smile like the sun

Quarantine Early Music Projects

2021-03-22T05:14:30Z

This past year has been fruitful creatively, as our early music community choir Tactus SF has been encouraging us to find ways to collaborate musically with each other during the COVID period when full-choir in-person rehearsals are not possible.
I have the fortune to have formed a small quarantine pod with some of the singers (who are also my closest friends in the area), which allows us to sing some delicious one-on-a-part music in an open parking garage nearby. I’m also participating in all-virtual (long-distance) projects. Below is a sampling of videos my friends and I made together:

We are in the process of creating more videos, which will be premiered on April 24th – perhaps you’ll join? Find these and other offerings at www.tactus-sf.org.

Arbutus Pie / Strawberry Tree Fruit Pie Recipe

2020-08-10T00:12:54Z

Last week, I made pie for the first time in my life, with a little-known fruit in these parts that you can’t find in stores: the fruit from Arbutus unedo, commonly known as the strawberry tree. I know it by its Turkish name, kocayemiş. Though the trees are plentiful in my neighborhood here in Berkeley, from the strange looks I’ve gotten from friends and being stopped by strangers, I’m realizing that most Americans don’t realize this fruit is edible. Well, let me tell you – they’re delicious by themselves and in pie form!

Crust: I used the Perfect Pie Crust recipe for a basic butter crust, ingredients cut in half for just a bottom layer.

Filling:

3 cups strawberry tree fruit
2/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons corn starch

Directions
1. Make the dough for the pie crust following the Perfect Pie Crust recipe and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.
2. Cover the berries in sugar and let them sit in the fridge for an hour. Don’t toss them too much, because the berries can be quite fragile.
3. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
4. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then, roll it out until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Place it into your pie pan.
5. Toss the fruit (gently) with lemon juice and corn starch.
6. Pour the fruit on top of the crust. Do whatever it is you want to do with the edges.
7. Bake for one hour on the bottom rack. The crust should be golden brown and the fruit filling should be bubbling a bit.

Strawberry tree fruit has a mild, slightly tart flavor. When baked in pie form, we noted that it tasted like a cross between peach and raspberry. The fruit has a spiky red exterior and a creamy yellow interior, so it makes for a visually interesting pie.

I must say that I’m surprised at how perfectly this pie came out the first time. The crust recipe is very easy. I adapted the rest of my recipe from this strawberry pie recipe, since arbutus has a similar texture to strawberries. My filling has less sugar to bring out the flavor of the fruit.

The most challenging part of this recipe is finding local strawberry trees, but it’s well worth it! Good luck!

How to See Scotland in a Week Without a Car

2019-08-29T23:38:06Z

This blog post was co-written with Tanmoy Laskar.

What do you do if you want to visit remote parts of a country but do not feel comfortable driving whilst there? Tanmoy Laskar and I put together an itinerary to visit Scotland for a week, while traveling entirely using public transportation. This co-written blog post describes our itinerary and how we put it together. We hope it might be useful to anyone planning a similar visit through Scotland.

Accommodation
We used a combination of AirBnB (ranging from private rooms to entire apartments), Bed and Breakfasts (often run by delightful, sweet old ladies), and cheap hotels. We almost considered a camper van for part of our trip at one point, but ruled it out solely due to location. If we go back, we’ll definitely check out that option as well – there’s nothing like solitude and sheep to bleed out the humdrum of city life. We found that Portree did not have any AirBnb listings available, and that Inverness had fewer and more expensive AirBnb options compared to Edinburgh – make sure to plan these in advance.

Transportation
The highlands are remote, and that is indeed part of their charm. A car can certainly provide you with more freedom, but if you are fine with planning your itinerary and booking travel in advance, then it is possible to pay a car-free visit to Nessie. We used a combination of flights (to and from Edinburgh), trains (for most of our intercity travel) and buses (for all local travel). The train rides, especially, afforded us a feast for the eyes in our journeys across the country. Google Maps was our main source for planning the train and bus timings. Use Trainline.com and Red Spotted Hanky to book train tickets. Most bus tickets can be purchased onboard with cash or a contactless credit card (but watch out for unexpected restrictions on the Edinburgh bus system).

