Summer Sensations

 

Summer Herbs

Three different types of basil

I only use the last one pictured, the smaller leaf basil when cooking

They all have a slightly different taste

I use basil in most summer dishes along with

Mint  and 

Parsley

Those are the taste of summer.  A refreshing taste combo for

Stuffed tomatoes

Anything with zuchhini and aubergines

Just about anything with tomatoes

Stewed green beans

Okra

And in meatballs and bifteki.  Bifteki is the greek hamburger on every taverna menu along with fried potatoes.  They are a favourite of mine along with most of the family.

Ks meatballs are more popular though.  He puts lots of mint and parsley.  No basil

20 years ago basil was not used in cooking.  It became popular when Greek cuisine branched out and Italian sauces started being used with pasta.

My very traditional Greek m-in-law would never have used basil to cook so neither does her very traditional Greek son.

She always had a pot or two in her yard.  Basil was supposed to, still is thought to, repel mosquitoes and flies.  I disagree.  Neither does lavender.  Nice to smell, they all let out a delightful aroma when given a shake, but mosquitoes just hold their noses and fly straight through to the target.  Someone's bare flesh.  Not often mine.  Ks neck or arms are more likely to be their destination.  Zoom in, probiscis sharpened and in stabbing mode.

Oregano and thyme are used a lot but more for heavier dishes, meat and fish.

Basil does NOT go into a greek salad, not a traditional one.  And neither does lettuce

Karpouzi

Watermelon time

We buy the minis, about the size of a basketball

They haven't been very flavourful but delightfully refreshing when cold

I cut them up into chunks ready for eating

The rind is cut into small pieces. I don't have a compost bin at the moment but put them round the trunk of the grapevine. So far they've been devoured by some nocturnal animal. A weasel or stoat maybe. Or a rat

1,500 and Counting

This is blog post number 1,500 on this particular blog.  

I don't remember how I found out about blogging but back in 2007 I started a blog called 'On the Edge of Life'.  Heaven knows why I named it that.  But anyway, I started blogging as a way to keep family and friends updated on my life without having to write a whole lot of individual emails.  The first posts were long and rambling, interesting only to family who presumably ploughed through all the text.  A few other people started reading it and one complained because there were no photos.  Then a friend asked me how I could put such personal stuff out there for everyone to read.  That was way back before everyone put their entire lives on Facebook and the like.  I was a bit annoyed and deleted the blog, but not before printing out all the posts.  It hadn't lasted long, a year or so.

After that I decided to start another blog, not tell that friend.  She didn't need to read anymore about my life I decided.  I called it 'local-kiwi-alien' because that's what my girls called me after the song 'I'm in Love with an Alien'.   

My first post seems to be in 2010, once again for family and friends and anyone else that found me on the internet.  

The first post was about a family celebration.   Little has changed over the years.    I could change the date and repost half the blog with little alteration.

That 1st post had a long list of food, no photos.  It was just before the economic depression.  Our feasts are no longer so extravagent.  

 It took me a while to work out how to post photos. Now I take photos of every little thing and make a blog post out of them.  I start off everytime meaning to just add a few words and always get carried away.  I'm not a great talker but I can sure blab on my blog. 

2008 - excerpts from several old blog posts 

- TV. It's all Greek except for 'Days of our Lives', 'The Young and the Restless', 'Friends' and 'Gilmore Girls' in English with subtitles. 

No NZ news unless some maniac wipes out his whanau, family.  Or a sealion attacks parked cars in a seaside town. Anything sensational. 

2026 ..... much the same now.  The soaps are different except for 'Friends'

2008 .......I wrote ....

 Cars,  don't bother with seat belts, or stopping at redlights. Forget pedestrian crossings. 

If you double or triple park at least leave the keys in your car so the poor devil you've blocked can move the car and get out.

Give way to all taxis, buses and datsun farm trucks. Forget the right hand rule, there isn't one. Beware old ladies dressed in black riding donkeys. 

