Vegetable Tart

 I know that we eat with our eyes first!  I think presentation is so important in cooking and plating. I saw a photo of a spiral vegetable tarte and had to give it a go.  The base was puff pastry... easy enough as I purchase the frozen kind.  The filling was ricotta, egg, and parmesan cheese.  I also added oregano and lemon zest.  The vegetables were a little tricky to slice thinly so I used the vegetable peeler.  I had Japanese eggplant, carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash.  After the filling is added to the partially baked crust, the veggies are put in a circular pattern from the center out to the edge.  It was a little time consuming, but fun nonetheless.  The filling was just a tad bland, so I added some chimichurri sauce that I had made.  That really put the taste level over the top!  I will definitely make it again one day.

Pizza

 As an American, I've had my share of pizza!  Greek pizza, vegetarian pizza, meat pizza, and even dessert pizza.  It is one of my favorite foods.  The only thing I absolutely will not have on a pizza is anchovy.  One little, tiny fish, can ruin the taste of the entire pizza for me.  It really makes no sense because I love fish as well as salty things.

When travelling in Italy, I could have eaten pizza every day!  It was that good!  I had so many different flavors.  They really know how to add toppings to pizza.  Not once did I see a pizza with little bitty chopped bits of ham, mushrooms, or vegetables.  One look at the pizza and you knew exactly what was on it.  

We went to a Pizzeria where you could pick out the pizza slices you wanted and they would box them up right there.  In Rome, I saw where several slices were taken from a particular type of pizza.  It was a potato, pine nut, and pesto pizza.  I had to give it a try.  It was delicious.  Venice had several walk up windows where you could order the huge slices to go!  

In Venice, there is just something about eating pizza while watching the gondoliers float by from your airbnb home.  

I could have eaten it breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but there were so many different foods to try!  I will return to Italy one day if just for the pizza!  

One of my many slices of pizza.                      This was our dinner view from where we were staying.                                             

The great variety of pizza                          Potato, pine nut, and pesto pizza! So good.

Tiramisu

 Tiramisu has to be one of the most well known Italian desserts. What's not to like!  Coffee, cream, mascarpone cheese, cookies , cocoa and sometimes liqueur.  When visiting Italy, one of my very dear friends had this dessert after almost every mean!  I can say that she is a tiramisu connoisseur.  I recently made a recipe for a friend.  I do not use raw eggs in mine.  It's just a personal preference.  If I am eating it, I leave out the alcohol...again a personal preference.  It is such a great make ahead dessert that all ages can enjoy.  There are as many varieties as their are Italian Nonnas (grandmothers).  All of them are tasty.

Each Day is a Special Day

 

I have been gifted two sets of fine china in the past several years. For some reason or other,  people don't want it. When offered them, that little girl hidden in my heart was simply overjoyed! I now have 3 sets of fine china. This pattern is from Wedgewood and is called Satine Platinum. I had tea parties as a child, and have never stopped having tea parties.  I thoroughly enjoyed tea on my most recent vacation too!  I still have my little mini blue willow dishes I used when I was a little one.  They are "real" china, not plastic.  They proudly sit in the little china cabinet my grandfather made for me.  I also have a piece of blue willow that was my mom's when she was little.  It was either hers or her sisters, but I have a few pieces for which I am very grateful. 

I don't know why it brings me such joy.  I use Christmas china the entire month of December not just for one special meal.  It makes every day a special one.  When my parents passed, other family members were not interested in the china.  I use my mom's fine china in March as it has green flowers on it.  She loved the color green, had emerald green eyes, and was of Irish and Greek heritage... it just works!  

Do something every day to make each day special.  This morning, I used the fine china for my croissant and coffee.  It honestly tastes better than coffee in a paper cup and croissant on a paper plate.  I make it a special occasion to enjoy my meals.  Will I gladly eat Chinese food out of those box containers... heck yeah! I can do a picnic with wax paper wrapped sandwiches, etc... I do have a special picnic basket though... anyone remember those?  

My mom did teach me many things over the years.  One thing was to NOT WAIT FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION to use that china, wear that special piece of jewelry, etc...  I can't tell you the last time I went to a really special occasion that would warrant wearing a special piece of jewelry.  Life situations change.   Make every day special. Even when I write my travel journals, I wear a nice sweater. Sounds crazy,  but it is respect for me! I set out a pot of tea (puts me right in the "feel good mood" -hot tea does that for my soul).  It makes me feel great, so I honestly take my time,  write neatly and think about what I am writing.  The journal notes I wrote on my trip were written in a quick manner (because 10 seconds waiting for a train, last minute notes at a kiosk, etc...), not very neat, and were just a quick mention of things to remind me of the entire story they would produce when I really had the time to write.  It takes time for me to write... travel, fun, tired at end of day, just made time for quick notes.  I even made journals with my photos so they would be even more special.

A photo of me enjoying one of many pots of tea at Cosi Posi in Aix-en-Provence.  This is me... totally at peace, loving every minute of my travel adventure...and now planning even more.

 

All of that being said, I would also like to add that on some days there is nothing more cozy than that comfy sweatshirt, delivery pizza from the box, and that favorite Netflix show.  I'll save that for another day!

I love "olive" them! The delicious olive

Being of Greek heritage, yia-yia (grandmother) was from Kalamata, Greece, I have eaten a lot of olives. I honestly don't remember any occasion with family where there wasn't a plate of kalamata olives and feta cheese on the table. 