What to pack
As we heard it said before we began our trip, there are two seasons in Scotland: winter and June. While that may be an oversimplification, and indeed, we were pleasantly surprised with more than one few 20+degree (>70 F), cloudless days during our visit in the third week of August 2019, warm, sunny days are not the norm in Scotland. It will rain at some point during your trip, so light rain gear (ideally a jacket and rainproof trousers), as well as rainproof boots, is essential. In the summer, a light fleece is advisable, as is dressing in layers. The further north and west you go, the cooler and wetter the climate becomes.

Getting there and back
Since we met up in London, we decided to fly to (and later out of) Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. At the time of writing, multiple airlines flew this route, including British Airways and EasyJet. If you fly these airlines, keep in mind that different baggage restrictions may apply to these airlines, so it’s helpful to plan in advance how much luggage you will take. We each carried a backpack and a small rolling suitcase that fits in a standard aircraft overhead bin, and it was just about enough for a week in Scotland. On the way back, we took a bus from Portree on the Isle of Skye to Glasgow, and connected to an airport bus (departing from the same station) to go to Edinburgh airport, whence we had our return flight. In hindsight, we could have saved ourselves several hours by choosing to fly out of Glasgow airport instead; and indeed, the Portree – Glasgow bus stops first at Glasgow airport, so definitely worth considering, especially if you are only flying within the UK and Glasgow provides adequate connectivity.

The itinerary
The table below describes our itinerary, including possible activities in each city. We managed to complete all but two of the activities in Aberdeen, and tried to balance the busier days with the more laid-back days where we traveled on trains. Below the table you can see a map of our overall route, with our highlights pinned to the map. Feel free to use this information as your starting point when you plan your own itinerary.
During our trip, we found that walking tour apps are a great way to explore major highlights of a city on our own time. We used VoiceMap and Rick Steves Audio Europe apps in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Inverness to round out our itinerary.

Edinburgh
Our trip coincided with the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which brings together all manner of artists, from improv groups, stand-up comics, and Shakespearean actors, to dancers and musicians, from around the world through most of the month of August every year. There was even a live-action video game. If you go during this period, book accommodation in advance. Some of the more popular shows will sell out early, so consider getting tickets if you are dying to see a particular show. The Edinburgh Castle is definitely not to be missed.

Aberdeen
The train journey from Edinburgh to Aberdeen is really pleasant, and Aberdeen itself appears a very different place from other destinations in the highlands owing to its architecture. The Granite City is best enjoyed via a walking tour. We didn’t quite have time to visit Dunnotar Castle (accessible via the Stonehaven train station, or by bus from Aberdeen) or Duthie Park, but those are high on our list for next time.

Inverness
The capital of the Highlands, Inverness can be an excellent jumping-off point for trips to the Cairngorms park or day trips to the Isle of Skye. We decided to spend two entire days on Skye, but we did use Inverness as a base to explore Loch Ness. Many companies offer boat trips, so you have options here. We opted for Jacobite cruises, partly because their dock (Dochgarroch) is accessible by public transit (an hourly bus from Inverness to Fort William). There are usually extra seats on that bus early in the day, so showing up and asking for a seat will likely suffice. And don’t be fooled by the boat tour guides – while there are indeed such things as Haggis-flavoured crisps, they are available off the boat in supermarkets. We may have consumed many.

Skye
The Isle of Skye is definitely worth a visit if you have the time. Portree is the largest city on Skye, and considering that tourism is one of Skye’s largest industries, there are plenty of places to stay on the island. That said, they do fill up quickly (some people we ran into had booked their stay ten months in advance), so get moving on those reservations if you plan to stay there. Bread and breakfasts, while moderately expensive, are a great option, mostly because the hosts can be really delightful people to get to know, and their places are often cute and fun to stay in. The bus services on the island run on different schedules in and out of school term, so be sure to check that in advance if you plan on traveling by bus while on Skye.

