Opa! It's Greek to Me...except the squash

OPA!

Every February we like to attend the Greek Festival in our community. We go for the culture ~ the live Greek band, the Hellas dancers, and the mosaic icons.

Let's keep it real. We go for the FOOD!!!

What's your culinary pleasure? Souvlaki, pastichio, lamb shanks

spanakopita, or tiropita?

Last year we had a sampler plate complete with stuffed grape leaves, dolmathes. This year we went simpler and had a gyro and Greek fries.

My gyro and Greek seasoned fries!

Our Favorite Greek Nurse

Our favorite nurse from the hospital in Colorado was visiting her family in Florida and we ran into her at the Greek Festival! Opa!We chatted, met her mother and took some pictures. She took good care of me, too, during One Fine Man's hospital stay.

Our night is not complete until we visit the lovely Greek ladies at the Philoptochos pastry booth. (philoptochos means friends of the poor.)

We like the galaktobouriko, baklava and the thiples.

One Fine Man, Guitar Girl and I enjoyed the pastries at home with coffee. Our boys opted for pizza. They do not enjoy the pastries either.

They called our goodies "old people's desserts." That's okay. More for us "old people."

Pictured are: baklava - Say: bak-la-VA - Dessert made with flaky filo layered with butter and walnuts and topped with a honey-flavored syrup;
galaktobouriko - Say: ga-lak-to-BOU-ree-ko - Custard wrapped in layers of buttered filo and topped with a honey-flavored syrup;
and thiples - Say: THEE-ples - Pastry deep fried and rolled with drops of honey
A cinnamon cookie - I don't know the Greek name for that one.

One Fine Man & Bella~Mella

Now for the not so Greek...

The next night we had spaghetti and fried squash at home because nothing is as American as mixing your cultural cuisine. I could eat a plate full of these little fried beauties all by myself. Wait. I think I did. Forget the spaghetti!

Fried yellow squash

Recipe

Rinse squash and brush well with vegetable brush. Slice away any brown spots. Cut the top end down by about 1". Slice the bottom off 1/4". Heat canola oil in your black skillet. Slice squash into thin even rounds. I put Martha White cornmeal mix on a plate (w/salt). Dust the squash rounds in the cornmeal. It will stick b/c the squash is naturally moist. When your oil is hot enough, drop one layer of squash in skillet. Don't overlap. When the top side is golden brown, gently flip over with a fork to brown the other side. Remove with a slotted spatula and let drain on paper towels. Add more salt. I use sea salt for everything! Continue to add the remainder of your squash. Try not to eat the first batch as you stand there frying the remainder. Or maybe that's just ME. You may have to adjust the temperature of your oil to keep it from burning. You can use the same process on zuchinni but I prefer the squash. They're better than french fries! REALLY. HAPPY FRY~DAY!

Sauteed squash
I also like squash and zuchinni like this: sauteed in olive oil with onion and Italian seasoning. Salt & pepper when done.

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