Birthday wishes

A little while ago I had my birthday and this is the birthday card I got from my aunt, featuring one of my favorite childhood cartoons, Krtek the mole. It's amazing that she remembered!

Anyobody in the mood for pancakes?

The other day I decided to make pancakes for the first time and surprisingly enough, they turned quite decent! In order to make the batter, I used the following:

- 2 eggs

- 1 teacup full of flour

- 300 ml of milk

- 2 table spoons of melted margarine

- 1 vanilla portion

- a pinch of salt

- 2 table spoons of caster sugar

First I mixed the flour with the eggs and then I added all the remaining ingredients. The batter you will get after this will not be thick and you will also have to put it in the fridge for an hour, so that it thickens a bit.

After that, you will take a small frying pan and you will grease it lightly. Before you pour the batter for the first pancake in the pan, make sure that it is very hot. You will pour an amount of batter (depending whether you want your pancakes thick or lighter) at the center of the frying pan and will turn quickly the pan, so that all the frying surface is coated. Once the first side is done, you will have to flip the pancake with the assistance of a spatula. The second side takes less time to make.

As far as the filling is concerned, I served them with nutella and sliced bananas and alternatively with blueberry jam, both versions topped with whipped cream and grated chocolate - or sugar sprinkles!

Yummy!

More christening invitations....

It seems that the summer here is the ideal season for christenings...We have two to attend- some friends are christening both their two baby daughters and they sent us the invitation with this cute wooden clown toy accompanied by a green pouch full of M & Ms...

The second couple has invited us to the christening of their baby boy in September with this cute invitation:

I just love how creative people can get with the invitations for their social events!

A wedding and a christening...

Yesterday we were invited to a wedding that took place in a traditional village up in the mountain...

...the wedding & christening of the couple's baby boy took place in this church...

...which was decorated for the ocassion...

This is how the table with the christening favours looked like...

...and this is where the wedding reception took place...

It was a lovely evening and we took home some unique hadmade wedding favours-a composition of traditional sugar coated almonds and white and blue decorative bits and pieces!

Private swap for Marta

This is my part of the private swap that went to Marta in Italy.

I went through Marta's profile and selected the following:

- A pot for making Greek coffee

- Two wacky porcelain cups

- Some Greek coffee

- Some coffee stencils

- A red nail varnish and toe dividers

- A mix for making the famous Greek tzatziki mix

- Some mini stamps with animals

- Lavender scented incense sticks

- A cherry scented body butter from the Body shop

- A brooch

As Marta is a bookworm like I am, I have also included some book marks for her to use. One of them comes directly from Egypt, as she admires the Egyptian civilization!

I have also included detailed instructions on making Greek coffee:

I hope that Marta likes what I have chosen for her!

Easy lemon potatoes

In order to prepare this easy dish, you will need the following:

- 2 kilos of potatoes

- The juice of 2 lemons and 1 orange

- 200 ml of olive oil

- 2 glasses of water

- Salt, pepper

- Oregano

Peel the potatoes and cut them in bite size pieces. Arrange them on a deep baking tray. Salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine the juice from the lemons and the orange with the olive oil. Pour into the baking tray and by using your hands, coat the potatoes in the mixture, making sure that it goes everywhere. Finish with the two glasses on water. Sprinkle with dried oregano.

Bake in a preheated oven (200 degrees °C) for approximately one and a half hours. 

This is a delicious accompaniment to any type of grilled, baked or barbecued meat, but it can be also eaten as a main course with a nice leafy salad, some feta cheese and crusty bread.

Private swap from Marta

A couple of days ago I received this lovely private swap from Marta in Italy. 

 The package was tailor-made to my profile and it contained the following:

- Fruit shaped cookie cutters

- Shortbread cookies (which were devoured immediately!)

- A dark fairy card

- A very elegant blank mini notebook

- A red ink pad for stamping

- An organic strawberry jam

- Some indian garam masala spice, and

- Italian seasoning for salads

Marta also included a very sweet note with the swap-in a very elegant envelope, which I loved!

Thank you Marta and I hope that we get to repeat this soon!

Red Lucky Parcel - Sent

It took me a while to put this package together due to medical reasons, but I’m happy to say that I will be mailing it to Anicka this Monday!

The theme of the Lucky Parcel was Red, so I have included the following:

-          A strawberry themed dish towel

-          An apple themed pot holder

-          A notebook

-          Red cupcake liners

-          Three red pencils

-          One red pen

-          A small coin wallet

-          A hair accessory with strawberries

-          Small wooden fasteners with ladybugs

-          A red metallic decorative basket

-          Two heart shaped candles

 All the above went in a transparent red box.

I hope that Anicka likes it!

It's wedding time!

So many friends of mine are getting married this summer and some of them have also their children baptized, which is a big deal here in Greece. I have just received this cute invitation from a couple, which is for both their religious wedding ceremony and the christening of their baby boy. Lovely, isn’t it?

Easy & filling chef's salad

In order to make this easy, yet extremely delicious salad, you will need the following:

- Lettuce 

- Half cucumber

- Few cherry tomatoes

- 100 grams of smoked turkey

- 100 grams any yellow cheese (edam, gouda...)

- 2 hard boiled eggs

For the dressing:

- Mayonaise

- Ketchup

Wash thoroughly the lettuce and chop finely. Cut the cherry tomatoes in two and the cucumber in bite size pieces, add to the lettuce. Cut the turkey and the cheese in small cubes and also cut the boiled eggs in eights. Add to the salad. Add salt according to your taste.

For the dressing: Mix mayonnaise and ketchup until you get a dressing with a pink color. Experiment with it, some like more ketchup and some less, some more mayonnaise and some just a little. You can substitute with low fat mayo for a healthier version. Pour on the salad and give it a good toss. This is a very filling and quite heavy salad. You can serve it as an accompaniment to a dish or as meal of its own, with some crusty bread. 

This is how your salad should eventually look like:

The ABCs of me

I saw this ABC game going around in various blogs and decided to share a few things about me. So, here it goes:

A. Age: 37.

B. Bed size: Regular double.
C. Chore that you hate: Ironing. I hate it with a passion I cannot even begin to describe.
D. Dogs: Wieners. They have stolen my heart forever.
E. Essential start to your day: My coffee. My brain refuses to function without it.
F. Favorite color: At this point, orange.
G. Gold or Silver: Definitely silver.
H. Height: 1.67 cm.
I. Instruments you play: My music education is non-existent.
J. Job title:  The Goddess of everything lol. My colleagues from my previous jobs still call me when they want to have something translated.
K. Kids: I am warming to the idea.
L. Live: In a landlocked city in central Greece.
M. Mother's name: Eleni.
N. Nicknames: My boyfriend calls me affectionately“buffeo”. Apparently, this is a river dolphin living in the Amazon river. It’s a long story. 

O. Overnight hospital stays: 3 weeks, when I suffered the first bout of fatigue. I was hospitalized at the local University hospital and turned into a guinea pig.
P. Pet peeve: So many I cannot even start listing them. I’m really annoyed by people with Higher education who cannot spell properly.
Q. Quote from a movie: “Don’t think you are. Know you are” (from the Matrix).
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: 1 brother.
T. Time you wake up: On weekdays usually around 6 (the hour that my boyfriend starts snoring in my ear) or if I’m lucky and he doesn’t, at 7.
U. Underwear: Black.
V. Vegetable you hate: Okra.
W. What makes you run late: Being slow lol.
X. X-Rays you've had: I had a few of them; teeth, head, torso.
Y. Yummy food that you make: I make a decent chilli con carne, mince filled cannelloni, chicken tikka masala, chicken a la crème and all sorts of salads. I love pastry making and I’ve been told that my bannoffee pie is to die for.
Z. Zoo animal: Penguins. When I was little, I actually got to feed one with fish. But zoos on the whole make me sad, I don’t like the idea of animals living in captivity.

Simple lemon cake

For this very simple and easy lemon cake, you will need the following:

-          250 grams of self raising flour

-          200 grams of white sugar

-          125 grams of margarine

-          2 eggs

-          A mug full of milk

-          One lemon

First of all, bring all the ingredients to room temperature. Switch the oven on at around 180 Celsius (moderate). Mix the margarine with the sugar until fluffy and then add the eggs. Whisk some more. Add gradually the flour and the milk (it is possible that you will not be using the entire mug). Add the lemon rind, grated, and the juice of the lemon.

Prepare (line) a smaller size cake form (I use an oblong one) and bake for around 45-50 minutes. Do not open the oven for the first half hour and as usual, insert a toothpick in the cake towards the end of the baking time. If it comes out dry and clean, your cake’s ready.

Enjoy!

Seriously...

...can it get any cuter than this..? I have a well known fixation with wiener dogs and I'm sharing some photos, just to make your day!

 

S.P.R.I.N.G. swap

This is my version of the S.P.R.I.N.G. swap that I still owe Patumma.

I have included the following items:

Sharpie
Pin
Recipes
Icecube tray, ink pad
Notebook, nail file
Gum, gummies

I have the package nicely assembled and ready to go, I just need to find the strength to take it to the post office! :-(

Red Lucky Parcel - received

This is the lovely red lucky parcel that I received yesterday from Ayates on Swap-Bot.

Anna took time to go through my profile and included the following: A flower shaped lip gloss, a cookie cutter, a red nail polish, some sticky notes, a red pen, a red pair of scissors, some cute wooden toadstool embellishments and an ink pad. She also included the following notecard: 

Thank you Anna for the lovely package!

Lenna’s chicken a la crème

This is a relatively easy dish that I made yesterday for lunch-it is my interpretation of chicken a la crème, a favorite dish for many.

In order to make it (for two people), you will need:

-          2 large chicken breasts

-          3-4 large peppers

-          A bottle of cheap white wine

-          250 ml of single cream

-          2 garlic cloves

-          Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken breast in bite-sized cubes and sauté in a pan. Add the peppers, cut also in bite-size pieces and the crushed garlic cloves and sauté for a while, until the peppers become tender. Cover with white wine and allow to cook thoroughly, until there is almost no wine left. Then, add the cream and some salt and pepper and boil until the cream thickens. Serve with rice and a very easy and crisp Greek lettuce salad.

In order to make the salad, slice some lettuce and a fresh spring onion. Add also some cherry tomatoes, cut in two. Sprinkle with salt and toss. Add some olive oil and a drizzle of wine vinegar and you’re ready!

S.P.R.I.N.G. swap - received

Yesterday I received this lovely package from Maggmurp, all the way from the United States. For this swap, we had to send our partner items beginning with the letters found in the word S.P.R.I.N.G., so here is how everything looked together:

The package contained some sweet cookie cutters that will be utilized soon...

...some cupcake themed napkins...

...some stationery items, which will definitely come handy...

...and some really great recipe cards, with individual "pockets" of spices you can mix to make Chicken Tikka Masala (which is my favorite dish, how did you know?) and Carribean Grilled Steak:

Thank you so much Maggmurp for making my day!

Finally...

...this is what I did with them!

Extremely simple, yet at the same time, mouth-watering!

Homemade banoffee pie

A while ago I was invited by a friend to dinner at her place and as I always like making something to offer the hostess, I made this easy banoffee pie.

To make this, you will need the following:

- One and a half packages of petit beurre biscuits
- Half cup of lukewarm milk
- A shot of rum
- A can of dulce de leche 
- 4 bananas
- 400 grams of whipping cream
- some confectioner's sugar
- grated dark chocolate


For making the dulce de leche:

Buy a few cans of sweetened condensed milk. Fill a large cooking pot with water and place inside the cans. I usually make 4 at a time and keep the rest in my cupboard, they keep for 3-4 months. Simmer the cans-closed-for approximately two and a half hours and make sure that they are covered by the water at all times. Add some extra water as needed. Remove from the pot and allow to cool.

Mix the lukewarm milk with the rum and dip the biscuits. Arrange them in two layers in a tray. Open the can with dulce de leche and spread on top of the biscuits. Cut the bananas into slices and arrange on top of the dulce de leche.

Whip the cream and add confectioner's sugar to taste. Spread on the dessert and finish with grated dark chocolate.

Guaranteed success!

Shopping for wedding gowns...

A very good friend of mine is getting married this summer, so I joined her in searching for the perfect wedding gown...This is what we saw upon entering the first bridal shop.

My friend finally ended up choosing a wedding gown which looks like an ancient Greek dress.

The dress itself is very elegant and she looks stunning in it! 

It is quite simple, but these decorative touches give it a special character!