Planning ...

So , the moment came , when I woke up early 1/1 2019 , and slowly .. I did understand that this was the day when I had to drive my daughter and her bags to Stockholm , and watch her climb the airport shuttle ... and leave for a year in Greece .. I do wish her a wonderful year from all my heart , a lot of new experiences and fun moments in the company of her friends in Athens & on Aegina .. I had the sun in my eyes all the drive back 100 km .... no sunglasses in the car of course , did not expect such a sunny winterday when we left early in the morning , anyway I kind of felt lucky with the sun chasing me , it was like a sign that all will be well !!

And all this will of course make me to grab myself and try to figure out what are my plans , since this is the first time in many years that I am alone and totally free to do so much ... I have lived alone many times in my life , but back then I was completely absorbed by running food projects , restaurants and more ........ now I am not involved in such things ... maybe the occasional cooking or food seminar if I like to , so the time is now mine , to explore and push myself to new things , new beginnings !

Actually there are so many things one could do - take a train to Paris - all the museums - art or food festivals - invent your own cocktail - bake bread - switch off the telephone and spend quality time - take a road trip & explore different places , cant wait to begin ...

In my case , first there will be a week in Stockholm , then in February I will go to Gothenburg and see some friends , one of them dear Kiki ( ag. Sostis .) I also have to squeeze in a short trip to London for inspiration ...... and by Easter time off to Greece a couple of weeks , just the right time to begin the summer feeling .. and after that the Swedish summer will be long and full of small road trips to friends and to places never seen before !!

I will also plan my " Cook on a Greek island " green - greek seminar , which is planned for the second part of September ..

Come and cook with me during 4 days , it will be a wonderful escape in the company of recipes and packed with all the information you need to start both cook & live healthier we will shop local , chop and cook while laughing together & bond while eating the lovely dishes we did produce in the kitchen , for more info :

inbox me at cpleier@yahoo.se

there will also be information on my FB page Grammas Kitchen .

Speaking about food festivals , I suddenly did remember the other day while making a crumble , the first Fistiki Festival on Aegina , they had made different small films to show and one of them , was me in Grammas kitchen making Apple Crumble .. but they only filmed my hands , apples , butter , flour .... when that first day of the festival was nearly over , one of my friends came quickly walking in to our yard and she told me that she had seen the crumble film and immediatly know who the hands did belong to .....so funny famous hands !!

I really love crumble even though it probably is to blame for some extra pounds , served with whipped creme and a dash of vanilla inside , maybe some toasted coco flakes on top .. my best bet is the one where I mix peaches & apples plus a lot of cinnamon , ok well rhubarb is always a favourite and please you have to remember to use real butter !

These sea urchins - achinos in Greek - shells rests in a big glass bowl , a beautiful decoration & they are picked on Aegina by me and my daughter when she was little and we still lived in Athens , but we had a summer house on Aegina , am so happy that I did include them when I was packing my things to be sent to Sweden ... lovely to look at they also bring back some urchin-moments .. like eating them with a dear friend on Paraga beach more than 30 years ago , he now lives on Mytilini and I really should plan a visit !!

Food planning , I am pretty sure that it will be light food for many of us , after nearly a month with non- stop cheese plates and tons of sweets .. a period of " feeling good " plates might come in handy , salads can be a meal of their own all the time ..

Make them pretty and colourful on a " green start " put slices of peaches , figs , blueberries together with mozzarella or any cheese you like , maybe crispy chickpeas , green sun dried tomatoes .. and just go on adding what you love , make them different every day , for extra protein put a slice of grilled chicken or salmon on top , enjoy your choice !

Pomegranates , they mean luck .. we had a pomegranate tree just outside the door at Gramma ... but a friend told me that it was on the wrong side ... maybe he was right ...an old greek saying tells us that a wreath on the door , made from pomegranates , will keep all bad things away & bring luck ..

Anyway lets get lucky during this new year !!

So do what you can ... to make someone lucky or happy , it really doesnt take so much !!

I did listen to " Loaded re loaded " by The Velvet Underground , while writing this post , it was planned to be a very short post .. but I got carried away with my planning !!

Chris from GrammasKitchen