The Kalamata Olive has to be one of my favorites... it's tangy just to perfection.  I like other olives too... the basic black olive, the Spanish olive, and another favorite is the Italian Castelvetrano olive.  I always have no less than 10 jars of various olives and pickles in my fridge.  At Christmas Eve dinner at my son's house, I saw a bowl of Kalamata olives and green olives.  Of course, I had to have a few.  Now, I'm not a person who likes spicy foods (medium salsa can be too hot for me), but I grabbed the green olive and expected the "standard" green olive taste.  It was stuffed with jalapeno.  It caught me by surprise!  It wasn't that hot (ok.. it was a tad spicy for me) and I think it would be a great addition to a Mexican meal.  I could eat them again.  

I put olives on pizza, with pasta, in salad, with meatballs, as they truly go with just about anything.  They are best with cheese, good bread, and a bowl of olive oil.  That is a meal in itself.

Imagine the surprise of this olive aficionado when I went to the food market in Aix en Provence.  Sure, I had heard of the Niçoise olive, but my heart literally skipped a beat when I saw the variety of olives available at the market!  Oh my goodness, if I lived there my refrigerator would be packed with different olives from the market.  

We ate so many delicious foods from the Mediterranean region.  Of course, with the delicious olive, comes the most fruity olive oil.  It was so nice to have a bowl of olive oil and fresh bread.  So many of the foods were standard fare when I was a little girl.  With 2 grandparents from Greece and one from Cyprus, olives and olive oil are pretty much a daily addition to our meals.  

Having written all of this, I think that I might have to get out my Lebanese and Greek cookbooks and get some ideas for dinner. 

This is a photo of delicious paella, stuffed grape leaves (domathes in Greek).  It was from the market that was about a 10 minute walk from the airbnb.  Shopping for the day, not week is something I love to do when there... at home, not so easy to do.                                                                                                               

Look at the variety of olives!  This isn't even all of them.  There were more but I wanted this photo.

One of our many meals from the market.  We tried so many different middle eastern spreads.  I like them all.  The Greek Tzatziki is one of my favorites.  I could eat it by the spoonful.  I might make it today!

Olive oil is so delicious.  If you have never been to an olive oil tasting, I suggest you try it.  You might be surprised at the different varieties.  Plus, it is so healthy for you too!

Coca Cola

 I'm trying to be more consistant with writing on my blog... This is one of many that I hope to post about my recent vacation to France and Italy.

I am a native of Atlanta, Georgia.  Coca cola has always been my favorite soft drink.  My dad had a Coke every day for breakfast as long as I can remember.  He might have had hot tea, but a Coke was definitely consumed around breakfast time as well as during the day.

It seems to run in the family.  No diet coke for us!  We want the real thing.  

During my travels, I have to have a coca cola no matter where I visit.  I paid $6.50 for a Coke near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  I must admit it was delicious!  How could it not be great.  Coke goes great naturally with all foods in my honest opinion.  It is especially delicious with a burger and fries or pizza!  Was that Italian pizza really that delicious or did the coke just compliment the taste so well.  I think it's a bit of both.

My cousin, Katie, loves coke as much as I do.  She will send me a photo of her drinking a coke while she is on vacation.  I happily return the gesture and send her a photo or two.  

I have a collection of  Coca-Cola memorabilia.  I didn't think to bring back an empty bottle of some of them.  I was too busy enjoying the scenery, dinners, and the adventure.  I will try to remember for next time.  I'm already thinking of where to go next!

Photos:  During the soccer tournaments, the teams were represented on the coke bottles.  A chilled selection of Coke products in an Italian grocery store. Side note:  I love going to foreign grocery stores!  So much fun!  Me enjoying a coke in the courtyard of our airbnb in Florence. The coca-cola umbrellas at a cafe in Aix en Provence. Me holding the $6.50 coke near the Champs-Elysee in Paris. and ... what goes better with coke than french fries!  That was my lunch.  Reminded me of homemade french fries my Papa Jimmy would make for us every Wednesday when I was a child.  That was our dinner on Wednesday... French fries and a coke!  

Dill Pickle Potato Salad

When we lived in an apartment when I was in elementary and high school, my neighbors were great friends.  Imagine a group of 4 apartments with a child in my class in each one!  Yes, there were other siblings too, but being in the same class was fun.  The boy next door and I even shared the same birthday!  Got a little off the pickle track... sorry.  Alice and her family lived downstairs.  They were always making crafts, canning foods, etc... My mom never canned things so it was kind of neat for me to experience this.  We ate dinner and lunch at each others homes quite often.  One day at lunch, I was served a sandwich with home made bread and butter pickle/onion mix on the side.  They were super crispy and absolutely delicious.  To this day, some 50 years later, two jars of home made pickles ranks high up on a very thoughtful, from the heart Christmas present!  I have never found any as good as theirs.  Alice Thompson, if you are out there somewhere, please send me your grandmother's  recipe.   I have always loved any kind of olive or pickle, well not the super sweet kind.  When I was a little girl, we always had Kalamata and Spanish pimento stuffed olives on the table with some feta cheese.  I'll just write about the olives and pickles today.  We even would have them at breakfast with eggs sometimes.  

As of now, there are probably about 6 or 7 kinds of pickles and olives in my refrigerator.  That is a low number for me.  Castelvetrano olives from Sicily are my new favorite green olive.  The color is vibrant and if an olive can taste 'buttery" it does.  I know that makes no sense to anyone but me!  I also have jars of tapenade to have on hand.  When one is an olive lover, yet trying to watch salt intake, it is not an easy task.  Thank goodness for cheat weekends.  I certainly take advantage of them.  

