Most of Montclair was shut down for July 4th. Claire and I had some errands to do and had planned to have lunch at Kakui. A couple of our errands were thwarted by holiday closures so we started thinking we may need a plan B for lunch but luckily Kakui was open. Kakui is [...]
My mom was a great baker. I cherish her spiral notebook with her handwritten Greek recipes and her notes in the margin like “add more butter” or “Mrs. Olga’s recipe”. Mom had several signature recipes, she was known for her Galactobouriko (filo custard pie), Paximathia (Greek biscotti) and Kalouria. Kalouria are a very simple [...]
Somewhere in the late 80’s, early 90’s American’s discovered Panzanella. Funny since Italian women had been making it for centuries! And not just Italians, many other cultures have bread salads; the Arabic Fattouche is the first to come to mind. When I first discovered Panzanella I was captivated by it. I thought it was [...]
Here comes another Yiayia memory! Even though the woman had nine kids, worked like a dog every single day, and wasn’t a very good cook she repeatedly made two things that were both complicated and time consuming. One was a Greek pastry called Thiples or Xerotigina (same thing, two different names) which is strips [...]
This picture is of one of my favorite ovens EVER! This charming dome structure which was probably built sometime in the late 1930’s was the primary bread baking oven for my mother’s family. My mother’s family emigrated from Crete, Greece around the 1900’s and eventually landed in Manteca, CA where they purchased forty [...]
Christos Anesti or Happy Greek Easter every one! Bellow is a picture of Tsoureki- a traditional greek easter bread.
There’s a Greek cookie I love called Melomakarona. For reasons I’m sure you can all figure out, I have a heck of a time pronouncing it! Every time I try to order one at a Greek festival I either point, or start the word and stumble on the ending with the hopes that the [...]
I’m not entirely sure what first peaked my interest. I get so many online food blogs and newsletters that I honestly can’t say I know what first brought the concept of chocolate truffles made with olive oil before my eyes, but the thought captivated me. A sort of ganache made with olive oil and [...]
