Como luna de miel!

...Athens has been looking good these past couple of days, due to too much sun! Work will be knocking on my door as of tomorrow...but for now I'm pampering me! I have decided to give me some love...to excuse me from all chores and any kind of unnecessary work.

....it's time again to stop, look in the mirror with eyes full of compassion, and recharge...

...10:00am found me in bed, watching indifferent t.v.....a morning show with cooking...but with an interesting recipe for cheesepie....hmmm....

...the recipe said:

2-3 tablespoons of butter that we melt in a pot
...we add a cup of semolina

...warm up a litre of milk (4 cups)

...I used 1 kg (2lbs) low fat fetta cheese

...that I crumbled...

....2 eggs and 2 egg yolks...

.....when the milk was warm enough and ready...

...I poured it over the mix of semolina and butter, and stirred...

...I left it on the stove, on medium heat, and stirred until it became bubbly and creamy...

....then I added the fetta cheese...

...and the eggs...

...stirred well and cooked it for 5 more minutes...at this point I added a tablespoon and a bit, of salt...

...I greased a pan with olive oil...

...and started applying the filo (I used the whole package of 12 sheets)....first I applied nine sheets, on the bottom, while greasing each one of them, and afterwards I emptied the cheese filling in and before I started closing it I shred one sheet of filo...

...which I pressed into the filling, for all the fluids to get absorbed, while baking...

....and then closed all the sheets....

...I added the last 2-3 sheets on top, and pushed them in, on the sides, with a spatula...

...I greased the top, and the cheesepie was ready for the oven...

...I baked it for 40 minutes at 375F (170C)...

....the one side of the cheesepie was ready....

....in order for the bottom side of it to get baked equally as the top, I turned it over into another pan....

...and baked it for another 15 minutes...

...until golden brown...

....in Greek it's called "Tiropita" or "Bougatsa me tiri"...you can have it warm or cold, with your coffee...as a snack...or with salad on the side as light lunch. You can also add pieces of ham in the filling or mushrooms...some mint, too. We usually have it for breakfast, or we bake one when we have a dinner party. I personally happen to be a huge ''Tiropita" fan, and because I count my calories I always use skimmed milk and low fat cheese. Others grease the sheets of filo with melted butter, which is truly delicious, but I prefer olive oil because it's healthier and it still tastes good.

....love it and enjoy it!

No me gusta!

...last night I fell asleep on top of my bed with my clothes on....speaking of tired! The days have gone by so fast since I posted last. It's not the same when the Bear goes away...although I have been excitingly busy...fun busy. Dressed in red, last Saturday, I was taken away by the sound of a bandoneon....deeply in my heart that's my music... there was alot of laughter between "the wife" and I...food afterwards....girl talk...comfort...support.

..."Marie" you cannot imagine just by exchanging a few words with you last night, I felt a hug from my mom. You don't know how much I needed to reach out and touch you....thank you so much!

...so, as I'm counting days I started cooking....not my favorite subject!!!! I'm a very good baker but a terrible cook! I never liked eating but when it came to sweets....all my life I've been a horse! I loved Sunday's lunch because someone else had cooked it for me!

...this corn bread recipe has taken my heart!

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup cornmeal (kalambokalevro)

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven at 375 (170). Grease an 8 inch square pan. Melt the butter and while it's still hot throw in the sugar. Beat the eggs and add the butter/sugar mixture. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

*you can put less sugar if you want to. I did and it was still good. Love it and enjoy it!

Las esquinas de mi casa...

Today I thought of taking you on a tour around my house...I want to show you our shadows in various corners that make me feel warm and cosy....

..sometimes I wish that I had more space...

...but when I wake up in the morning and I look around me....I see and feel only sunshine...

....I have little things that bring smile to my face and warmth to my heart...

...the outside world doesn't touch me...

..."Feng shui" to me has a total different meaning...

...I personaly believe that you can bring good energy to your house, with your own soul. You create your little corners that every time you look at them you see "a bowl of hot soup"...it's a good feeling that makes you feel warm all over...

...my kitchen has so many stories to tell...it transforms from a working area, to a classroom, to an arts-n-crafts room, to a hair salon, to movie theater, to a normal kitchen....

...it's the place where I sit with my friends...where I get most of my inspiration...where I do most of my crying...my creating...my therapy...where the best music plays...and in my children's mind that's where they have painted my picture...

...I have many many books, especially cook books...

...I have things that belonged to other members of my family...who are no longer visible to me...but are here....

* * * * * * *

....my "Bear" left today...it's a long trip to China...I already miss him...

Hay sol...

..I had told myself that I will try not to be negative on this blog...never to write about ugly feelings...never to talk about blue days...

...it is so difficult to avoid that when you're a woman. How do you stop the brain from spinning and only think "in squares"...unless you're a man....how many days do we wake up in the morning with a heavy chest, not knowing what is really wrong, but feeling depressed...drag our feet....