2026..... it'll be rare now to see anyone riding a donkey.  We are more law abiding and wear seat belts and helmets and double parking often means a ticket.  Fines are expensive.  Pedestrian crossings are still ignored.

 2008 ................

K went fishing and had a good catch.  Enough for family friends and neighbours.  He had given most of it away before he reached home.

2026 ............

K hasn't been out on the boat for a few years and recently sold it.  He had many marvellous memories.  Fishing with the girls and the grandchildren.  Diving for cockles, clams and mussels, spearing octopus with a long handled trident, pulling up squid at night by the light of a lamp and catching kilos of fish, different catches according to the seasons.

2008 .......

Our nearest neighbour, a wily old fox, has a problem with her oven.  A mouse ate through the wiring.  A hazard of living in the wop-wops.  K comes to the rescue again.  He's up there repairing the damage.   He returned home with a bottle of wine she makes herself from grapes grown on her small vineyard, a bottle of homemade vinegar and fresh eggs from her chooks.

2008 was the year of the Beijing Olympics.

Greece won 2 silver medals and a bronze and 2 athletes were expelled on doping charges.  The silver medals were won by 2 young 'boys' in a double skiff.  One of them was from Poros and he had gone to school with Elli and Danae.

Poros came to a halt while the race was on.  The whole island cheered them on .  A road has been named after the Poros lad, Dimitris Mougios Parade.

2008 - wine season

I wrote.......

K will be putting up 300 kilos of wine this year.  He has been scrubbing 2 big wine barrels. He is buying 100 kilos from our neighbour and after lengthy discussions the other 200 kilos will be from another vineyard on the mainland.

Our neighbour and her family pick and press the grapes themselves.  Some of the wine is pressed by foot and some in a wine press.  One year the grandchildren went up and trod the grapes with them.

2026............

K hasn't made his own wine for many years.  Nowadays he buys it in 20 litre cardboard cartons from a village not far away on the mainland.  The closer the vineyard the better the wine he says.  It does not travel well.

Over the years I started following other people's blogs, seeking out those from NZ.  I got a few more followers and feel I'm part of a small corner of the blogging community.    I'll keep on writing although it often seems to be on a repeat.

I've grown older, the grandchildren have grown up, there are more tourists around but Poros has remained much the same.

Summer..... Not in the City

 Congratulations and Jubilations

Granddaughter Luli found out this morning which University she'll be attending this year. It's the prestigious Athens School of Economics, the best in the country. She has been swatting hard for the last 2 years and finally all the stress is over. She achieved her dream!! 

Luli

Working the summer at a waterfront café ' 

'meanwhile back at the ranch' 

Poppi popped in to help the old folks do a few chores

This is the second time she has been called for urgent repairs

The first time was when our bedroom window fell off it's hinges.  It's very heavy, double glazing.  It came down without breaking when K was doing something to the fly screen.  We needed Poppi with strong arm muscles to lift it up again and into place

Done

Then she had to lift out the flyscreen from our living room window.  The screen was ripped  years ago by cats climbing up them with their sharp claws and a recent high wind destroyed it completely. 

She came up the second time, attached the new screen to the frame and slotted it back into the window

Done

We have loads of cherry tomatoes and are giving away bags of them.  I've pureed some and will make some sweet n sour sauce. 

Apricots I buy at the farmers market every week and simmer and then puree those too.  The freezer is full and I've made apricot chutney and apricot jam.  Both of them are delicious 

Both K and I have containers of tomatoes in the garden.  I Google how to grow tomatoes, follow all the instructions, stake them, prune them, make my own fertiliser from compost and get a handful of tomatoes.  K gets someone else to plant his, just let's them grow any old way and waters them when he remembers.  We've got kilos and kilos of tomatoes from those neglected plants. 

What's going on there? 

