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It's Holy Week - Time to make Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread)

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Galaktoboureko – a favorite Greek dessert

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Galaktoboureko - a favorite Greek dessert

After four days of explaining Greek pastries to the hundreds of lovely guests who eagerly supported our annual festival, it was a good time to repost one of the recipes. Galaktoboureko was one of the most asked-for desserts and the hardest to pronounce, though it didn’t stop anyone from trying! So what is this strange-sounding pastry? It’s an egg-based custard sandwiched between layers of…

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GREEK PANZANELLA SALAD

Photo by Alexa Speyer I haven’t made this salad in a while, and I forgot that it was one that my family loved. So I decided I would make it this weekend. It’s the perfect, refreshing side dish on a hot, summer day. And since I was preparing it, why not repost it? After all, the recipe is buried deep behind so many blog posts that came after it.  Panzanella salad is a bread salad that is…

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Greek Easter means lamb!

Food has been on my mind, with Greek Easter approaching one week after Western Easter. Mainly because I’ve been preparing pastitsio, spanakopita, and tiropita. And then there are the baked goods like koulourakia and the traditional Easter bread, tsoureki.My strongest memory, food-wise, this time of year, is the smell of leg of lamb roasting in the oven, and the mouthwatering aroma of garlic…

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Visinatha Martini

If you’ve read my books, then you know I insert recipes between some of the chapters. But this is the first cocktail I’ve added. I love anything cherry-flavored. Visinatha is like a cherry preserve. It can also be purchased as a syrup. My mother and Yiayiá would stir a few tablespoons of this confection into a glass of cold water and give it to me as a treat. The real treat was getting to the…

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PORTOKALOPITA

I can hardly believe that I’m about to release my sixth novel. As many of you know, in each of my books I slip a few recipes in between some of the chapters. Each one correlates to the storyline or characters in some way. Doing this also serves to help the reader better understand foods they might not be familiar with.  Many of these recipes were handed down to me by my mother, grandmother, or…

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FRENCH ONION SOUP STEAK

FRENCH ONION SOUP STEAK

Here’s a recipe born from laziness and my hate for the cold weather. Laziness, because I didn’t want to go to the supermarket or leave the house. And I didn’t want to leave the house because it was 9°F. I love French onion soup, but I had just made that for dinner several days ago. I rummaged through my freezer and found a package of chuck tender steaks, a cut of meat I had never purchased…

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Filet Mignon in Champagne Sauce

Filet Mignon in Champagne Sauce

My mother developed this easy-to-make, decadently delicious recipe. I save this for special occasions, although I could gladly devour this weekly. Side with either asparagus or haricot verts to compliment this dish. On March 24th, 2021, my latest novel, Love by Design: Book Two in The Meraki Series, was released. As many of you know, I add recipes between some of the chapters to add a sense of…

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Beet & pistachio crusted goat cheese salad

Beet & pistachio crusted goat cheese salad

Happy New Year! I’ve been busy developing recipes to add in my latest novel, Love by Design: Book 2 in The Meraki Series.  This beet salad is simple to make and delicious with the addition of pistachio crusted goat cheese.  This dish is mentioned as a first course at a gala Mia attends in NYC. Keep following this blog for other recipes as she satisfies her food cravings during her business…

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Pomegranate Spinach Salad

Currently, I’m in the final editing stages of my new book, Love by Design, the second book in The Meraki Series. Love is What You Bake of it – Book One revolved around Kally, a café owner with a big, loveable, but meddling family. Now it’s time for her sister, Mia, to find love and career fulfillment.  As always, food plays its own role in the lives of Greek families and my stories. I’m happy to…

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ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP

Italian Wedding Soup

 I personally have never been to an Italian wedding where they served soup with mini meatballs as one of the dinner courses. Have you? So where did the name come from? As it turns out, it got its name from a misinterpreted translation. The recipe was trying to describe the marrying of its ingredients to give the soup a delicious flavor. From that, the name was born – Italian…

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Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I thought I’d long ago shared this recipe on this blog, but scrolling through my past posts, I discovered I hadn’t. Instead, I’d featured it in Love is What You Bake of it. As some of you might know, I slip recipes in between some of my novels’ chapters.

I let Kally Andarakis, owner of The Coffee Klatch Café, take credit for this crowd-pleasing cookie recipe. Who is Kally? Read Love is What…

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Pistachio Madeleines & the release of LOVE IS WHAT YOU BAKE OF IT!

It’s been an interesting few weeks, to say the least. My newest book, Love is What You Bake of it, released on March 24th, right smack in the middle of this unsettling, to put it mildly, pandemic. Essential workers and healthcare professionals are overworked, risking their health to save lives and provide the public with food and other necessary services. The rest of us are homebound, maybe a…

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Blueberry scones & a book cover reveal

Blueberry scones & a book cover reveal

Today I get to show the reading world the cover of my soon to be released book, Love is What You Bake of it. From the title alone, I think my food-loving audience will love this book too! As promised, here is a recipe card featuring one of the sweets from Kally’s cafe, The Coffee Klatch.

Excerpt

Kally was stacking books on a shelf for next month’s book club selections in a cozy corner of the…

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KEFTETHES & TZATZIKI SAUCE

KEFTETHES & TZATZIKI SAUCE

Keftethes, or otherwise referred to as Greek meatballs, are delicious for dinner or as a party appetizer. Alone, they are flavorful enough, but with a dollop of tzatziki sauce, they are divine. The best thing about them is that for me, at least, they taste even better cold the next day. I’m getting hungry just thinking about them!

This recipe was one of the many featured in The Gift Saga.I…

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BAKLAVA & TEENAGE ROMANCE

BAKLAVA & TEENAGE ROMANCE

What does one thing have to do with the other? Read this excerpt from Evanthia’s Gift to find out. The love story between Sophia & Dean is complicated, but one thing is clear – they have a bond that can never be broken.

Excerpt:

As the weeks went by, the change in Sophia could not be suppressed. She was lighter, happier and her eyes had a dreamier quality to them. Whatever her task, it reflected…