Avocado Soslu Kiymali Makarna

Beni yakindan taniyanlar bilir. Ben bir avocado hastasiyim. Nerdeyse hergun bir avocado yerim. Ancak avocado kolay bulunan bir meyve degildir. Kolay bulunmadigi gibi secmesi de onemlidir. Orta yumusaklidir olmalidir bir kere. Ne cok sert ne cok yumusak. Basinda bulunan kucuk sapi cikarilip icine bakilmalidir yesilse ici de guzeldir demektir. Buna dikkat edilmedigi takdirde eve gelip de soyunca ici siyah bir avocadoyla karsilasilabilir. Soymak demisken soymasi da bir degisiktir avocadonun. Bunun icin Youtube’tan video izleyebilirsiniz yanlis okumadiniz bu meyveyi oyle kafaniza gore soyamazsiniz ozel bir sekli var. Soyduktan sonra da zorluklari bitmedi. Mumkunse hepsini bir oturusta bitirin. Yarisini da yarina saklayayim demeyim. Cunku avocado cok cabuk bozulan bir meyvedir. 1-2 saat icinde simsiyah olur ve yenmez. Dolayisiyla en son eklenmesi gereken seydir avocado. Yok ben ille de saklayacagim derseniz o zaman cekirdekli olan kismini (cekirdegini cikarmadan) kapali bir kabin icine koyarak (veya strec filme sikica sararak) buzdolabinda saklayin. Bu kadar eziyetli bir meyvedir kendisi. Dahasi bircoklari icin tek basina bir tadi yoktur (annemin deyimiyle) krem gibi birseydir fakat baska tadlarla birlesince muthis lezzetli olur. Meksika mutfagini sevenler bilir, fajita olsun, quesadilla olsun herzaman onlarin yaninda gelen yesil sos guacamole avocadodan yapilir. Avocado meksika mutfaginin olmazsa olmazlarindandir zaten. Fakat bana sorarsiniz avocado en cok icinde domates olan salatalara cok yakisir. Zaten yaptigim arastirmalara gore zaten cok yararli olan avocado domatesle birlkte yendigi zaman hiper yararli oluyormus. Evet zaten avocadoyu deneme sebeplerimin basinda tek basina cok saglikli bir meyve olmasidir. Karbonhidrat orani dusuk ama doymamis yag orani ve lif orani yuksek bir meyvedir. Bu doymamis yag bizim icin son derece saglikli olmasinin yani sira bazi besinlerin daha iyi emilmesine de yardimci. Muzdan daha cok potasyuma sahip olan bu meyvenin icinde K,C,B5 ve B6 vitaminleri de vardir. Yapilan bazi arastirmalar kilo vermeye bile yardimci oldugunu soyluyor (en azindan baya tok tuttugunu soyleyebilirim.) Daha da bircok yararlari var internetten arastirabilirsiniz. Ama gelelim simdi benim bunlari nicin soyledigime. Yeni bir tarif denedim gecenlerde ve bu tarifi sizinle paylasmak istiyorum. Tabi ki icinde avocado var :)

Avocado Soslu Kiymali Makarna (4 kisilik)

Malzemeler

• 500 gr makarna (uzun, kisa, burgu, fiyonk ne isterseniz)
• 1 adet Avocado
• 300 gr kiyma
• 1 adet sogan
• 2 dis sarmisak
• 1 yumurta sarisi
• 200 ml krema
• 150 gr parmesan (gozunuze az veya cok gelirse istediginiz gibi degistirebilirsiniz.)
• 1 adet limonun suyu

