Almond and pear cake (Κέικ με αμύγδαλα και αχλάδια)

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Almond and Pear cake

A perfect fall dessert of delicious almonds and fresh pears.

If you’ve been here with us for a while, you may have read about our parents’ glorious and bountiful garden. Although our growing season here in Canada is limited, they make great use of the time we have and grow almost any vegetable you can imagine – and even some you can’t! But vegetables aren’t all they tend to.

Walking towards their garden from the house you’ll pass an array of fruit trees. When we were teenagers, we tried valiantly to convince our parents to install a pool in their back yard; they certainly had the room. We imagined pool parties, with poolside loungers scattered near the flowers and tomatoes, perhaps with the tall stalks of green beans providing shade, and snacks. We weren’t asking for much.

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Grilled bread with olive oil and oregano (Ψωμί στη σχάρα)

~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments
Grilled bread with olive oil and oregano

Thick cut country bread grilled with olive oil and oregano flavour.

Just when you thought bread couldn’t get any better, along comes this. If you have ever eaten in a Greek restaurant, either in Greece or elsewhere, you would have likely been served a basket of bread like this; thick cut slices of country bread brushed with olive oil and kissed with oregano, grilled so that they are at once crispy, toasty and yet still soft and able to sop up all sorts of deliciousness.

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Feta-stuffed meatballs with olive and cucumber salad and roasted sweet potatoes

~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments
Feta-stuffed meatballs with olive and cucumber salad and roasted sweet potatoes

A quick and delicious Mediterranean recipe from HelloFresh

One of our favourite things to do when we travel (remember travelling?) is to visit local grocery stores and markets. We could spend hours walking up and down the aisles, discovering new and exciting food and ingredients that we don’t necessarily find at home and which are new to us.

But even when we are at home, we actually enjoy grocery shopping. The browsing, the choosing, the inspiration that comes when we are surrounded by the building blocks of culinary delights. What we don’t enjoy is coming home with bags full, and then having to put the groceries away.

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Spanakopita inspired deviled eggs

Spanakopita inspired deviled eggs
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Spanakopita inspired deviled eggs

Deviled eggs made with spinach, feta and ricotta

Sponsored by Egg Farmers of Canada

Every day is special; of that there is no doubt! Whether it is a birthday, an anniversary, the first day of college or the first day of retirement, life is full of small and grand moments that beg to be celebrated.

These days we find it especially important to look for the positives. There is no denying that our world has changed, at least temporarily, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed and blinded to the beauty of the everyday and the goodness that surrounds us. But, it’s especially during trying times that we need to shift our focus, and zero in on the positive; not to ignore everything else, but to be reminded that hope and heroes exist!

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Rice with fide (Ρύζι με φιδέ)

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Rice with fide

A classic and traditional Greek side dish of rice cooked with fide

Frugality. Simplicity. Versatility. These are definitely values that homemakers of years gone by looked for in recipes that they would prepare for their families. You can be sure that women in villages all over Greece, and our mom when she came to Canada, would often make this side dish of rice with fide to serve their families. More economical and easier than this is hard to come by!

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Baked feta wrapped in filo dough (Φέτα σε φύλλο κρούστας)

~ miakouppa ~ 4 Comments
Baked feta wrapped in filo dough

Feta wrapped in filo, baked and then drizzled with honey and sesame seeds

Have you ever had a cheese ball appetizer? Neither have we! Although we think that they sound pretty good, we’ve never gotten around to trying one, and you can be sure that our Greek parents never served such a thing either.

We think that you can forgive us for not experimenting; we already have a slew of cheesy appetizers to choose from when we want to indulge. Whether we opt for halloumi fries with a citrus mint dipping sauce or a baklava baked brie, there is no shortage of cheese mezes to compete with unknown cheese balls.

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Fried eggplant with tomato sauce (Μελιτζάνες τηγανητές με σάλτσα ντομάτας )

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Fried eggplant with tomato sauce

An incredible Greek side dish of fried eggplant which is then baked in a rich tomato sauce

We know that eggplant is a divisive fruit (yes, eggplant is botanically a fruit!) and that there are camps of people who love them, and others who hate them. We happen to be lovers of the aubergine and are thrilled when our gardens start to offer this versatile, hearty and delicious purple gift.

We have already posted several eggplant recipes, and here we are finally sharing what may be one of our favourites. In this classic Greek dish, which can be served as a side or just as easily as a meze or light lunch, eggplants are fried and then baked in a rich tomato sauce. This is a dish best served with a nice loaf of fresh bread for dipping; the sauce is to die for! You can even layer the eggplant and sauce between two slices of bread and make yourself an eggplant and tomato sauce sandwich. Sound strange? Have we ever steered you wrong before?

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Marinara sauce (Σάλτσα μαρινάρα)

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Marinara sauce

A tomato sauce so easy and delicious that you’ll always make homemade from now on.

If you’ve been following our stories over on Instagram lately, you may have noticed that we just wrapped up a weekend of tomato sauce making. An annual ritual, this many day affair is one that the whole family gets involved in. That’s helpful because the work is plenty, and many hands make the job easier, quicker and a whole lot more fun.

At the same time, we know that not everyone has the time or energy or inclination to can their own tomato sauce, and that even when we do, by the time next spring rolls around sometimes the shelves are bare.

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Plum cake (Kέικ με δαμάσκηνα)

~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments

A fragrant and delicately spiced Italian plum cake

A year after marrying, one of us bought a house in the city.  Our new home came with a finished wood-paneled basement, a kitchen with original cabinetry (which we have yet to get rid of by the way) and a bathroom with baby blue and pale pink tiles cemented onto the walls, to match the blue bathtub and toilet, of course.  We love our home, and love that despite being in an urban area, we have a backyard that is large enough to have accommodated baby pools and sandboxes, gardens, football games, badminton nets, gangs of people during Greek Easter, and most recently a spa. That is not to say that outdoor living was always easy however, and here’s why.

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Cactus pear, lavender and walnut halva (Χαλβάς με φραγκόσυκο, λεβάντα και καρύδια)

~ miakouppa ~ 2 Comments
Cactus pear, lavender and walnut halva

Classic Greek semolina dessert with a seasonal twist

Halva is the perfect go-to dessert during periods of Orthodox lent. Naturally vegan it meets all the requirements of no meat, eggs, or dairy when we are fasting. Although the Orthodox calendar is almost 1/3 fasting days, halva is so good that we find ourselves making it even when we can have egg, butter and dairy filled desserts like bougatsa or galaktoboureko or double chocolate zucchini cake.

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