It's only nine o'clock in the morning and Yiayia's kitchen smells decadent! A plate of fresh fried eggplant slices are already cooked and waiting on the stovetop. The oven is on. Inside it a large dish of 'Briam' is baking. The 'petrogas' (a gas powered camping type stovetop in the garage) is busy too. A pot of 'Fakes' are boiling (Lentil Soup). The sizzle of olive oil and the fragrance of banana peppers and squash frying give away yet another lunchtime appetizer!
Our summer has been filled with many Mediterranean dishes---traditional Greek foods prepped by Yiayia. When Yiayia would ask us what we wanted for lunch, our wishes were always granted! You repeatedly asked for "Gemista" (stuffed tomatoes and peppers with rice) but alongside your favorite dish, she always filled the lunch/dinner table with other colorful, flavorful foods. At the beginning of the summer, Papou would laugh and say, "Olo mam kai nan eimaste!" (All we do is eat and sleep!) He'd follow by saying that the foods are filled with flavor here! It must be true for when my teeth sunk into the fried squash, I couldn't stop!?! Your plates of 'gemista' would disappear too. You ate a stuffed tomato and a stuffed pepper all by yourself---an adult portion! The sweetness of the tomato and pepper skin left you wanting more so we'd share ours with you too!
A few of these delectable dishes make it into our kitchen at home in Dyersburg, Tennessee too. Your favorite, Gemista, is baked by Yiayia when she comes to visit. I laughed at a commercial here in Greece when a Yiayia ran upstairs for her ipad and someone in the kitchen was about to devour the food she cooked! The Yiayia called down the stairs....don't eat it yet! The Yiayia wanted a picture of her dish for her blog---To Blog Tis Yiayias! That Yiayia must be me in my retirement years!?! I must get busy not only photographing, eating, and blogging about our Yiayia's handiwork in her kitchen (and ours) but documenting recipes for us to cook again and again! Unfortunately, Yiayia cooks by memory so her dishes are a mystery of vegetables, olive oil, sea salt, 'rigane', and love. Thus, the task of recreating these delectable delights doesn't just involve getting out a recipe. Each dish is filled with unexpected moments of joy.
I look forward to our last lunch on the veranda this summer with Yiayia, Papou, and you today! Although it is not 'gemista', I know that each one of us will be filled with food, healthy, laughter, and love graced by God our provider.
"Gemista" is derived from the word 'gemiso' which means "to fill"!
(Note the Atlanta Bread Company paper plate!?! That's another blog entry on the treasures in Yiayia's and Papou's house!?! There are photographs and mementos from our entire lives here. Now as you've traveled here with Mommy for the past six years, I also find items from our summers here too. I love to toss everything and/or give it away but the hardships that Yiayia & Papou have endured are remembered through their stories and all their keepsakes!?!)
As I was finishing this blog post, you were playing and the morning was getting away from us. So I put my work aside for us to work on your little journal. In the midst of writing you must have had a bit of hunger sneak up on you, "Mommy, Yiayia should have made 'gemista' for us today since it's our last day." I answered, "But she doesn't have peppers and tomatoes." You replied, "We can buy some!" So we put on our walking shoes and walked up the mountains to the local markets to buy fresh vegetables today for one more pan of gemista in the village of Zitsa before our journey home.
I love you little one! As does Yiayia---making sure you have one last bite of your favorite summer dish on our last day here.
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| Lettuce & Tomato Salad with Olive Oil & Vinegar |
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| 'Briam'-one of the three main dishes on today's menu |
Our summer has been filled with many Mediterranean dishes---traditional Greek foods prepped by Yiayia. When Yiayia would ask us what we wanted for lunch, our wishes were always granted! You repeatedly asked for "Gemista" (stuffed tomatoes and peppers with rice) but alongside your favorite dish, she always filled the lunch/dinner table with other colorful, flavorful foods. At the beginning of the summer, Papou would laugh and say, "Olo mam kai nan eimaste!" (All we do is eat and sleep!) He'd follow by saying that the foods are filled with flavor here! It must be true for when my teeth sunk into the fried squash, I couldn't stop!?! Your plates of 'gemista' would disappear too. You ate a stuffed tomato and a stuffed pepper all by yourself---an adult portion! The sweetness of the tomato and pepper skin left you wanting more so we'd share ours with you too!
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| Potato Salad with Olive Oil & Vinegar |
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| 'Fasoulakia' |
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| 'Gemista' |
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| Yiayia's Homemade Laxonopita |
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| Beets & Beet Greens |
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| 'Skordalia' |
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| 'Vleeta' |
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| 'Dolmadakia' |
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| 'Stari'--a breakfast favorite |
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| 'Kashopita' right out of the oven! Mommy didn't wait for a picture to be taken first!?! |
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| A Snapshot of a Summer Veranda Luncheon |
"Gemista" is derived from the word 'gemiso' which means "to fill"!
(Note the Atlanta Bread Company paper plate!?! That's another blog entry on the treasures in Yiayia's and Papou's house!?! There are photographs and mementos from our entire lives here. Now as you've traveled here with Mommy for the past six years, I also find items from our summers here too. I love to toss everything and/or give it away but the hardships that Yiayia & Papou have endured are remembered through their stories and all their keepsakes!?!)
As I was finishing this blog post, you were playing and the morning was getting away from us. So I put my work aside for us to work on your little journal. In the midst of writing you must have had a bit of hunger sneak up on you, "Mommy, Yiayia should have made 'gemista' for us today since it's our last day." I answered, "But she doesn't have peppers and tomatoes." You replied, "We can buy some!" So we put on our walking shoes and walked up the mountains to the local markets to buy fresh vegetables today for one more pan of gemista in the village of Zitsa before our journey home.
I love you little one! As does Yiayia---making sure you have one last bite of your favorite summer dish on our last day here.
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