Here’s what you’ll need:
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 large onion chopped
3 stalks of celery chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of dried basil
1 tbsp of dried oregano
salt and pepper
water
and of course, 2 lbs. of green beans. I used frozen organic petite whole green beans.

Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil.

Add the celery. Saute for a few minutes. Add the herbs and tomato sauce.

Add the green beans.

Add enough water to cover the beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook about 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a slice of crusty bread!

I bake cookies, pies and bread. I write up orders for cakes to be decorated for special occasions. I usually work in the afternoon. One of the tasks I also have in the bakery is to set up the donuts to be baked the next morning. If you have ever noticed the donut case in a Meijer store, I promise you that the donuts are baked every day. At the end of the night any donuts that are left are boxed up, marked down 30% and placed on the “oops…we baked too much” rack. Then, in the early hours of the morning, the case gets filled again with newly baked, iced and glazed donuts.

Meijer is a family business that was founded in Michigan in 1934 by Hendrik Meijer and his 14 year old son Frederik. Frederik Meijer recently passed away at the age of 91. Since 1990, the company is lead by his sons, Hank and Doug Meijer. Today, the Meijer Corporation has more than 190 stores.

Meijer workers are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). Meijer has been rated one of the top 75 companies to work for by Forbes Magazine along with many more awards. Meijer has good benefits including a 401K option with corporate matching funds. I’ve been shopping at Meijer for years. Now I’m glad to work there in solidarity with the UFCW, have the extra income and the incentive to save some of it.

Happy New Year! It’s time to make the donuts…

Max likes to make his cookies in the shape of the initials of the person to whom he is giving.

This Yiayia likes to make them in the traditional twist shape like her  Mother did.

Benjamin likes to help, which means spreading Christmas cheer and flour everywhere.

Sometimes the need arises for a little horsing around with Dad. In the end, there is a feeling of great accomplishment and of course, learning about the gift of giving something handmade.

Merry Christmas! May you have a blessed Christmas with family and friends and may all your Christmas dreams come true!

With love, Kitoula

Thank you Aliki and Jeff for hosting a wonderful Thanksgiving pot luck at Schnitz Ada Grill and for roasting the delicious turkey! Here is the poem, by Helen Steiner Rice, that was recited by cousin Becky.

“Thank You, God, for everything
The big things and the small
For ‘every good gift comes from God’
The Giver of them all.

And all too often we accept
Without any thanks or praise
The gifts You send as blessings
Each day in many ways.

And so at this Thanksgiving time
We offer up a prayer
To thank You, God, for giving us
A lot more than our share.

First, thank You for the little things
That often come our way
The things we take for granted
And don’t mention when we pray.

The unexpected courtesy
The thoughtful, kindly deed
A hand reached out to help us
In the time of sudden need.

Oh, make us more aware, dear God
Of little daily graces
That come to us with ‘sweet surprise’
From never-dreamed-of places.

Then, thank You for the ‘miracles’
We are much too blind to see
And give us new awareness
Of our many gifts from Thee.

And help us to remember
That the ‘key’ to ‘life’ and ‘living’,
Is to make each prayer a ‘prayer of thanks’
And every day THANKSGIVING. “

On Friday 11/11/11 Yianni and I met some friends for dinner at Michael Symon’s Lola Bistro in downtown Cleveland. Iron Chef Michael Symon is Greek and Sicilian. His show, “Cook Like an Iron Chef “, is on the Food Network Cooking Channel. I did spot him that evening and when he smiled at me I felt like a certified food groupie! Our experience was nothing short of fabulous. Yianni managed to snap quite a few photos with his iPhone, so I will share them with you here with as much description as I can.

The waitress brought over an iPad for us to use to select our drinks.

I ordered a Samuel Smith organic pale ale and Yianni ordered a single malt scotch. Later, Yianni switched to wine. I continued with the pale ale that was, according to the menu, selected by their sommelier.

Yianni had an Apple & Goat Cheese salad with beets, walnut, bourbon and mizuna. Mizuna is the deep green and saw-toothed leaf you see on the plate.

I ordered the Fois Gras which was served atop pumpkin pie with pickled apples and ice wine vinegar. This might be the best appetizer I’ve had yet.

Yianni ordered Wild Salmon with salsify, beets, spinach and dill for his entree. Salsify is a root vegetable.

I had the Rib Eye steak with smoked onion, blue cheese and oregano. It was excellent.

For dessert I ordered the Dark Chocolate Creme Cake with walnut, dried cherry and sweet potato. Again, delicious.

Here is their Honey Nut Tart with almond & orange ice cream, blue cheese and port caramel. We finished with cappuccino.

Dinner at Lola’s was a great experience. If you are headed toward Cleveland, call ahead, make a reservation and thoroughly enjoy yourself.

I made meatloaf today because what I am really craving is a cold meatloaf sandwich. That will have to wait until tomorrow.

Here’s this Mom’s meatloaf recipe:
1 packet Lipton onion mushroom soup mix
2 lb. ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp of oregano
1 tsp of basil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl combine all ingredients.

In large shallow baking pan, shape into loaf.

