Last night we all went over to the Bostanci neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul for a family dinner at my cousin's parents' house. I love the Asian side of Istanbul. It's residential streets are full of trees, and there are plenty of nice shops and cafes. My cousin's mother had been cooking for days, and laid out an amazing spread. Turkish meatballs, baked eggplant with yogurt, rice, dolma (stuffed grape leaves), and artichokes filled with potatoes, peas, and dill. The artichoke dish is one of the family favorites, and Nese buys the artichokes months ahead of time and freezes them to make sure she will have enough for when we arrive. The bottoms are slowly cooked with potatoes, peas and dill, and the combination is just divine. I was telling my cousins yesterday that I hated dill until I came to Turkey for the first time. I think that before I had eaten Turkish food, my exposure to dill had been limited to seeing it as a garnish on cured fish. In Turkey, it is paired with fresh fish and shrimp, salads, and vegetables such as artichoke, of which it brings out the best of flavors. After the main courses we had ekmek kedayif, which is a sort of kedayif, but made with "bread" instead of the shredded burma dough. It is insanely sweet, soaked with a thick lemony syrup, which is cut by the thick kaymak cream that you put are to put on top. There was also baklava and fresh cherries and apricots, which are in full season. Eating in a Turkish home is the best gastronomic experience one can have here, and I am lucky enough to have many opportunities like this one.