DIY Brothel Part I

And a Happy New Year to you all! This New Year I stayed home. It was great. Indeed so great that I no longer have any desire to EVER spend 2 hours in traffic in a miserable struggle to get downtown only to find myself squashed in some bar thats playing semi-shit music and serving a mix of petrol and flat lemonade instead of a real cocktail. Ok so thats an Athens worst case scenario, but if you live here you'll know what I'm on about. Anyway the drinks we had at home were so dreamy, and the whole dinner/cocktail party so lush that everything else on offer in Athens nightlife kind of pales in comparison.

So, Brothel is a restaurant*, and my inspiration for 2010 New Year's mini dinner party. I HEART BROTHEL. Its a bit sleazy in a cheesey Athenian kind of way, has the obvious red lighting and appropriate decor, the cocktails are wicked and the food is Italian and spicey. Eating and drinking there awakens the senses and has you hopping about for more...

and so I would like to present the tequila cocktails! They gave us a swift kick up the bum while the clock hands moved midnight-wards.

• Maria Theresa Margarita: I love this version of the Margarita because I love honey and I love cranberry juice. To make one: Put two shots of tequila into a shaker. Stir two spoonfuls of honey into the tequila and then add one shot of cranberry juice and 1/2 shot of freshly squeezed lime juice. Add ice to the shaker, shake it all up and fine strain into a glass. It'll hit you before you expect it to.

• Mexican Mule: This is one of my fave cocktails ever. I drool just thinking about it. To make it you will need sugar syrup. This can be easily made at home by pouring 2 parts of sugar into 1 part of hot water in a saucepan on low heat. Make sure it doesn't boil, then leave it to cool. You can pour it in a bottle and store it in the fridge and it keeps for ages. So anyway, this is how to make one: put 1 1/2 shots of tequila, 3/4 shot of freshly squeezed lime juice and 1/4 shot of sugar syrup in a shaker, add ice and shake. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice and add ginger beer till you reach the top. It makes a great chaser for Maria Theresa Margarita because its lighter and doesn't get you pissed quite as quickly.

Throw in a platter of crackers, gorgonzola cheeze and prosciutto and you're set to go for starters. Next blog I'll put up the main: Pasta Puttanesca of course...

See ya!

*Orfeos 33 kai Dekeleon, Gazi, Athens** tel. 2103470505
**For those who don't know where the hell Gazi is

DIY Xmas embroidery frenzy da results!

Hello and Happy Holidays to you all! Yes its been quite a while. Elias and I had been ploughing (stitching) away for AGES and then **PLONK** Xmas day landed in the middle of our suburban livingroom sweatshop. Elias was stitching until the very last minute before we walked out the door to go for the big feast. These are a few of the things we did. Its all simple needlework...but there is such a sense of accomplishment when you complete something. We are ever so pleased with ourselves! All the cross stitch here are my designs but if you like the other stuff then I suggest you check out http://www.sublimestitching.com/. Its fantastic for iron-on beauties and you just stitch along the lines.

Teddy Bear by domesticatedbee for baby Andreas

And Skull and Crossbones for my Babs

Elias for his lovely mama

detail of a kitchen towel by domesticated bee for Paulina

And Elias for YY.

I'll be back soon with yummy but easy recipes and more...enjoy the remainder of the merriment! XXX

breakfast at the monastery recipe

Yeah yeah I know. I did kind of go on a bit in my last post. I was delirious from excitement and exaustion, and I have since edited out chunks. Anyway, for those of you who did manage to make it all the way through...for lunch today I made my own version of the fish dish we were served for breakfast at the monastery and it turned out YUM! I really recommend it because its super healthy, cheap and easy to make. You will need:

• around 5 tomatoes, either dice them or wizz them in a blender. Enough to fill a deep plate. You could also use chopped tomatoes from a tin.
• 3 medium sized onions, or 1 1/2 big ones. diced.
• two cloves of garlic, chopped up
• a spoonful tomato paste
• around 600g worth of bakaliaro (cod) chopped into approx 4 finger length pieces
• 2 large potatoes cut into smallish pieces
• olive oil (extra virgin) (of course)
• a bay leaf
• pepper, salt optional

Sautee the chopped onion, garlic and pieces of fish in olive oil for a bit then chuck in all the rest with a little water and leave to boil softly for half an hour. Make sure you stay near the food and stir a bit every so often so it won't burn. Taste it after about 15 minutes to see how salty it is (bakaliaro/cod can be very salty sometimes) and add salt if necessary, a generous shake of pepper and a glug more olive oil.

As soon as the potatoes are ready, it should be ready to eat as you don't want to overcook the fish. Serve in a deep dish with really nice bread. I'll definitely make this again so if you don't make it maybe you'll eat it for dinner at my house! X

Sweet as honey

Ooowhere do I start? I just got back from paradise! Ahhhh... Mmmmm. Really, there are no words to fully describe my experience in Amorgos so I'll just put a selection of orgasm sounds. How crap! No, I'll try harder. Here we go:

This weekend we took a trip to the island of Amorgos. The occasion? Its quite a ferry ride, so at this time of year there must be an occasion. The beautiful monastery Panagia Hozoviotissa (built into the face of a cliff overlooking the sea wot the island is famous for) celebrates with a fair on the 21st of November. Worth a look? I think so.

