1 January 2024
Sorry that this post is a bit late. I wanted to put out the Dion post first because it’s been so long since I produced a write-up of the September 2022 trip to Greece. I have to admit that I am more than happy to see the backside of 2023. As I mentioned in a previous post, my mother passed on in July, and this past holiday season was incredibly sad for me with her absence. However, I like to think that I’ve worked my way – mostly – out of that funk and am ready to move forward.
I spent New Year’s Eve with “my three sons” – my traveling companions to Greece in 2022 and 2023. It was a nice, quiet night featuring good food, sweet wines, a warm fire, and word games. Aaron made a vegetarian version of shepherd’s pie, which I do love. For my contribution, I decided to try my hand at a couple of new Greek dishes. For a side, I chose Kastana Stifado, a sort of chestnut stew that we had encountered in Chania, Crete this past October. I modified the recipe by using caramelized shallots instead of pearl onions and canned chopped fire-roasted tomatoes. The recipe called for sweet red wine, and I used a sweet red vermouth. The chestnuts used were already cooked, peeled, and vacuum-sealed. I cooked in an ancient steel wok that I’ve owned for 40 or so years.
On NYE, we served the Kastana Stifado as a side with the shepherd’s pie. At home on New Year’s Day, I served the leftover stew over a vegan sweet potato penne pasta with a sprinkle of dried basil and some ground sea salt.
My dessert contribution to our NYE feast was baked quince in honey syrup. The idea came to me because our local Kroger got in a shipment of fresh quince, which is something of a rarity hereabouts.
fruit, and it will likely need to bake longer than the recipe calls for (mine certainly did).
I came home after midnight, but had carried a fresh pomegranate with me in my vehicle so that I could perform the Greek ritual of the Kalo Podariko of smashing a pomegranate on the threshold in order to ensure good luck in the coming year.
New Year’s Day brought a light coating of snow, something that was unfortunately denied to us for the Solstice. May 2024 treat you with kindness. I’ll be back to writing about Greece in my next post.
— Να εχεις μια ωραια μερα. —
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