3/21/07 It’s the first day of Spring! It is raining as we say our kalimeras to the rocks of Meteora. As we drove out of Meteora we saw a stork in a huge nest atop a church. Then we went accross the plain of Thessaly on our way back to Lamia.

We went across the plain of Thessaly on our way back to Lamia. We passed Trikala, where Aesclibias was said to have started the practice of medicine. He started a chain of temples called Aesclibias after him, which were devoted to prayer and care of the sick. Hippocrates was one of the priests of one of the Aesclibias, and he was a disciple of Aesclibias, himself. Hippocrates brought scientific attitude to medicine. It had long been thought that epilepsy came from the Gods. Hippocrates wrote a long treatise saying that the cause is not the Gods, but should be looked for in the nervous system. The plains of Thessaly have a lot of animal husbandry. Sheep and goats are tended by semi-nomads, who are registered in a village, but follow the flocks according to the weather.

We passed a gypsy camp. Although it had concrete casitas, it looked very run down. We went across the mountains on the southern side of the Thessalian plains, past Parnassus, to a high fertile plateau

Then we went southeast down past some old old stone towns, past Heronia, where Phillip II of Macedonia won a decisive battle, unite3d the Greek states, and declared himself King of the Greeks. Then we went west to Arachova, past the Acropolis of Ancient Doulas. We passed the meeting of 3 roads where Oedipus killed his father by mistake.

That evening we had a Greek cooking lesson at our hotel, the Santa Marina in Arachova. The teacher was the hotel’s chef. Fran Weber and Kerstin Trawick led off with Tzatziki

1 pound thick Greek yoghurt or sour cream
1 cup olive oil
1 Greek (or English) cucumber
1/4 cup chopped dill weed
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
5 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon salt
1 tesaspoon white pepper

Peel and remove the seeds from the cucumber. Grate the cucumber. Drain the grated cucumber in a cheesecloth bag and squeeze it to remove the liquid. Meanwhile, mix everything else together and mix in the drained cucumber.

then it was Leonard Trawick and Arthur Luehrmann's turn to help make Spanakopita and Baklava

Spanakopita

In one bowl, mix the eggs, milk, and 1 cup of olive oil.

In another big bowl, put in the spinach, and everything else except the phylo pastry and extra olive oil.

Oil a big baking pan. Put in a double sheet of phylo on one side of the baking pan, and another double sheet of phylo on the other side of the baking pan, with about a 1-inch overlap, and overhanging the sides. Fold a single sheet of philo in half and place it on the end of the baking pan, with most of it hanging out. Repeat for the other end of the baking pan.

Oil all the phylo. Put a single sheet inside the pan and oil again. Repeat for 3 more sheets inside. Dump in half of the feta and spinach mixture. Put on a single sheet of phylo. Dump in the rest of the feta and spinach mixture. Cover with ends and then sides of the phylo hanging off the pan. Oil all. Put on a single sheet of phylo on top. Oil. Repeat for 3 sheets.

Poke the top in several places with a knife, and pour the reserved bowl of eggs and milk and olive oil on top.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes. Let the spanakopita rest 10 minutes and cut it into squares.

3 oz chopped walnuts
2 oz chopped almonds
2 oz chopped pistachios
2 oz sugar
1 teaspoon cinammon
1 teaspoon orange zest
1.1 pounds regular phylo pastry
1.1 pounds shredded phylo pastry
lots of melted butter
3 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup milk
whole cloves

Mix the walnuts, almonds, pistachios, sugar, cinnamon, and orange zest together in a bowl.

Butter a large baking pan.
Lay down a sheet of phylo pastry and brush it with melted butter. Repeat, for 4 layers of phylo.

Layer half of the shredded phylo on top. On top of that, put half of the nut mix, then the rest of the shredded phylo.

On top of that, layer 4 more sheets of phylo, brushing each with melted butter.Cut the baklava in 2-inch diamonds. Stick a whole clove in each diamond.

Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour. Remove from oven and cool for 2 hours.

10 cups water
4 cups sugar
1 orange cut in half and seeds removed
1/2 lemon cut in slices, seeds removed
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon vanilla

Boil the water, sugar, fruit, and cinnamon about 5 minutes. Remove from the stove and add the vanilla.

Either pour hot syrup over the cooled baklava, or pour cooled syrup over the hot baklava. Let it sit.

1/2 pound beef and 1/2 pound pork, ground
1 cup breadcrumbs
3 eggs
1/4 cup chopped red onions
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh spearmint
salt & pepper
some flour