California and Cauliflower Soup

Here are some photos. I'm sure Robin will get to the story telling...

Three...

...No, wait ... FOUR...

LITTLE MONKEYS...

Torta Rustica

First solo attempt at this deep dish of delish. I attended an evening cooking class a couple weeks ago on "Italian Vegetables" and this was one of the recipes. From the handout:

"A fabulous main course, easy to make, and freezes well" (SOLD!)
Add whatever cheese-vegetable-meat combo you want and bake in your pizza crust until done. Serve warm, room temp, or cold. Store it well covered for up to two days in the fridge, or seal and freeze. Good with black olive bread, a leafy, mixed greens salad and some black olives.

Torta Rustica

One recipe for pizza dough
1/4 cup olive oil, mixed use (maybe not this much)
1 onion, hcopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 large tomatoes, sliced, or 2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb fresh, cleaned, spinach
1 lb eggplant
1 lb thinly sliced proscuitto, or ham, or cooked Italian sausage if desired
1 lb red peppers
1/2 lb sliced provolone cheese
1/2 lb mozzerella, sliced

Cut eggplant lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices. Soak in salt water for 20 minutes. Pat slices dry with paper towel, line baking sheets with parchment paper, brush eggplant slices with olive oil and bake in a 425F preheated oven for 10 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool.

Saute the onion, peppers and garlic in 3 TBS olive oil until tender.

Reduce the heat to medium, add mushrooms, basil, oregano, and salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions and mushrooms are limp.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Roll out 3/4 of the dough into a 16 inch circle, approx. 1/2 inch thick. Place the dough in a 9x3 spring form pan, allowing a 1 inch overhang all around the pan. Layer each ingredient in the pan as desired, or dump them all in at once. Spinach does not need to be cooked prior to putting in Torta. Roll out the remaining dough into a circle to fit the top of the Torta Rustica. Lay it over the top and fold up the overhanging dough, crimping them together to seal the edges. Make 4 small slits in the top to let steam escape and brush with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired (do desire this!). Place the Torta Rustica in the preheated oven and bake for one hour. Let cool to room temp before cutting (with serrated knife) and serving. Serves 12.

Oregon Berries

They don't get any sweeter than this:

Word to the Wise

If the diagonal length inside your car, front to back, is 9 1/2 feet long and you have some, say, quilt frames that are 10 feet long, the hatchback will not close. To clarify, for those who doubt my mathamatical (and spelling) abilities: Even if you rest one end of the frames on the dashboard at one end and sticking out the back at the other end and then slam down the hatchback, they will still not fit. In fact, the force of the hatchback closing onto one end is directly proportional to the size of the ensuing spider-webbing crack on the windshield at the other end.

Extreme Makeover

Remember "Bewitched"? Did you ever wish you could twinkle your nose like that and things could change in an instant? I have wished that about our house, especially after skimming BH&G magazines. Lacking an interior decorating gene, the whole process of "making a home" seems overwhelming and, well, out of reach. For example, when we moved in two years ago, we didn't even paint (for various reasons, but mainly because white is safe). It takes a true friend to say, "While you're in Greece, I'll paint an 'accent wall' for you."

I forgot I'd agreed to it until just before we came home - but opted to not tell Briton. Briton walked in the door first and kept saying, "Oh my gosh!" "Robin, get in here! Look at this!" "What the ...!?!?"

Let's just say that "an accent wall" is an understatement.

The League of Ladies took this:
And created this:
Our dormitory-functional master bedroom became a French Boiduor Retreat. Now we make our bed every day. It's beautiful. I love going in there.

Maybe you're thinking, "Wow. Those are great friends." And that's correct. But wait. They did not stop there. The main ringleaders were bringing in people right and left to paint a wall, consult on picture arrangements, ideas, etc. These ladies were busy.

They took this wall:And made this:

(family pics to be updated shortly ...).

A little bit after "Before":

After:Two coats of paint

They spent hours and hours working on the house. While we were off in Palm Beach. Now that I think of it, this episode was waaay better than "Bewitched". I not only didn't have to lift even a little pinky finger, I didn't even have to wrinkle my nose. I believe I shall retreat to my Retreat now. G'night.

p.s. and they also set the dining room table with full place-settings on placemats, left fresh fruit and bread on the counter (I didn't need to shop for three days!), and left a note that said, "You've been redecorated! Don't like it? See you Sunday!"

Cars

In March, T really started exploring his car motif. It marks one of his most prolific periods.

The Sun + Car

T just recently latched onto another motif of his own and really started cranking them out; a brief pause to study trains, and it looks like he's moving on to bulldozers.

Some More Photos

ATHENS

We spent the last two days in Athens. Oh, gosh. I haven't told the story about Briton getting walloped by the Greek grandma. That was in the Arcadia region, where we also met the Three Stooges. Oh, well.

Ye Famous Parthenon.

That's the Tower of the Winds in the background (above) and the Olympic stadium (restored), below.

OK. So, here is another vase. What's the big deal with the 4th Century BC anyway? I had a goal to find the Grecian Urn that inspired John Keats' poem of same name. I looked and looked for "maiden's loth" and "oxen lowing" but to no avail. This one might have been it - it's got a party of people that may have left their village empty that morning. Keat's poem, like the pottery, is a work of art and I respect it even more now.

