Happy New Year ~ Καλή Xρονιά

Happy New Year, Καλή χρονιά...

This holiday season has been extremely busy for me and I have so many photos I've taken of the things that the kids have enjoyed, I think I'll just start with yesterday...New Year's Eve. Our children don't wait for Santa Claus to arrive on Christmas eve, instead they anticipate the arrival of Agios Vassilis on New Year's eve. What's really great about where we live is that each year, a small town nearby, the town of  Nea Michaniona, holds an extra special  event for the local children. Agios Vassilis arrives on a boat bearing gifts for all of the children eagerly waiting. We've only attended this event once so far, in 2009, since last year we didn't know what time it started and arrived an hour late. This year, a friend of mine that lives there provided me with the correct time that Agios Vassilis was expected and we were early- which meant that we had plenty of time to indulge in the cotton candy that was being sold. 

Alexandra waits for her cotton candy, with her money in hand. Funny thing is that she walked off with the cotton candy without paying in the end. I didn't notice as I was working with Foti and his cotton candy, I think it's amazing how fast kids manage to get sticky. The vendor kindly pointed out that she owed him money, so I made sure that she paid him. 

The kids are always amazed when they watch the cotton candy being made. 

Foti takes his cotton candy seriously. 

They were so thrilled. Did you  notice that Alexandra's cotton candy is almost bigger than she is? 

(...and that this post is almost turning into one about cotton candy?) 

Just as they finished their fun with the cotton candy and washed their hands, Agios Vassilis could be seen off in the distance, waving red flares.  Definitely exciting. 

Young scouts row the boat the brings Agios Vassilis to the shore. 

The children are so excited to see him. 

A glimpse of Agios Vassilis handing out gifts. 

After our visit, we went home to bake White Chip Chocolate Cookies so that we had something  leave out for Agios Vassilis. Iza helped me bake this batch and was very proud to pose for a photo, since she  measured  the ingredients and rolled most of the dough into balls before they went in the oven.

So Agios Vassilis has come and gone, my children are quietly enjoying their new gifts while I sip on my coffee and put together this post.  I don't make resolutions, so I don't have one. What I do have is hope that 2011 will be a great one, a year to remember.

I wish all of you a Happy New Year!
Καλή Xρονιά!

