Gourmelita

On my mission to translate and re-shoot photographs of this blogs most popular recipes, these fluffy banana cookies had to be amongst the first to remake. They have been on the blog since March 2013 and they are always in the Top 10 recipes my readers use. Honestly, I don't wonder why. They might not look as pretty as any other cookie here, but boy do they taste good! When you have ripe bananas at hand, make these cookies. They are crunchy on the outside, with a cake-like texture in every bite, filled with aromas from the spices used, and lots of banana flavour. They could be little bites of banana cupcake, but in a cookie. They could be banana cream pudding, but in a cookie. I am done describing, you have to taste them for yourself to know what I am talking about! The recipe originally calls for nuts but I hadn't used them in their original version. They do suit them really well and add a different element to their texture, but the downside is they add a little ti...

This post will be brief and sweet. This sheet cake is one of the easiest apple desserts you can make, after an apple crumble. It's made with olive oil and lots of apples and nuts, keeping it spectacularly crumbly and moist at the same time! I have had it here-on the blog-in Greek for ages, but since I have been making it really often this time of year-kids love it, I love it- I finally dedicated some time to reshooting photos of it, so that I can give you the English version. The cake itself is very versatile: you can add raisins or cranberries, swap the almonds with any other nut you like and 'play' with the sugar contained, removing some Demerara and adding some white crystallised sugar to make it lighter in texture. The only 'hassle' in making it, is roasting the almonds/nuts for a few minutes, and grinding them. A hassle well worth it and totally forgotten about when you are enjoying a warm piece of this fragrant cake with a spoonful of custard on it! Oth...

One of the things I have missed the most from Greece since living here in the UK for the last 2 years is the full 3 months of summer holidays my children would have. British schools close for a mere 6 weeks, whereas in Greece school is out mid June, until mid September! I feel blessed to have been able to spend all their primary school summers on our tiny little island of Kasos.  My children literally hate me-cannot say I blame them, I sort of hate myself too-for cutting their holidays SO short and this month especially is very difficult for all of us. We are all on autopilot, just waiting for it to end, so that we can get on a plane and spend what is left of the summer on our island. Each year, before departing from Athens to Kasos, I would clean out the pantry and as we would travel to our remote island by boat-16 hours to get there with the fast route, 24 with the slow one-I would load the car with all the forgotten goods I neglected to use during the winter. The year I c...

It's officially spring. One of the loveliest seasons to be in London. Everywhere you look trees are bursting with gorgeous pink or white blooms, Magnolias and Camelias are in full bloom and everything suddenly has turned green. With spring, come fresh spring fruits as well! I came across these amazingly smelling berries, strasberries and pineberries and although they were a little pricey, I HAD to get them. They literally smelled like strawberries used to smell when I was young and honestly I wanted my kids to try them, as not even organic strawberries come close to these. Strasberries are a variety of the garden strawberry, smaller in size and with a deep red colour. They were developed by a German breeder in 1925, and they were nearly extinct until a Dutch farmer reintroduced them as a commercial variety. Pineberries are also a variety of strawberry with an appearance opposite to the regular strawberry: white skin and red seeds. Their name comes form their flavours rese...

Rocky Road is by far one of my favourite deserts to nibble on. I love how you can actually combine nuts, chocolate, cookies, marshmallows and anything else your heart desires into a really fast to make, super-easy dessert, that everyone loves. Each chunky looking colourful little square is crunchy and chewy at the same time, smoothly chocolatey with a sour twist from the raspberries. Historically, Rocky Road is a 100% American creation and it's name reflects it's appearance: it literally looks like a rocky road! It started off as ice-cream and if you look into who was the first to make it and in which state, there is a whole debate. I will not go into detail, I will just say 'THANK YOU!' to the real inventor, he made our lives a little more decadent! This Easter version is fully loaded with mini pretzels, toasted coconut flakes, marshmallows, pistachios and crushed Easter eggs, sprinkled with freeze-dried raspberries and bound together with white chocola...

Clean Monday, the day that signifies the start of the Great Lent, is today! All Greeks will gather with friends and family to enjoy seafood today and on this occasion, some years back, I had created this crab soup.                                                                        ~~~ Η Καθαρή Δευτέρα έφτασε! Λίγες μέρες πριν, σταμάτησα με μεγάλο ιχθυοπωλείο να προμηθευτώ φρέσκο ψάρι. Αγόρασα μπαρμπουνάκια που λατρεύουν τα παιδιά μου, και όπως πήγα να φύγω, πήρε το μάτι μου αυτά τα καβουράκια. The story behind it is, that when I first laid eyes on these little lively fellows with the blue claws, I hesitated to buy a lot, since I thought they would be rather expensive, as all crab tends to be. However, at a price of €2.60 per kilo-I was in Greece at the time-my brain almost exploded with the r...