Thursday, August 21, 2008

Earlier this week we were lucky enough to be invited to a friend's for a party. Her father was here visiting from New York and was leaving the following morning- so what better reason to whip out the delicacies from the sea? The sea urchins (aheenee) were the being prepared as we arrived. Although I'm adventurous I decided to pass this time because it seems that I've developed allergies to a few different things as I've grown older. For example, I used to love eating mussels in a dish called medea saganaki , but as time went on my body didn't love the dish. It took 2 days to get back to normal after my last serving of medea and that was 12 years ago...oh how I miss it. So, I wasn't willing to have any surprises and I passed on the opportunity to try something new. They did look good and apparently they were, my husband loved them!

Fresh crab was also served. It looked delicious, however, I didn't get any. By the time I finished wrangling the kids to their table and made sure that they had enough food to eat all of the crab had been eaten. Wah!!! I love crab. That's one thing that I know I can eat. And the bottle with the red Gerbera daisy on it contains tsipouro, I doubt that there are any gatherings in Greece like this without it. And yes, I had some. I love it on ice.

Now, under the crab in the foil wrapped pans is another surprise. I didn't take any pictures but I should have because the three pans contained fabulous foods that I've missed from home. Two of the pans contained lasagna and one contained chicken cordon bleu with mushrooms and a creamy sauce . My friend's father worked in an Italian restaurant for several years and mastered a few recipes. Let me just say that both were absolutely delicious! I've had lasagna twice since he's been here. (lucky me!) Now, I have to get around to making it as I've been sticking to the same dishes lately due to what's growing in the garden and what the kids will actually eat. I'm ashamed to admit that they've almost forgotten that they once loved lasagna.

Also served was fabulous grilled fish, salad and loukaniko (greek sausage). And for dessert we enjoyed the mini ice cream bars that we brought with us. They're called pagotinia (something like this) ...and they're always fabulous. We all ate very well, had a little to drink and enjoyed the company that we were in. In other words, we had a great time!

6 comments:

  1. oh my god - nothing fresher than those ahinoi on that plate! we recently had them on my nameday!

    stin iyia sou!

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  2. Se efaristo Maria! I hope that you enjoyed yours! And I know, nothing fresher than those on the table.

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  3. I sympathize with what you said about developing allergies as you get older. I can no longer have crab as of age 18 (I miss it) or oysters (though I will do it and suffer if raw and very fresh). It blows me away that no one saved you any crab or plunked some on your plate; if I was there, I would have.

    Thanks for sharing your meal with us.

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  4. Oh my, do those sea urchins look good! I absolutely love them and don't think it's possible to ever get my fill. They look pretty full of roe for this time of year. You really should try just one little piece... although allergies are definitely no fun. The whole meal sounds wonderful; glad you had a good time!

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  5. Good food indeed. I love the cordon bleu. :D

    This is John by the way, my blogspot isnt special at all so you dont have to read it or anything. Its just random.
    I'll be reading yours, though!

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  6. Kat, I know...allergies really stink. About no one saving any crab...Kosta offered to get me a piece and so did a few other people but I kept saying, "don't worry...I'll get there in a minute"...so they tried :) It was me that was stubborn so I missed out.

    Laurie, I agree they really did look good. Maybe when the children get older I can give them a shot...you know, so they can nurse me if I have a bad reaction. :) We ahd a terrific time, thanks!

    John, It's so good to see you here! Of course I know it's you...there's only one Grotesko! I'll try to read your blog later-random thoughts are always interesting.
    Your father is an incredible cook, you're so lucky!! We're so glad to have met the rest of Litsa's family!!Come over for some banana bread before you leave.

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