Greek fast food

The other day I was at the mall and starving.  In the food court was a Greek fast food place and I thought...  why not!  I love a good Gyro.  On the menu was a chicken Gyro.  I asked the guy working if it tasted like a regular Gyro and he said  "it taste like Chicken"  .  Smart Ass.  I ordered it.  That was probably a mistake.  It was not like a real Gyro.  They didn't put the yummy sauce that comes on a Gyro and instead they put some kind of weird  Curry Sauce on it.  What the heck?  That's not a Gyro.  

Not only was it not very tasty but it also upset my tummy a bit.  The only good thing was the fries.  They were the big fat meaty kind.   Oh well.  That's what you get when you eat fast food.  STAY AWAY.

Greece

I decided I would get more adventurous with my cooking and start trying  new dishes.  I'm going to work my way around the world to all the destinations I hope to visit someday.  I can do a little armchair traveling and expand my recipe collection at the same time. 
I spent the week trying to decide where to start.  Do I go in order of where I hope to visit or just go randomly.  My list kept changing of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to cook.  I was going to start in France since I've been to Paris and I know I want to go back and see the rest of France.  But, I always feel like French food is a bit heavy and must be paired with Red Wine.  We are having a bit of a heat wave in Seattle, that means in the 80's, and I can't imagine eating heavy food now.  Somehow I landed on Greece.  I've always wanted to see Greece.  The beautiful coast line, water, house, history, food.  What's not to love about it.  This is where I will start.

To get in the mood for diving into Greece, I started with some basic recipes.   Spanakopita, Greek salad and Greek Lemon cake.  The Greek salad was easy- Tomatoes, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, lettuce and feta cheese.  Most salads would have olives included but I detest olives.  (I would probably not make a good Greek resident).  I made a little vinaigrette with red wine vinegar and olive oil and poured over it.  Delicious.  The Spanakopita was fun to make.  I found a good recipe on Cooks Illustrated.  I made the spinach/Feta mixture and laid out the phyllo dough.  Phyllo is  a pain to work with because it is so delicate.  Brushed each layer with butter and the top layers have a thin layer of cheese between each.  That is so they don't fall off after you bake it.  Turned out pretty good.  The only thing I would change is I would put less lemon juice in the spinach mix.  It was a bit too much.

The lemon cake was just okay.  To me it taste like your typical lemon pound cake.  The cake has 6 eggs in it.  You beat the egg white to stiff peaks and then fold them in.  I would have expected it to be lighter.  I'm wondering if I didn't beat them enough.   
Next time, I have a recipe for a chicken pie and honey cake!  Yum.

Wall art

I couldn't decide about art work for the big wall in the living room.  I ended up ordering this wall decal from ETSY.  It is very cool.  Plus, it means I don't have to put a hole in the wall.  Love it!

September in Seattle

Well, I've survived my first 2 months in Seattle.  I'm finally settled into the apartment, unpacked and starting to explore a bit.  Jane and Savannah came to visit last week which was great because it got me out and about as a tourist in my new city.  We did the space needle, pike place market, underground tour and Bainbridge island.  It was a fun and exhausting 3 days.  I made a commitment to myself that I have to hire a dog walker this week.  My guilt of the dogs in the apartment have kept me from doing anything.  I just always worry that I need to rush home.  Even if I just get a walker for 3 days a week, it means that I can go out after work 3 days a week. 

Considering I just moved to a new city, I feel kinda stuck in a rut.  I just go to work and come home.  I haven't been updating the blog or reading or exercising.  I think I need a project.  I've been thinking about traveling lately but I really can't afford to.  I've also been watching all of those favorite movies of mine about women who go somewhere and change their lives.  I love those movies.  there is Under the Tuscan Sun, Eat Pray Love, Must Love dogs (okay, so she doesn't really go anywhere but she does change her life.).  I moved to Seattle but i haven't done anything to change my life.  I need to get busy.
I started making my travel list again.  I think for a while I will focus on being an armchair traveler.  I picked up several travel books recently and have them next to the bed.  I'll read , study and cook the places I want to go.  I realized I don't really cook much international stuff.  I tend to stick strictly to the CA cuisine or southern.  Of course I make spaghetti and lasagna but i doubt it is like the real stuff.  I can learn to cook a dish from each country I plan to see.  That will give me a project.  Now... if I can just stick with it! 

I'm including a couple of photo's from Jane's visit along with a delicious Peach Cobbler I made today. (See, more southern cooking!)  It was super easy and extremely tasty.

More later!