The Wonderful Beadie

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And his face amid a crowd of stars.

-W.B.Yeats, When you are Old

As I was cycling last night from Glyfada to Faliro, watching the sun go down across the coast of the Athenian suburbia, I felt lonely despite the massive crowd of fellow cyclists from Petaleres. I thought of old age, the figurative "sunset" of life,and Beadie Hennigan instantly came to mind. I had promised her for a long time now I would shoot photos of her sweet self and her treasure home in Co.Mayo, Ireland before coming back home to Greece for the summer. Her poor health lately has had a massive impact on her and since our last April's encounter I have been preoccupied with the whole debate on ageism. 

In her usual hospitable fashion, Beadie once more opened her doors and heart to me over a cup of tea and biscuits. She belongs to that category of people that age only physically: her mental capacity for clarity of thought, her fairness, kindness and beauty transcend the flesh. She is eternally young. And she can remember every minute detail of her childhood, her loving parents -whose portraits on the busy wall of her friendly sitting room stand out- and their impeccable dress-code even though they were poor. Her marriage and her giving birth to 9 children, the tragic loss of one of her offspring haunt her remembrance of the past. And yet, Beadie kept her resilience and optimism against the backdrop of hardship brought about by war, poverty, struggle, and loss. 

I have been admiring this woman since I met her in 2002. Always asking me about Greece and my family. Outside her traditional cottage surrounded by flowers and gnomes a car always pulls, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren visiting, never tired of her precious company. But she wants to live on her own: in a house covered in colour, memorabilia, family photographs, flowers, china and love. I cannot blame her.     

Lemon desert

for the base:
250 gr. digestive biscuits
50  gr. honey


for the cream:
1 tin of condensed sweet milk (zacharoucho gala)
400 gr. strained yogurt
the juice of 3 lemons
grated skin of 1 lemon


mint for garnish


Break and mix the digestives with the honey. Form layers inside glasses like I did (or place all of the base in one big tin). Leave in the fridge for 15 minutes.


Prepare the cream by mixing the condensed milk with the yogurt and the lemony ingredients. You don't need a mixer!


Pour the cream over the first layered biscuit base and repeat a couple of times more. On top sprinkle some of the biscuit mix and 
decorate with mint.


This is the perfect desert after a big dinner, light, fresh and so easy to make!


I think I am going to make 12 more of these for Wednesday's dinner party. The occasion: my love is coming on a surprise visit from Ireland...

simple june life

Summer has set in with its usual severity.  

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

behold the hands

“Behold the hands, how they promise, conjure, appeal, menace, pray, supplicate, refuse, beckon, interrogate, admire, confess, cringe, instruct, command, mock and what not besides, with a variation and multiplication of variation which makes the tongue envious.”
-Michel de Montaigne

Sitting on the balcony: an early June sea-breeze reminds me how lucky I am to be here right now, despite the first mosquito bites. Humbert, the German guy renting the house opposite, is playing a soulful Benson tune with his guitar because his girlfriend left him halfway through their holidays. Men are still having heated discussions on politics in the kafeneion of the village, as if the village were deaf. And I am trying to remember that recipe for the kolokithopita I had promised you. Next time. There will be time, as T.S.Eliot says.

Since I came to Greece I have been cooking like Tselementes and I have been very privileged to witness some of the most amazing culinary preparations in kitchens where -mostly- females reside. I have seen, smelled, and heard the most amazing things: the inquisitive hands of my little one entwined in my aunt's skilled palms, trying to learn how to touch and feel, delightful stories about my mother when she was a child, customs that need to be given proper attention, foods that tempt you to taste them  

and shun dieting.

So many gifts

the hands 

bring

x

Courgette, the omnipotent

There are so many courgettes grown in my uncle's garden that I decided to share with you a few recipes as a tribute to the glorious vegetable. Let's start with a favourite dish I've been craving for a while now, 

Kolokithakia gemista avgolemono (stuffed courgettes/zucchini with an egg and lemon sauce):


14 large zucchini (cut in half and cored)
olive oil
2 medium onions (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
400 grams. ground meat (beef, pork, lamb, etc.)
parsley (chopped)
dill (chopped)
mint (chopped)
2 tbsp tomato juice (passata)
1 small cup arborio rice
2-3 cups chicken stock
for the avgolemono sauce:
2 eggs
1 cup of stock ladled from the juice of the cooked courgettes
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter
2 lemons
salt & pepper

Heat the oil in a pan. Saute the onions until tender, then add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Brown the ground meat in the pan and add parsley, dill, mint, rice, and the tomato passata. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Add half a cup of boiled water to help the rice boil. Remove the pan from the heat.


Stuff the zucchini with the mixture and place them in a pan. Pour the chicken stock into the pan, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the zucchini are tender.


AVGOLEMONO sauce:
Whisk the 2 eggs with the juice of 2 lemons and reserve. In a pan melt the butter and add the flour stirring continuously in a low heat. Leave aside the pan and add the hot stock of the heated zucchini. Here comes the tricky part of the recipe: ladle a spoon of the egg & lemon mix into the pan and return on the  heat stirring continuously. Make sure it is not too hot. Season to taste.


Pour half the sauce into the pan with the zucchini and save the other half for serving with the zucchini. Serve with fresh dill, feta and a glass of chilled white wine.


Oh, the bliss!!!!

Roaming around Lefkada city

At first I threw my weight upon my heels, as one does naturally in a boot, and was a good deal bruised, but after a few hours I learned the natural walk of man, and could follow my guide in any portion of the island.

-J.M.Synge

                                                             espadrilles by Penneys

Pavlova, easy peasy

Mix in a bowl the following ingredients until you get a thick mixture:


4 egg whites
vanilla extract
350 gr. caster sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
4 tbsp. boiled water
2 tbsp. cornflour


Shape the meringue into a ring on a baking sheet in a tray and bake in a pre-heated oven for an hour at 120 degrees Celcius. Allow it to cool while you whip 500 gr cream:


Serve on a big platter with whipped cream and fruit of your choice


Devour


Do not feel guilty


Photos from today's Pavlova surprise I prepared with M.I. and Dimitris:

Street Style: Lefkada 2012

La rue assourdissante autour de moi hurlait.
Longue, mince, en grand deuil, douleur majestueuse,
Une femme passa, d'une main fastueuse
Soulevant, balançant le feston et l'ourlet;

Agile et noble, avec sa jambe de statue.
Moi, je buvais, crispé comme un extravagant,
Dans son oeil, ciel livide où germe l'ouragan,
La douceur qui fascine et le plaisir qui tue.

Un éclair... puis la nuit! — Fugitive beauté
Dont le regard m'a fait soudainement renaître,
Ne te verrai-je plus que dans l'éternité?

Ailleurs, bien loin d'ici! trop tard! jamais peut-être!
Car j'ignore où tu fuis, tu ne sais où je vais,
Ô toi que j'eusse aimée, ô toi qui le savais!

— Charles Baudelaire

Vintage Fashion Icon

A late 1970s photo of aunt Eleni as a student at the terrace of her then Athens apartment framed on the wall of her current bedroom is a testament to her impeccable style: white cotton tee, black gypsy skirt and black ankle-strapped mid-heels paired with a super sexy short haircut and a great tan. Some of my favourite sartorial belongings are inherited from my aunt's precious vintage treasure chest. Dresses by Aslanis, a velvet Sisley blazer, and  her pink engagement cocktail gown adorn my wardrobe and many a time have "saved" me.