...have we ever counted the days in a year when we told ourselves that, today is a good day for me and I'm going to enjoy it up until the minute I switch off the light tonight...but have we also admired ourselves for coping with this "rock" and making it through a taskful day...

...they say that a woman's brain is more complicated than a man's and we filter everything...that our brain cells become addicted to depression, and once we feel it we ask for it again and again, they also blame our dancing hormones....

...all I know is that there are days when I don't want to get up from bed...there are days that I feel that there is no hope....I see everything black....there's panic....but I also see that I'm not the only one with these kind of days....


...what is the remedy for all this....where do we find "small happiness es" to grab on to and change the scenery? What techniques do we use? Once, this beautiful woman, who's no longer in this world, told me that if your brain starts to think negative you can move your eyes from left to right, this way you feed it with different information that unblocks it...it's just like a river that flows but at one point some logs fall in the water and stop the flow. The same thing happens with negative thoughts and the brain...

...my "aunt/mother" who has and always been my guardian angel, used to tell me that my brain is like a faucet that turns both ways...when you think black turn it the other way...and it's your choice to change it!

.... once my sibling said to me, not to worry about problems that can be solved or problems that cannot be solved!

..so what is our choice today?

Sueno....

...a pre-Happy Valentine's Day...to those who believe in any kind of love...who kept the child inside...who still dream...who are still waiting for the love of their life to come even in their late '80's...whose heart still skips and dances...

Que perezosa!

...when we were young, on New Year's Eve we would go out on the balcony, bang pots and pans with a wooden spoon and scream "Hap-py New Yeeeaaar"!!!! Time Square meant nothing to us and in our eyes nothing seemed bigger than that balcony!.....I was Donny and she was my Marie...we were the "ketchup monsters"....Dawn behind Tony Orlando...something more than cousins...my confidant for many years.

....we don't live close but the distance between us was never an obstacle....all over my house there are little memories of her....in small or big ways....she's been part of my history. ...thank you for your surprise today....I was touched not only because you thought of me...I was happy because there's no ocean between us.....

...I'm suppose to be working tonight...I have so much work....I have dead lines screaming at me. The bed is still unmade...the clothes are still in the washing machine....the garbage still waiting to be taken out...one of those days of not wanting to do anything....starting something and then leaving it....I'm lying...I baked a broccoli-feta quiche!

...sometimes we need to switch off and do nothing...look at pictures...watch white trash tv...stay in our pj's...eat bread butter and sun dried tomatoes...get on Youtube and watch clips from the '70's...have another cup of coffee..not sew hubby's pants...miss all the appointments of the day.... and make up excuses when the family returns (!!!!) especially when there's no proper dinner!

....we are who we are, and we do so much every day....we give....we support...we handle...we teach...we manage...we tolerate...we learn...we heal...we care...we resurrect every day from our ashes....

...guilt free...I'm looking forward to my next day off!!!!

Quiero morir en tu veneno..... ...someone once told me, that if you want to talk to horses you do it in English...to women, in French....to men, in Italian....but if you want to talk to God, you talk to Him in Spanish...

...it has been so prophetic...if I only knew that learning Spanish would change my life in so many ways...it hasn't been just the language itself, but the music, the literature, the traveling....a new door that I walked through and found another me.

...I'm thankful to someone who started all this for me...who sent me new, beautiful friends...changed me...gave me strength....gave me serenity...gracias, gracias, gracias para siempre y por todo!

El dios del amor...

I just finished my cookies for Valentine's Day...

Fuerza chabon, fuerza

...and so the weekend is almost over...my kitchen and I bonded even more these past couple of days.... ...Sweet Cheryl these are your red velvet cup cakes......I owe you a big hug!

...then I went on to "death by chocolate" cupcakes...

...two more chocolate cakes....the cream inside was pure heaven!

...some cookies for a little angel who turned 3!

...two more cakes for a pair of "lolly pop"twins who have stollen my heart!

...a little boy from Argentina who turned 6 this year... gave me a picture of a cake similar to this one and told me that he wanted to put all his cars on it!

...Sunday morning came and the kitchen was back to normal, everything back in its place...hot coffee...newspapers...music...laziness!

...Lord have mercy on me because Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

Che boludo!

...what's your opinion on pests....what I mean is, people who have entered your life uninvited sat in your chair and now are creating nothing but trouble...they were just given the wrong permission when they saw the window open and now are in, dirtying....How do you stop them from poisoning your serenity...your days to come?  

..how do you stop them from being the thorn that they are...how do you ignore them....

....and you ask yourself...are they worth your time...is it even worth mentioning their existence?  Is it worth turning into a person that you don't want to be...letting negative feelings create a space in your soul?

...after all...they are, and always be just pests....they're "sentenced" to be the hidious, repellent, unwelcomed creatures that they are... and that's their destiny....