Yapilis

1. Soganlari kucuk kucuk dograyin. Tavanin icine cok az zeytinyagi koyup soganlari cok hafif kavurun pembelesmesine firsat vermeden kiymayi ekleyin ve kiyma iyice pisene kadar kavurun. Tuz ve karabiber ekleyip bir kenara koyun.
2. 500 gr makarna 1.5-2 L kaynamis suyun icine atin ve 10-15 dakika kaynatin. Istediginiz yumusaklikta makarnanin altini kapatip ve suzun.
3. Blendara 1 adet soyulmus avocado, 2 dis sarmisak, 1 yumurta sarisi, 200 ml kremayi koyup icindeki hersey ezilip puruzsuz bir sos olana kadar blendardan gecirin.
4. Makarnayi tencereye alin uzerine hazirladiginiz avocado sosunun hepsini dokun ve karistirin.
5. Rendelediginiz parmesan peynirinin 2/3unu makarnaya ilave edin ve karistirin. Bu sirada cok az olacak sekilde tencerenin altini yakin.
6. Peynir hafif eridikten sonra tencerenin altini kapatip tabaklara servis edin. Uzerine kiymalari ve geri kalan peyniri serpin.
7. Ozellikle de benim gibi domates hayrani iseniz ve makarna taze tatlar olmasindan hoslaniyorsunuz resimde goruldugu gibi makarnayi taze cherry pomodori domatesleriyle susleyebilirsiniz.

Afiyet olsun :)

Dare to dive into the sea

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” You’ve probably heard this quote many times before. Maybe it sounds a bit cliché or you think ‘do I really need to do bungee jumping to prove that I am actually living?’ However I understand the true meaning of this quote after I started to practice headstand.

Everybody has its comfort zone. For some it is their jobs, for some it is their relationships, for some it is their hometowns. Because of this comfort zone some people can’t change their jobs, some people are stuck in their bad relationships, some people can’t change even their hairdressers even if they know that they can have a better one. Comfort zone is something that we hold on to, something familiar. It feels good to stay in the comfort zone because it is known and known things can not harm us. It is known and that’s why we can control it. Leaving the comfort zone means stepping into something unknown and it is scary. Remember the moment when you want to dive into cold blue sea. It is hot outside, you want to cool down but the sea is cold so you don’t dive in because you are in your comfort zone. The worst thing with that is if you stay outside longer the sea feels colder and colder. In reality the temperature of the sea didn’t change however you stayed so long outside (in your comfort zone) that it seems impossible to dive into that beautiful sea, even if you know how relaxing it will be to swim there. Here comes the importance of yoga practice. Yoga will show you how to swim in that sea.

One of the most challenging poses in yoga are the inversions. At my first yoga lesson, the instructor has encouraged me to do a headstand. I couldn’t do it. I thought I need to build stronger abdominal muscles. After almost 6 months even if I had stronger muscles I couldn’t invert myself. So I thought it is the balance. Another 6 months passed and I still couldn’t do it even if I was doing a very balanced ‘tree pose’. Then I realized my problem wasn’t about strength or balance. It was about my comfort zone. This realization came up with some partner yoga practices. I couldn’t let go. I couldn’t trust my partner and let my partner to have the control and so both me and my partner were failing in the asanas because of my ‘comfort zone’. I realized that I was doing the same thing to myself with the inversions. I couldn’t let go off my fear. I couldn’t trust myself and leave my comfort zone. What now?

Through yoga practice, a person becomes aware of his/her body. He/she starts to know his/her body better than before. In every practice a different reaction of the body is seen to an exact same asana. After some time maybe there is some progress. Some asanas become easy and more challenging poses are tried. With those more challenging poses you start to trust to yourself. You start to see the power in you but at the same time you realize the power of breath. While at first you were trying to align your breath with the asana, you see that with the challenging poses you automatically do that because they are impossible to do without stable breathing.  And then one day with a complete clear mind and aligned breath, I was practicing the half headstand, I was not thinking that I could invert myself but suddenly I found myself at the wall upside down.

Now I see the path to inversions like a triangle. Obviously you can’t invert yourself by only leaving your comfort zone and trusting yourself, you need a base with two corners. One corner is the strength and the other corner is the balance. Both corners can be trained by other activities like fitness. However the most important corner, the top corner is the courage. Leaving your comfort zone, letting go off your fear and trusting yourself. That you will learn only with yoga practice.  Once you invert yourself you will more easily leave your comfort zone. So are you ready to dive into the sea? 

Today is International Yoga Day. When I think about yoga I think about breathing. That's why I wanted to share this quote with a little bit of commentary.

When do you own the breath?

We have a list of things that are very important for us. We have priorities. Where is the breath in our priority list. We are used to do it so automatically that we don't see the importance anymore. But breathing is the source of our lives. If we don't breath we don't live. So simple is it.