Yesterday, I was trying to think of something I've not cooked in a long time.  After much thought, barbecue chicken and potato salad became the menu.  I grew up eating so many different kinds of potato salad.  Honestly, the easiest one to make is Greek potato salad.  Sliced boiled potatoes, olive oil, wine vinegar (use wine vinegar on this... just trust me), oregano, salt and pepper.  It doesn't get much easier than that.  We also had the good old southern potato salad with boiled egg, mayo, yellow mustard, pickle relish (my mom used dill pickle relish), and it was mandatory to have sweet paprika and sliced eggs on top for decoration.  Hot German potato salad is great in the fall.  Lebanese potato salad with olive oil, lemon, pepper flakes and tons of cilantro is an absolute favorite of mine.  

Seeing that huge jar of pickles got me thinking.  I put the potatoes on to boil, and got out my small bowl to make a dressing for the potatoes.  It is pretty much a tradition that we never measured anything when cooking, just by taste.  Although many of the recipes on my blog have measurements, this one does not. While the potatoes cook, put some mayonnaise in a bowl (I use the olive oil mayo), add good ole American yellow mustard (there is just something about the yellow color it gives the salad), lemon juice, and pickle juice!  Yes, pickle juice right from the jar!  Salt, pepper, and fresh dill (even more pickle flavor) are the last ingredients.  Just mix and taste, mix and taste until it is too your liking.  While the potatoes are STILL WARM, mix in the dressing.  I do this with every potato salad I make.  I also mash it into small pieces, not large ones.  To the mix, I add chopped boiled egg (may as well get some protein) and chopped dill pickles (Imagine that?). Not wanting to ignore all pickle aspects running in my head, I even added chopped pickling cucumber!  I will say that it was the first time I ever put cucumber in potato salad and it's a WIN!  For even more crunch, I added chopped celery.  Add more mayo and mustard to get the creaminess you like.  Give it a go... you really don't need measurements for this.. YOU CAN DO IT!  

I will really try to start measuring things if I plan to post on the blog... I thought of adding  this to my blog today on my walk.  The barbecue sauce for the chicken was also delicious.  I didn't measure that either, but wish I had!  It was so good.  Hopefully, the next batch I make will be just as good.  Side note:  text size doing what it wants... just laugh with me.

Filo Dough

Filo dough is used a lot in Greek cooking.  I always have a pack of ready to use dough in my freezer.  I have never attempted to make it... just because it is so nice to have it ready to use.  Plus, honestly, I don't know how in the world I would stretch it so thin without uttering several colorful words to express my dismay if it tears.  So, I will continue to use ready made.  Really better that way as I am not a planner at all as to what I want to cook on most days.  Frozen can be ready in 30 minutes thaw time.  

A few weeks ago, I decided to make egg rolls!  Chinese style egg rolls.  You may be asking..."why are you talking about egg rolls? You were talking filo!" Here is the reason.  I made enough egg rolls to freeze and I did not really want more of the same.  What to do?  um... I have a bag of fresh spinach. Spinach is healthy. I have to keep up my health during this isolation from hell time in my life (I am a people person) Look, there is some feta cheese.  This is starting to sound more and more like spanikopita to me.  LIGHT BULB MOMENT (that's my brilliant thought).  I will make spanikopita egg rolls!  Why not!  Filo is just really, really, really thin egg roll wrapper isn't it?  If you ask a GREEK the answer would be "are you kidding? They are not the same! We invented darn near everything (that is what my papas would say)". Being the adventurous cook that I am, I decided to give it a go. No worries about filo over heating and tearing or clumping into a mess, no spreading olive oil over layers, no folding into flag like triangles, etc... I honestly don't mind working with filo at times because that is the authentic way my grandparents and their ancestors did it!  I like tradition but darn it, I was not going to throw away egg roll wrappers.  So I made the spanikopita ingredients (there is probably a recipe somewhere on my blog), filled the wrapper, put on parchment lined baking sheet, spread with olive oil and baked.  Oh my goodness!  They are so good! I also made enough of those to freeze too!  Now just waiting for the time when people can come over and enjoy these treats that are in the freezer! 

Spanikopita egg rolls with fresh tzatiziki (I spell it differently every darn time I write it). The key, in my opinion, to absolutely delicious filling is FRESH herbs!  I very rarely use dried herbs but have them at the ready just in case.  

Quick review of my "I should start writing again" ...

I started this blog to share some family stories and recipes for my sons to have one day.  I've not written in it for quite some time.  I need to start again, if only for some kind journal for fun.  I try to write every day in a gratitude journal, but food is truly an adventure.  I decided, today as a matter of fact, that I might not write the recipes, but just the stories.  Being that I don't measure half the time that I cook, it originally was quite difficult to measure everything and write it down (but I did it!) So, now I will write some of the cooking adventures that I have had during this Corona virus isolation.  Cherry clafouti was a FAIL. This focaccia bread was absolutely delicious.  It will just depend on my mood.  Of course, I will tell cookbook source if used.

I always do a "mise en place".  That's a fancy word for "get all your stuff together" I was a French major, so "mom, dad, I am still using my knowledge...and that trip to Paris and Dijon to study was not in vain!  I'd love to live there again one day!  Thank you! Thank you! Merci beaucoup"  ...but you already knew my love for the place.  Miss talking to both of you!  

I have a bread machine, but there is something about getting your hands in the dough!  

Here is a quick hint!  Mark the outside of your bowl with a chalk marker!  You can really tell where your dough started before the rise.  It is just fun to do.

Ta da!  It was so much fun to decorate!  I believe it was from my Italian cookbook by Lidia Bastianich  It also freezes very well!  I've enjoyed the "fresh out of the oven" taste on several occasions.

Cherry Clafouti - NAILED IT!! FAIL

What to do with all of these cherries?  I know.... I'll make cherry clafouti

Yeah... I've made it before and it wasn't too difficult. I honestly believe that the cherry/olive pit gizmo is one of the best kitchen time savers since slice bread.  I used this on over a pound of cherries.  The batter was easy enough to make.  One direction is the put part of the batter in a baking dish and bake for 2 minutes, then add cherries and rest of batter.  How easy is that?  Well, apparently, not so easy as I messed up somewhere...  It, honest to goodness, could have probably been rolled up and bounced across the floor.  That was the texture of it.  At least I had some great romantic jazz and Andra Day to listen to while I attempted this french dessert.  I will not give up! No, I will make it again soon...just not today.  I'm thinking that I will make a cheesecake. A small bake in a pie pan cheese pie. Brownies would be good too. Darn, I can't decide.  Cheesecake brownies!  That's an idea.  I am not sharing the recipe because, well, it was a fail.  See the scale?  It is supposed to be 105 grams of flour.  I'm just blaming that itty bitty extra gram for the failure! The entire thing was thrown in the bin! 

Mediterranean Blackeye Pea Soup

In the Southern part of the U.S. it is traditional to eat black eye peas for New Years Day.  They are said to bring luck.  In lieu of cooking them with ham bone and seasoned with onions, tabasco sauce, etc.... I have opted to have them in a healthier soup.  It's southern, but southern Europe is the roots.  I ate this soup on so many cold rainy days as a child.  My mom added great northern beans and giant lima beans to the black eye peas.  She did not add cilantro or spinach, but I know she would have loved it.  For New Years Day, it's black eye peas as the only pea/bean.

Ingredients

2 8 oz cans of black eye peas (unseasoned) rinsed and drained. You can use fresh if time permits.

1 Medium onion (chopped)

3 carrots, cut in this slices

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped(you can use any color, I just like the yellow since I have red and orange vegetables)

1 or 2 medium russet potatoes (cut in bite size cubes)

2 celery stalks, cut in thin slices

1 small can tomato puree (about a cup)

1 can diced tomatoes. I like a lot of tomatoes, so I use about 2 cups)

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp fresh oregano

2 cloves garlic or garlic powder or salt

water, chicken, or vegetable broth as needed (probably 3 cups or so) You can always add more.

salt and pepper to taste

fresh spinach

fresh cilantro

lemon zest and juice if desired

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion,, celery, bell pepper in one or two tablespoons olive oil until the tender.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover until potatoes and carrots are tender.  You can also do what my mom did and leave one potato cut in half.  After the soup is ready, mash the halved potato and return it to the pot.  I happen to love cilantro, so after the soup is ready, I serve it in a bowl and add the fresh cilantro to the bowl.  I also add fresh spinach leaves that have rolled and cut into shreds. The amount you use is personal taste.  I also grate lemon zest on the top and add slice black olives (not Kalamata for this recipe, but plain black olives).  This would be great with feta cheese and hard bread on the side.   The wonderful thing about this soup is that you can adjust it the way you like it. Don't like carrots or celery? That's fine.   Soup is all to taste anyway.  You could also add hot pepper flakes if you like a hotter soup.  If you change the peas to lentils and the potatoes to rice, you have another great soup! 

Pistachio Croissant

I have to visit some doctors a few times a year.  It is not close to home but about 25 miles away. (That's just a normal daily drive for many that live in my neighborhood). Of course today was raining so the excitement of being stuck in traffic was a little more burdensome than usual (zero traffic to work and only 11 miles away). After my visit today, I decided to go to Alons, one of my favorite bakeries.  Being a pastry and bread lover since childhood, this is the equivalence of getting lost in a candy store.  I'd rather have baked goods than candy.  The aroma wafting out of the door of the patio pulled me in like one of those floating cartoon characters when they are taken with something delightful.

Standing at the croissant-bagel-5 grain-multi grain-gluten-free-health nut-pound cake-baguette counter, I immediately knew my order.  No, I didn't even see what they had to offer, didn't look twice, but calmly spoke my order, "one pistachio croissant...please".  There was zero hesitation, absolutely none.  A man was quite amused at my decisiveness of my immediate choice and said that he had never had one.  I think he was some kind of corporate big-wig, food critic, reviewer, or someone of that nature because he was in a suit and said something about visiting the kitchen. After she told him that they would put him to work, I replied, "I'd love to work in the kitchen!" Unbeknownst to her, I was quite serious about at least visiting the kitchen, perhaps sitting on a stool and taking notes.  While paying for my "brunch", I saw the same gentleman holding a plate. I asked him if he was going to try the croissant to which he replied, "absolutely!".  Guess I CAN be a salesman sometimes.  I'm just that passionate about food.

