Mehmet Akcin’s Blog

Besiktas, the oldest sports club in Turkey, traces its origins to the autumn of 1902, when a group of 22 young men began gathering for physical exercise on certain days of the week in the Istanbul suburb which gives the club its name. Football was not part of the equation to start with. The young men kept their bodies and souls in shape through gymnastics, wrestling and weight-lifting.

secutive league matches without defeat, and a 13-game winning streak in the 1959-60 season. The same campaign brought a record total of 29 league wins.

Recent times
Compared to the glories of the past, Besiktas’ recent record in the Turkish championship has been patchy. Their twelfth and most recent Super Lig title came in 2003. This was followed by domestic knockout cup success in 2006 and 2007, but the championship trophy proved elusive. However, the current team under new coach Mustafa Denizli is undefeated so far this term and tops the Turkish standings eight games into the campaign.

Stadium
Besiktas’ home ground is the BJK Inonu stadium, located in the suburb of Besiktas and boasting a panoramic view over the Bosporus. The Black Eagles moved into their newly-constructed home in 1947, when the stadium was named after the second president of the Republic of Turkey, Ismet Inonu. The most recent renovation took place four years ago, with the removal of the running track and lowering of the pitch. The only stadium in the world offering a view of two continents (Europe and Asia) currently boasts a capacity of 32,086.

Honours
12 Turkish Championships: 1957, 1958, 1960, 1966, 1967, 1982, 1986, 1990-1992, 1995, 2003
7 Turkish Cups: 1975, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2007
1 Turkish Supercup: 2006

During a special event held in Cupertino on October 14, 2008 titled “The Spotlight Turns To Notebooks”, Apple announced the aluminum MacBook with a new nVidia chipset. The chipset brought a 1066 MHz system bus, use of DDR3 system memory, and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics that is up to five times faster than the graphics offered on the White MacBook. Changes also include an LED-based display, a new Mini DisplayPort (replacing the polycarbonate MacBook’s mini-DVI port), a multi-touch glass trackpad, and the removal of FireWire.

The aluminum MacBook resembles the MacBook Pro, but with smaller dimensions. It is slightly thinner than earlier MacBooks due to its use of a unibody aluminum case with tapered edges. In addition, the keyboard of the high-end model is backlit like that of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.

Ok, I am not a Chef, neither trying to be one either (so don’t worry Thomas you will still continue being the Best Chef of USA for now:). I eat just like anyone else and according to my friends I over think and plan what and when I am going to eat my meals. Planning for the best taste of the food in the most healthy way of preparing and serving it wouldn’t make me a weirdo (I hope) since I consider myself as a person who live to eat, not a person who eat to stay alive and live.

I love sweet potatoes, and I must say I try to eat them in any restaurant I possible can come across with sweet potatoes. One of the best way of serving sweet potatoes is in a mashed format. Just like classical mashed potatoes.

Although sweet potatoes may be part of the Thanksgiving tradition, be sure to add these wonderful naturally sweet vegetables to your meals throughout the year; they are some of the most nutritious vegetables around. Sweet potatoes can be found in your local markets year-round, however they are in season in November and December.

Sweet potato contain unique root storage proteins that have been observed to have significant antioxidant capacities. In one study, these proteins had about one-third the antioxidant activity of glutathione-one of the body’s most impressive internally produced antioxidants. Although future studies are needed in this area, count on these root proteins to help explain sweet potatoes’ healing properties.

I am trying to not make this receipe post a nutrition one but I guess the fact that I have researched a lot about this so I will share a little bit more.

The sweet potato has yellow or orange flesh, and its thin skin may either be white, yellow, orange, red or purple. Sometimes this root vegetable will be shaped like a potato, being short and blocky with rounded ends, while other times it will be longer with tapered ends. There is often much confusion between sweet potatoes and yams; the moist-fleshed, orange-colored root vegetable that is often called a “yam” is actually a sweet potato.

Now here is my receipe.

Ingredients;

• 6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3/4 cup milk (I would strongly recommend not using fat free milk as it’s actually has almost no texture %2-fat or whole would be ideal, i tried with fat free milk too and doesn’t taste bad at all)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup maple syrup (or 1 Tea Spoon of Brown Sugar)
• 1/2 Tea spoon Nutmeg (Freshly grounded if possible) (optional)
• 1/2 Tea-spoon Cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
2. With an electric mixer on low, blend potatoes, slowly adding milk, about 1/2 a cup at a time. Use more or less to achieve desired texture. Add butter ,Nutmeg, Cinnamon and maple syrup, to taste. Blend until smooth. Serve warm.

Enjoy it, leave me comments to let me know whether you like the taste!