Whisky
Of course, whisky is a destination in and of itself, and Scotland, home of Scotch whisky, is an excellent place to sample it. Many distilleries run tours, and they will likely provide a tasting afterward, though the number of whiskies you get to try may go up with the price of admission. The Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh is a super-touristy option, but know that you won’t actually be in a distillery, but rather a (somewhat gimmicky) tasting room, involving sitting in a large barrel-like seat and following the ghost of a distiller into a make-believe distillery. However, we found that to be an excellent introduction to the different kinds of whiskies distilled in Scotland (complete with a scratch-and-sniff card for aromas from different regions). The best part was then taking this knowledge and applying it to a sampling of the hundreds of whiskies listed on bar menus wherever we visited.

	City	Possible Activities
Days 1 and 2	Edinburgh	– Edinburgh Castle (2 hours) – Rick Stevens walking tour of the Royal Mile (2 hours) – St. Giles Cathedral – Grassmarket (cafes) – Edinburgh Bus Tour (2 hours) – Whisky tasting at The Scotch Whisky Experience – Ghost tours of the vaults – Scottish Library – Scottish Museum
Day 3	Edinburgh->Aberdeen	– Old Aberdeen, St. Machar’s Cathedral – Walk along the River Don and cross the Brig O’ Balgownie, a 13th century bridge, to continue on to the Donmouth Local Nature Reserve – VoiceMap walking tour of Union Street (1-2 hrs) – Dunnotar Castle (in Stonehaven on the way to Aberdeen) – Bike ride along the Deeside Way starting from Duthie Park
Day 4	Aberdeen->Inverness	– Inverness Castle viewpoint for scenic views of Inverness – VoiceMap walking tour of Inverness (~2 hours) – Scottish food and whisky at Hootenanny
Day 5	Inverness	– Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle tour (3-4 hours) – Glen Ord distillery tour (20-min train from Inverness city center to Muir of Ord) – Leakey’s Bookshop (largest secondhand bookstore in Scotland, converted from an old church)
Day 6	Inverness->Portree	– Scenic train ride from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh (2.5 hours) – Picnic lunch at Kyle of Lochalsh – Scenic bus ride from Kyle of Lochalsh to Portree (1 hour) – Walk along the Scorrybreac Trail in Portree
Day 7	Isle of Skye	– SkyeBus tour (10 hours) – comprehensive tour of various regions of the Isle of Skye
Day 8	Portree->Glasgow	– Scenic bus ride from Portree to Glasgow (~7 hrs), which crosses through Glencoe, Loch Lomond, and the Trossachs National Park

Hidden Words

2019-07-09T05:30:30Z

I’ve been on quite the choir kick lately (if you can believe it, even more than in high school!). I’ve been singing in multiple choirs, and recently even had the opportunity to compose two choral pieces for Tactus, the Renaissance choir I sing in (you can find recordings of them on my music page).

You might have expected a composer who’s also a giant choir geek like me to have written many more choral works by now. The truth is, the biggest challenge in choral writing for me is finding the texts. I have an aversion to religious texts, and I have never been too enthralled by poetry in general. While choral music can heighten and enhance a meaningful text if done properly, I am more drawn to communicating what I can’t quite express in words through the nonverbal power and magic of music.

Having said that, I now have a confession: many of my instrumental pieces have hidden words and sentences in them. It stemmed from my (self-acknowledged) incompetence at writing good lyrics. If I sang them out loud, the song would be silly, and that’s not usually the effect I’m going for. So, when a sentence popped into my head last week and I set it to music, I spent quite some time trying to decide whether or not I should record it with me singing along to the melody, or keep the words hidden. I chose the latter, and trust me; it was the right choice:

I loosely use the hidden sentences and phrases to shape the melodies, using both vocal inflection and rhythm. I remember making the most use of this in Boşluk, where the first violin has hidden lyrics throughout the entire piece.

