May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 3

[HollyTyler]

only to avoid them peeing on the floor (I think that's what she told us right?)

Holly, oh Holly, we're laughing with you were are you?????

I'm here laughing! Just a little behind you guys! Catching up, slowly but surely!

 

[HollyTyler]

When Tyler is away, Holly will play.......

Right!

 

[Jhalkias]

There ya go...I did have a Big Fat Greek Wedding...(but no one spat on me...that is not a custom where my mom's family is from, it's really localized to a certain area), so a Big Fat Greek cruise sounds perfect...HAHA.

Deb (EllaEnchanted) - you must love Avgolemeno soup?!?! I love it and make it on cold days (just a simple version). For you non-greeks, "avgo" means eggs and "lemeno" is lemon. It's very yummy, I make mine with lemons, eggs, rice, chicken broth and chicken pieces....very yummy!

Oh . . . our wedding - the opposite of the movie. It was Amy's family that thought she had married an alien. I hired the band - the Hellenic Stars, that assured me they also played "American" music. Well, when Amy's family made requests, they knew three songs, the "Bunny Hop", "Theme from the Godfather", and . . . . . . "Coccaine"

I haven't watched that video for a long time. The Greeks (my family) kept dancing and dancing. Amy had all kinds of money pinned to her dress (something else they did not expect). The drinks flowed, and by the end of the night, my uncle took out two banquet tables when he kept going in a direction that the rest of the dance line wasn't.

I LOVED THAT MOVIE...it was certainly all about my family....couldn't stop laughing!!!....Now, to do the Big Fat Greek Cruise all we need is a video camera and then get in touch with Tom Hanks' wife Rita and

Lisa, Since DH does all the cooking, mom taught him how to make it....and yes, I love it and I don't care who makes it as long as I get to eat it. Mom also taught DH to make grapevine leaves with Avgolemeno sauce...they make them with rice and meat rolled into the leaf and then the egg and lemon sauce over the whole thing. My mouth is watering. When mom or DH makes them, I eat them for every meal until they're gone. They are my favorite. Mom does Easter bread and she makes her own baklava. To die for!

This will be a sad Easter for us since mom passed away last December. Amy has not yet learned all of the food, and certainly no bread that mom used to make with the egg in the center. Food was so much a part of our lives.

Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup
Serves 4

6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 T vegetable oil
2 boneless, skinless chic breasts (6 to 8 ounces), patted dry
Salt and Pepper
1 med onion, minced
2 med carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 t minced fresh thyme
3/4 c long grain rice
2 T minced fresh parsley
3 T fresh lemon juice, strained
4 large egg yolks

1. Bring broth to boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Cover and set aside. Heat oil in Dutch over aover med high heat until just smoking. Season chic w/salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned on both sides, about 2 min per side. Transfer to plate. Lower heat to med low, add onion, and cook until lightly browned, 3 - 5 min. Stir in hot borth, using wooden spoon to scrape browned bits from pan. Add carrots, thyme, rice, and chic. Cover and simmer over low heat until chic is cooked through, about 10 min.

2. Transfer chic to cutting board and continue simmering soup, covered until rice is tender, about 10 min. Cut chic into bite sized pieces. Off heat, stir in chic and parsley.

3. Whisk lemon juice and yolks together in bowl. Whisking constantly, gradually (very slowly) ladle 1 c hot soup into egg mixture, then stir egg mixture back into soup. Rehead over low heat for 1 min. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

The key is to super slowly temper (add) the hot soup into the egg/lemon otherwise you'll basically scrable the eggs and that is really not good! Also, if you like it super lemony feel free to add more lemon juice at the appropriate time.

Enjoy!!!!

Very different from mom's . . . ours had no meat, just the broth, lemon, eggs, and rice. Also no other vegetables. There is one restaurant in town that makes it as good as mom's, the Agora. I would take it to her in the hospital last year, and she LOVED it.

 

[Jhalkias]

Okay, I'm dying here! There's a Greek deli opening up by my house and I hope it's good and authentic! I'm tickled. I can't wait to go back to Greece just to EAT!

Does your mom make the bread with the red eggs in it? I remember the eggs from when I was a kid and wondered how they got the eggs in the bread.

Check above . . .

Did your mom put money in the bread at New Years?

No one makes bread here like Ya Ya's . . .

 

[Jhalkias]

YES and we have Easter Egg fights with them before we start eating every Greek Easter dinner.

I'm so glad you were able to give Noel the recipe. If you want my mom's it doesn't exist. You have to cook it with her in order to learn because .... you do or add something until it LOOKS like this or FEELS like that...the measurements don't exist. And you can't get her to write it down...I got her a family recipe book once and wanted her to write things as she made them. She couldn't do it.

Same here guys . . . nothing written down.