We've just survived our first heatwave. Temperatures of up to 42o in the centre of the country. About 36 here but felt much worse. Three days of hell fire.  

Now it's over and we had a thunderstorm.  Thunder claps right overhead and very heavy rain. It's just what we needed. The lemon trees soaked it all up. And K won't need to water his tomatoes for quite a while.

Good for us, but not for Elli who had to deal with leaky windows and doors at the office and at home 

It's beautifully cool now. I feel human again and sleep will be sweet tonight, not sweaty. 

 The little church of St Anne

25th July is her Fiesta 

Greek Guide

 What's right and what's wrong

Open palm. Don't flash your open hand at anyone, it's a serious insult.                                            If you're annoyed with someone then flash your palm behind their back.   They can't take offence if they don't see it but it'll make you feel better. A sort of 'same to you with knobs on'. 

You'll see lots of blue and white especially in the shape of an eye or a fish. Or someone's front door.  They're protective symbols.  Blue is the colour to repel the evil eye, illness and bad luck. The blue eye sends negative energy back to its source.

Dress respectfully in churches. Women will get away with trousers these days but no shorts for men or women. Stricter in Monasteries, no 'womans in mans dress'. Cover shoulders and knees. 

Cars don't stop at pedestrian crossings

Toilet paper in the bin. The used paper I mean. Don't flush it down the loo

Beware the summer sun

Never touch or remove anything from Archeological sites. You could end up in jail. Take photos unless there's a sign saying otherwise

Don't book a ferry on the same day as your flight home. Ferries are easily delayed.  Get into Athens a day early and stay overnight.  Holiday Inn has a shuttle service, and probably a few other hotels too

Go to a pharmacy for basic first aid and advice. Easier than finding a doctor

Keep to the right when driving. Pass on the left 

Seatbelts in the front seat mandatory. Don't know about the back seat

Don't use your phone while driving, though you're sure to see other drivers doing just that, and without seat belts.

Road rage is a thing here now. Beware. 

Helmets are essential for motorbikes, quad bikes and E-scooters .  You can hire a quad bike with a driver's licence. EU if you're from an EU country, otherwise international

Road signs are in Greek and English

If you pay cash, not by card, you'll probably get a discount. Cards can be used everywhere. At the kiosk for a bottle of water or a loaf of bread at the bakers

ATMs are everywhere. Preferably used one attached to an actual bank

Greeks don't eat dessert after dinner. Now and again you may be offered fruit

Water from the tap is drinkable however many people, like K, drink bottled water. Bottle caps are attached to the bottle, can't be removed and carelessly thrown away

Don't tip unless you really liked the meal or friendly staff. A few euros will do

Beware of slippery marble steps and paths. If there's water on them and you're wearing flip-flops you'll go head over heels

No public loos. Go to a cafe, buy a soft drink and use their loos

89% of Greeks believe their culture is superior to others 

I speak Greek. What's your Superpower 

50 Years

The Short Version 

  1976 to 2026

 50 years in a foreign country

June 1976, with a friend from South Africa, I  hitched hiked from London to Dover and then across Europe from Calais to Brindisi, me

carrying that heavy pack.  I remember we slept at camping grounds but don't  remember much else. It must have gone smoothly. A big ferry from Brindisi to Patra in Greece and train to Athens. We got on a train going in the wrong direction, towards Kalamata. The guard let us off at a tiny station just down the line and we spent the night on a concrete floor till a train to Athens came in next day

The Greek family

K there in the middle with his aunt, me standing at back left, his cousin, sister, nephews, and m-in-law over there on the left. The baby in the red baby-gro is daughter Elli

My M-in-law - it took a few years but I came to realise that I had literally turned her known world upside down and felt sorry she had to deal with this woman whose life and culture was completely alien to her.  We learnt to live with each other. 

On our terrace in Piraeus 

The 2 little Greek girls

At our very rustic village house down in Crete.  The water supply was a bit iffy and we often hauled water from a pipe across the road.  When it rained you needed an umbrella to sit on the loo. The roof leaked badly.  

