Sometimes you want a really good omelet without having to go out to eat. Well, this one is simple and tasty!!!
You will need:
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1tbsp plain breadcrumbs
a slice of parmesan cheese or emendal
1 tsp of oil (vegetable is best)
Place oil in a pan and heat at medium. Whisk all ingredients in a bowl and pour in pan. Cook on one side until no longer wet, then flip on the other for browning.
You can choose to add onions (but make sure they have been sauteed in advance), or an type of breakfast meat that you have chopped into smaller pieces.
Enjoy!!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Traditional dishes made easy ... Pastichio - Greek Baked Ziti
When I was 12 my mother showed me how to make this dish called "Pastichio". Basically it is pasta, meatsauce and a white cream sauce (bechamel). You would think now, that this would take about 30 to 45 minutes maximum to make. Well, my mother had me in that kitchen for about 4 hours... OMG, I never thought I would be able to make this on my own.
With time and many many many tries, I have mastered this dish to about 40 minutes, including the baking... So, here goes...
Try to think about what your dish is. This one is pasta with 2 sauces. So, let us try to make it just as simple as that.
The recipe: PASTICHIO
1 lb pasta (preferably a noodle with a large hole - penne, rotini, pastichio noodles)
5 table spoons of butter (3 tbsp for the bechamel and 2 tbsp for the pasta)
3 cups of milk (whole, or even 2%)
1 quart 35% cooking cream (heavy cooking cream)
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese (here you can alter or include romano, mitzithra, monterey jack)
3 - 4 tbsp of white all purpose flour
pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground beef (I like lean but you choose which you would prefer)
1 cup bread crumbs (you can use corn chips, corn flakes - whatever you wish that is dry and a bread)
Food processor:
2 roasted red peppers
1 onion
1 garlic head (or 1 tsp of chopped garlic)
1 tsp dry or fresh parsley
1 can of whole tomatoes ( or if you have ripe fresh tomatoes that is also good)
2 pots are needed.
1st pot: Boil your pasta al dente (once cooked and drained place in your lasagna pan and place over it the 2tbsp of butter. Leave to the side
2nd pot: At same time as pot 1 is boiling, heat the oil and then place in the meat to brown. Once the meat is cooked place in the mix from the food processor, cover and cook on medium for 20 minutes.
Once Pasta is removed from 1st pot, place in there the 3tbsp of butter to melt, then add in the flour to create a rue. Once the mix is starting to brown a bit add in the milk and the cream. Let that heat to a quick boil, then stir in the cheese and the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Keep stirring till you see it start to thicken. Once thick like a soft pudding remove from heat.
Your meat from pot 2 should be done. Place that over the pasta that is in the pan, move it around a bit so that it blends with the pasta. Then cover that with your bechamel sauce. sprinkle with a bit of dry cheese and breadcrumbs. Place in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven when the color on the top has started browning. Let sit for 20 minutes... ready to serve and enjoy! Note you can always serve following day. To many it is preferred... if you can hold off till then...
YUM YUM
With time and many many many tries, I have mastered this dish to about 40 minutes, including the baking... So, here goes...
Try to think about what your dish is. This one is pasta with 2 sauces. So, let us try to make it just as simple as that.
The recipe: PASTICHIO
1 lb pasta (preferably a noodle with a large hole - penne, rotini, pastichio noodles)
5 table spoons of butter (3 tbsp for the bechamel and 2 tbsp for the pasta)
3 cups of milk (whole, or even 2%)
1 quart 35% cooking cream (heavy cooking cream)
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese (here you can alter or include romano, mitzithra, monterey jack)
3 - 4 tbsp of white all purpose flour
pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper
3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground beef (I like lean but you choose which you would prefer)
1 cup bread crumbs (you can use corn chips, corn flakes - whatever you wish that is dry and a bread)
Food processor:
2 roasted red peppers
1 onion
1 garlic head (or 1 tsp of chopped garlic)
1 tsp dry or fresh parsley
1 can of whole tomatoes ( or if you have ripe fresh tomatoes that is also good)
2 pots are needed.
1st pot: Boil your pasta al dente (once cooked and drained place in your lasagna pan and place over it the 2tbsp of butter. Leave to the side
2nd pot: At same time as pot 1 is boiling, heat the oil and then place in the meat to brown. Once the meat is cooked place in the mix from the food processor, cover and cook on medium for 20 minutes.
Once Pasta is removed from 1st pot, place in there the 3tbsp of butter to melt, then add in the flour to create a rue. Once the mix is starting to brown a bit add in the milk and the cream. Let that heat to a quick boil, then stir in the cheese and the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Keep stirring till you see it start to thicken. Once thick like a soft pudding remove from heat.
Your meat from pot 2 should be done. Place that over the pasta that is in the pan, move it around a bit so that it blends with the pasta. Then cover that with your bechamel sauce. sprinkle with a bit of dry cheese and breadcrumbs. Place in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven when the color on the top has started browning. Let sit for 20 minutes... ready to serve and enjoy! Note you can always serve following day. To many it is preferred... if you can hold off till then...
YUM YUM
Monday, July 18, 2011
Travelling back in time...
Some times we come to point in our journeys where we actually go backwards although still moving ahead in a positive way. This is what is happenening to me now. I will be going home. Yes... HOME! Although born in the States and lived on this side of the Atlantic for the most of my life, I consider Greece to be my home.
My parents, both born and raised till their mid teens in Greece, are more American than I feel sometimes. Although I am very proud to be from the US and grateful for the advantages I had growing up to be born there, I still feel lovesick over this small country in the Mediterranean.
Political upheaval, financial distress, anarchy, greed, cheating foreigner and each-other, I still find that there is the purity of our ancesters. Those who fought foreign invaders, stood up for what they believed in, hid in caves to save their lives, their religion, their purity.... Those who gave us the language we speak, the foods we love to eat, the dances we celebrate with , the songs we rejoice to... Those who gave us our culture, our language, our pride.... At least this is what it is for me. I am proud to be of Greek Heritage.
And in a few days I will be landing at an airport I do not know to take a Metro I have not taken before, to get to the city that I wil not recognize, and walk up to the top floor of our family building and take a peek at the Acropolis just before I enter my grandmothers home and drop in her arms.
My Yiayia (grandmother) who's name is Afroditi, is the root of our family. She has been holding us all up and made all of us who we are today. A mother of 4 children, all living, widow for the past 38 years, an immigrant to the US at age 55 only to return back to her home almost 25 years later. Now she sits on her large roof-top terrace and reminisces about the past. She waits for her grand-kids and great-grandkids to visit her. She waits for someone to come and hear her stories.
For now, I sit in my home in Canada and wait for the next few days to pass to that I can begin my journey back... back home.
I hope to see my family and some old friends. I look forward to meeting my husbands extended family in Crete. And I anticipate the sun kissing me and the sea calling me in for a visit. I smile in anticipation and promise to share my experiences.
My parents, both born and raised till their mid teens in Greece, are more American than I feel sometimes. Although I am very proud to be from the US and grateful for the advantages I had growing up to be born there, I still feel lovesick over this small country in the Mediterranean.
Political upheaval, financial distress, anarchy, greed, cheating foreigner and each-other, I still find that there is the purity of our ancesters. Those who fought foreign invaders, stood up for what they believed in, hid in caves to save their lives, their religion, their purity.... Those who gave us the language we speak, the foods we love to eat, the dances we celebrate with , the songs we rejoice to... Those who gave us our culture, our language, our pride.... At least this is what it is for me. I am proud to be of Greek Heritage.
And in a few days I will be landing at an airport I do not know to take a Metro I have not taken before, to get to the city that I wil not recognize, and walk up to the top floor of our family building and take a peek at the Acropolis just before I enter my grandmothers home and drop in her arms.
My Yiayia (grandmother) who's name is Afroditi, is the root of our family. She has been holding us all up and made all of us who we are today. A mother of 4 children, all living, widow for the past 38 years, an immigrant to the US at age 55 only to return back to her home almost 25 years later. Now she sits on her large roof-top terrace and reminisces about the past. She waits for her grand-kids and great-grandkids to visit her. She waits for someone to come and hear her stories.
For now, I sit in my home in Canada and wait for the next few days to pass to that I can begin my journey back... back home.
I hope to see my family and some old friends. I look forward to meeting my husbands extended family in Crete. And I anticipate the sun kissing me and the sea calling me in for a visit. I smile in anticipation and promise to share my experiences.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
New laptop
Got a new laptop and Cathy is forcing me to post something. So here I am! Posting! What though should I post? Should I say how much she annoys me sometimes? Hot about the fact that she invites me to her house and does not offer me coffee? Yeah, can you believe some people???
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, March 27, 2009
A friend
There is a girl of quick wits and pretty nails. Some could describe her as cute, others as pretty, many would say she was Greek with an Italian air about her (might be the hands in air all the time) and an old fashioned look about her... but old fashioned she was not. She is my friend...
Her hair was chestnut brown although it has had it's color frenzies and I personally prefer her as a dark blond especially when she fake and bakes the skin color. She has fire red nails and toes always perfect; rarely wears shoes only sandals or flip-flops, shorts and a tee-shirt; and fire cherry lipstick that kills.
I met her 10 years ago for the first time as adults but we had a very brief intro 39 years ago this August. We were both in a crib as her mom taught school at the church we lived next to. So her mom would drop her off while she taught and my mom would watch us. For 29 years we never met and then again one January morning in Savannah Georgia our paths crossed again. She was bitching (as it is what has bonded us as friends for the past decade) about the company that was supposed to clean her wedding dress and they did not do the job. I remember the impression I got from her that day - it still haunts me now - "what a chick!".
And so the journey began... She was married a year already and her hubby was my brothers best friend at the time. So since I did not know anyone there she became my lifeline to what I missed from my life till that moment... a kindred spirit... Let's call her Shenaynay... Lord knows there is a cabby in Athens that can only refer to her by that name (long story there).
Since that moment we were inseparable; even when I moved to Greece for almost 2 years - that bitch followed me there and made me go to Italy for a week touring with Vino and Fromagio. Although in the end had the audacity to get herself pregnant during one of her few visits to Greece and from that romp came my sweetheart - let's call him by his Indian name "Big Dick - two balls"(not meant as something vulgar but rather the exclamation of his paternal grandfather when he first saw him - I just translated the Greek to Native English - insert laugh here).
OK, let me get back to it... We had a few close calls with the law - getting drunk and attempting to drive home while I was pucking in a Kleenex box (listen I am going to admit it, yes, after all it is the truth - come on I am sure there is stuff all of you have done but this one is all ours) while a cop was right behind us.
There was the time the town was flooded and while some cars where floating in the streets (including Shenaynay's) we called the fire department to rescue us from her apartment (where we were stuck overnight due to the risen swamp waters infested with God knows what) and they came at 7am, put us two in a row boat while we carried clothes in plastic bags (HURRAY FOR THE RED-NECKS AND THOSE WHO WANT TO BE JUST LIKE THEM), and rowed us to higher grounds. While all this was not enough, we then proceeded to go to my home, take showers, she kissed her hubby goodbye for the day and we drove 4 hours to a Cher concert in Atlanta. YEP we love Cher... On the way back the next day - I called in flooded and got FIRED!!! LOL
Once we were sitting at a cafe around noon in a village in Greece where there was nothing to do... so when all else fails our modo is DRINK! So we did. We drank the store out of white wine and the proceeded to screwdrivers. We were do drunk everyone in that little who lived pathetic little lives stopped as they walked by and ogled us. It's been a while since we laughed like that.
There was an occasion where we went to the local drinking hole with another friend and got smashed... on the way back we stopped on the side of the road while the friend (let's call her Nina - well that is her name actually) got out of the car and started to dance zeimbekiko in the middle of the hick-town road. The good ole days.
Another time she visited me while I was living in Connecticut and we went to the Statue of Liberty. I do not think we even realized who was around us, we just had a blast. Then went out to the neighborhood Greek club where you can drink and smoke at the same time... We got hammered until the place closed down. I am sure to this day there is a still a gas-station attendant that talks about my friend Shenaynay dancing outside at the gas-station while I pumped gas and got cigarettes.
Oh wait... how about the time where we were at her home after a wild night out and she receives a message on her machine that the Board of Education is calling her and she needs to call them back... Her brother - may he rest in peace while pranking and making those angels around him laugh now- was the culprit. He played a prank on her and the only thing she did not do was pee on herself. And we all know she is capable of that.
What about my amazing friend can I say - she has been the person I have loved the most outside my blood relatives and has actually treated me better than they have. She is a fire-cracker and the only person I can get in trouble with and would know that all we have to do is ... just let it say "Fuck it - tomorrow is another day".
My sweet girl, I know you are going through a time that will never end. Just know that I will always be your friend and I will always love you. What happened make me angry because the sadness can never go away. He will not return to you as you knew him, but I hope that he is with you everyday. When you trip over something chances are he placed it there, when your son says goofy things chances are he is laughing and is proud, when you go to sleep at night chances are he is caressing your face, and when you are tired and don't think you can go on another day chances are he is holding your hand. I want to believe that because what I witnessed all these years was a big sister looking after her brother and know he is looking after you... He is the big brother now. He is your guide. I am sure he is next to you at every step of the journey you still have ahead of you. And there is much more.
I love you and your family as you are all my family. And I miss you, my friend.
Her hair was chestnut brown although it has had it's color frenzies and I personally prefer her as a dark blond especially when she fake and bakes the skin color. She has fire red nails and toes always perfect; rarely wears shoes only sandals or flip-flops, shorts and a tee-shirt; and fire cherry lipstick that kills.
I met her 10 years ago for the first time as adults but we had a very brief intro 39 years ago this August. We were both in a crib as her mom taught school at the church we lived next to. So her mom would drop her off while she taught and my mom would watch us. For 29 years we never met and then again one January morning in Savannah Georgia our paths crossed again. She was bitching (as it is what has bonded us as friends for the past decade) about the company that was supposed to clean her wedding dress and they did not do the job. I remember the impression I got from her that day - it still haunts me now - "what a chick!".
And so the journey began... She was married a year already and her hubby was my brothers best friend at the time. So since I did not know anyone there she became my lifeline to what I missed from my life till that moment... a kindred spirit... Let's call her Shenaynay... Lord knows there is a cabby in Athens that can only refer to her by that name (long story there).
Since that moment we were inseparable; even when I moved to Greece for almost 2 years - that bitch followed me there and made me go to Italy for a week touring with Vino and Fromagio. Although in the end had the audacity to get herself pregnant during one of her few visits to Greece and from that romp came my sweetheart - let's call him by his Indian name "Big Dick - two balls"(not meant as something vulgar but rather the exclamation of his paternal grandfather when he first saw him - I just translated the Greek to Native English - insert laugh here).
OK, let me get back to it... We had a few close calls with the law - getting drunk and attempting to drive home while I was pucking in a Kleenex box (listen I am going to admit it, yes, after all it is the truth - come on I am sure there is stuff all of you have done but this one is all ours) while a cop was right behind us.
There was the time the town was flooded and while some cars where floating in the streets (including Shenaynay's) we called the fire department to rescue us from her apartment (where we were stuck overnight due to the risen swamp waters infested with God knows what) and they came at 7am, put us two in a row boat while we carried clothes in plastic bags (HURRAY FOR THE RED-NECKS AND THOSE WHO WANT TO BE JUST LIKE THEM), and rowed us to higher grounds. While all this was not enough, we then proceeded to go to my home, take showers, she kissed her hubby goodbye for the day and we drove 4 hours to a Cher concert in Atlanta. YEP we love Cher... On the way back the next day - I called in flooded and got FIRED!!! LOL
Once we were sitting at a cafe around noon in a village in Greece where there was nothing to do... so when all else fails our modo is DRINK! So we did. We drank the store out of white wine and the proceeded to screwdrivers. We were do drunk everyone in that little who lived pathetic little lives stopped as they walked by and ogled us. It's been a while since we laughed like that.
There was an occasion where we went to the local drinking hole with another friend and got smashed... on the way back we stopped on the side of the road while the friend (let's call her Nina - well that is her name actually) got out of the car and started to dance zeimbekiko in the middle of the hick-town road. The good ole days.
Another time she visited me while I was living in Connecticut and we went to the Statue of Liberty. I do not think we even realized who was around us, we just had a blast. Then went out to the neighborhood Greek club where you can drink and smoke at the same time... We got hammered until the place closed down. I am sure to this day there is a still a gas-station attendant that talks about my friend Shenaynay dancing outside at the gas-station while I pumped gas and got cigarettes.
Oh wait... how about the time where we were at her home after a wild night out and she receives a message on her machine that the Board of Education is calling her and she needs to call them back... Her brother - may he rest in peace while pranking and making those angels around him laugh now- was the culprit. He played a prank on her and the only thing she did not do was pee on herself. And we all know she is capable of that.
What about my amazing friend can I say - she has been the person I have loved the most outside my blood relatives and has actually treated me better than they have. She is a fire-cracker and the only person I can get in trouble with and would know that all we have to do is ... just let it say "Fuck it - tomorrow is another day".
My sweet girl, I know you are going through a time that will never end. Just know that I will always be your friend and I will always love you. What happened make me angry because the sadness can never go away. He will not return to you as you knew him, but I hope that he is with you everyday. When you trip over something chances are he placed it there, when your son says goofy things chances are he is laughing and is proud, when you go to sleep at night chances are he is caressing your face, and when you are tired and don't think you can go on another day chances are he is holding your hand. I want to believe that because what I witnessed all these years was a big sister looking after her brother and know he is looking after you... He is the big brother now. He is your guide. I am sure he is next to you at every step of the journey you still have ahead of you. And there is much more.
I love you and your family as you are all my family. And I miss you, my friend.
Spring is in the air
We each look at spring in different ways. For me it is the taunt of summer. As newly immigrated to Canada I miss those warm spring days and evenings filled with hope of renewal. As this is my second full spring in Canada, I am starting to get used to it.
Joined the gym with my husband and have been hard at going everyday. Love the fact that it is daylight when I go in the am. Working on my home's spring cleaning with potential of reno work coming up soon also. Planning a garage cleaning, a visit to the dump for old tires, waking the lawn and seeding soon with fertilizer... yeah for spring...
I am also trying to get pregnant as this is the time for new sprouting... Let's see where we go with that one.
So, as all this takes place and knowing that about now is when I would be planning my summer weekends to the beach I wonder... there is no beach around here. There are lakes, there is a river... but no beach - no ocean. What am I to do. Well here is the plan I have come up. I am going to get one of those blow up pools and when the weather gets warmer I will head to the lake and place the pool on the shore of it. Then I will put some water in from the lake and then add salt... with a bit of sun and some sand it just may feel like an ocean. Anyone got thoughts on that???
All kidding aside; I miss those days of nothing. Where I could sit on the sand and read a book or people watch. Where nothing mattered and there were no worries. At least for the moment. One day - I promise me - one day soon again...
Joined the gym with my husband and have been hard at going everyday. Love the fact that it is daylight when I go in the am. Working on my home's spring cleaning with potential of reno work coming up soon also. Planning a garage cleaning, a visit to the dump for old tires, waking the lawn and seeding soon with fertilizer... yeah for spring...
I am also trying to get pregnant as this is the time for new sprouting... Let's see where we go with that one.
So, as all this takes place and knowing that about now is when I would be planning my summer weekends to the beach I wonder... there is no beach around here. There are lakes, there is a river... but no beach - no ocean. What am I to do. Well here is the plan I have come up. I am going to get one of those blow up pools and when the weather gets warmer I will head to the lake and place the pool on the shore of it. Then I will put some water in from the lake and then add salt... with a bit of sun and some sand it just may feel like an ocean. Anyone got thoughts on that???
All kidding aside; I miss those days of nothing. Where I could sit on the sand and read a book or people watch. Where nothing mattered and there were no worries. At least for the moment. One day - I promise me - one day soon again...
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