When/how do you own the breath then?

- When you try to imagine your breath's the route in your body while you inhale and exhale
- When you focus on your breath in the stressful times while other people are almost breathless because of the stress
- When you start counting your breath. In how many seconds you inhale and exhale?
- When you breath through different parts of your body. Through your chest through your belly...

Try to practice these things regularly and you will see the difference in you.

Have a peaceful yoga day :)

Magnolia Pudding

Everybody knows the famous Magnolia Bakery and especially their banana pudding. My first meeting with these puddings was –you won’t believe it- in Istanbul. All my friends were talking about this delicious pudding that they couldn’t get enough. The restaurant makes this magnolia puddings also with Nutella, Oreo, strawberry etc. But my favorite fruit in desserts is always banana. So I decided to make this pudding at home. It is extremely easy, dangerously delicious. It is so light and fluffy that you want to have it one more cup.

In few months I will be NYC and if I have time I will definitely pay a visit to Magnolia Bakery and tell you whether there is any difference I see/taste in their famous pudding with mine. But before that let me share my recipe with you :)

Ingredients

·         2 cups of milk

·         1 tbsp of starch

·         1,5 tbsp of flour

·         1 egg yolk

·         90 g of sugar

·         8 -10 g of vanilla flavor sugar (I always use it cakes, puddings, mousse, it gives very nice flavor.)

·         200 ml of single cream

·         45 g of digestive biscuits (crushed)

·         3 bananas

Method

·         Put milk, starch, flour and egg yolk in a middle-size saucepan.

·         Cook them for 2 minutes while continuously stirring, add sugar and vanilla and cook them for 3-5 minutes (till it is thick enough).

·         Add the single cream and cook 1 minute more. Then let it cool down.

·         Put the sliced bananas on the bottom of the bowls (for each bowl 5-6 slices of banana), transfer the half of the pudding to 4-5 bowls.

·         Add the 2/3 crushed biscuits and add the rest of the pudding to the bowls.

·         Top with the rest of the crushed biscuits and more bananas.

ENJOY!

Cookshop’a gidenler bilir. Meshur bir tatlilari var. Magnolia. Muzlu, cileklisi, nutellalisi, oreolusu ne isterseniz. Aslinda bu tatli Amerika’nin en meshur tatlicisi olan Magnolia’s Bakery’nin muz pudinginden esinlenerek yapilmis. Gecenlerde evde bunu yapmaya karar verdim. Inanilmaz kolay bi tarifi var, korkunc derecede lezzetli. Uyariyorum, cok hafif bi tatli oldugu icin de insan bir kap daha yemek istiyor.
Onumuzdeki aylarda New York’ta olacagim. Vakit bulursam muhakkak Magnolia’s Bakery’ye ugramayi dusunuyorum. Sizinle fikirlerimi paylasacagimdan emin olabilirsiniz. Ama ondan once iste size tarifi :)

Malzemeler

·         2 su bardagi sut
·         1 yemek kasigi nisasta
·         1,5 yemek kasigi un,
·         1 yumurta sarisi
·         1 (ince belli) cay bardagi (90 gr) seker
·         1 paket (8-10 gr) vanilya
·         1 paket krema
·         45 gr (3-5 tane) iyice ezilmis sade biskuvi
·         3 tane muz

Yapilis

·         Sutu,nisastayi,unu, ve yumurta sarisini bi tencereye koyun.
·         Orta hararet surekli karistirarak 2 dk. pisirin.
·         Seker ve vanilyayi da koyup pisirmeye 3 dk. daha devam edin. (Iyice puding kivamina gelene kadar.)
·         Kremayi da ekleyip 1 dk. daha pisirin ve sogumaya birakin
·         Kaplara dilimlenmis muzlari (3-5 tane) ekleyin uzerine pudingin yarisi kalacak sekilde kaplara esit miktarlarda koyun.
·         Ezilmis biskuvilerin 3te 2ini pudingin uzerine serpin.
·         Geri kalan pudingi de kaplara esit miktarlarda koyun.
·         Uzerine ezilmis biskuvi ve muzla susleyin.

Afiyet olsun!

