Maybe we’re a little late to the party, but this, folks, is a breakthrough for us.  While thinking about what lovely cocktail to share with you in an upcoming post, our minds wandered across the myriad of possibilities.  We contemplated the delicious ways we could serve up ouzo or Metaxa, all while sipping a lovely frappé, and munching on some fresh koulourakia; food blogging is hard work.  It was then that we thought, “Hey, now hold on a minute!  How about jazzing up a frappé?”

The classic Greek cold coffee recipe.

What wonderful memories we have of summer trips to Greece, and what additional, vivid memories we have about the preparation to travel.  In particular, we remember the care that our parents put into the gifts they would bring over for family.  Suitcases were packed full of items which they felt would be appreciated, either because they were costly in Greece,  or difficult to find.  Often in the gift rotation were bedsheets,  fabric for our uncle, a priest, to be used to make his everyday robes (ράσα), and thick, plush, bath towels.  Yes, those towels in particular took up a lot of space, but they served an additional purpose; they were used to wrap and protect the many, many, jars of Nescafe instant coffee that we were lugging overseas.  As we sat on the suitcases, trying our best to squish things down enough so that our folks could close them, we remember asking, “Why in the world are we bringing our family instant coffee?”, and the answer was always, simply, “For frappé!”.