Thank you to my blog audience!!

I can't tell you how touched I am to see that in a little over a month since I launched my blog, there have been more than 600 pageviews! It's so exciting to see that people out there in cyberspace are reading my posts and furthermore that they are from all over the world! Imagine that! I want to send a big shout out to my readers with whom I am communicating: The folks from Russia, France, UK, Brazil, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Germany, the Virgin Islands, Australia, Japan, Lebanon, the United States and more. You Rock!

A tremendous thank you to all of you who are reading my ruminations. It keeps me motivated to share my recipes, vintage finds, nature adventures, travel and more. I'd love to get some comments about what you like the most or what you'd be interested to see more of. Do drop me a line, won't you?

In keeping with the international theme of this blog, I'm posting photos from our trip to Japan. We had visited Mount Koya, an amazing place of Shingon Buddhist Monasteries that cater to pilgrims. We were lucky enough to stay in one of them and enjoy their lovely hospitality and vegetarian meals. One of my most vivid memories from that stay was taking part in evening prayers. As I sat among monks and pilgrims on the floor of the ancient temple, eyes closed and silent for 45 minutes, I felt hot tears running down my face. An overwhelming sense of joy filled me and I allowed myself to fully experience it.

 

May your day be as joyful,

 

Maria

Writerly woes!

As I may have mentioned, I'm a writer. Yes, obviously I write this blog, but there's more. I have a completed novel in the hopper, a second novel that I'm working on, as well as a number of essays and short stories. Sometimes, I even delve into poetry. But, I'm not a poet. I'm a fiction writer. What does that mean really? I just found out that even Hemingway wrote some poetry.

My novel, "Archangel", is about Juliana Petresku, an American art dealer who buys a set of Byzantine mosaics in a shady international deal and discovers that they are stolen. The story is inspired by true events and the Byzantine mosaics are based on the Panagia Kanakaria mosaics that were stolen from a church in Turkish occupied Cyprus after the Turkish invasion of 1974. Above is one of the stolen mosaics depicting the Apostle Matthew.


For five years I worked using photographs of the mosaics given to me by my good friend, Petros Petrides, the first photojournalist to photograph the mosaics after they had been recovered by the Church of Cyprus. When I finally had the opportunity to travel to Cyprus and visit the Byzantine museum where the mosaics were kept, I felt ambivalent. After conjuring the amazing icons through the photographs for so many years, I was afraid that seeing the real icons would be a let down. You know how what you see with your minds eye is always more spectacular than the real thing.



My worries turned out to be unfounded. Seeing the actual mosaics on the walls of the museum in Cyprus, the land where they originated, was elating. They were more brilliant, more vivid and alive than I had ever imagined. That was a great day for me!



I have since rewritten the mansucript, sent it to agents, other writers, friends and acquaintances looking for someone to publish it. So far, no takers, but I still believe in it! It's a good story, worth reading!

Maria

Chickpeas anyone? Or lowering your cholesterol!

Greeks love beans! A lot of Greek cuisine is actually vegetarian. Which is great for me because at my last check up we discovered that my cholesterol had reached unmentionable heights. One solution is lipitor, the other: nutrition. I think I'll try the latter. Wish me luck!

This week, I came up with this easy, tasty, powerfoody(is that a word?) lunch that includes all these wonderful Greek flavors! It's very filling and gives me plenty of energy. And it's good for me too!

A can of chickpeas

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

a small tomato chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

the juice of half a lemon

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss gently. Serves two as a lunch with crusty bread.
You can substitute any bean you like for the chickpeas. I particularly enjoy cannellini beans.
Bon Appetit!

Maria

Brocante: French for second hand goods or in other words: junk!

One of my favorite pastimes is browsing at garage sales. What is it about old things that attracts me? Maybe it's because we lost everything after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. In other people's old belongings I see the memories my family and I lost with all of ours. Where I see a story, a history about where an item was made, how it was used, how long ago, the materials used in making it, my husband just sees junk!

This morning I passed by an Estate Sale in my neighborhood. I vowed not to buy anything I didn't need, but that went out the window as soon as I saw this beautiful Turkey platter. It's a wonderful mid century(all that means is that it's from around the fifties) thanksgiving platter made in California. It's in great shape and I can imagine all the years it has spent serving family Thanksgiving dinners.

Let me show off the rest of my little finds!

These little knives and forks are great for appetizers! They're marked stainless steel Japan.

Lacquer Christmas tray! Made in Japan. I love everything made in Japan. They are such craftsmen!

What about the gravy ladle? Don't you love the shape and color!

My downfall is books. I can't resist buying old books. Old illustrated books. I think eventually there will be no more room in my office for me. Too many books, so little space!

 

Be Well

Maria

In the Balance

I always strive for balance. Perhaps it's because I'm a Libra, you know, the scales. That's not to say that I'm never out of balance. Like everyone else, I struggle everyday to be on an even keel. Mentally and physically. As a younger woman, I don't remember even thinking about balancing my life. Certainly physically, it was not an issue.

Yoga has been a great practice that improves my balance, both mentally and physically.

 

 

Have a balanced day!

 

Maria

Hiking the Popolopen Gorge

Yesterday, Stelios and I took advantage of a beautiful March day to hike the Popolopen Gorge. The Popolopen Gorge is the deepest gorge in the lower Hudson River area. I love the name and I remember vividly the first time I hiked this trail. There was deep snow on the ground and I was with a group called the Wednesday hikers. Dave Sutter, an intrepid hiker who was then about eighty, led.

Starting at the historic Montgomery Fort parking lot, we took the 1777 trail. Under the bridge we went, and then single file we walked over the bridge along the busy road. Once we stepped off the road and into the woods, the magic of this tributary to the Mighty Hudson revealed itself in every step.

 Up and up we went on the RD(red dot) trail, going past the great falls thundering with the power of rushing water. Then we swooped down the blue trail and crossed the gorge on a foot bridge.

On this day, we also started our trek at Fort Montgomery and climbed the steps that lead to the path. Again, under the bridge we went and then over. Hurricane Irene has caused a lot of damage to the trail and fallen trees were all over. We just had to go over them!

Soon, we were in the woods. Up and up we climbed and about an hour later we met the new part of the trail. It was wide as a carriage road and smooth as a highway. The RD crossed the Blue trail where we remembered it would and we took it and went down to the river. Since Hurricane Irene had swept away the old bridge, we found a spanking new, super modern, high tech bridge in its place. Thank you to the hard working folks who built it!

After a trail lunch of turkey and cheese sandwiches while sitting on a rock in the sun(who played hide and go seek with us) we retraced our steps  back to the parking lot.

 

 

 

If you ever have the chance, take the Popolopen Gorge trail and go for a hike. You'll love it!

Maria

 

Lamb Kofta for dinner tonight!

In my freezer I had a package of ground lamb from Snoep Winkle Farm(Isn't that a great name!) So last night I made lamb kofta. Basically, it's a lamb meatball with lots of middle eastern spices. The recipe calls for pressing the mixture onto wooden skewers and placing them on the grill. I prefer to just make them into oblong meatballs and grill them. This is my adaptation of lamb kofta.

Ingredients

1 lb ground lamb

3 tablespoons grated onion

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger2 tablespoons thyme
1 tablespoon chili pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
4 pita breads
yogurt for serving

 

 

 
 

Place all ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well.


Form into oblong meatballs.

 
Grill the kofta on a grill on medium heat. Sear one side for 3 minutes, turn and cook for another 6.

Enjoy!

Maria