Takus Hanimin Zeytinyagli Biber Dolmasi

"Eger Tanri sadece yemek tariflerini uygulayarak yemek yapmamizi isteseydi, buyukanneleri bize vermezdi." Bir restaurantin tavaninda yazilan bu sozu gorunce aklima tabi ki kendi anneannem geldi. Herkesin buyukannesi ozeldir ama benimkisi... Cok lafa gerek yok taniyanlar ne kadar ozel biri oldugunu bilir Takus hanimin :) (Asil ismi Takuhi tabi. Ermenicede kralice demek, kendisi hic hazetmez bu isimden ama sanirim benim ona Takus dememi seviyor.)
Kendi gibi tarifleri de ozeldir. Oyle su kadar gram bu kadar gramla calismaz. Tipki benim kendisinden ogrendigim gibi o da kendi annesine bakarak ogrenmistir tarifleri. Oyle bi keyifle yapar ki yemeklerini. 'Icine sevgisini de katiyor ondan bu kadar lezzetli'nin canli kanitidir. Bu yemek yapmaya olan merakimi da ondan almisim zaten:) Tariflerini oyle yazmaz cizmez yapa yapa, yaparken de tada tada olusturur sonra tekrar yapa yapa da aklinda tutar. Ayrica pratiktir de. Biraz goz karari biraz da adet hesabina gore yemek tarifi verir. Okudugu tarifi de kendine gore uyarlar. Kafasina uymazsa tarifteki bir malzame hayatta koymaz. Asci insiyatifi :)
Eh boyle bi ascinin yaninda cirak olunca ben de oyle pek tariflere uymaz oldum. Hersey kafama gore. Ustelik aci mi oldu at patatesi, sulu mu oldu kapagi acik birak harli ateste kaynat gibi mutfak hilelerini de ogretmistir bana. Bu yasinda (91 dile kolay) hala yeni tarifler hileler uretmektedir. Ustelik dedigine bakin: "Eger BIRAZ daha genc olsaydim kesin bir yemek kursuna giderdim." 91 senelik zorlu hayatinda hic kendi icin birsey yapmamis ki hep baskalari icin. Neyse biz ne diyorduk? Tarif diyorduk. Ermeni sofrasinin olmazsa olmazlarindan zeytinyagli biber dolmasi (Bosuna demezler ermeni kadini mutfakta olur die). Anneannemin ise tarifi pek pratiktir. O yuzden sizinle bu vesileyle paylasmak istiyorum. Iste size Takus hanimin zeytinyagli biber dolmasi.

Malzemeler

• 10 tane dolmalik biber
• 10 tane orta buyuklukte sogan (bu demektir ki hesap biber basina bir sogana gore yapilmistir. Eger soganlar buyukse asci insiyatifi 8 de olabilir.)
• 10 tatli kaşığı pirinc (yine biberde oldugu gibi biber basina 1 tatli kasigi pirince gore hesap yapilmistir.)
• Goz kararinca bol yeni bahar (tadina bakicaksiniz sart Takus hanim oyle su kadar gramdan falan anlamaz, tadina bakarak karar verir.)
• Goz kararinca yeni bahardan daha az olacak sekilde tarcin
• Tarcinla benzer miktarda kimyon
• Bir avuc cam fistigi
• Bir avuc siyah uzum
• 1 bardak zeytinyagi
• Tuz,karabiber,cok az da pul biber
• 1 domates (biberlerin ustune kapak yapmak icin)
• Pisirmek icin ise 10 tatli kasigi pirinc bir bardaga bosaltilir ve onun iki kati su kullanilir.

Yapilis

• Soganlar kucuk kucuk dograndiktan sonra tavada biraz yag ve biraz suyla hafif pembe olana kadar kavurulur.
• Biberlerin baslari cikartilir ve icleri temizlenir, yikanir. 
• Soganlar kavrulduktan sonra yag, baharatlar, uzum ve fistik konur. Karistirilir, tadina bakilir. Gerekiyorsa baharatlara ilave yapilir. 
• Pirinc de eklenip karistirildiktan sonra biberler doldurulur.
• Kare kare kesilen domateslerle biberlerin ustu kapanir.
• Tencereye biberler yerlestirilir. Su eklenir ve biraz da yag konur. 
• Takus hanim duduklu tencere kullanmaya pek alisik degildir ama dudukludeki gibi pisirmenin bir yontemini bulmustur. Biberlerin uzerine kapatacak bir tabak koymak ve uzerine tencerenin kapagini koymak.
• Bu vaziyette kisik ateste 1 saat pisirilir.
• Sogumaya birakilir. 