15 days. We were ready to come home. Walked our feet sore and saw as much of Greece as we could squeeze in during that time. There's still so much we didn't see. Maybe one day we'll get to go back. The most frequent topic of conversation on the way home was, "I can't wait to see the kids." We really missed them a lot. It is good to be home.

Mt Olympus to Monemenoemevia

That's Mt. Olympus, home of Zeus.
And that, below, is my super hero.

At the highest peak, Mytikas.

Just the sight of Mytikas, from the saddle between two peaks, reduced me to a whimpering, pleading, crying mess ("Briton, I don't want to do it."). It looked scary, sheer-cliffy, loose-rocky dangerous. I happily, no-ego-hold, waited for him while he bagged the summit. You'll have to ask him how it felt - but just so you know, he was all smiles when he returned.

A less scary summit, Skolio - about 15 feet shorter than Mytikas.


Meteora

Six monasteries, all operative. The largest, a prime candidate for a Settlers of Catan metropolis, had a collection of handwritten texts from A Really Long Time Ago. I loved the decorative lettering and illustrated New Testaments. One of the smaller ones has the distinction of being in James Bond's "For Your Eyes Only".

We were ostensibly taking pictures of these bells, but really, it was a good vantage point to spy on a monk harvesting heather.

Ancient Olympia

Mystra
A now-deserted Byzantine-era fortress. But only deserted in the 1950's. So that was interesting.

It was so dang hot.

Monemenviaistia

We watched these spiders, as big as silver dollars, approach and attack each other. The hiking trails were criss-crossed with tons of spider webs.

Food and Pilio

Before we get started - what are you making for dinner tonight? After not cooking for two weeks, it's been difficult getting back into the routine. I used to plan the week out in advance. Now it's day to day. I remember that one time when we used to be in Greece, we'd have a Greek salad almost every day. Those were the days [nostalgic sigh].
We ate Greek salad in every region in Greece and learned that a Greek salad is a Greek salad is a Greek salad. We also learned the names of some traditional dishes that I cannot pronounce. Our breakfast fare was a fresh, warm loaf of bread and a carton of milk.

Horefto (Pilio peninsula) is off the beaten track.

We camped at a narrow, isolated beach. I spent the night watching the waves creep closer and closer to our tent. They got within one foot. No exaggeration. Briton would pop his head out of the tent door occasionally after I'd let out an involuntary gasp when the water would get especially close. Then he'd go back to sleep. From my dry perch on a rock, I watched the moon cross the sky, the horizon lighten, and the waves come rolling in. It was beautiful and serene and I couldn't sleep a wink. I finished the second book of the trip that morning around 5 a.m.

This hike, alternatively, was on the beaten track.It is a now rarely-used narrow-gauge railway trail built from 1894-1903, with fantastic bridges. The hike offered frequent, sweeping views of the Pilio coastline. I like this picture. It seems kind of Huck Finnish.

Answers

Sunday morning we walked off the ferry from Crete, wishing we knew where church was located. But since we didn't, we opted for Plan B: securing a rental car. To that end, we took the metro to downtown Athens. At the foot of an escalator, Briton says, "Hello, Elders." Lo, and behold, there were the church-bound Elder and Sister missionaries cum Pied Pipers with another tourist in tow. The Greek branch, by the way, is across from Hadrian's Arch, near the Acropoli metro station. Finding church was an answer to prayer. The meeting was inspiring, too.

The ancients, alternatively, received answers from the Oracle at Delphi. Sunday afternoon we headed for said Delphi to see what it would tell us. A Long Time Ago, the "divine presence" was confirmed by a rock chasm (now closed up) that emitted "strange vapours and reduced supplicants to frenzied, incoherent and undoubtedly prophetic mutterings" (Rough Guide, Greece, 288).

Doesn't it look like I'm, like, totally, holding up the pillar?
(This is mostly just funny to B and I because of a stylish French tourist, wearing High Heels at Knossos, who we saw modelling this pose, complete with pout.)

Beseeching the Oracle

Delphi, built on a mountainside, covers a large area and includes other ruins besides the, what is called, "Sacred Precinct." For example, we wet our heads in the Castalian spring (murderers, by contrast, were required to take a purifying plunge before approaching the Oracle) and moseyed along an ancient gymnasium. The surrounding countryside, thick with wildflowers, is breathtaking. No wonder Delphi was considered the
center of the earth.

A Room With A View

This view:came from this outhouse: It jutted out over the cliff-edge a couple of feet. For those able to successfully overcome any sense of Vertigo, their Elimination products are plastered to the cliff-face directly below the open hole - or onto the canyon floor thousands of feet below.

Classy ruins to classy outhouses. You'll get it all over the next few days as we post on our trip.

The first three days we explored Crete.