Cover the top of the loaf with ketchup. Bake 1 hour or until the internal temperature is 165°.

Depending on the fat content of the ground meat you use, you may have to use a baster to get rid of any unwanted fat that may collect in the pan.

As you can see in the top photo, I serve it with mashed potatoes and steamed peas. And tomorrow…meatloaf sandwich!

iDine* is a free rewards program where you can earn up to 15% back by dining at any of their 10,000 restaurants nationwide. Enroll with your credit/debit card and then all you have to do is eat, earn and enjoy! Every time you visit a participating location, pay for your meal with the debit or credit card you registered, complete a quick survey about your experience (emailed to you after your visit) and your savings are tracked and released to you as an American Express Reward Card.

I chose Pier III from the iDine website because it had authentic Greek cuisine on its menu. The drive to Pier III was enjoyable in the lovely autumn weather. Pier III is located in the quaint boating community of Harrison Twp about 40 minutes from Detroit.

                                                                        Pier III has a full bar and they bring a bread basket to your table with your drinks. Our dinners came with soup or salad.

I enjoyed the Avgolemono… it was authentic.

For the main entree Yianni ordered Eggplant Parmesan and I ordered the Lamb Shank.  Yianni really enjoyed his Eggplant Parmesan.

I would have preferred the Lamb Shank to be cooked longer. I like it stewed for a very long time until it falls off the bone, but it was very flavorful.

The desserts were really delicious. I had the brownie sundae and Yianni had the carrot cake. The coffee was also very good. Coffee is important to me, so Pier III gets a high-five for having good coffee!

iDine* generously wants to give my readers a little something by way of a contest! Sign up for iDine on their site. Then provide a comment on this post about which iDine restaurant you would like to visit in the metro Detroit area or a city near you. The comment will be your entry to win a $20 American Express gift card. One winner will be picked at random using the WordPress plugin “And The Winner Is….”.  Be sure to follow @iDineDetroit or your specific city on Twitter and if you tweet about the contest use the hashtag #iDineRewards.

Looking forward to your comments! Best of luck!

*Disclosure I am receiving an American Express gift card in exchange for sharing my experience about the iDine program. All opinions about iDine and Pier III are my own.

Yianni and I attended CRUSH Birmingham 2011 Wine and Food Classic at The Townsend Hotel benefiting Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan on Saturday night September 24th. My friends from Identity Marketing & Public Relations, Nikki Little and Brandon Chesnutt, along with their client, Jacki McIntosh from Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan were some of the folks behind-the-scenes at this fantastic event.The evening was star-studded with world renowned wine experts and culinary masters. It  included 13 wine and food pairing stations that made for an extraordinary dining experience. We tasted halibut cheeks with bacon & caper braised leeks with chicken liver sauce paired with white wine from Tuscany from Reserve in Grand Rapids .
We sampled sliced tenderloin with porcini rub drizzled with EVO & aged balsamic paired with red wine from Bordeaux from Capital Grille in Troy.Chefs of some of the best restaurants from all over the state of Michigan were Tallulah Wine Bar & Bistro and The Forest Grill of Birmingham, Cuisine of Detroit, La Bécasse of Maple City, Toasted Oak Grill of Novi, Zazios of Birmingham and Kalamazoo, Reserve of Grand Rapids, Capital Grille of Troy and Trattoria Stella of Traverse City, just to name a few.
We tasted house cured lonza with roasted artichoke, fennel & confit of tomato salad paired with champagne from Forest Grill.Master Sommeliers paired food with delicious wines from all over the world.
The evening also included a live auction with proceeds benefiting the Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan.
Yianni and I did our best to capture the evening with photos. Here is our slide show of the event. Thank you CRUSH Birmingham for a wonderful evening!

Ingredients
8 slices cubed day old Tuscan-style or hearty bread (I used multi-grain bread)
10 sliced cherry tomatoes (as you can see I used more)
1 red onion (I used 4 thinly sliced scallions/spring onions)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (It might need a bit more depending on the bread)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 fresh basil leaves (I definitely used more)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Submerge the slices of bread in a bowl of water. Use your hands to squeeze out all the water that the bread has absorbed. Break up the bread into small pieces and place into a large bowl.
Squeeze the cherry tomato juices into a small bowl before adding the tomato halves to the bread mixture. Add the scallions, olive oil, and red wine vinegar to the bowl. Roll up and chiffonade/slice the basil leaves and toss into the salad mixture. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss well. Let the salad rest in the refrigerator for a few hours for all the flavors to come together.
Kali Orexi! …or should I say Buon appetito! Enjoy!

My cousin Becky is featured here in this promo on WoodTV8.

I loved spending the weekend with my cousins Stathi and Georgia.

I’ve been to several Greek festivals but this one is definitely my favorite. The food was delicious. Look at all this souvlakia!
The pastries were incredible. My favorite was the galaktoboureko, a semolina-based milk custard in phyllo.
Music was performed by The Levendes and the Greek dancers were adorable.
You should definitely plan on attending next year. Here’s a slideshow of my photos of Yassou! Enjoy!

Like it says on the Yassou! t-shirt: Eat! Dance! Be Greek!