Croissant in hand, I ventured over to the coffee counter, guided by aroma of fresh coffee. The largest coffee I can get in a mug is my usual order.  No paper cup for me!  I'm so glad they have the option of a "real" ceramic mug! I believe coffee tastes much better.  I'll have to ask my son (a chemist) if the waxy material in cups can effect the taste of the coffee.  I think it does.  Even the simplest of meals needs to be fully enjoyed so the croissant found a plate, albeit a plastic one, and real silverware.  Something about eating food out of a bag just doesn't do it justice.  I found a seat, grabbed my book, took a discreet photo (photography is a hobby), and that first sip of coffee perfection put a calm over my soul. Then, the scent of the first bite as I cut into the crispy layers of that pistachio croissant was heavenly! It had probably been since my last visit 6 months ago that I had one.

For years, I've been eating a healthy diet, with minimal processed foods. I can't remember the last time I had a packaged cookie as I usually make them myself (oatmeal, cranberry, walnut is a favorite). If I'm going to eat a pastry though, I want the best quality pastry and this is one of my favorites.  I will say though, that in years past, I could not have left the bakery without a huge bag of pastry, breads, honey, jams, etc.... I left empty handed today and felt a pang of sadness in my heart. It will just make it more special each time that I do visit.  I will say though that they do have very healthy selections of ready made lunch foods if one chooses to go the "healthy" route. I'll write about that next time.  Me, I allow myself to indulge in one of my life's favorite pleasures... pistachio or chocolate croissants. I could have had both plus a pain au raisin, but I didn't! So proud.   I will drive on weekends for pastry, so if you live near there, give me a call.

Candy Corn

Candy Corn, although it is white, orange, and yellow, is pretty "black and white": when it comes to people liking to eat it.  You either love it, or loath it.  My father and myself fall into the category of "Oh my gosh!  Candy corn is on the store shelves!  It has to be a certain brand as we want the original and no imitation of off color oranges and yellows will work for us.  Sure, I'm all into the all natural food coloring and usually avoid artificial coloring at all cost.  Candy corn is the exception. At least it has honey in it.  I so hope that they will find a way to make it with natural coloring.  Until they do, my coworker and I will sneak a few pieces out of our hidden bag, looking at each other as if to say, "why are you eating that without offering me some?". We are enjoying it during our Fall season at school. We have not stopped with just eating it.  We are coloring pictures of candy corn, painting candy corn, and of course counting candy corn. I am rather proud of myself though as I saw a 4 pound bag of the candy that brightens my day like the golden sun, and had to put it back on the shelf.  I knew that too much of a good thing would not be good for my health.  After all, one has to eat it before it becomes stale.  Just ask my dad. He will concur with my "yes, candy corn does get stale" thought.  So, enjoy some candy corn as you welcome the delicious pumpkins, apples, turkey, and every other food associated with this glorious season of color.

Coffee and sunrise

Working in the school system has me back to early alarms and coffee in a travel mug.  There is nothing like the joy of the weekend when I can drink my coffee out of my bone china cup or a specialty mug.  The travel containers do not get used on the weekend if I am staying at home.  I love coffee.  It doesn't matter if it is an espresso, Cuban, Greek, or any other type.  I enjoy the different tastes.  For breakfast, it's coffee with steamed milk.  I'm cutting back on the sugar, though I still like it somewhat sweet.  Cuban coffee is very sweet and just perfect on its own.  Greek desserts call for a strong Greek coffee.  I still have the "briki" that my mom used to make Greek coffee in for her dad.  It must be 60 years old! I also have many of the coffee cups that made the journey from Cyprus or Greece many years ago.

My son gave me a coffee press for a gift and once I used it, I never looked back.  The old coffee pot is downstairs in a storage closet.  The coffee press makes the best coffee.  I like to grind my own beans too.  My favorite coffee brand is Gevalia.  Oh my goodness, it's delicious.  One day, I hope that I can try this wonderful coffee in Sweden!  That would be my ultimate vacation. Swedish pastry, coffee, and camera at the ready! Until then, I'll just drink the coffee in the yellow bag and dream. I do have a Scandanavian cookbook, so perhaps I will try to make something besides the delicious apple cake and cookies that I make in the fall.  A true afternoon coffee would be great.

Foods I don't like.... so far #4Whole anchovies

Anchovies add a terrific taste to many food items.  Where would Caesar dressing be with out that anchovy tang? Where would Worcestershire sauce be without anchovies?  I bet many people did not even know there were anchovies in it.  I read labels for fun....seriously, I read all food labels. They are hidden gems or curses depending on how many are added.  They are little fish with minuscule bones that are supposed to be healthy for you.  I'm all into health and eating well, but I just can't eat a whole anchovy.. I can pretty much eat any food stuff I don't like with a hint of lemon, but I just can't get around to the anchovy-lemon bit.

My first memorable experience with a whole anchovy was when we traveled as a family to Europe. My parents, brothers, and I are all ready and willing to eat whatever the locals eat when we are travelling.  We had eaten wonderful Kale soup from Portugal, delicious onion soup at Montmartre in Paris, the best seafood and oranges of my life in Spain, and now we were in England.   We had tried all of the items we'd not heard of on the menu to expand our palates.  We still do it to this day with awe and wonder in our eyes to experience what the locals call "comfort foods". They are indeed comforting. I now have quite a collection of international cookbooks so that I can experience home cooking from other countries at home.

