Saturday, November 27, 2010

Happy Birthday Laura Kenney!

It's been great to be with Laura in Santorini in November for four reasons:  


Number One:  There are almost no tourists here (thank God), which means that she and our friends aren't working as much and we have loads of time to hang out and catch up. 


Number Two:  She turned 26 on November 19, so we were able celebrate together, and she got presents in real time!  We'll cover that in this post.


Number Three:  She actually had a blood relative (brother) with her this year on THANKSGIVING!  And thanks to our wonderful friends Shirley and Andrea, and a great team of cooks, she wasn't doing what she was doing last year on turkey day, which was aimlessly wandering around Athens eating gyros.  That will be the next post.


Number Four:  I taught Phil to ride a motorcycle with a clutch this week - not sure what that has to do with Laura, but enough about her.  You should have seen us!  Two dirt bikes, 125 miles across the ancient wine roads and donkey trails of the vast winter tundra on the volcanic remains of Plato's lost Atlantis.  Two lost souls bound by the dull roar of twin 200cc engines...  That will be covered in the following post.
I'll just attach a tiny little itsy bitsy photo here as a teaser.
For some reason, I just couldn't get it any smaller...I guess that's partially because Phil is BAD ASS now!
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Please pardon the digression, it's on to the main event:  
November 19, 2010, the 26th birthday of my beautiful sister!


Laura Kenney...

...is 26!!!

I picked Laura up from her house at 11am.
She's just come around the corner - that's part of her house on the left with the dome.

First stop - The Corner Creperie (of course) for a waffle and a frappe.
I see presents!

This must be the first time she's gotten Euros in a birthday card!

Could it be...a washcloth...

NO!!  It's a brand new shiny backgammon board!
Σας παρακαλούμε να μην το σπάσει Κομνηνός! 

Thank you Maaaandi !!
American make-up is a welcome treat after eight months on the rock!

Then it was time to make the rounds and say hello to everyone!

Nectar wrapped four presents all inside one another!

A quick stop at the villa to show April the new make-up and trade tips.

A walk around town with her two big bros! 
Aaahhh, they painted our favorite church!  There's Philippe down at the end surveying his kingdom.

We stopped for an appetizer and a drink at Pelican. Editor's Note:  The camera batteries ran out earlier when Laura was opening her presents from Phil - TWO gorgeous new tops from Diesel! 

Very proud big brothers.

What a great day!

And it just got better!  Geia sou Komnimos!

Back at the villa again opening a gift from Steve and April.

For the third time...AP-A-RIL!!!

Naoussa for dinner, of course!
Notice Kostas in the right corner as he puts the flowers 

from Shirley and Andrea in a vase.

We had lots of little mezedes and then two huge mixed grills!

Laura Kenney...making people happy since 1984.

Jaaaahn!

I've got four and you've only got three...ahh..haaaa!

In comes Chef Kyriakos with the cake!

"It's your birthday...we gon' party like it's yo birthday!"

The twins knew just which cake to buy.

"Just making sure you're cutting that right pooper dooders!"

Look Mar and Par - your baby is 26!

Full and happy...time to go home how.

The end to a perfect day!
Thank you everyone for making it so special!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Random Greek Food Photos

Just a few pictures of some delicious and interesting Greek dishes.


Quick dinner from the souvlaki stand in the square.
Chicken sticks, bifteki, potatoes, toasted bread, and wine.

Fish soup from Psaraki, potatoes, and horta (local greens with oil and lemon).

Lunch at Galini:  Two grilled squids, grilled octopus, a mostly eaten Greek salad, and
saganaki (pan-fried kefalotyri cheese).

Lemon on everything.

Hmmm...must be where calamari comes from.

Sauteed spinach with grilled squid.  Never seen that before.
That fits into the "interesting" category.

We were trying to light the barbecue at Nectar's and it started raining.
So...out came the hair dryer.

Nectarios "Mary Poppins" Papadapolous and his grill.

Dakos:  Crusty country bread topped with cherry tomatoes, feta, oregano, and olive oil.
A favorite Cretan meze - thank you Nectar.

Dinner party at Nectar's.

Pork steaks, pastitio, horta, vegetable rice, salad, wine, etc...

Happy and full.

Laura's favorite breakfast at the Corner Creperie.
A hot waffle with cookies & cream ice cream, whipped cream, nutella,
sliced bananas, and crushed butter cookies.  And she's lost weight here?

Lunch at home with Mandi!
Fasolakia (green beans in tomato sauce and olive oil), salami and edam sandwich, chips,
and the ever-present Coke Zero.

Lay's makes lots of interesting flavors of potato chips overseas.
Our favorite is "Oven-roasted Chicken with Lemon and Thyme."

Ahhhhh...macaroni & cheese in a can!
I guess Heinz's international department gets some crazy ideas too.

Homemade hummus and homemade pita chips.  Once again...AP-A-RIL!!!

Always a sucker for street food - Phil and his grilled corn, complete with Greek flag.  

Dinner ar Naoussa with the gang.
Soutzoukakia (Greek meatballs in tomato sauce), steaks, etc...

Snacks at Niki...local fava, salad, olives, eggplant, saganaki, etc...

Tiropita, or cheese pie (layers of buttered filo dough filled with a cheese and egg mixture).
A delicious Greek staple, now available in your local frozen food aisle.

Picture taken to show size of said Tiropita.