Takus hanim servis yapacagi gunden hep bir gun once dolmasini (genel olarak butun zeytinyaglilarini) yapar. Cunku hep derki : "Yavrum birgun buzdolabinda kalirsa butun baharat iyice soganla bir olur ve sonuc olarak daha lezzetli olur." Gercekten de oluyor. Size de tavsiye ederim.

Oyleyse afiyet olsun.

Let's be human again!

Everybody knows how I am crazy about young adult movies/books. As “Hunger Games” is over now I am giving my focus to “Divergent” series. Unlike “Hunger Games”, I didn’t read the books of “Divergent”. So I can’t compare the movies with the books ‘luckily’ J Let me give a quick summary before we go deep into it. The series took place in a post-apocalyptic Chicago where people are divided into 5 factions (groups) according to their dominant characteristic features. Abnegation for the selfless, amity for the peaceful, candor for the honest, dauntless for the brave and erudite for the intellectual. Every year all sixteen-year-olds are put on a test in order to determine their factions. They don’t have to accept the faction that comes out of the test. Then, they need to choose whatever they want  but they need to prove that they belong to the faction they have chosen. If they can’t prove that they are out of the society and they are labeled as factionless which make them live miserably. Their world is surrounded with the walls. They believe that the whole world is a disastrous place and they can’t and should not go outside. Straightforward, sounds familiar, so what? What if one person comes up and has all these features, selflessness, peace, honesty, braveness and intelligence. You know that it was coming right? The first film started there. Our female hero Beatrice “Tris” is divergent which means she possesses all 5 features. But she needs to hide this as a secret because the government punishes the divergents as they think they are threats to the society. Mankind is always afraid of what he doesn’t know or can’t control. This sounds very familiar too, right? So the first film was busy with showing how Tris tries to fit in in one of the factions and they that doesn’t work out. In the second film the government has already understood that Tris was a divergent and they wanted to catch him for a very difficult experiment. It was a very difficult test and she managed to survive that. (I assume that when I say test you don’t imagine a very difficult math test or multiple choice test ;)) Ta taaa the outcome of the test says that the divergent people are key for the survival of the mankind. Second film ends like this. Recently the third film is released and of course I’ve watched it immediately. While everybody was cheering because there was no government, no rules, factionless people took advantage of people’s anger to punish the governmental people and try to rule them again. Additionally they forbade people to go to behind the walls as they are afraid! Do you think that they can stop Tris? Tris and her friends managed to go behind the walls and they were welcomed in a new world. However now they are also discriminated because apart from Tris the others were not pure which means that they were forced to be in faction, so even they were born divergent they were not divergent anymore, so they were damaged. If we look at the picture what happened? They fought, they were killed, they suffered to be free from the factions and at the end they are again labelled as pure and damaged.

This got me thinking. I am looking to the world. Unfortunately we are also living in a world where everybody puts everybody into a category “you are black, you’re Jewish, you’re Asian, you’re Muslim, you’re democrat, you’re vegan, and even ‘are you a dog person or a cat person’ ?!”. More interestingly even if someone doesn’t fit into a group we just try to label him/her. This time as “crazy, anti-social, disagreeable”.  Because you have to fit into something. You have to be in a group of people like you as if you are a sheep and someone should be a leader to guide you, tell you what to do and not to do. Then we feel safe, we feel protected. It is also easier with labels to blame. We will just blame the whole group for one person’s action and done! By the time we are blinded by our group leader and the relaxation of being safe becomes dullness and there dies the creativity, sense of inquiry. We become really like sheep and at the end if one sheep jumps from the cliff the others follows.

I am always touched by these following words.

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

We forget that we are all human. We created all those labels. We drew all those lines. We build these systems and now we are fighting to each other for them. Before we realized there will be no one left to share this beautiful world and remember(!) “Happiness is only real when shared”.

And the Oscar goes to…

The Oscars are coming closer (February 28, Sunday) and this time it will be very special for me to watch the Oscars as I was actually there 9 months ago, seriously J During our road trip to US West coast we of course stopped at Los Angeles, the heart of the moving pictures. Dolby Theater was the first thing on my list. Frankly it is not as glorious as it is without the red carpet, decorations and of course without the stars. Still it felt so nice to walk up those stairs towards Dolby Theater (see the pic on the right :)) For a moment I imagined me and my husband there and greeting Robert De Niro, making jokes with Jennifer Lawrence and giving complements to my idol Meryl Streep. Then we came back to reality and got our admission tickets to the theater. Again it is a very regular theater hall and the seats OMG! they are old and very uncomfortable. I was thinking how the female actresses were able to sit with their very big gowns. Anyway I again started to dream where my name is announced as best actress in leading role in a Spielberg movie. With an emotional face I go to the stage, thank to Spielberg for giving me this chance and my co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and of course all the cast and crew and then I became more emotional while I am thanking to my mother and my husband. Lastly I dedicate the award to my lovely grandmother. By the voice of our guide I came back to reality again. The tour was short but it was worth it for me.

That’s why this year it will be special for me to watch the Oscars live at 2 am in the morning.

As always I have nearly seen all the films that are nominated. So it’s time to share my predictions. Here it comes,

Best Picture

Will Win: Spotlight

May Win: The Revenant

Should Win: Spotlight (If we look at the nominees it is the only film that stands for a very important issue: Child abuse in the catholic churches. The others are good but this film should get the Oscar. It is also a team work. Not only one person leads the film but the whole cast makes the film good.)

Best Director

Will Win: Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

May Win: Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Should Win: Quentin Tarantino (I know he is not even nominated but he should have been nominated. The Oscar jury should stop ignoring Tarantino as a director and nominating him in the category of screenplay!)

Best Actor in Leading Role

Will Win: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)      

May Win: Leonardo DiCaprio (“There is no ‘may win’! He will win the Oscar, he deserves every inch of it and he already won every award so far.” These were the words that I used for Eddie Redmayne last year and now I am saying the exact same things for Leo. He has come so far from Jack Dawson.)

Should Win: Leonardo DiCaprio

Best Actress in Leading Role

Will Win: Brie Larson (Room)

May Win: Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Should Win: Brie Larson (Actually here is also no ‘may win’.)

Best Actor in Supporting Role

Will Win: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

May Win: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Should Win: Mark Rylance (My heart wants Stallone to win, he is my childhood hero, he is Rocky. But we should be fair Rylance was so good in the Bridge of Spies that you can’t just ignore that. Yes for all his efforts Stallone deserves an Oscar but Mark Rylance should win and will win!)

Best Actress in Supporting Role

Will Win: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

May Win: Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Should Win: Jennifer Jason Leigh (In this Oscar season maybe her performance was the best. It isn’t easy to work with Tarantino and it isn’t easy to shine in a man-oriented western movie with all those talented actors but she really shines. The only reason that the academy will give the Oscar to Kate Winslet is that they want to give at least one Oscar to the film “Steve Jobs” to honor him. The movie was bad. I am a fan of Fassbender, but he was not good either. You think it can not be possible to make Apple history boring but they did. Additionally Winslet’s performance was OK. )

Best Original Screenplay

Will Win: Spotlight

May Win: Bridge of Spies

Should Win: Ex Machina (This movie is so much underestimated that I can not believe. It seems like a regular robot film but it is not! There is philosophical background in this film and that makes you think. There are very good conversations, better than “Steve Jobs”! Moreover it is a very good thriller. It should be awarded at least with the screenplay award.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Will Win: The Big Short

May Win: The Martian

Should Win: The Martian (I loved this film. It is inspiring and funny. But I strongly thinks that “The Big Short” will get the award as they think it is a more important issue, mortgage crisis.)

Best Foreign Language Film

Will Win: Son of Saul

May Win: Mustang

Should Win: I can’t say anything about this because I didn’t see the nominees this year.