Anyway, it was lunch time and we were looking for some where to eat.  There are so many restaurants and bistros that have outdoor seating. That is my favorite way to dine. Al Fresco!! Although it was probably 45 years ago, I can still visualize that cheese pizza.  I just wanted something familiar after all of the unfamiliar foods we had enjoyed over our two week jaunt through Europe.  Here it comes, the individual size pizza of my very own.  That was quite a novelty back then, though they are quite the norm now.  Wow! My own little cheese pizza on a plate. I liked my pizza loaded with everything then as I do now, but I just wanted a simple, not so filling lunch. Here is my cheese pizza with what? A sardine? I liked sardines, so I wasn't thinking too much of it.  I took one bite of the pizza and the entire pizza was permeated with fishy salt.  It pretty much ruined the pizza for me. Ever since that day, I will get a pizza with everything in the world on it: broccoli, pepperoncini, artichokes, meats, seafood, chicken, potatoes, squash, mushrooms, olives of every color and sort, but by gosh there had better NOT be an anchovy on it!!

Those little bony fish can show up in the most unsuspecting places.  If I use anchovy, I will purchase the paste. Just a little can add flavor, a lot can ruin a dish for me.  Read your labels, have fun! Discover the joys of "finding anchovy" (kind of like finding the little boy in a red striped shirt when my sons were little).  This photo is from a jar of peanut butter with added omega-3 for health conscious parents.  Anchovy and Sardine oil kind of makes me think it wouldn't go well with strawberry jam.  I didn't try it!  If you try it, let me know how it tastes. Until then, I'll be reading all of my labels on the hunt for that little pesky fish.

Foods I don't like..... so far #3 Blue Cheese

It's really all about cheese isn't it?  Just ask any person in France.

Let me start by saying that Swiss cheese is one of my favorite cheeses.  Gruyere, Emmental, anything that closely resembles Swiss is always a "go to" cheese.  A plate of melted raclette (a type of cheese that has it's own named melting devise), boiled potatoes, and tiny pickles with a huge slice of crusty French bread is a lovely winter meal. The laughing cow cheese, with it's triangular shape wedges has a special spot in a refrigerator drawer.  Such a quick thing to throw in the lunch box.  I also like the little Gouda cheeses with the red wax. Something about unwrapping it makes it like a little cheese gift during the day.

Though I try not to eat processed foods (just don't put a bowl of M&M candies near me), I do find that the lovely square American cheese,  that comes individually wrapped,  has graced more than one grilled cheese sandwich or hamburger in my lifetime as well as the lives of my children.  My youngest even wanted to be a "grill cheese cooker" as his chosen profession.  Ok, he was only five or six years old, but mama was teaching him how to cook.  There is just something child-like about cutting that sandwich in half and trying to see how far you can pull it apart before the cheese melts.  The melt-y cheese clothesline of hot lunches. As an adult, I use different kinds of cheese for my grilled cheese, but I would absolutely eat one made with the individually wrapped cheese.

Greek cheese!  According to many of my American friends, Greek cheeses are strong in flavor.  I like the strong scent and crumbly texture of many of the cheeses of Greece.  It's a link to my past. We had feta and tomatoes with our eggs for breakfast when I was a little girl. Chunks of feta, olives, and bread could keep us at the table snacking and talking before our huge family Sunday dinner.  I'm so glad it is so popular now as I love it on pizza!

Italian cheese is pretty much known everywhere. Freshly grated cheese is so good on pasta.  Fresh mozzarella cheese is so different than the ones in the stores.  I purchase it by rounds or slices and dress it with basil and olive oil.

I enjoy most any kind of cheese except the ones with any kind of visible mold that is a delicacy to many. When I was in France, I heard a girl yell at her sister that she had taken all of the blue of the cheese!  Some things one never forgets.  While in France, I tried to find the perfect Camembert and Brie.  I was trying so many that I would just save the round cover from the cheese box so I would not have duplicates.  Of course my favorite was the kind with the most percentage of fat.  The petite suisse French cheese was one that captured my heart as a breakfast cheese. Creamy, tart, and ready to be eaten with a spoon was a joy to have for breakfast.  I could go on and on about French cheeses, and I have tried so many.  I have tried so many of the blues and the "greens" and just have never developed a liking for them.

I have found that going to many parties and "pot luck" dinners, that I must be in the minority. I cannot count the times I have put food on my plate, or being served a salad and thinking, "please let this be feta, please let this be feta" (when the crumbles are so tiny, they lose the "blue"). When my niece was about 2 or 3, we were at a restaurant. Being that Greeks eat salad with just about every meal, she wanted a salad. When they asked her what kind of salad dressing she wanted, that sweet little voice said: "Blue cheese please".

Included in the cheeses that I do not like are the "no-fat", "low-fat", or "veggie cheeses". In my opinion, those are not truly cheeses, but a way to trick the mind into thinking that it is.  It didn't work for me.

So if you are ever at my house and you are served a hearty ziti dish with the aroma of cinnamon and crumbled cheese on top, remember that it will be Greek feta cheese and not blue that adorns the dish.

This is a photo of my summer "Chicken Parmesan". Instead of tomato sauce, I just used fresh garden tomatoes.  It was delicious.

Foods I don't like so far........ #2 Beets

Beets..... oh how I despise them!  Huge innocent gigantic radish (which I like) looking things that will stain everything red. Who wants that to happen? Avoid ruining your white clothes and napkins and ban beets once and for all.  

