I woke up this morning and this how it looked out...I didn't know if it was going to rain or not...
but it turned out super beautiful....I had to share these pictures of our neighbors' puppy, Mack...he's too cute!! Not to get off subject!
Greek cuisine doesn't use an unlimited amount of ingredients. Olive oil, honey, yogurt, grapes, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh fish and lamb are some of the most commonly used ones. The way Greek dishes are prepared with these few ingredients make the possibilities restr seem endless, as far as variety and taste.
Greece is in southeastern Europe at the point where the Balkan Peninsula juts into the Mediterranean Sea and forms a land-based connection to Anatolia and the Middle East. Although Greece was intially restricted to the southern mainland and a few islands, it grew in 1948 with the addition of the Dodecanese Islands. The terrain of Greece is 80% mountainous and the highest point is Mt. Olympus. Greece includes over 2000 islands.
the Greek invented athletic contests to honor their gods. Experts estimate that the ancient Olympics begun in early 700 BC, in honor of Zeus.
Greek Honey Cake http://allrecipes.com/recipe/greek-honey-cake/detail.aspx I changed this recipe around to try to make a little healthier, so I won't leave a review for it. Last week, in Ireland, I fried my hand mixer...the sucker was toast, so I had to cream butter by hand...NOT NICE! I admit, there are certain things I'm lazy about and that's one of them. But, anyway, the butter got creamed with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and 1/4 cup of honey. I also used half wheat flour for the amount called for. I added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and used lemon zest instead of orange. The syrup was simply: 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1/3 cup of water. This cake was just a little heavy because of the wheat flour, but not at all an unpleasant texture. The recipe said to cut the cake into a diamond pattern, so I did and then I spooned the syrup all over the top until it was gone. It seeped on the bottom and in between pieces and was just yummy.
Greek Spaghetti II http://allrecipes.com/recipe/greek-spaghetti-II/detail.aspx This is deliciously simple...enough said...I cut the recipe in half and used fresh grated parmesiano-reggiano (am I spelling that right?) cheese that I bought back in February and I swear, this should be a food group unto itself!! I did add 2 cloves of minced garlic to the butter and salt as the butter was browning. YUM!
Greek Green Beans http://allrecipes.com/recipe/greek-green-beans/detail.aspx This was a nice change of pace for us! I halved the recipe and used 2 small roma tomatoes. This was so good!
And then that pork...I used chops that we had frozen months ago instead of buying a tenderloin and pounding it out. I also put these on the grill because I only have like 3 inches between the bottom of my oven and the broiler...it's ok for toast, but these chops would have been charcoal on the outside and raw in the middle, so grilled it was! Fantastic!
My AWESOME Greek Dinner...that sauce over the pork just tied it all together..the warm of the chop with the cold of that yogurt sauce...OMG!
So this week my grocery bill came to $9.88 which left $10.12 to go into the Beach Bag Fund for a total after 12 weeks...HOLY CAT! Has it been 3 months already???...of $79.06! Hmmm, time flies when you're having fun...As always, I want to thank each and every one of you, all 52 of you, who voted for next week's blog country. Bob picked South Africa (or Effrica, as Swiss Phil would say) and I chose Israel, and the tribe has spoken and next week we're off to Israel. And that was a crazy close vote, I'd like to add! South Africa got 24 votes and Israel had 28. If you want to vote for the blog countries, check the recipe exchange on Sundays for my posts and vote there! So until next week, stay cool and peace!!
