Greek Recipes

Sometimes we forget how precious life is. We let so many of the little things that make us smile pass us by. Sometimes we even forget to appreciate the people that are close to us and the simple pleasures that we share with family. A few days ago we were reminded how important it is to appreciate these moments after hearing the sad news of the sudden passing of a family member in Australia. So while we feel sorrow for the loss of our loved one, Tony and I feel very lucky to be spending our holiday here with the family that we are with. My second cousin, Artemis, posted a very poignant thought on Facebook the other day – a quote by Robert Frost – "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Tony and I have vowed to try and make the most of every day we have here in Limnos, and every day for the rest of our lives because life does go on, and it doesn't last very long. Every day should be appreciated and reflected upon – try to remember ...

In Aegean islands like Sifnos and Kalimnos chick pea stews are a favorite dish all year long. Housewives there place their chick peas (revithia in Greek) in clay cooking pots specially made from local ceramists and bring them to the village bakery shop late in the afternoon where the stews are slow cooked overnight in the oven that is still hot from baking bread.  Slow baking is what makes chick peas really tender, so tasty, and easy to digest. I remember a friend who visited the island of Milos telling me of the cooking method a tavern there was using for their chick peas. Milos is a volcanic island and there are hot springs as well as areas where the ground itself  is still very hot. There, by the beach, a local tavern owner had dig a deep hole in the hot volcanic soil and in it had placed a few clay pots with his chick pea specialty and left them to cook naturally for several hours. Amazing!  You don’t need a special clay pot or even a volcano to make delicious chick ...

As we were leaving Melbourne there was snow falling on the nearby hills. 28 hours later we were transported to another hemisphere where the air is warm and the sun shines every day. This is Greece, the homeland of my parents, the place that I connect with, the country that my partner Tony has wholeheartedly embraced. We are on our fourth trip here together and it's just as beautiful as ever. After a relaxing overnight stay in Athens we are now settled in Limnos, the north Aegean island where my dad's family is from. My dad is now retired, and he and his wife, Julia, spend around 8 months each year living in Limnos, in the house where his mother grew up. Tony and I have been making the annual trip to join my dad and Julia in Limnos for four years now and we never grow tired of this place. The weather here on the island is consistently warm during the summer months, reaching a guaranteed 30 degrees celsius every day. The beach is only a minute's walk from the house and it...

Oh my god, if only you knew how frantic things are around our household right now. I would love to describe the mayhem going on here but I don't have time! We leave in about an hour to get on a plane headed for Greece and I still haven't finished packing! This is not like me at all but it's been one crazy week with work and getting things organised for the trip. Oh believe me when I tell you I can't wait to be on that plane with a glass of Bailey's in my hand. Yes, daggy old Bailey's, but that's my tradition. Bailey's on ice, on a plane. So here I am, as promised, with part three of my commitment to write three posts for the blog before leaving for Greece (with an hour to spare!). But I'm sorry to say I'm going to have to leave it there – I have a plane to catch! Oh but you won't be spared of my usual eighteen paragraphs of rambling that easily. During the flight I'll be writing all about these beautiful Melomacarona biscuits that I ma...

  Halv ás , a popular and easy to make dessert, is served across North Africa, Western Asia, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Malta and the Jewish world. The word halv á s (χαλβάς) derives from the Arabic ḥalwā meaning sweet confection.  The name describes two types of desserts: one is flour-based, mostly made with semolina flour, and the other nut-butter based, usually made from tahini (sesame paste). In Greece and Cyprus, the term is used for both varieties of the dessert. The standard recipe for semolina halvas is easy to remember since it is often referred to as "1:2:3:4”.because it calls for one unit of oil, two of semolina, three of sugar and four of water,  Semolina can be toasted to your taste and dry chopped fruits, nuts and spices can be added to the batter for extra taste. Halv ás  can be kept at room temperature with little risk of spoilage. However, during hot summer months it is better kept refrigerated. Halvás:  Serves 16 (I used a 23cm round tube...

Oh my cat is a naughty little thing. I was just about ready to take the photos for today's post when that crazy-cat-wants-to-run switch in Simba's brain came on – the one that makes him sprint up and down the hallway not caring what he crashes into at the end of his 5-metre skid along the floorboards. Today's performance had him ricocheting off the half-open door to my little makeshift studio (should've shut it, I know) and sideways Spiderman-style using the door as a spring-board to catapult himself directly onto the table where I had my beautiful okra and fig stew set up, aiming straight for a full glass of water which of course tipped over and soaked EVERYTHING. I can't help but laugh at this cat. It took an hour to clean everything up, but when Simba has one of his sprint bursts I just find it so hilarious. Tony says he looks like a cartoon character as he suddenly activates his spinning power legs, trying to get some grip on the slippery floorboards but not act...

A bit of a shorter post today to the usual lengthy ramblings I tend to subject you to here on the Greek Vegetarian blog. With only 8 days to go before Tony and I leave for Greece, it's been a bit hectic trying to get everything organised before we leave, and our efforts to reduce our respective piles of work have left us feeling a bit frazzled! And it's not just the craziness of work. The weather this week has been totally crazy too. The wind outside is so violent the trees are almost spinning around, and the rain is hurtling directly at my window. Birds are struggling to fly forward, showers of debris are landing in our back yard, and I could have sworn I just saw a branch torpedoing across the sky. The mountain of work on my desk at the moment would form a spectacular tornado if I were to toss it outside right now. Please, can I do that? Oh what I would do to have no work in this final week before we leave for Greece! Melbourne's current blast of revolting winter weather ...

In less than two weeks Tony and I will be on a plane headed for Greece. Less than two weeks! And for both of us, way more than two weeks of work to get through before we leave. I don't know where the time goes and I don't know where we'll find the time to finish everything we need to. No time to cook, no time to think and no time to blog. When I left my full-time job last year I thought I'd have all the time in the world to do these things. Little did I know freelancing would render me useless in the free-time department. Don't get me wrong – it's great to be getting all this work, but I really need to find a way to better organise my time. I did find some time last Friday afternoon to make a batch of Vegetarian Pastitsio which is a dish I've been wanting to make ever since I started reminiscing about the rare but well-remembered Greek meals of my childhood. The meat version of this favourite Greek family dish was a staple in our house when I was growing u...