When I was a little girl, I ate just about everything.  Beets were not served at our house, but I secretly think my mom ate them.  After all, she ate tomato aspic on the frilly white edge plates at some of the "wear white gloves, a sailor dress, and go to a southern lunch with the ladies" type place. Mom worked full time when I was little so she probably had them at a cafeteria down town. I'm sure that there was an assortment of southern items to try her Greek-Cypriot-Irish-Chesapeake Bay palate. I just know that on some occasions beets had to be served either pickled, or steamed (that thought makes my stomach turn). Anyway, back to my days of "sure, I'll try a beet".  What were the southerners thinking? "Oh, a beet will make this salad look sooooo pretty". A beautiful color red disc on a salad looks so bright and cheerful.  How can one little circle taste so grassy, dirty, and un-appetizingly earthy?  I gave it my best shot and drank a lot of coke to chase the flavor. To be tolerated, as in "oh my gosh, I've got to be polite here and eat this horrid beet" it has to be pickled in wine vinegar, lots of wine vinegar. I still don't like them, but will eat enough so my hostess thinks I do!  Bring me a salad with beets and blue cheese and it becomes, as I so fondly call it: "hell on a fork".  If you ever serve that to me, on any occasion, please look at other diners when it is served, and make sure your dog is conveniently in the dining room.

Now about cranberries.... What do cranberries have to do with beets? Is there some famous recipe that will combine the two?  Not to my knowledge...... So, here is my train of thought.  I love cranberries: dried cranberries, fresh cranberries, cranberry juice, and cranberry holiday gelatin that Sandra makes once a year. My mind is starting to drift to those yummy orange cranberry scones and muffins, so I had better get back on track.  Jellied cranberry sauce can be purchased in a can. When the cylinder comes out of the can it has the lovely imprint of the can ridges on the side.  It jiggles like gelatin, and is fun to slice.  One of those childhood things I still enjoy (along with poptarts).  It's not a turkey dinner unless the slices of cranberry sauce are jiggling on a plate.  Bring on dad's fresh cranberries and oranges, but have the canned nearby.  One day, for reasons only known to my mom, she had sliced beets on a plate at the table.  We used to eat in the dining room every night as we couldn't all fit in the kitchen.  Platters of food would adorn the table where mom, dad, Papa (my Greek Papou (grandfather), Johnny, Jimmy, myself, and a various cousin or neighbor would eat.  My childlike mind did not comprehend why we were having cranberry sauce slices since it wasn't a turkey dinner, but I was excited. I didn't notice that it did not jiggle and wiggle on the plate as there was probably too much conversation going on at the time.  Low and behold, those were the worst cranberries I had ever had!  Beets, so close to the color of cranberry (through a child's eye) that that there should sell warning labels to put on each beet slice!  Nothing worse than thinking you are taking a bite of cranberry and have it be the beet.

Then there is beet soup. Who in the world would eat beet soup?  No one that I know. Ah, but let's call it another name to make it more elegant. Borscht, good ol' borscht, chunky or smooth, it still is a soup for which I have no desire to eat again.  If you have the best borscht recipe EVER, I'd give it a try. Hopefully, there will be enough sour cream, and wine vinegar to go in it if I don't like it initially. Then I would have pink soup. The only soup that should be pink is cold strawberry soup. Now that I could eat.  

And finally, why on earth, in mainly rural country stores,  are there huge jars of pickled eggs? Do people really purchase them? Do fishermen and hunters have them for breakfast or lunch? Did someone brilliantly think: "what am I going to do with all of these fresh eggs?, I know, I'll pickle them."?  I guess to make the eggs pretty, someone got the bright idea to toss in some beets and onions so that we could have yet, more pink food.  Beets, like liver, are easy for my palate to detect no matter how hard someone tries to hide them.  If you are like me and don't like them, you have no worries when you are invited to dinner at my house.  They will not be on the menu.  

Foods I don't like....... so far. Number 1: Liver

As a child, we were not given a choice of what we wanted for dinner. The food was put on the table and we ate it!  End of story! I think this is why my brothers and I will give most any food a try.  Luckily for me, liver was not a mainstay at our home.

Liver and onions, Aunt Tassie's Thanksgiving rice and liver dressing, French goose liver pâté, liverwurst, etc... My dad happens to like liver, but we never had it at our house.  He tells a story of going to a coworker's house for lunch and the mom served liver.  His friend had told my dad that his Jewish mama made the best liver and onions in the world. Well, if someone makes the "best" my dad wants to try it.  Off they go to a special lunch.  Dad eats his steak rare (as do I), but he has never had liver steaks cooked rare.  How did the mom cook them you may wonder?  ...very rare. For once, my dad was at a loss of what to do.  Being taught to respect elders, eat what you are served, etc... he did what anyone would do. He ate a bite of the liver, told his mom it was delicious, and when she left the room, promptly, gave it to his friend who had already polished off his serving with gusto.  HAHA!  Yes, that's my dad.  I may have not told the story verbatim, and I may have embellished it a bit, thoughtfully omitting his descriptive "blood dripping off of every bite" and the like comments, but nonetheless, my dad can tell you in his own words if you just ask.  

I have a few liver stories of my own.  I have many friends and relatives who are Jewish and liver seems to find its place on many tables at several occasions.  I cannot tell you how many times I have heard: "she makes the best chopped liver in the world". By gosh, if it's the best, I want to try it.  Try it I do!! I must have tried the "best" liver hundreds of times, yet I still don't like it.  

