The original shish kebap

Last weekend I got to go on a picnic, Turkish-style. We loaded up in cars and drove to a big picnic ground by the lake. After 15 minutes of driving around and looking for the perfect spot, complete with a view and water spicket, we finally settled down. We used the concrete picnic tables for prep, and spread out blankets for our eating area. I was ecstatic to escape the concrete jungle enough to listen to frogs and count turtles. The men set up small charcoal grills while we assembled the kebaps. Now, at home I grew up with "Uncle Howie's shish kebap," a family recipe that involved marinating the beef chunks in some combination of oil, vinegar, garlic, and other spices. However, I now get to experience kebap in one of the countries where it originated. So they covered all the meat in a combination of thyme, mint, and I think cayenne pepper. And then I got the joy of learning how to "properly" put the meat on the skewers (I did it once, and they said I did it wrong, so I had to take it all off and start over. mmm....raw meat....). Our meat and chicken were accompanied by pita bread, arugula salad, shepherd's salad (tomato, cucumber, and onion), pasta salad, and muffins (courtesy of the foreigners). And don't worry, they did bring the tea pot so we could drink tea after our meal. After all, no Turkish meal is complete without tea. The rest of the entertainment was just relaxing, but our neighbors on the picnic ground amused themselves with dancing and okey (a game like rummikub). We did get live music, though, at one point from two men passing through hoping to earn some money. Enjoy the video!