My Fabulous Life in Greece

September

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:20:00 +0000

I love September.
The tender days, still sunny. Fin de saison and the beginning of something new.
My inner eternal school girl is so excited of what the new year of learning will bring.
Now it´s time to clear the garden of dried flowers, leaves, grass and plants.
It´s time to go for long walks again.
And to enjoy the beaches and the sea, now that there are hardly anyone there, for another month or two before winter sets in.

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 11:17:00 +0000

We´ll have olives this year!
Seven years ago, this was a field of rocks and weeds. Now we actually got something that resembles a garden. Including olive trees WITH olives!

Homemade cereal bars

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:59:00 +0000

As school is starting soon, I am looking for healthy snacks that I can put in my kids school bags - hoping to prevent them from eating those ready made Greek pitas when they get hungry, as they consist mainly of fat and white flour. Yummy, but of absolutely no nutritious value. Not what you need to keep the brain working!

So I am trying out homemade cereal bar recipes - I made these with oat flakes, peanuts, sesame seed and some Greek nuts that I don´t know what are called in English (or any other language, for that´s sake). Next time I´ll add almonds and dry fruit. Basically, you can use any kind of cereals, nuts and seeds you like. Then you need the "glue" - I used tahini, brown raw cane sugar, honey and butter. Tahini could be replaced with peanut butter and drop the honey if you don´t like it.
First of all, I mashed the nuts in the mortar (you can also put them in a plastic bag and roll the baking pin over). Then I put the seeds, oat flakes and the mashed nuts in a baking tray and let in the oven on 200 C/400 F to roast, taking the tray out a few times to shake the content. It takes 15-20 minutes for the cereals to get slightly brown.
Close the oven, add the cereals to a bowl. In a frying pan, melt sugar, honey, tahini and butter. Then mix very well with the cereals, even using your hands. Put a sheet of baking paper in a tray and add the cereals. Cover with a baking sheet and press the mass as well together as possible - you don´t want it to dissolve when you cut it.
Leave in the fridge to cool. Remove from tray and cut into slices. The slices can be wrapped in plastic ready to take with you, or store in a cake tin.
More healthy recipes on my website My Greek Recipes.

Coming out from the heat

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:18:00 +0000

Living with the heat we´ve had most of August is like living in a cocoon. Or living partly. Temporarily. You can´t do much, because it´s too hot. Too hot to go to town, too hot to walk, too hot to go to the beach. Too hot to sleep.
Your main thoughts are on how to get cool: Where is the coolest shade, what should I eat or drink to feel drosero, refreshed? When can I do the jobs I have to do, without the heat killing me? (Answer: At dawn or after sunset).
Of course, there are pleasant sides to this, too: Long, long swims in the sea. Long, long lunches with a glass of chilled tsipouro. Ice cream. Cold beer. Sleeping under the stars.
But enough is enough.
Last night, we had a terrific thunderstorm, followed by half an hour of heavy rain. And then the temperatures dropped remarkably.
And suddenly life is back to normal. I feel like bursting with energy after having done so little, so long.
Now, where do I start?!

Life stories

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:31:00 +0000

One of the great things about running a B&B, especially when you live on the edge of civilization, is that you get to meet so many interesting people.
I am fascinated by life stories.
Like how come a girl from a village close to the Swedish Arctic circle ends up meeting a Greek from Egypt in a mountain town in Mexico?!

Edible souvenirs

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:49:00 +0000

Forget about fridge magnets and ashtrays - when Christos and I go somewhere, the only souvenirs we buy are edible.
So also at Limnos. A bottle of that great white wine we were served during our fish lunch on a beach side taverna. It´s called Limnia Gi, which means The Earth of Limnos. I´ll save it for my birthday.
The famous goat and sheep cheeses Kaskavali and Melichloro. Rye rusks. And another island specialty: A sort of pasta called Flomaria, which is made from a wheat sort that only grows in Limnos.
And when we have eaten and drunk it all we have an excuse to go back...Limnos is worth a second visit, and not only because of the food and wine.

Get a dog!

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:52:00 +0000

When your kids don´t keep you awake at nights any more, leave chocolate finger prints on the sofa and ketchup finger prints on the windows, break your video player by stuffing it with Lego or your LP player by winding a tape around it to check if it plays music that way, too: Get a dog!

Our Nina has so far eaten THREE TV controls and an uncountable pair of shoes and slippers, not to mention sofa pillows, socks and my mobile phone charger.

She keeps her food bowl strictly for that boring dog food, while anything delicious - like spaghetti Bolonese, squid leftovers or moussaka is dragged out of the bowl and across the living room floor to be enjoyed in the privacy of her private quarters, her bed. But at least she licks off whatever she spills on the floor afterward - I can´t remember my kids doing that.

Yesterday, I gave her a bath - which she hates. Kids might hate having a bath, too, but at least you know that will pass as soon as their interest in the other sex takes off. Or same sex, for that´s sake. And kids don´t run out while still wet and roll themselves in sand, then shake it all off on your newly washed kitchen floor. (Or do they?)

Nina loves us dearly. Thinking about it, she loves all kind of people dearly - burglars, rapists and serial killers, alike. If you want to break into my house, no need to worry about the dog.
(Actually, the doors are always open, so no need to break in, either.)

She´s too chicken to chase anything bigger than a kitten, but she does bark. Actually, she can bark all night, and then I mean all night, at all the dangers lurking in the dark: Stray cats, stray dogs, our neighbor´s horse (he looks scary when there´s no light), lizards, turtles, trolls, ghosts - you name it. If an ant crosses the yard, Nina will bark at it.

Like I said - when you don´t have kids disrupting your sleep - get a dog.

A well deserved break

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 07:08:00 +0000

The thing is, when you live like we do, you never really have time off. Wherever I look I see a job that needs to be done. When I hear about people who come home from a day at work, lie down on the sofa with a newspaper and the TV zap I can sometimes feel a pang of jealousy - that´s something that I never ever do!
Not that I work all day - far from it. I go for walks and runs and do my yoga, have coffee with friends sometimes (mainly in the winter) and take time to study. But without working hours, you don´t have spare time, either.:) And my inner boss is CRUEL! She whips me and makes me keep going long after the eight hour normal day, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays make no difference.
So, sometimes comes a desperate need to escape.
Like last week.
At a spur of the moment we packed our bags and got on the ferry to Limnos - a four-five hours journey away.
And I don´t think there is a more relaxing way to have a break than on a Greek island. Limnos is incredibly beautiful. Also, surprisingly few tourists (though locales we spoke to said it was normal) - which makes it even more relaxing.
A few days with sleeping, reading, exploring, eating, drinking and you know what - and we´re back in business.
New guests are arriving tomorrow. Welcome!

Got a solid cold

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:42:00 +0000

Is that the punishment for sleeping under the stars? Going from extreme heat to coooold...
Or maybe it´s my body telling me to take a break and a rest?
Could absolutely do with a few days vacation!

Holy Mary!

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:23:00 +0000

It´s nice waking up in the cool backyard, staring up at the crisp blue sky and listening to the mass at church - there are load speakers outside, so the whole village can hear the priest without having to actually go to mass.
Today is The Dormition of Virgin Mary, one of the biggest religious feasts in Greece. Nea Peramos, which is protected by Virgin Mary, is absolutely packed with people coming for the celebration and the huge fair at the harbor.
But in Eleftheres everything is quiet as usual.

Sleeping under the stars

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:29:00 +0000

I have moved a bed out in the back yard, where I can sleep naked under the stars.
It´s so hot that even the mosquitoes get too lazy to attack.

It´s hot

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:26:00 +0000

It´s hot. And when I say hot I mean HOT!
I start the day very early with a long swim in the sea, which keeps me cool for a couple hours, so I´ll be able to do the most necessary work around the houses. After making a salad for lunch I´m exhausted, and need a siesta...Then spending the rest of the afternoon reading, waiting for it to be cool enough to be able to move...Star gazing at the restaurant in the evening, drinking red wine with loads of ice and lemon...
Nina the dog spends her days flat on the floor, not even getting up to chase the cats away from her food...
My guests from Thessaloniki only stayed one day, preferring their air-conditioned apartment in the city to the heat of Eleftheres. I can´t blame them. It was even too hot to stay at the beach, they said.
Well, it´s August and it´s Greece. A boiling combination.

A special visitor

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:50:00 +0000

A butterfly just flew in through the window, landed on my computer, sat there a little bit and flew out again...
An everyday miracle...

The meal you can´t forget...

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:13:00 +0000

I am sure there is a meal or a dish that you´ll never forget. The smell, the taste, the atmosphere...
To me, my grandma´s stewed rhubarb with cream is the dish the has made an everlasting impact in my memory. Grandma died 34 years ago, but I still can feel the smooth taste of the rhubarb and cream in my mouth and vividly picture stirring the cream into the red rhubarb stew. And of course, the memory of this dessert also awakes memories of the smell of my grandma, her soft skin, the clean sheets of her bed and crawling into her bed in the morning waking her up...The nooks and corners and long dark corridors and paintings and nicknack in her house, the doll house in the garden and my aunts dolls that I was allowed to play with...
The other day, I had a mail from Mason in Denver, who had eaten a dish he couldn´t forget, in a Greek pub in Utah. Now he was searching for the recipe, which isn´t so easy when you don´t even know what the dish is called. From his description I guessed it´s a version of Bekri Meze, The Drunkard´s Appetizers - a truly unforgettable Greek meze! Get the recipe here.
Now, tell me - what´s the meal you will always remember?

Work...

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:59:00 +0000

Changing sheets, sweeping balconies, washing floors, dusting shelves, scrubbing toilets, polishing mirrors, filling refrigerators...
Now new guests can come!
And I take a well deserved dip in the sea...

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:28:00 +0000

I am lucky enough to have a fantastic zacahroplastio a few minutes down the village road, where I can get the most wonderful bougatsa and pastry. So honestly, I haven´t really tried very hard to make the famous Greek pastry at home. But that was before!
Since I created My Greek Recipes, I decided it wouldn´t be complete without a good selection of filo pastry recipes and I have now started the project of cooking my way through several classic pastry dishes.

Not that my family complains...The custard pie I made the other day disappeared within an hour. And that was 16 slices! Well, I guess that´s how it is to have teenage boys living with you.:)

August already...

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Not much time for writing as guests come and go. Days are too warm to do much. Long coffee breaks in the shadow and early evening swims in the sea. Cooking from the garden: Grilled tomatoes, lightly boiled fresh green string beans, grilled zucchini...
And suddenly it´s August!
I had been looking forward to the concert with Panos and Haris Katsimichas, as a part of the summer festival at ancient Phillipi, but sadly the concert was canceled due to lack of petrol because of the strike. And then the strike finished.
Taking my sister, her kids and my sons to Thessaloniki tomorrow to put them on the plane to Norway and pick up new guests arriving with same plane from Norway. And this week we also expect guests from Ireland, Italy and Germany...I don´t think Christos and I will have time to enjoy being home alone!

Heat

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:52:00 +0000

Wearing only the thinnest, thinnest cotton dresses.
Walking the dog before seven, when the day is new and fresh. At half past eight it starts getting hot, at height it´s too hot, at half past eight it´s unbearably hot...
Escaping to the shadow of the house...Shutters closed, the fan on. The fan keeps the flies off me as I am writing.
At noon I am exhausted and could kill for a cold beer or a glass of white wine with ice.
Siesta. Dozing, not sleeping.
A late afternoon swim on a shady beach. White sand, turquoise waters that turn darker and darker as cooler it is. Rocks with pine trees and olive trees hunching over the sea. Incredible beauty.
The black velvet sky, star-specked...
Sleeping under the stars.

Some days..

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:24:00 +0000

..are just for being, not for achieving anything.
I think today will be that kind of day.
Hanging around, doing very little...:)

Good bye and welcome...

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:01:00 +0000

Au revoir to our French guests, who also visited last year - and hopefully will come back again!
And now the rooms are cleaned and ready for a big Dutch family arriving any minute. I am sitting here with a cup of green tea and having a short break, before I start to cook.
On the menu today: Papoutsakia, stuffed eggplant.

Stuffed tomatoes and peppers

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:01:00 +0000

We have French and Norwegian guests staying with us at Kairos garden this week. Tonight, this is what they will be offered: stuffed tomatoes and peppers, all ingredients from the garden! Read how to make this delicious summer dish here: http://www.my-greek-recipes.com/stuffed-peppers-recipe.html

Sunflower fields

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:27:00 +0000

I love sunflowers and I am thrilled that there´s suddenly popping up huge sunflower fields everywhere in this area - it starts feeling like Tuscany! (Not that I have ever been, but that´s how I imagine it would feel like!). Obviously, there´s some kind of farmer´s program encouraging the sunflower production. Whatever, I fully support it!
Sunflowers are tall and beautiful, just like me :) - always turn towards the sun rise, the new day and new opportunities. Like me, too.:)
Definitely MY flower!

Sunday morning happiness...

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 07:48:00 +0000

..is a long swim in the sea, first thing in the morning..
Then meditating on the beach, the sea breeze blowing away all thoughts and the morning sun filling me with light and joy..

Followed by straight from the oven spinach pie from Dimitri´s and coffee on the terrace...
Was I missing something?
Oh, yeah, the birds singing happily!

This is why it´s called Butterflybush!

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:26:00 +0000

Look, how pretty!

Tomato time!

noreply@blogger.com (Tove) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:23:00 +0000

The pride of our vegetable garden: Lush tomato plants filled with fruits!
Tomatoes are on the menu every day, of course! Check out one of our favorite recipes - baked tomatoes - here.