While living in France, I stayed with a wonderful lady who wanted me to experience all of the traditional French foods.  Tried them all with the gusto of a world traveling gourmand until..... the beautifully presented pâté de foie gras. Goose liver!  There it sat on a plate, sliced from the perfect rectangular mold, mocking me as I stared it face to face.  I knew I would like the French bread...that's a given, but the liver? Oh my... I'm sure I was asked if I liked liver. "Biensur" (of course) I like anything BEFORE I try it (unlike many children who say "I don't like it" before they have even tried it) and I had not had homemade pate before.  In the back of my mind, the haunting of other liver episodes reared their ugly heads into my conscious mind.  I tried it and there it was, the unmistakable liver taste that I just can't bring myself to enjoy.  The old adage of "try something three times and you will like it" just hasn't worked with the liver. I've tried it so many times, I've lost count.  One thing that I do enjoy, which at first glance, looks like a rustic "oh my gosh, not again!" liver pâté is pork rillettes.  It was an occasion, where to be polite, I was going to HAVE to eat that darn liver. What a pleasant surprise, when it wasn't liver, but pork! Yes, good ole pork.  I could eat that all day with French bread and little cornichons.  It's made of all things pork except for the liver.  If the liver is there, I certainly would taste it.  Another liver adventure...... 

My aunt Tassie makes a traditional Thanksgiving stuffing using giblets, liver, and rice. Since it's a family tradition, I will always eat some.  Yes, it has bits of liver in it, but also cinnamon.  The cinnamon saves the day. Those specks of liver and gizzard are discretely hidden on my plate, or sometimes, I can tolerate them, barely though. It's an interesting combination to say the least. My eldest brother would always have a pot of it to take home since he loved it so much. He would forgo the turkey and just eat the dressing I do believe. 

The photo that goes with this story, was taken at a restaurant in Chamblee, GA.  I saw "rabbit livers" and a few of my friends were saying that they like liver.  Me, on the other hand, had visions of liver and onions sitting in the line of a southern cafeteria, crackers with liverwurst, baguettes with pate, chicken livers sold in little margarine-like tubs with a happy chicken on the container (why is it happy, it's missing it's liver?) and I quickly remember that I don't really want to spend $$$ on something that with all probability I won't enjoy. I had the risotto with vegetables.... including BEETS! Oh my gosh, it's another food that I will eat to be polite.  Beet stories for next time. 

Time to Write

It seems that I've not written in quite some time.  Being that I don't measure my ingredients when I cook, I find it quite difficult to remember to measure ingredients for the blog.  So I may start writing like one of the tv chefs that gives her measurements by a pinch of this and a dash of that.  That's just my preferred way to cook.  Even if I am following a recipe, I will adjust it sometimes. I have so many food related stories that I can share that don't really have recipes included.  So,  I decided to write a few posts as yesterday was surrounded by food.

 Yesterday was Father's Day.  My dad never knows what he will get from me, but it will probably be something edible.  At least I know he will use it.  Dad has always been the "fun" shopper.  If it's unusual, he would buy it, we would eat it.......well, most of the time. That tin of steak and kidney pie stayed in the pantry for years!  It became a novelty.  I went to my local Whole Foods store knowing that I would find some wonderful fish.  Red snapper has always been my dad's favorite fish and I can't say that I blame him.  It is fabulous! We ate it a lot as kids. I'm guessing it wasn't as expensive back then as we had a lot of people to feed that had enormous appetites.   I purchased enough fish to feed an army as well as some jumbo shrimp, Greek cheese, and lemon (knowing full well dad has a bowl of lemons on the counter, but just to be safe).  Dad, at 86 still cooks up a storm every day.  His refrigerator is packed to the gills.  We had a great afternoon visit and I heard some stories that had us both giggling and laughing.  As I was leaving, dad said: "wait, I have a cookbook for you and a cooking magazine"!  He knows I love cookbooks and I will gladly share them with my sons. Our family share a love for food. We read about food, talk about food (I think there is "the great omelette debate on here somewhere), cook food together, and finally enjoy food.

On the way home, I decided to go to a farmer's market near my dad's house. Buford Hwy Farmer's Market is 100,000 square feet of wonderful, glorious, and unusual foods.  It may become a weekly visit.  I have never seen a market that was so huge!  Aisle after aisle of specialty foods.  Part of the store was devoted to Asian foods and other aisles were devoted to other areas of the globe. African, Scandinavian, Eastern Europe, Holland, Russia, and of course a lot of the store was for Hispanic cooking. Huge Asian and Hispanic populations in Atlanta are well represented here.  I was like a kid in a candy store....figuratively and literally speaking!  I purchased some Russian cookies, Dutch sprinkles for toast, espresso coffee, Swedish crackers, French mustard and some Mexican spices.  They had an entire row, which is much longer than your standard grocery store aisle full of nothing but Ramen noodles.  To be healthy, I did purchase some ginger and carrots that were yellow, purple, and orange.  I can't wait to try those.  I'll have to get the purple potatoes another time.  I'll skip the "white dirt" which is kaolin from GA and people actually eat it.

Later that evening my dad called to tell me he cooked the snapper for dinner.  He told me that he prepared it  with butter, lemon, and oregano. He hasn't changed in his 86 years! I knew already how he would make it.  He broiled it like he did when we were children.  I would probably prefer it grilled as that is my preference.  He said: "That must have cost you a fortune, you bought so much.  I had so much that I have enough for breakfast tomorrow!" Yep, that's my dad!  Fish, eggs, slice tomatoes, Greek cheese
and a hearty bread for breakfast!