Thanksgiving~No Turkey But Lots of Drumsticks

Izabella made me a special sign without any help so she didn't realize Thanksgiving is one word~she's so incredibly sweet. Lucky, lucky me. 

~~~

Thanksgiving has come and gone once again and I suppose I can now call this an annual post since many of you are interested in how we've celebrated our holiday and I'm always happy to share.  It's our third Thanksgiving in Greece and I think I've finally figured it out. I don't get stressed about it anymore, not like I did the first year that we were here. I was searching for a turkey off & on for a few weeks, a frozen turkey that is.(for my new readers- Greeks typically only eat turkey around Xmas, therefore it's not widely available or easy to find anytime before December )  I could've probably ordered a fresh one but I can't even begin to imagine how much that might have cost-since I've inquired before. Last year I think my local butcher said that a fresh turkey would cost about 70 euro for 7 kilos- not what I want to spend for a busy weeknight celebration. Now, if I was planning to have guests I'd probably pay whatever I had to, but that wasn't the case. So I searched for a few weeks, but didn't really go out of my way since I knew that a local grocery store always carries turkey drumsticks and I'd be perfectly happy roasting those if there was no frozen turkey to be had, which at the end of the day was the case. Before I purchased the drumsticks I bought a chicken as plan B- but alas, there were enough drumsticks to roast for my family of five. I bought the last six in the butcher's case. 

Just out of the oven...

Since I only had drumsticks to roast without a whole turkey to stuff, I placed the drumsticks on top of the stuffing and everything turned out absolutely delicious. And with these six drumsticks I had enough turkey drippings to make gravy that lasted through Friday's leftovers. 

You can see here how the drumsticks were so tender that they fell apart as I removed them from the  pan.

Along with the turkey and stuffing I made mashed potatoes and corn with dinner rolls on the side. I decided to skip salad altogether because we eat salad almost every day and I thought since there was so much food no one would eat it. But I was wrong, my salad eating little man, Foti, asked where the salad was as fixed his plate. Next year there'll be salad. And not having salad wasn't the only hitch, Alexandra wouldn't try any of the food except for the turkey and the rolls- she said, " take that other stuff off my plate." I was shocked by her demand but I suppose it's only natural for these foods to be foreign to her since she was only 10 months old when we moved here and I only make mashed potatoes & stuffing twice a year. OK, I might make mashed potatoes four times a year, but it's not enough for her to become accustomed to the flavors and textures of these foods. She didn't even like the corn, which was hard for me to believe. Most kids like corn, right? Again, it's not something we eat regularly and she's only 4 years old so I guess I can't blame her for being put off by food that she's not used to. Maybe she'll want to try something new on Christmas. 

For dessert I made an apple pie which I served with vanilla ice cream. The kids loved the apple pie so that was a winning choice. Izabella is my photographer and we laughed so hard when we saw this first photo of me holding the pie and Gigi begging for some. This is a Gigi photobomb- we have many of these. 

So Izabella insisted in taking another photo, without Gigi's little paws and here is our second attempt. My pie isn't picture perfect, let me remind you that I'm much better at cooking than baking and although my pie looks deflated, it was 100% delicious. 

We also enjoyed some cookies and cinnamon rolls that a friend of mine made. She insisted that I swing by to pick these up on my way home from the school. She didn't have to twist my arm. She's extremely thoughtful, I'm thankful for that. 

Our weather has been incredibly mild and my rose bushes are flourishing- so I was lucky enough to have beautiful roses from my own garden for our Thanksgiving table. Love my roses! 

Here's a photo of Gigi looking impatiently at me, waiting for her share of turkey. I know you can't see her eyes here, but trust me... it's the look.  

One last photo before dinner...a new favorite of mine. 

So as you can see we had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving dinner. I was organized in preparing this year and everything rolled along just as I had planned. We watched the Macy's Day parade via live feed online, made a few phone calls to friends and family, did homework and went to bed on time since the kids had school the next morning. 

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I miss celebrating with my family and friends in the U.S. because although I have started my own family tradition here in Greece, it doesn't compare to the beautiful  chaos of spending time with my immediate family or being spoiled by my mother's lemon meringue pie. (she normally makes  one just for me! ) I'm hoping that my kids will have fond memories of Thanksgiving and if we're still in Greece when they're older- I hope that they continue this important tradition. Now, on with the rest of the holiday season...ENJOY! 

Carnival/Apokries Party

Last Thursday, Carnival/Apokries started in Greece. It's one of my favorite times in Greece because it's another reason for the kids to get dressed up. We attended our first party last weekend and the kids had a great time. I loved it because I was able to sit back, sip coffee and have an adult conversation as I watched the kids dance and play with their friends. 

The entertainer that was hired for the party was excellent! She kept a room full of kids entertained for more than two hours. I made sure to get her number for our future parties. She's perfect!

Even Foti enjoyed dancing, which is rare. He wore his Anakin Skywalker costume complete with his lightsaber. 

Anakin Skywalker!

The costumes were so colorful. Girls typically wear frilly, princess- type dresses. All of the girls looked very pretty.

Although we have a lot of princess costumes, Izabella chose to wear her rock star costume. She's officially obsessed with Hannah Montana. Because we still haven't found her a blonde wig, she asked if we could color her hair. I thought that was pretty cute, but the anwer is "no". We'll keep looking for a wig!

Alexandra wore her ladybug costume. She danced and twirled all night! 

My munchkins had a blast throwing streamers and confetti at me all night. I think that I was probably the only mother allowing my kids to cover me with confetti again and again. They laughed so hard  that I couldn't refuse.  Remnants of the party were everywhere...in my hair, in my purse, in the car, in my shoes and even  in my kitchen. 

 At the end of the night... 

We were very  tired and ready to go home, eat some popcorn and watch a short movie. This party was fantastic and we're looking forward to more celebrations this weekend. Maybe I'll even wear a costume, who knows? 

Where have I been?

As the holidays pass for most families our season continues for a week longer which keeps all of us busy.So, once again life has led me to neglect my blog. Sure I've been present online, but not here. I've spent a lot of time reading, commenting and responding to email; but  not blogging. I can tweet with my kids running around but I can't concentrate on anything else since they usually protest whenever I sit near the laptop. Either they want to use it or they stick books or papers in front of my screen to get my attention. I remember using the same techniques while my parents read the newspaper. I can't really blame them.

 - A little of what I've been doing-

January 6th

Foti's name day. His full name is Fotios, named after my late father-in-law. Although I didn't expect too many guests, I had to be prepared if anyone decided to show up.I spent the day in the kitchen baking and making some of his favorite foods.  Foti was excited and loved receiving phone calls. I made him pizza for lunch and let him watch a movie later that afternoon.  At the end of the day we only had two guests and it was perfect. What was even better is that I had a lot of food left over and didn't have to cook the next day.

January 8th- Izabella's birthday.

Rushing to the bakery early that morning I  decided that although an already prepared cake might be fantastic; a homemade cake would be even better. And even better than that, a homemade cake in which the birthday girl could help make and decorate. So, after I picked Iza up from school we went straight to the store so that she could choose the toppings for her cake. We used this chocolate cake recipe. It was fantastic!

The actual birthday party will take place this weekend and we ordered another chocolate cake for the day. She chose a cake with Dalmations on it, not the Disney Dalmations, just regular Dalmations.

 Izabella had a great birthday and she was so pleased with everything. I still can't believe that she's seven.

and in between celebrations...

We had a play date with friends which allowed me to enjoy coffee & great conversation.

I made a few homemade pizzas. Honestly, I'd never attempted to make my own pizza dough until now, I don't know why. But I decided try my hand at it and  I was pleased with the results. I used Ivy's recipe for basic homemade pizza dough and made my own sauce. I topped one pizza with mozzarella cheese and the others with green peppers, onions, tomatoes and of course, mozzarella.  I have to say that they were a few of the better pizzas I've had in a while. I won't say the best because I still believe that Lisa's Pizzeria in my other neighborhood has the best pizza I've ever eaten.  But the kids loved my pizzas and they're particular about pizza so I'll believe them when they say that they were delicious.

I was able to spend quality time with Adriane. This is her favorite photo of us.

We went to the city to visit friends and along the way we stopped to watch ice skaters. It was too late for us to skate and we were dressed well so we couldn't...

but Foti  really wished that he could have. The kids  also enjoyed looking at the Ancient Agora as we passed by, but since it was dark I couldn't get a good photo.

And in the midst of our adventures in living I got very sick and it took about 5 days for me to feel better. Nasty flu!

But as soon as I recovered I was out taking photos again. These photos of the girls in the wheat field are significant because it's just outside  of our gate and  we've just learned that someone bought this stretch of land and will probably be building a house soon. I hope it's a house and not an apartment building because we love our view, not to mention the serenity.  Let's hope for the best!

Yes, it's Mt. Olympus in the background.