The narrative

I was born in New Zealand and grew up in a rural town called Te Puke.

A few years after leaving school I set out to see  the world and all the relatives in the northern hemisphere.  Nowadays this is called the OE (overseas experience) Many young people downunder have that same urge.  I joined the tide north with 2 friends. 

  I had a strong feeIing I wouldn't go back to live in NZ.  Sometimes you just know, deep down inside. It was 11 years before I went back, introducing my Greek husband and 2 small children to my parents. 

  After 3 years working in London and 2 holidays on the Continent (Europe) I travelled down to Greece in June 1976 with a friend from South Africa. We found a job for the summer in a hotel on Poros.  One of the greek girls working with me at the hotel was my husband's cousin Mathitsa. She invited us to visit her home on her name day in August .  As soon as we arrived word shot round the neighbourhood that there were some foreign girls (think 'aliens') at her house and in another instant that little cave-like house was filled with eager 'sightseers' peering in at us, including all the male cousins.  And that's how I met K.

 He was on leave from  the Navy where he served on a destroyer and had a tiny roof top 'apartment' (think store cupboard with a bathroom) in Piraeus.  I moved in with him after the summer and worked teaching young Greek kids English conversation.  We lived happily with not much money.   Days when he wasn't away on the ship we drank coffee with a crowd of his friends, ate snails, squid and fried potatoes at tiny tavernas.  There were usually not more than half a dozen tables, filled  with men from the neighbourhood. Women stayed at home and looked after the children.  We drank wine flavoured with retsina and served in metal jugs .

My Greek was just a few words, their English not much better.  It didn't matter. I used sign language and quickly picked up new words and phrases. 

Ks parents found out and and were not amused. They pressured to make me go home. He didn't listen and I didn't understand. 

We married without his parent's blessing but for me it didn't matter, we lived in the city, a long way from the island.  With the first child came acceptance, even though it was a girl, not a boy.  My mother-in-law told me she would not have objected if I had a dowry, a house, which my brothers should have provided, unbeknown to them or me, when we married.    A dowry?  What the hell was that. A totally foreign and archaic concept. 

I didn't understand Greek culture that well and just rode roughshod over it all and looked down on their 'ignorance' . 

  We married, had two girls and now we have five grandchildren.  Doesn't matter how long I'm here I'll always be a foreigner.  It's not just my accent, it is my whole way of thinking. But I do understand and respect the culture now. 

Back then every good greek wife was supposed to provide half a dozen sons and a couple of girls to look after their parents in old age.  In some places when asked how many children they had, a mother or father would answer 'two children and a daughter' instead of 'three children'.  We were happy with our 'little Greek girls' as they came to be known in my family. 

  I always prided myself on my wonderful grasp of the Greek language and the masterly way I spoke. Until  I heard myself on tape one day and couldn't believe the way I spoke, with harsh New Zealand vowel sounds and the way I tortured the pronunciation was excruciating.   No wonder my grandchildren laugh at my mistakes and my neighbour screws up her brows trying to understand. 

It was, and I believe still is, difficult for a kiwi to stay here for any length of time.  I had to apply for a visa or leave the country every 3 months and re-enter to get permission to stay for another 3 months.  Twice I left the country taking the overnight ferry from Patras to Brindisi, getting an exit stamp and coming back on the next boat to receive another 3 month stamp in my passport.

 1978

We got married in 1979 and I got dual citizenship.  Citizenship and the marriage meant a lot of work.  So much red tape, so many papers to gather, from the embassy, the police, the department of immigration and references from the community.  A paper to say I had not been married before, translated offically by a women in  a grotty office up 5 flights of stairs in the middle of Athens.  Another paper from the church in NZ to say I had been baptised Church of England and could thus be married in an Orthdox Church without being re-baptised. The 2 religions have similar beliefs.  My mother happened to be working as a secretary for a Church of England Bishop and arranged it quite easily.  I had a paper from our local Orthodox Priest to say..what?  I was a nice Christian girl?  I can't remember. That had to be translated as well of course.  And finally I had to swear before a Notary and sign in triplicate that I would let my children be brought up as Greek Orthodox.