Best Original Score

Will Win: The Hateful Eight        

May Win: The Bridge of Spies

Should Win: The Hateful Eight (Actually I have no doubt, Ennio Morricone will be honored with this award. He is  one of the great composers of our generation. He did an excellent job and I am afraid this will be the only award “The Hateful Eight” will get.)

Best Original Song

Will Win: Writing’s On the Wall (Spectre)

May Win: Writing’s On the Wall (Spectre)

Should Win: Writing’s On the Wall (Spectre)

For the technical nominations I have some predictions but I can not say which film should win, cause I don’t have that knowledge to really question their judgement.

Achievement in Cinematography

Will Win: The Revenant

May Win: The Hateful Eight

Achievement in Costume Design

Will Win: Carol

May Win: The Danish Girl

Achievement in Film Editing

Will Win: The Revenant

May Win: Spotlight

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

Will Win: Mad Max: Fury Road

May Win: The Revenant

Achievement in Production Design

Will Win: The Revenant

May Win: The Martian (maybe Bridge of Spies)

Achievement in Sound Editing

Will Win: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

May Win: The Revenant

Achievement in Sound Mixing

Will Win: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

May Win: The Revenant

Achievement in Visual Effects

Will Win: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

May Win: The Revenant

Lastly let’s come to the categories for which I have no idea who will win or who may win but for some of them I have some instincts about the winners: Best Documentary (Amy -  I have watched this, this was very realistic), Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Animated Film (Inside Out), Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film.

On February 28, I will be watching the Oscars ‘live’ and I will keep scores so that I can share with you how many of my predictions become reality. Let the Oscars begin! 

Forever free, forever together

"Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.” -Dalai Lama

When I first saw this quote I immediately thought about my husband. From the beginning of our relationship he really gives me wings to fly. He always encourages me to try new things, explore my capacities and makes me realize how much potential I have and push me to use it. (He thinks one day I can win a Nobel Prize in chemistry.) On the other hand as the quote says he gives me roots to come back. He has built a home, a family that I completely belong. I can be myself, I am free but at the same time I belong to him. These days these two concepts can not be put together. You're either free or you're with someone as if being in a relationship makes you a possession of the other one. However in a real relationship you belong to someone. Belonging is a sense of security. You feel so secured with him that you trust him like you trust yourself. Isn't that a great feeling? And with that feeling even if you fly far far away  you will come back and you will stay. I have every reason to stay with him. His love, his tenderness, his caring personality... He deals with me even if I am in my grumpiest mood. He makes me feel like I am the only one that matters.

Then I started to think deeper about this quote. I realized that yoga also gives me wings to fly. With yoga I am liberated from all my tags. I don't have to be punctual for example or I don't have to put everything under my control. I can be myself moreover I can be the unknown version of myself because yoga gives me the opportunity, the time to explore new things about myself and make me go deeper to see my inner self. It is an endless journey and that's why I always come back to my mat. There is a new journey ahead every time when I am on my mat. I see the changes in me. There is nobody to judge me, I have nothing to be afraid of. I don't need to hide myself. It is only me and my mat.

And I will stay. Once you started practicing yoga you realize that your state of mind becomes peaceful. You try to integrate many of the things you learn in your yoga practice. You become more aware how precious is the moments that we are living now and once you missed them, they would be gone forever. That's why I ,for example, in the past stayed angry and irritated for some time after a fight with my husband, ruined 30 minutes (or sometimes more) more of our lives just because I don't want to let go and I want to continue showing more irritation. However nowadays I am training myself first of all to solve the problem immediately (not waiting him to understand that I am angry) and after the fight I try to change my mood as soon as possible by thinking about good things about our relationship more importantly focusing on the solution of the problem not the reasons of the fight. That way of thinking came with yoga. Of course not after 2-3 practice but with regular practice and with going deeper into the practice. It will come to you maybe after 2 months or maybe after years of practice. It takes time for your body, mind and soul to absorb the wisdom of yogic teachings.

Now I think about the quote again I feel so blessed to have him as my life partner (and try to be the same for him) and to have yoga as my life guidance.

May you always be free like the birds,

"May you have a strong foundation

When the winds of changes shift."

May you stay forever free, forever together.

P.S. The line between the quotation marks is from the song "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan.