Describing Kea’s winter produce in my previous post, I left out the most important of all delicacies: horta, wild leafy greens.
Greeks started to forage for horta because they had little else to eat. We continue to gather and eat them today because we love them! MORE at The Atlantic. (more…)
Green is the color of our winter; not gray-brown, nor white, as in most parts of Europe and the US. Every few years we may see snow for a day or two, but most of the time our winters are mild, with many bright and crisp sunny days. The rocky island hills fill with all kinds of plants after the late fall and early winter rains. The huge, dehydrated thorny bushes, seemingly carved into the windy cliffs over the sea, bud with tiny, jagged-edged green leaves. The oaks, scattered around the island —mainly on the eastern slopes— as well as the countless almond trees lose their leaves, but the lush green fields around them make up for the missing foliage.
For two months the kitchen was a pile of stones, concrete, and dismantled doors and windows. Dusty and noisy, emptied of everything that could be moved, the space looked destitute, as if it could never be a welcoming kitchen again.
Slide Show: New Kitchen for the New Year!
At times I questioned my strong impulse to knock down the staircase, expand and completely renew the room. Patience is not one of my qualities, and I wanted the work to finish as soon as possible. Wanting to speed up the entire process I went a bit far, taking the measurements and ordering the granite surfaces before installing the kitchen cabinets; the suspense was killing me for weeks – would the fit be correct? — until the shiny dark brown slabs arrived, and were a perfect fit! (more…)
Even using the leftover decorative pumpkins, following my recipe for kolokytha rossoli, the easiest of the spoon sweets, you can prepare jars of home-made edible presents to offer to your friends…
Slide Show: The Greek way with Pumpkins
Recipes mentioned in this post
Pumpkin Preserves (kolokytha rossoli)
Pumpkin, Leek, Walnut and Cheese Tart
Pumpkin Pie from Lesbos
Pumpkin ‘Hummus’ (or tahini babaganoush)
READ MORE (in The Atlantic)
“Thank you for an exceptional week and for welcoming us into your home and community. I was so immersed that I forgot about our life at home—-a true sign of a successful vacation.” Comments like this, coming from our guests across continents, are our greatest reward at the end of yet another successful Kea Artisanal year. In 2009, once more we had the chance to meet several wonderful people who became our new friends:
