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It’s Baaaaaack…

Posted on December 18, 2020December 18, 2020 by Mostly Greek: "Living a Village-ish Life in Suburban California"

Kids in this part of California have never experienced the joy of missing school due to snow. Fog, on the other hand, is a different story.

Continue reading It’s Baaaaaack…

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Posted in News from the "Village", UncategorizedTagged California, family, school, weather10 Comments

What a Show!

Posted on May 15, 2019September 24, 2019 by Mostly Greek: "Living a Village-ish Life in Suburban California"

d storm2 A few days ago we experienced this weird phenomena called “rain in May”. It even looks like this oddity may repeat itself sometime today. I’m not complaining! Continue reading What a Show!

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Posted in News from the "Village", UncategorizedTagged California, family, Gardening, weather9 Comments

California Skies

Posted on April 20, 2018September 25, 2019 by Mostly Greek: "Living a Village-ish Life in Suburban California"

Windy spring days often bring in puffy clouds to the Valley. Puffy clouds want you to take pictures of them. It’s true, just ask them.

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Posted in News from the "Village", UncategorizedTagged California, clouds, Gardening, outdoor recreation, weather5 Comments

Welcome to Mostly-Greek! I’m Dorie, a Greek mom and yiayia (grandma) living the suburban life with my family in the heart of California like it’s a Greek village!

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Strawberry season is in full swing here, and I'm all for it! They are so delicious eaten fresh, but let's face it, they sure taste awesome with a little aded sweetness! When you add in some velvety cream and luscious vanilla, you have a treat that is truly divine. This ice cream is all of that combined. The base is a rich vanilla cream with a generous helping of sweet strawberry jam made from fresh berries swirled in. It's so refreshing, not grossly sweet or overly fatty like so many desserts can be. Don't worry if you don't have an ice cream maker, this recipe can be made into ice cream bars, too! Yay!! So come on over for the recipe, it's ice cream time!!

I have been making jams and jellies for nearly 30 years now. There was a lot of learning I had to do in order to finally get to a point where I could whip up a few jars in no time at all. Even on a worknight (though generally not my preferred time!). I realized that as I have been putting together and posting recipes for these preserves, that I was getting rather repetitive in my instructions because I wanted to make sure someone else could make them successfully even with limited or no experience. Hey, we all start somewhere, right? So I've put together a post that goes over all the basics you would need to get going if you'd never made jams and jellies before, or have not had great results with the process in the past. Hopefully this will inspire you to make your own sweet treats! So come on over for a visit, it's jelly time!!

Have you tried growing strawberries before? It's pretty darned easy, and eventually you find yourself with more than you'll know what to do with. Okay, that's a lie. There can never be too many strawberries! 😂 We have so many spread all over, but I'm not complaining! Aside from what we eat fresh, a lot will get blended with other fruits from our garden and turned into yummy fruit rolls or frozen fruit pops (my kids absolute favorite). I plan on putting together some new recipes for preserves and desserts to share with you soon. Please share in the comments some of your favorite ways to enjoy strawberries!

One of the great things about being a part of a multi-generational community is the opportunity it provides to mingle with those whose life experiences go further back than mine. I love hearing their stories and learning from them. This recipe was inspired by a dish made by a wonderfully spunky lady at my church who was a regular in the kitchen putting together delicious meals for our various functions. She has since passed on, but I get to relive those fun memories of her every time I make this chicken recipe. It's full of so much flavor from generous amounts of garlic and Greek pepperoncini peppers, and a delightful broth forms that just begs to be ladled over pasta with a hefty sprinkling of grated mizithra or parmesan cheese (or both!). This will become a favorite, so come on over for the recipe!

It's a great day when I find a plant for my garden that can carry out multiple "tasks". Whatever I plant needs to be tolerant of our summer's extreme heat as well as mild freezing, it can't be a water hog, and it would be great if it feeds us and the wildlife. Oh yeah, good looks are a plus! 😁 Fortunately, there are many that can do all of this, like this unique variety of oregano. This is Cretan oregano, and as you can tell it's a native of the Greek island, Crete. Each year it puts out a massive array of dainty flower clusters that brings aaaallll the various bees to the yard. The flower explosion goes on for months and this small bush is just humming with happy little pollinators. Unlike many types of oregano, this one is upright and doesn't spread. Oh, and it tastes great! I have information on growing this amazing herb, so come on over and let's take a stroll through the garden together!

I can't decide which is prettier, the pomegranate flowers or the fruit. I love the fact that that I get to have both, albeit several months apart, but I'm not complaining. Happy Saturday!

Weekend mornings are meant for cookies and coffee. Heck, every morning is meant for cookies and coffee!! And not just any cookies will do, mind you, life is too short for generic blobs of sugary sawdust. It needs to be the good stuff. Aside from the Girl Scout cookies that we load up on each year (our new hook-up is the incredibly cute garden helper over at @littlesproutsfarm ) the only cookies that will do are homemade. These peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies are seriously addictive, in a good way! It's the perfect combo of sweet, salty, nutty, and buttery flavor in a cookie that is crispy on the edges but tender in the middle. I make a double batch and keep the extra dough in the freezer for making freshly baked cookies whenever the mood strikes us. It's an easy recipe, too, so come on over and let's enjoy some cookies!

Imagine getting to see this amazing display every spring, then getting a mass of tasty berries each summer! This is Golden Currant, a native to the western part of the US that has spread across the country. It is loved by pollinators for its sweet nectar, and all sorts of wildlife love the berries (and so will you). The plant is closely related to gooseberries, and the berries have a similar flavor. Just think of all the goodies you could enjoy! It's super low maintenance, adaptable to a wide range of environments and soil types, is tolerant to periods of drought, and beautiful to top it all off! I have more information about this delightful plant, so come on over to find out more!To get to the link from Instagram, just tap on the "mostlygreek" name anywhere you see it. This will take you to my profile where you'll see a "tapbio" link in blue. Click that and you'll get to a page showing the pictures from my feed. Tap on any one you want and you'll get directly to the post about that picture. Feel free to explore my website from there!

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