My Big Fat Greek Weekend... Ok, just Saturday Night

Here in SLC, there is a Greek Festival every September and, after living here for 12 years, I thought it was finally time to go see what the hub-bub was all about.  Well, that's not exactly true.  Some of our friends called on Friday to see if we wanted to go but they didn't want to leave until 9:00 AT NIGHT.  Luckily for us, our friends are nice enough to realize that by 9:00 I've been in my pajamas for about 3 hours, so they agreed to make a change of plans and go on Saturday at the more Carrie-friendly hour of 7:00--even though they were helping someone move on Saturday and would probably be very tired.  They are truly wonderful people, no?

The big draw to this event seems to be the food, since we spent over an hour waiting in a line akin to those you find at Disneyland just to get to the food.  It was totally worth it, too, because YUM!  Everything was good, but I wish that I had just gotten a big plate of the dolmades since they were the absolute best that I've ever had and I wish I would have met them before I met Joel so I could have married them and settled down to live a long happy life with them.  You know that sound Homer Simpson makes whenever he thinks something is exceptionally tasty?  That was the sound I made after every bite of dolmades.  Except multiplied by a billion.  Also, there was baklava, which elicited a sound I usually reserve for more... um... intimate moments?

Joel seemed to like one dish more than anything else, which is why he requested that I make it tonight for dinner.  It's called Pastitsio and is basically Greek macaroni and cheese.  It was very good and I'll have to let you know whether I, who have never made it before, can make it as good as the Greek women (or men) who probably come out of the womb making it.  That is to say, don't get your hopes up, honey!

To sum up: Greek Festival = pretty damn awesome.  If I grew up with a Greek mother who could cook food like we ate on Saturday, I'd weigh 900 pounds and I would have to be lifted out of my house with a crane.

P.S.- I know I've been away for a while, so to make up for leaving the 5 of you reading this here blog on the edge of your seats thinking that I must have been dragged away by a black bear or something, this week, I will try to post on days that end with "ee."  If you live outside of the great state of Utah, you might think that this means I will not be posting at all, ever.  Never fear: in Utah, all days end with "ee."  For example, today is "Mundee" and tomoroww is "Twosdee."  The only exception is Sunday, which is called "The Lord's Day," so I'll be taking that off because of the Lord.  If you have a problem with that, take it up with him.  I don't make the rules.

Comments

[sarah at soulmoxie]

the gyro gets no mention? It deserves AT LEAST an honorable mention. It was too much fun, lady. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend an evening in line with.

P.S. Still tempted to go back today for the custard. Out? Of custard? Damn Greeks.

[kristin]

I'm a non-Greek married to a Greek.

I have become, by necessity, quite accomplished in cooking pastitsio, spanakopita, baklava, tiropita and, of course, aveglemono soup. It was not a choice, but I LOVE the food, so I learned and at least I can say my kids eat spinach!

Have fun and good luck. I love a good Greek festival.

Did I mention that the very first family dinner I was invited to, I was asked ot make and bring pastitsio?!

Talk about pressure. Of course my DH-to-be had never made it either. We trashed my kitchen using every single pan I owned. God bless my MIL and SILs because they never said one bad word about it.

I must have done ok, because 15 years later, I still get asked to make spana and pastitsio for family gatherings.

[Carrie]

I know you have kids and stuff, but would you be able to adopt a 33-year-old woman and her husband, dog, and cat?

I think if they are still asking you to bring the pastitsio, you are doing ok. I don't know any Greek people, really, but those I've met don't seem to mind telling you what's on their minds.

[kristin goes country]

So I have to use a more specific name because you already had someone comment using my name (hi, other Kristin!) and she even lives in upstate New York too. Trippy. But also inconvenient, because then I have to type like, 12 more letters. And I'm lazy, so boo to that. But moving on.

Anyway, yes, Greek food is yummy. If you were REALLY ambitious, you'd try to make the baklava. All those layers . . .

[Carrie]

Kristin-- you should know by know that I'm totally not ambitious enough to make baklava. Especially since there are a couple of bakeries within 3 blocks of me that make it much better than I ever could! BUT the pastitsio turned out really well, so maybe there is a Greek cook in me somewhere?

[Mel]

Oh, Lady. I am so glad you got to get the good stuff. It is heavenly, no? I grew up on Armenian/Lebanese food and it's very similar to Greek food; we just have different names for stuff. One of the few perks about Fresno is that you can get that stuff on virtually every street corner. Little grandmas fill the kitchens with barrels of extra virgin olive oil, grapeleaves, lamb, and love. Imagine my sadness coming to SLC. Not only can no one can pronounce my last name, people do not know Armenia is a country, and I've been asked how long I've been in the US and whether I speak English.... but where is all the good food? What are funeral potatoes and what is with this green jello? You know, I've still never had some of those LDS staples. You should post a recipe for funeral potatoes. They actually sound kind of yummy.

[Joel]

For the record, I loved the Pastitsio. Thanks baby!

I loved it so much I think I will give you a Unicorn sticker. For the rest of you who don't know, Carrie loves Unicorns.

[Carrie]

Yes, I do love unicorns. AND, Joel gives me stickers whenever I do all my chores, just like in the 3rd grade. If I get 500 more stickers, I get a Louis Vuitton!

And, Melly, I just have to get my mom's recipe for funeral potatoes and then, once I post it, your life will change forever.

[Mel]

Yes, but will I still be able to fit into my pants?

[Carrie]

Look, you can have funeral potatoes or you can fit into your pants. You can't have both!