Eggplant delight

Have I told you how much I like eggplants? I am always looking for ways to cook eggplants! And when I can’t find something I like, I create my own, and here is a recipe I came up with.

I served the eggplant delight as an appetizer and it was loved, for sure a keeper.

I have so much fun when I am ready with the ingredients and I can play and experiment, and if I like the end result I am so happy! But the joy comes when the people in your life like it , they are so hard to please,after all they are used to excellent cooking almost every day and they take things for granted,so when thumbs go up i know the recipe is a keeper….…..Yes indeed! This recipe is a keeper!

Here is a carrot salad I love,

I love salads but sometimes I get stuck in the salad department, I get to that place where I repeat recipes often.

Thank god I realize it and snap out of it…I need a variety in my cooking and of course we have no shortage of ingredients to start playing and having fun.

This carrot salad is a colorful salad very pleasant to the eye, delicious and healthy at the same time. We all know how very precious carrots are to our health, and the more raw vegetables we enjoy the better.

10 Things I Love about Greece and the Greek Islands

I love traveling and have done quite a bit of it…

Our last adventure was in the Hawaiian Islands, where we took a cruise. We loved it! We met so many people who really love to cruise, who’ve been on 30, 50, and even more (!) cruises in their lifetimes. They have seen the world from all different angles—all the islands and all the continents, all seven of the seas and then some, including rivers like the Nile in Egypt and the Danube in Europe and the Ganges in India.

When I asked one lady if she had gone on a Greek island cruise, she said, “Yes, of course.” My next question was, “Well, how did you like it?” Her answer blew me away: she said, “I don’t remember it.”

Wow! I can’t figure that one out! I guess too much of a good thing confuses the mind and make everything seem the same.

I liked Hawaii but did not go crazy over it. I think it’s overrated; maybe it’s because I don’t care about volcanoes.

What is it that I like about Greece and the Greek islands? Why is it that I can never get enough of that place? 

Here are 10 things I love about Greece and the Greek islands:

1         The weather—I don’t like rain during my vacation. It makes me uncomfortable, and I go away to avoid rain and snow and cloudy days…I have enough of that back home in Canada. I remember on one of my trips to Greece, I asked my sister-in-law to put the radio on so we could hear the weather report. She could not stop laughing. “Open the window,” she said, “and you will see the weather!” She was so right; the sun shines 360 days of the year!

2         The food—There are no words to explain how I feel about good food, fresh vegetables, spices and herbs, fish that is so fresh it’s still 

moving in the frying pan (and I love the whole fish—no fillet for me!) and cooked to perfection with incomparable olive oil, and meat prepared from recipes that have a past and that only get better with time.

3         The culture—History and a past so rich that you feel it in every step you take: it touches you, it affects you, it moves you emotionally to walk the paths that prominent and faithful people walked so many thousands of years ago.

4         The shopping—In the Greek islands, shopping is an unforgettable experience. The sellers do an amazing job of finding one-

of-a-kind treasures that you are happy to buy. The boutiques are little jewels, and the jewelry shops are something to see: a feast for the eyes for many, and something to buy for the rich and famous.

5         The hospitality—The people and their eagerness to show you that they love to please you…They will go out of their way to make you some Greek coffee and offer you whatever they have available. And please remember that you are free to eat fruit from their trees (EAT it only).

6         The life style—Oh, the life style! There is something about having coffee and ouzo and late-evening suppers, dressing according to the time of day, meeting friends, and having a good time without spending a fortune.

7         The music—It’s so diverse, and every region has a different instrument, sound, and even dance.

8         The architecture—It’s so beautiful, and I love the way they use materials they have in abundance, like stones. The stone houses of the mainland are beautiful, and they blend in so well with the landscape. The island architecture is amazing: the white buildings with the blue sky and the color of the sea together. It’s so pleasant and so relaxing…You want to have more than two eyes to take it all in and hold it there forever and ever, so that when you feel blue you can find the way to your secret little place and find comfort there…

9         The open-air theaters—What an amazing thrill it is to have your favorite entertainer play for you under the stars!

10      The open-air markets—They’re something to see and taste! The local farmers exhibit their products with such enthusiasm and pride. They have all kinds of seasonal fruits and vegetables, wine, oil, and honey at very reasonable prices.

 This is my top-10 list of the things I love about Greece and the Greek islands. My dream is to be able to spend the summer on a different island each year—a good plan, don’t you think?

I wish you all a happy spring.

 FILAKIA,

Litsa!

Trout for dinner tonight

I love fish and sea food; I prefer it over meat anytime.

Fish from the great seas and oceans I am partial to …Coming from the Mediterranean it’s easy to understand why…We actually prefer small

fish, nice and crispy, fried in the incomparable olive oil, with a squirt of lemon juice, what can I tell you, delicious.

Trout is a delicious fish and a cousin to salmon, thriving in the lakes and rivers of North America. 

If you think it’s challenging to cook Trout, let me put you at ease, it’s so easy and fast that you will love making it for the family, and if you like to take care of them you will think seriously about the Omega 3 nutrition’s  they need and are generously available in Trout.