Meanwhile my mother in law, through some more educated neighbour, had written a letter to my parents telling them to come and take their daughter back home.  They would find a nice Greek girl for their son.  On the wedding day the Priest almost backed out because someone had phoned and threatened him a with a lawsuit if he carried out the ceremony.  Back then Naval officers were not supposed to marry without the permission of a senior officer.  The Byzantine church of St Catherine in the old area of Athens had a Priest who had married some of his friends and would conduct our wedding.  Once the marriage was official the Navy accepted it without consequences. 

  Now that civil marriages are legal and marriages between Greeks and foreigners are quite normal it is all so much easier and acceptable.  

  We lived in the city of Piraeus, Port of Athens, for 10 years. Then K was transferred to the Naval Station on Crete.  We had 3 wonderful years there.  The girls, who had spoken mainly English, went to small local schools. We all learnt Greek together. I helped them with their homework and we all learnt to read and write.

Then another transfer back up to the island of Salamina where the main Naval Base is located. K was assigned to a destroyer and then a mine sweeper. We lived there for 3 years, K came and went between duty at sea.

Finally in 1991 he was assigned to the Naval School on Poros.  The girls had changed schools half a dozen times and I was relieved to have a permanent base even if it meant living cheek to jowl with my in laws.  There were quite a few disagreements and it wasn't all plain sailing for the girls either.  Somehow we survived, Greek dramas, neighbours whispering behind my back, school bullies, interfering old aunts asking very personal questions, and giving much unwanted advice. We couldn't move a finger without the whole island knowing.  Closed society can be a mean society.  People said hurtful things without realising, repeating harsh gossip. But eventually I fitted in, became part of the community.  I found my place, and stopped giving a damn. 

There was a large and active expat community back then. I made a few friends and became part of the foreign crowd too, found a sister to laugh with and share the strangeness . 

These days I have a pleasant feeling of fitting in as I  make my way along the harbour calling a cheery 'good morning' to a dozen people before reaching the cafe. Through K I'm related to a lot of them.  I know to ask after their children, grandchildren and have the correct greek pleasantries to utter.   I'll always be a foreigner, but now I'm a familiar one, a local alien. 

My family in NZ, Australia and England have always been there, supporting, without question. We are one big, caring, extended international family.  They love Poros more than I do.  Their frequent visits bring great joy. I slip back into 'foreign' mode and am overwhelmed by our memories, the delight of easy family familiarity. 

STUFFED TOMATOES

One of the most popular Greek summer dishes is stuffed tomatoes and green peppers (capsicum).  

Here is my recipe - with photos.  Other popular vegetables to stuff are aubergines and zucchinis and the stuffing is rice,  onions and herbs and maybe a little minced meat as well.   They're delicious and light in the summer heat

The hollowed out tomatoes and topless green peppers ready for stuffing.  The tomatoes are easily emptied by cutting a small slice off the top and digging out the flesh with a teaspoon.  It doesn't matter if the tomato skin is torn a little or a hole made in the bottom by too enthusiastic 'digging'.  The stuffing sits in there just the same.

Method

I put the flesh from half of the tomatoes, the onion and herbs into this little mixer and turn them into a pulp.  

You don't have to precook the stuffing and I never did, for 40 years. But K one day  told me his traditional mother boiled the stuffing for a short time so now I simmer it all for 10 minutes

Here are the vegetables, each filled with the stuffing mixed, ready to be closed.