Hiking the Samaria Gorge(ous).
We camped near the trailhead, so we could get an early start. Day-hikers would shortly be coming in by the busload, but for awhile we would have the place to ourselves. It was getting hot by the time we hit the canyon floor. A negative-one-second glance at the siren stream preceeded the decision to strip off my clothes for a quick dip. It was crazy cold. Briton was shocked, but hot enough to follow suit. Meanwhile, our lead closed before we were fully re-dressed. The next hiker was greeted with a happy moon. (We won't say who's). Whoops!
The gorge, the longest in Europe, ends at the sea.
We swam in this water:
and played our first (of many) hands of RISKAY
while waiting for the ferry back to civilization.

Knossos:We decided here that we're pro-restoration. It makes looking at ruins less redundant and boring.

Knossos is the largest of the Minoan palaces. This is where the Minotaur roamed the labyrinthine corridors, searching for youthful Athenians to devour, who were imported in as human sacrifices.

And speaking of mythology...

We took a peek into the Cave Where Zeus was born:Mwah-hahahahahahaha

The cave in located on the Lithohoro Plateau - an agricultural area. You can buy some of the sweetest, juiciest oranges you'll ever taste from a guy peddling them from his truckbed.

Then a stop at the Museum to see The Original:

The archeological museum is under reconstruction. Some highlights are on display in a one-room substitute where I swear they employ the same number of docents that worked in the large museum. There is one whistle-wielding docent per square foot, fighting each other for prominence. I kept getting in trouble by these docents, who were outdoing each other with their whistle powers directed toward me. I wasn't trying to be a nuisance - so let me pass on some tips, should you be planning a trip to this museum:

1. You may take a picture like above but you may not take a picture of the above with a person, say, me (or you), standing next to it.
2. Don't touch the cases.
3. Don't take off your shoes
4. Don't eat tuna fish sandwiches

It was a very uncomfortable visit. The suffering was only assuaged because we got to see the Bull Leaper fresco in real life. Very cool.

Overnight ferry back to Athens:

"The moon is high, the sea is deep, we rock and rock and rock to sleep."

Only, we didn't. The wind whipped and banged all night long. But it was better than being inside with the lights, noise, and reeky cigarette smoke.

The Grace of Greece

Evening of Arrival: Temple of Poseidon

Scenery
Orthodox Greek Grandmas, on different occasions, proffering punches (to Briton), penny candy and brownies (to me)
Clear skies
Antiquity
Feta
"Yasas"
Samaria Gorge
Blue blue blue water
"Riskay"
Missing the kids
Spaghetti and a real bed in Delphi
The always ambiguous Oracle told Briton "a boy" and told me "a girl" (the oracle is wrong)
Wildflowers
On top of the world on Mt. Olympus
That we didn't get in a car accident
Phillip II's tomb. An unplanned, yet pleasant side detour
Magical Meteora. Monasteries, Monks, and James Bond.
Turtles in the wild
Taking a restock on life
There's a bridge to the Pelopponese (and I don't care how much the toll is)
Pro-restoration
Running a lap in the ancient Olympian stadium
Hot Mystra
Gyros
Spidery Monemenevisia
The Superlative Parthenon
Coming Home (to find your house had been Redecorated! Fodder for a future blog post).

"The Best Day Ever"

Briton and Talmage at Father and Sons campout.

They slept warm as worms...

...after a night of marshmallows, s'mores, playing in the field, star-gazing from the coccoon-warmth of their sleeping bags, and storytelling. When Talmage woke up, Briton said Talmage was so happy to see his daddy right next to him. It was magical to have slept in the tent with dad.

The fun was just beginning, though. Sydney, Sonya and I met the boys at Forest Park. The kids explored the zoo while Briton and I took turns running the Wildwood. Home for lunch and naps. When he woke up I told him he got to go to Joseph's house. To which he responded: "Yeah! I go to Joseph's house!!!" (I mean, seriously, can this day get any better?!). But it did! While there, Honey Jo and Dave took the kids to a birthday party down the street, where apparently Talmage climbed up onto the couch with the grandmas and grandpas and other family members for their family photo. Driving away, I asked Talmage what his favorite part of the day was. He said, "Cupcakes."

Test Drive

We got a new camera. Learning the controls (point and shoot) and the software that comes with it.

A Full Moon Tonight

Speaking of "I SPY"

I spy this:
The letter "f",
A fire engine magnet,
Emperor Zurg's missile,
Four stale cheerios,
A red jingle bell,
A blue crayon,
And a pile of Virtue.

My mom says there are some things she does that don't necessarily need to be done, but that she does anyway; and it makes her feel virtuous. Cleaning under her refrigerator is one of those things. Last year, when she came to help out after Sydney was born, she bought us a refrigerator coil-duster brush. It was put to work then stashed away until last week, when, in a fit of spring cleaning fervor, I pulled it out and went to town. What my mom told me about feeling virtuous is true. No one knows (excepting whoever reads this) that my refrigerator is dirty or clean underneath. But I know. I'd like to pass on that secret good feeling. And keep that duster from gather dust.

So, here is an offer to you local-yokels. The first two local-based people to leave a comment, will get their refrigerator coils dusted and the newly-exposed dirt/refuse pile scrubbed clean. I keep all lose change (anyone I've known since 9th grade and had Rue for Geometry with me is automatically included).