billion dollar settlement to create an infrastructure that holds up to the heart of hurricane territory.

I challenge future Mayor Suarez to dedicate a part of his leadership of Miami to building a bipartisan front -- from our US senators to our state reps and senators to all local leaders including Mayor Gimenez -- focused on holding FPL responsible. 

Our next governor must make undergrounding of public electricity lines a top part of his/her platform.

Our elected officials, from the smallest local level up to the highest statewide and federal, should pledge to take no campaign contributions from FPL or any other monopoly energy utility.

Please feel free to share these thoughts, with credit to me, on FB, twitter, blast emails and any other online format.

STREET VENDORS OF ISTANBUL

THE SIMIT, SO MUCH MORE THAN A TURKISH BAGEL

Over the years, the New York-style bagel has come to dominate breakfast buffets and brunch tables, but it is far from the only style of bagel out there.

If you look back at the history of the bagel, you'll find many ancient bagels that served as predecessors to the modern bagel. One of the oldest bagels, dating back to the Ottoman Empire, is the Turkish bagel, called a simit. But what is a Turkish bagel? 

"The simit is a traditional Turkish street food and breakfast item that originates in Turkey but is popular throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean," explains Zulfikar Bekar, president of Simit + Smith, a Turkish bakery and cafe that's based in New York City. "Many people grab simits during the morning rush hour on their way to work as it is simple, affordable, flavorful, and nutritious." 

So far, so bagel. But the form factor might be where the similarities between the New York-style and Turkish bagels end, because there are some pretty significant differences between a New York and Turkish bagel when it comes to taste and texture.

The simit, for example, is sweeter than a classic New York-style bagel, and the texture couldn't be more opposite. While a New York-style bagel is known for its thick crust and dense, chewy interior, a simit is lighter and less doughy, though still crisp on the outside.

There's also a signature sweetness to a simit, which comes from the addition of pekmez, which Bekar describes as "a molasses-like syrup." It's made from the boiled down juices of fruits, most commonly grapes but sometimes mulberries, apples, plums, and pears, and it's a standard Turkish breakfast ingredient. The dough, once rolled out into rings, is dipped into the pekmez, which gives the pastry its signature crispiness once baked.

After the excess molasses drips off the bagel, the whole thing is rolled in sesame seeds and baked in the oven for 30 minutes. There's no boiling, as with either New York- or Montreal-style bagels, which makes the whole process a little simpler.

Even though it's a little bit different from the New York-style bagel you know and love, the simit is still a perfect choice for breakfast, either savory or sweet.

"It is often consumed with tea or coffee and with a spread like feta, cream cheese, or jam," says Bekar. Simit + Smith even makes so-called Simitwiches, or sandwiches on simits, so don't be scared to try a bacon, egg, and cheese on it, either. 

Because even though these simits have been served for breakfast for centuries, and are very different from their North American predecessors, there's no reason Turkish bagels can't get the New York treatment, too.

--Courtesy of ExtraCrispy.com

http://www.extracrispy.com/culture/1244/whats-the-difference-between-a-new-york-and-a-turkish-bagel

STREET VENDORS OF ISTANBUL

KOZDE KAHVE

Fresh roasted Turkish coffee on the backstreets where Eminonu meets Sirkeci.