Mediterranean Miss

Archive for the ‘Dinners’ Category

Kalimera blogloves!

I’m baa-aack ^~ I went home for a beautiful week to stay with my parents and help them (and my little bro) move. What a strange sentence to say! We’ve been living in the same house for going on 18 years. Knowing that this was my last visit home, I spent a lot of time outside roaming through our gardens and haunting my favorite places. I took my camera with me so you could take part in my wanderings.

Loves, meet the house that built me <3 Or, well, the gardens that built me, which is fairly typical because I was -always- outside. My poor mama. I had zero respect for my pretty dresses! (All little-kid clothes should be dirt colored; just sayin’)

Beautiful signs that fall is on the way

Scary Stone Lion, Pretty Pink Flowers ^~

I used to pick huge bunches of these for my room :3

Molly started stiking poses <3

So Dolch did too

Which Molly found hilarious, apparently ^~ What a silly girl. Look at that dogface!

I’m delighted to report that Molly is here with me in Toronto for a little while while my parents are moving. We’re having a blast going for long walks and meeting doggy-friends. Dolch is thrilled to have a buddy, too. They get along really well… I actually think they’re plotting together most of the time:

So you open the cookie cupboard, and I'll sneak in. Okay?

Even Bambi was happy outside with a dawn blanket of dew. Look at how beautifully green everything is <3

Romeo, Romeo... you certainly have good taste in hanging flower arrangements?

Truly a magical place to grow up. I’m going to miss it, but I can’t wait to build a new set of memories around the beautiful new house my parents purchased. I’m sorry if I bored you with the picture dump, so how about a recipe or two for you foodies? ^~

As promised in my last post here is another of my favorite recipes <3 I’ll give you a two-courser, this time, too! Starting with:

Simple Grilled Calamari; ψητό καλαμάρι

Light, fresh, healthy and delicious <3

Ingredients (for 4)

• 10 small Calamari, cleaned and tentacles removed
• Nice bunch of Fresh oregano
• 1 tbsp(ish) of Fresh paprika
• 1/2 c Olive Oil
• 1/4 c Red Wine Vinegar
• Salt
• Your favorite salad greens. I like this with peppery arugula

Method

• Combine all ingredients (except squid) to make dressing. Stir quickly to emulsify.
• Place squid in bowl, pour dressing over squid and toss. Conserve extra dressing for your salad.
• Heat up a lightly oiled grill pan
• Skewer calamari (don’t forget to moisten wooden skewers if that’s what you’re using) and place in grill pan.
• Grill on both sides for about 2 minutes aside. Overgrilling will result, unfortunately, in rubber. haha
• Toss salad greens in dressing, and place squid on top with a healthy supply of lemons!

I usually use basically a whole lemon on mine. So tangy and good!

Ready for round 2? I love this as a side, and sometimes cook a lot of it up for a light dinner:

Roasted Cauliflower Bowl

Really Comforting! Really garlicky though, so keep your poor boyfriends/husbands/etc in mind before chowing down ;D

Ingredients

• 1 whole head cauliflower, chopped into small florets
• 2 small white onions, chopped
• 1 whole head garlic, cleaned & separated. Use more/less, depending on how intense you are ^~
• Olive oil, sea salt
• Optional: Rosemary gives this a nice flavorful kick

Method

I feel silly for explaining this step to you (you’ll see why in a sec), but for the sake of consistency, I’ll follow through with a step-by-step. Here we go, get your notebooks ready ^~

• Toss florets, chopped onion and garlic cloves in olive oil and salt until thoroughly coated.
• Roast at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Enjoy <3

I hope you enjoyed the recipes, and the little house tour!

It was a pleasure to show you around the gardens where I spent every day running, playing tag, finding bugs and sparkly treasure-rocks. I lived there; I loved there. I became who I’ve become there. It is so strange to be closing a chapter on my life. And yet…

The sweet family moving into my beloved childhood home is bringing a little boy with them; a little four year old. And I spoke to them, spoke to him to make sure that he knows where the best hiding spots are; where the best houses are for trick-or-treating; where the sweetest wild apples grow; where the tree house I made still stands.

When he’s older, maybe he’ll carve his name in the big tree in the forest with that of his new girlfriend. Maybe he’ll run his fingers over the faded “Andrew & Stephanie,” and wonder who we were.

Our gardens will watch over him. Our house will keep him safe. Maybe my bedroom will be his bedroom, and he will fill those four walls with his dreams and aspirations.

Out Through the Garden Gate

It’s time for me to pass through the garden gate that I opened and closed so many times as a child. It was a great comfort to me that, as I heard the latch click comfortably behind me for the last time, I knew it would be swinging open soon to welcome the new explorer to the world of adventure in my back yard.