Lately I’m working on a piano piece where each movement is centered around a theme that’s been derived from a secret phrase. The secret phrase gives the movement its character not only through the meaning of the phrase, but also through the soggetto cavato derived from the content of the words. Here’s a snippet of it from a while back.

pic.twitter.com/y995gRXU0G

— melike (@melike) November 14, 2017

Choral music can take a backseat for now: I want to write more hidden melodies!

P.S. I am by no means the only person who uses similar devices. The most notable that comes to mind is Different Trains by Steve Reich. Also, I found this the other day that is basically a fancier (and more literal) version of my Impromptu 12!

Bite

2018-01-17T06:40:25Z

I drew two days in a row, which was a common occurrence in my youth, but has been rare in the past decade. I’m enamored with the black watercolor pencil. It looks unsuspectingly dull when you scribble with it on paper, but becomes so intense once you drag a damp brush across it.

Push

2018-01-15T03:12:01Z

I’m really slow at drawing now, because I’ve forgotten how. I hadn’t touched my watercolor pencils in almost eight years. However, I captured the dark murkiness in the background just as I had originally intended.

Drawing Myself

2017-11-01T19:05:11Z

A couple of months ago, I had the sudden urge to sit in front of a mirror and draw my face.* It was a daunting idea, since I hadn’t drawn anything in several years, and my drawing style had never been realistic, but it turned out to be easier than I thought. Those who know me in person reacted with recognition once I presented to them a mirror image of it. But below is how I see myself:

The last time I had this urge was when I was about 4 years old. From my hazy repository of childhood memories, I remember a scene of myself staring carefully at a mirror, and trying to capture the details EXACTLY as I saw them. Of course, I was disappointed with the results, but it was the best I could do at the time. The wonders of the developing brain…

I have a confession: I almost took down the Drawings section of my website this year. Many of them are from middle school and high school and are quite embarrassing. However, looking back on a few of them, I saw ones that I liked and posted a few on Instagram. Upon seeing them, a friend from high school reminded me of one of my paintings that affected her from around that time, and was able to describe it to me perfectly. It was actually one of the pieces I’ve always detested, and had contemplated removing from the archives for many years. I was amazed that something so trivial to me made a deep impression on someone for over 15 years.

So, the drawings are here to stay, no matter how bad, because you never know when they’ll touch someone.

* It was actually not so sudden. I was inspired by my talented friend Staci Goddard, who was posting her own self-portraits around that time.

Impromptu

2017-07-02T06:56:55Z

Over the years I’ve often complained about how long it takes me to write a single piece of music. Last year, I came up with a fun activity to combat this apparent block. I started composing tiny micro-pieces on the piano and recording them in one sitting. There was only one rule: I was to record a complete take at the end of the session, post it online, and move on with my life. Tonight I made the tenth of these little “impromptus,” adding up to about 12 minutes of music, so I thought I’d finally announce it on here, though I’m nowhere near finished. I plan to continue adding to this project whenever I get the chance.

Listen to Impromptu on Bandcamp | Watch Impromptu on YouTube

Each session (to conceive, to finalize, and to record) has taken about 2-3 hours, so the challenge has been to create long stretches of uninterrupted free time in my schedule. Usually I sit at the piano with no idea of what to do and pound some notes. Eventually, an idea begins to take shape. Some days it’s harder than others, but if I keep at it, I tend to come up with something I like. While each piece is a tiny microcosm on its own, with no relation to those around it, I like hearing how they go together as a set, too. I’m in the process of writing them down so that I can share the score with others someday (and remember what I did!).

Mom’s Turkish Lentil Soup Recipe – for Rowena

2016-09-18T03:41:42Z

Lentil soup’s always been my favorite comfort food growing up. It’s thick, hearty, delicious, vegan, and easily modified with whatever ingredients I have on hand.

