Essentially Greek.....

 Greek cooking essentials.....

Essentials

The wooden pestle and mortar belonged to my mother in law 

I think the brass one came from her too

The brass one we still use to pound nuts or spices, nutmeg, cloves, mastiha, mahlepi

The large one is for pounding garlic and potatoes for skorthalia, or was, before the day of the food mixer. 

And

A large bottle of red wine. Agioritiko is  the most popular red grape variety in our area. It has notes of spicy plum, so they say. A good cheap red, I say. 

3 bottles of local olive oil which stay on our bench

One bottle is from last year's harvest, used in cooking

The glass bottle has the fresh oil for salads 

And a spray bottle 

Fresh fish from our Saronic Gulf

A typical size for fish around here

The fishmonger scales and guts them

K fries them

The cat gets the leftovers

The fish are called lithrinia in greek. Red or Grey sea bream says Google translate. 

As usual here they're fried whole. Good eating but so many bones and greasy fingers.  I'd love fillets but they don't often fillet fish here. They'd lose all their taste, they say, without the head and backbone

Lemons from our 2 trees

This photo was taken on a misty Winter's morning

A fresh baked loaf.  It rose slowly all night in the fridge. Bread making this way is convenient and always makes a excellent loaf. 

I mix the flour, water and yeast the night before. I don't Knead it much at all. The bowl is covered and left in the fridge. Early the next morning it has doubled in size. I take out the bowl, leave it an hour to warm up a bit. Punch it down and out it into the baking tin. Leave for half an hour to rise a little and bake. 

This one was for grandson Jamie who was going back to Athens after the Easter break to finish off the year's studies

Thyme and basil

And there's oregano, rosemary, parsley and sage in the garden too

May Day

 1st May

Another holiday. Another celebration. 

A traditional day for the flying of kites and picnics out in the fields amongst the wild flowers and olive trees 

A worker's holiday. Shops and offices closed.  Waiters, cooks and coffee makers though are working overtime.

The island is full. Anyone that can escape Athens by car has fled for 3 days in the countryside.  Boats, trains, trams and the metro will be on strike.  No Hydrofoils will be ferrying holiday makers from the port of Piraeus

The Communist party and Workers Unions hold protests in Athens centre, usually ending in rioting and Molotov cocktails.  

Here we make wreaths and bouquets with wild flowers or what we have in the garden. Or can nick from gardens nearby

I used to make a wreath. They're beyond me now so it's a bouquet to hang on the front gate.  Roses from our anniversary dinner and a burst of colour from the pots in the garden

The island is full once again.  Though the weather is due to change with a drastic drop in temperature, rain and wind.  

More a day for tavernas than picnics

We woke up to a light but steady rain.  Excellent for the new plants in the garden. Dismal for kite flyers

Have a happy May

Samhain blessings for those in the South

Happy Beltane for those in the North.  

May your paths be blessed with abundance, laughter and magic

47th!

No, not him

It's our wedding anniversary no. 47

Who'd have thought

1979

2025

Celebration and jubilation 

Al Fresco

 

Finally it was warm enough to sit outside and eat. There was a bit of a breeze too. The sort of weather I wish we had all year long.  Just like a Norwegian summer day said our lunch guests.  That's why they were in short sleeves and talking about swimming, in April 

Mind you Birgit did say it was the sort of crazy thing she did as a tourist but not the sort of thing she ever contemplated as a resident.

Birgit, Jan and I go back 40 years, to the golden years of Poros, when the island was a bustling hub of foreign tourism. 

'Those were the days...' 

Everyone speaks Greek so K enjoyed the conversation

He did all the cooking of our traditional meal. Lamb and lemon potatoes, Greek salad with feta and tzatziki. Wine from a neighbour served in traditional little wine glasses

And bread. It's not a traditional Greek meal without chunks of bread

 Birgit, her son Marius, and me

She was a long time Poros resident, bringing up a cross cultural family like me.  Poros is always in her heart 

The beautiful flower they brought me.  The flowers open in the sun and the display is glorious 

ANZAC Day

 ANZAC

Australia and NZ Army Corps

25th April 

National Memorial Day in Australia and NZ

Recognising all who have served

In war and peacekeeping duties

Past and present

Red poppies now blooming in our fields

The flower of remembrance

'In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row by row...' 

John McCrae  1915

Today we remember the cost of conflict 

Saint George

 23rd April

In Greece he is Agios Giorgios

Our main church is dedicated to St George so there will be a church  service on the eve with a parade of his icon through the neighbourhood and on the morning of the fiesta there will be a celebratory service.  George and Georgia are very popular names so the service will be well attended and afterwards there will be coffee and offerings of sweets and cakes

We have 3 family members celebrating 

Grandson George 

Great niece Georgia

Great nephew Djordje

Wishing you all Many more Happy Name Days and joyful celebrations

St George he was for England

And before he killed the dragon

He drank a pint of English ale out

Of an English flagon

 - GK Chesterton

That rather tickled my fancy. 

 I hope in England you celebrate as I image you should, flying the red and white St George's cross, with Morris dancing, a few pints of that English ale, roast beef, fish and chips and many cups of tea with cucumber sandwiches

Never Set Eyes on a........

Can you imagine a male living to the age of 82 and never setting eyes on a female, not even his mother?

Greek Orthodox monk, Mihail Tolotos lived in a monastery on the Mount Athos peninsular.  The peninsular in Northern Greece has 20 monasteries and around 2,000 monks.  In 1060 AD  the monasteries passed a law banning women and female animals.  This rule helps enforce their celibacy (as far as women are concerned).

Mihail was handed over to the monks after his mother died during childbirth.  Born in 1856 he grew up in the monastery, never left, and died in 1938 at the age of 82.  He knew about women only from books and the icons of the Virgin Mary on the walls of the churches. 

He lived his entire life in the seclusion of the monastery and was given a special funeral by the monks who believed him to be the only man who lived without seeing someone of the opposite sex.  

A few women have managed to smuggle themselves in.  In 1953 a greek woman dressed as a man entered and stayed 3 days.  After that the Greek Parliament also passed a law prohibiting women from entering The Holy Mountain, as it is known in Greece.  They are not allowed within 500 metres of the coast. 

The ban also applies to female animals, except cats which keep the rat population down.  So the story goes.

In present times, the monastery is inhabited by around 1,400 to 2,000 monks who live in seclusion from the world and its women. They grow and cook their own food, work on renovating and cleaning the monasteries, and do every other task that needs to be done to keep the place running.

Just like their lives, their clocks are unsynchronized from the world. It's the only community on earth that measures time according to the standards of the Byzantine Empire. Their new day starts at sunset, resulting in a six-hour time difference.

Though Mount Athos is mostly known for probably being the largest place on earth where women are not allowed, it is also on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites.