In Greece

The sky is bluer than you can possibly imagine; and so is the sea. The sun is shining bright on your face, arms, legs.
Walking down the streets, the smell of jasmine, honeysuckle and lemon tree blossoms penetrates your nostrils, filling you with the most intense, sweet aromas.
The birds are singing loud, chirping beautifully their harmonious melodies.
The streets are lined with trees so full, so green, glistening under the spring sun.
The evenings are cool and your sun-kissed shoulders welcome the breeze that comes in through the open windows.
The sky is filled with stars and a luminous blanket of moonlight covers the buildings, making the nights magical, making you feel like anything and everything is possible.

I’m in Greece. I’m home.
I arrived with S some days ago, after a short stay in Paris.

We were excited and couldn’t wait to get home to Athens where we will be spending the next couple of weeks, enjoying the Greek Orthodox Easter, seeing our families and friends. We love being home, with all the familiar places, faces, sounds, smells, foods.

Home; with foods that taste so different, so incredibly delicious, so vibrant. Vegetables, fruits, fish. My mom’s cooking, my grandmother’s touch. Every bite I savor I want to cherish.

Going to the bakery every morning for my horiatiki fratzola / χωριάτικη φρατζόλα (Greek peasant bread) with sesame seeds. Seeing the trays of traditional cookies makes me want to eat each and every one. Buying a tyropita, the corner piece as always, to sustain me until lunchtime.

The vegetables are in abundance this time of year. Artichokes / αγκινάρες and fasolakia/ φασολάκια (green beans), juicy tomatoes and green bell peppers.

Τo make artichokes ala Polita (Aginares ala Polita / Αγκινάρες αλα Πολίτα), stewed artichokes cooked in the Politiki cuisine style.

Fasolakia, stewed green beans cooked with olive oil, tomatoes and parsley.

Gemista, stuffed tomatoes and thin-skinned, green bell peppers with rice and herbs, cooked in the oven along with potatoes in an olive oil and tomato sauce.

Lent was broken during Palm Sunday (Kyriaki ton Vaion / Κυριακή των Βαΐων) when fish is allowed and is cooked in various ways.

Mediterranean tuna (tonaki / τονάκι) and mackerel (kolios / κολιός) fished from the Greek Aegean sea. Cooked simply with olive oil and lemon, served with fresh parsley. Heaven. on. earth.

I made spanakopita (Greek spinach pie) with homemade phyllo. Everyone loved it and I was smiling non-stop.

Strawberries, redder than I have ever seen and so delicious. A sorbet was made. Sorry, no photograph, it was eaten in a flash.

A lot more food awaits.


I hope you are all well. I’ll be back here soon.


P.S. I’m more active on instagram lately, it’s easier to post photos on the go. If you want to see what I’m up to between blog posts, this is my username @mylittleexpatkitchen