When a friend asked for favorite vegetarian recipes, I looked up lentil soup recipes online (it’s the most standard soup in Turkey), but wasn’t satisfied with any of them. So here’s how I make it with all fresh ingredients.

Ingredients:
– 1 cup red lentils (washed and drained). There are different kinds out there; I prefer the roundish, bright, smooth orange ones. Some are more yellowish, flat, and matte in appearance; don’t get those.
– 8 cups water
– 1 tablespoon rice
– 1 medium onion (whole)
– 1 carrot (diced)
– 1 potato (diced)
– 1 tomato (diced)
– 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
– salt to taste
– fresh chopped parsley (see ‘modifications’ below)

Preparation:
– Put all ingredients except the oil and parsley into a pot and bring to a boil with the lid fully or partly open. (Yes, leave the onion whole! It just bobs around.) Pay special attention; mixture tends to bubble up and boil over easily during this step.
– Once it’s boiling pretty vigorously, bring heat down to medium. Leave the lid partly open. Stir 1-2 times once every 10 minutes for about 30 minutes. If not stirred enough, the lentil tends to stick to the bottom of the pot and get burnt during this step.
– Add the oil about half hour after the boiling has started. Continue cooking and stir occasionally.
– Add the fresh parsley until the soup is nearly “done.” This is hard to describe in writing, but you’ll know it’s done when the lentils have nearly entirely dissolved into solution, smell cooked, and the soup has thickened. I’d say this take about 45 minutes after it’s come to a boil. As my mom says, “You’ll know.”
– Most people take an immersion blender to it at this point. I prefer mine left as is: chunky. You can blend the onion into the soup, or if you’re not blending it, just throw the onion out.

Modifications: (the fun part)
– I often add dried thyme and black pepper. Could also do rosemary, turmeric, cumin, bay leaves, etc. When adding dried herbs, add them early on.
– Sometimes I substitute chopped kale or collard greens, etc. instead of parsley. Go ahead and put in a large amount; it shrinks down considerably. Add it a little earlier than you would the parsley.
– You can throw in any other vegetable you think would go. In the past I’ve added bell peppers, mushrooms, celery, shaved brussels sprouts, etc. The possibilities are endless. Bell pepper, especially, really heightens the flavor.
– Sometimes I add chopped jalapeño (to everything).
– Some people use chicken stock or bouillons to add flavor. I think that’s cheating.

Azeri-inspired quinoa: a “recipe” without measurements

2016-09-18T02:36:23Z

I traveled to Azerbaijan recently with my family. While we saw many parts of the country and took numerous pictures, what stuck with me the most was the subtle differences in the flavors and ingredients in the food. I ate more tarragon than I ever had in my life up to that point – it is not an herb that’s been in my family’s culinary repertoire. I loved the pickled sour cherries, especially when they were cooked into rice and soups. And, I noted that the flavors tended to lean towards more sour than spicy. I put these elements together in my mind with whatever I had in the pantry when I got home (except I had to go out and buy the tarragon). What came out has nothing to do with anything I ate there, but it turned out more delicious than I’d imagined it could be, and made me fondly reminisce about Azerbaijan.

I don’t want to put precise measurements here, because I made a small batch and “winged it” with the proportions for what felt right. You should do the same. I’ll just tell you how I made it.

Ingredients:
– quinoa
– olive oil
– Craisins
– lemon
– fresh tarragon
– salt

Procedure:
1. Sauté some craisins in olive oil, salt, and some lemon juice for a bit. Zest the lemon peel and add some of it in there, too.
2. Bring water (proportional to quinoa package instructions) to a boil and add it to the craisins.
3. Chop up plenty of tarragon and stir it in with the water.
4. Add quinoa and cook it.
5. I threw some fresh tarragon on top as a garnish, just to be a poser. You don’t have to do that. In fact, you don’t have to follow any of these instructions.