We did so many nice things. There are some I must recommend. The first is 'O Loudaros' of Lagada. Its a caffeneio that doubles as a tavern if anyone wants to eat. All the food is local produce and the salads are ecstasy for taste buds.

Also some of you may already know the oh so pretty zacharoplasteio(I think that translates as sweet shop) (cake shop?) 'Kallisto' in Hora. Best cheesecake I've ever had. Really!

And last but definitely not least are psimeni raki and rakomelo (and if you have no clue what these are and are interested go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakomelo) These two traditional Amorgos drinks are the ultimate winter booze. Drunk hot or cold, either way it warms you up, gives you a delicious high and no hangover. We brought back as much of both as we could afford. If you live in Greece you can usually find either at the supermarket or a cava. Amorgion is a really good brand and made on the island. If you live out of Greece then...you're in luck! Brettos in plaka now has a website and delivers OVERSEAS! They have a very good selection of Greek wines and traditional liqueurs and stuff. Get rakomelo at http://www.brettosplaka.com/.

As for the monastery and the fair, all I can say is that it was magical, and I really can't go into too much detail because I cannot do it justice. I will say one thing though. They fed those of us who did the morning shift a mean fish dish for breakfast and I am in the process of trying to figure out the recipe. And because a picture is worth...this is a view from the steps on the way up. Ahh...

grog blog

The days are now tiny. The dark goes on for ages and its much more comfortable to be indoors after the sun goes down. You just want to curl up on the couch with a hot bev but need something a bit more butch than a cup of tea. So what will it be? Mulled wine? Too much fuss. Egg nog too milky. Irish coffee? No. Hot grog is my poison.

In England* grog usually means a drink mixed with rum. The British Navy used to give rations of grog to the sailors. They got a pint of rum(neat) a day mixed with a quart of water. They were allowed two pints before battle(!!) and also after-if they won. Lime juice was often added to this mix to prevent scurvey. Add honey and you've got a drink thats to DIE for. YUM. This is how my hot grog is done:

Put 3 teaspoons of honey into a cup that won't crack with heat. Add one shot of a strong dark rum. 1/4 shot of freshly squeezed lime juice and 2 1/2 shots of boiling water. Stir it all up and drink it.

If you do make it, and love it like I do you may want to invest in Diffords Guide #7, the cocktail bible. You can buy it from amazon. Happy winter!

*In Australia grog can mean any alcoholic beverage. This is because when Australia was first settled grog was pretty much the only thing available to drink.

DIY XMAS

Bling bling! Christmas lights are popping up all over the place, and the message is loud and clear: Its Christmas! 'Tis the season to be jolly, and spend lots of money in the shops. But what if you don't have much extra cash this year, and yet you still want to give nice things to your lovelies and make them smile? Could you, would you consider DIY presents?

If you live in Greece then maybe you haven't realised that Stateside and in the UK there is a little knitting/tapestry/sewing revolution going on. Everyone seems to be at it! I hear even Madonna has taken up knitting so there you go. With still over a month left till Xmas, maybe this year you can avoid the endless queues and get creative at home with music and a hot cocktail!

Should the idea of getting crafty like that sound appealing to you, there are a good few websites that can help you get started. These are all worth taking a browse through:
http://www.craftster.org/
http://www.diyscene.com/
http://lilaknits.blogspot.com
http://www.clothkits.co.uk/

However, if sewing isn't your cup of tea of course you mustn't be discouraged. There are other very important things. Like food. Like a personal favourites recipe book! This is something I must urge you to consider very seriously. I would KILL for some of the people I know to make one of these.

If you really don't feel like making something but like the idea of original handmade stuff you can always go to http://www.etsy.com/ My friend Anna has a beautiful shop there at www.etsy.com/shop/abcmonster The choices at etsy are endless. Two of my favourites are www.etsy.com/shop/sisterbutterfly (great prezzies boxes and mirrors) and www.etsy.com/shop/singlestonestudios (fantastic wall stickers)

One of my best ever Christmas presents was a portrait of me and my sweetie. I like it so much I thought I would show it to you. Thanks Georgie!

Back to Basics

Ok then! Now that I feel I have had a nice little series of online rants about things that worry me or piss me off I can move over to the stuff I think other domesticateds like myself must care about. Like cooking, home decor and ware, clothes, accessories and a bit of DIY. So today I wish to celebrate the glory of the kitsch plastic table cloth, something I just cannot live without. It never fails to brighten up my day! After years of scouring London flea markets, the High Street shops and the East End (sometimes paying stupid amounts of money for low quality crap) I have found my dream brand in good ole Athens at my local supermarket. Its called Dizas Athens Luxury table cloths and its FAB. The quality is perfect and a tablecloth costs around 4Euros. There are loads of patterns that range from simple country checked to sunflowers to aquarium. So I can keep my brother's slightly hideous desk from University in the kitchen forever as it is safely hidden under one of these babies. I love! If anyone wants me to pop over to the supermarket and get you one I will do so gladly. This is me enjoying tea with my table cloth after a night out. The good times are endless! :)