Closed up, surrounded by potatoes cut into small pieces which hold them all in one place so they don't move around or fall over while cooking.  My mother-in-law always sprinkled breadcrumbs over them all before putting them in the oven so of course I do that as well (for her son).  They have been drizzled with olive oil and salt.  The dish does not need any extra water because usually quite a lot of juice comes from the tomatoes.  You can add a little water or tomato juice towards the end if you think they need it, and olive oil

And behold, this is what they look like after an hour in a hot oven.  A little blackness on top just gives them extra flavour.

RECIPE

- half a dozen tomatoes

- three or four green peppers

(or how ever many you think your family will eat)

- one onion, chopped and put into the mixer

- one clove of garlic

- a small bunch of parsely

 - mint

- basil

- one dessert spoon of short grain rice for each vegetable

- olive oil

- salt and pepper

If you're using zuchinis and aubergines, cut off a small lid and hollow them out the same way with a teaspoon.  Use the flesh in the stuffing.  Put it in the mixer with the tomato and onion.  

- 2 potatoes, cut into small pieces and parboiled for 10 minutes

- a little sugar

- also nice is a small handful of raisins and pine nuts

Hollow out the tomatoes and cut a lid off the top of the peppers, removing the seeds.

Put half the tomato flesh into the blender with the onion, garlic, roughly chopped parsely, mint and basil.  Mix to a pulp.

Put into a pot and start to simmer the mixture

Add the rest of the contents of the tomatoes roughly  mashing up any lumps with your fingers.    Add a small glass of olive oil, the rice, salt and pepper.  That is your stuffing ready.

Put a small sprinkle of sugar in the bottom of each tomato.  This counteracts the acidity of the tomato.  Now fill up each shell and cover with its lid.

Wedge the potatoes in between the vegetables.  Drizzle olive oil over them all, sprinkle a little more salt and scatter some breadcrumbs over the top.

Check that you've filled all the vegetables.

Cook in a hot oven from 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  The potatoes should be soft and the tops of the tomatoes lightly blackened.

If you want to use a little minced meat to make it a heartier meal for your man, then brown the mince a little and add it to the raw  tomato and rice mix and simmer.  I would use a handful of mince for this amount of vegetables.

Any stuffing mix left over you can just add to the dish around the veges and potatoes and maybe a little water.  It will cook perfectly well there and you'll have a little more to put on the plate.  

Serve with bread and feta cheese

Even better cold the next day.

Kali Orexi

A Map and More

 A map on a wall...

We were sitting inside a cafe after one of the islands celebrations, drinking ouzo and wine and enjoying a selection of mezes (traditional Greek nibbles  when you drink alcohol) 

Elli pointed out this map hanging on the wall opposite.  It's obviously Australia down there in the Eastern Ocean but the country is call New Holland

I'd never heard that old name for Australia so I messaged my brother in Perth to ask if he'd heard it called that.  Isn't social media amazing, instant communication from the deep south of the world to the far north. 

New Holland, he said, was the name given to mainland Australia by Dutch explorer Abel  Tasmania in 1644

It was known by this name till the early 19th C

The whole of those Southern lands, including Antartica was known as Terra Australis Incognita, the large unknown land to the South

Part of an ancient column standing alongside a square with crowded cafeterias

How many controls do you need for goodness sake

I cleaned out a couple of drawers the other day.  Found these, all going in the rubbish or recycle.  And we've got even more being currently used for TVs and aircons

The building toy behind was at the back of a drawer too. Bought for our grandkids, over 20 years ago.  I put the pieces in the dishwasher and will try and find a wee babe who might play with them

Or maybe I should keep them for the great grandchildren???? 

Poppi says definitely for the great grandchildren.  I'm forbidden to give it away.  But great grandchildren?  It might be a while yet!

Son in law Kyriakos proudly wearing the tshirt his Secret Santa gave him

'Duck you

You Ducking Duck' 

I wonder who gave him that??? 

My genteel mother would have been horrified

Stormy skies from winter passed