~~~

A few of my friends in the blogosphere inquired about my absence and I'm thankful. I'm back and not leaving blog land anytime soon. Thank you.

So, my year is off to a good start (well, minus the flu) and I'm optimistic to see how the rest of it unfolds.

Oneiropouli of Drama

Last Sunday,  we decided to take a short road trip to the city of Drama. It's an hour and a half away, so we made sure to pack a DVD for the kids to watch so that we could distract them and hopefully avoid the inevitable question, "are we there yet?"  Despite my efforts, Izabella didn't abstain from persistently and systematically asking, "how much longer ?" or  "How many more minutes do we have left?".  So, after our short drive to Drama, the children were more than pleased with my choice of a holiday destination.

As we drove to the center of the city the holiday lights became more abundant and then they saw the park that was converted into a Christmas wonderland or  "Oneiropouli" (Dream City).  

I discovered Oneiropouli last February when doing a search for information about the city of Drama. Kosta and I spent a year living in Drama 15 years ago and I absolutely loved the city. It's such a warm, beautiful city and I now I had another excellent reason to visit.

Here are some photos from our evening in Drama:

A view of Oneiropouli from a bridge.

The park was full on Sunday evening. Games, amusement rides for the children and  live performances. This photo provides an excellent representation of the festive atmosphere at Oneiropouli.

Candy for the kids.

Roasted chestnuts and corn.

A visit with Ebenezer Scrooge.

Inside the Scrooge's home.

Live music.

Traditional Dancers

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A visit with Agios Vasilis aka Santa. Naturally, this was the highlight of our visit.

The home of Agios Vasilis was warmed by a fireplace comprised of stuffed animals. The kids thought it was really cool.

Since it's not cold enough to ice skate in Drama, you can roller blade instead.

The roller blade rink.

Alexandra loved the carousel.

Izabella found a stray to love for the time that we were at the park.

Agios Vasilis in the  middle of a pond.

Kosta and the kids.

Across from the platiya ( city center) the buildings are decorated for the holidays.

The message reads: "Happy Holidays & Many Years".

I have more photos to follow in another post. I hope that you enjoyed these!

Happy Holidays!

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Related Links:

Ονειρούπολη Δράμας 2009-2010

About.com: Greek Christmas Customs-Basil