Every Easter we would trick my poor dad. He did not catch on as he was very forgetfull. We would dye a special egg just for him . . . UNCOOKED. We would do "Christos Anesti" (Greek tradition of cracking eggs while saying "Christ is Risen") and dad would end up with a hand full of raw egg.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

I have my TA fax the list so I don't know number. I would just suspect that John or whomever at DU can help you. I have already faxed my list in so I would fax the list in as soon as you have 14 and all the info. You should have the lead person on each date either fax themselves or have their TA fax in the ressies. We will not find out if we can have the private rooms until 30 days or less so I figured the sooner we book, the higher we are on the list. Did I answer everything?


DH is not a lawyer but this is a lawyer story. DH was in the middle of working on a patent with his patent attorney while we were at family camp with our youngest DD. Patent attorney calls on cell and ask if he can send fax to camp. DH checks with camp and they say ok. We had to buy them a new printer cartridge and a ream of paper after the several hundreds of pages of material came through on the camp fax.

Needless to say, they were not pleased and DH had to work most of the so called vacation.

Yes, completely. Thank you! We're done with this subject now....back to more fun chatting....like finding out what Holly is up to....

 

[birkner]

Weather has been 80 degrees today....been outside most of the day by the pool.

Going to run some errands before dinner as I am going crossed eyed from all the spreadsheet talk..

BBL.

Noel

P.S. Holly, have missed your posts!!

 

[HollyTyler]

We had captain Tom on the EB repo.

Karen

We had Captain Tom last September and each time we talked to him, he seemed to have the personality of a piece of plywood.

 

[Ginamarie]

Weather has been 80 degrees today....been outside most of the day by the pool.

Going to run some errands before dinner as I am going crossed eyed from all the spreadsheet talk..

BBL.

Noel

P.S. Holly, have missed your posts!!

Noel, you're killing me. THe weather here is awful. I stayed home. I opened the door at one point to see if we got any mail and was PELTED by freezing rain. I did not shovel, so the driveway and walkway are a giant sheet of frozen rain. We have no icemelt to put on the walkway.

Oh, and the peach tree I ordered to put in our garden, has been sitting in a box in my entranceway all week. I keep watering the box and hoping it will warm up so it can get planted.

So yes, I'm jealous of the 80 degree weather!

 

[been2marceline]

Awhhhhhhh . . .

And I was going to tell her I counted each post and typed it in - DARN!

And I probably would have believed you too!

Blond I am...

Karen

 

[HollyTyler]

That's right...I forgot you have a cute, cuddly new baby!!!

So do I....Alejandro!

 

[been2marceline]

Who got it?

I fell asleep and missed swiping the 9000th posting!​

Twas me, twas me!!

This image you have really CREEPS ME OUT!! Kinda' like a Howie Mandel looking stalker!!

Karen

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Oh . . . our wedding - the opposite of the movie. It was Amy's family that thought she had married an alien. I hired the band - the Hellenic Stars, that assured me they also played "American" music. Well, when Amy's family made requests, they knew three songs, the "Bunny Hop", "Theme from the Godfather", and . . . . . . "Coccaine"

I haven't watched that video for a long time. The Greeks (my family) kept dancing and dancing. Amy had all kinds of money pinned to her dress (something else they did not expect). The drinks flowed, and by the end of the night, my uncle took out two banquet tables when he kept going in a direction that the rest of the dance line wasn't.

What an image!


This will be a sad Easter for us since mom passed away last December. Amy has not yet learned all of the food, and certainly no bread that mom used to make with the egg in the center. Food was so much a part of our lives.

John, so sorry for your loss, I know my mom is the matriarch of our family and her health has not been good. I really feel for you. I wish you and Lisa lived closer, I would invite you and your families to Easter dinner this year. Food definitely is the center of our family lives.


Very different from mom's . . . ours had no meat, just the broth, lemon, eggs, and rice. Also no other vegetables. There is one restaurant in town that makes it as good as mom's, the Agora. I would take it to her in the hospital last year, and she LOVED it.

Ours is like yours John. Lisa's is a little different. I took mom spinach pie and greek salad to the hospital this last trip. She wasn't eating the hospital food, but she loved what I brought her. So similar.

 

[HollyTyler]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got it!!!!!!!!!!!!

AARRRGGGG!!!!

Pirate I am!!

Karen, feeling the pirate in me...

Karen, you nut!

 

[been2marceline]

Glad to hear you like 'our' new show! I watched part of it on the NBC feed we got earlier, but didn't see the whole episode.

Oh, and as we were speaking of HD TV the other day....ours is the first local TV station in Phoenix to broadcast our news in HiDef. Really big deal (really big expense!). I don't think there are even that many in the country yet (other than the network O&O's...owned and operated).

As long as I'm bragging.....we had a GREAT Feburary ratings period too! Hmmmmm.....wonder if they can manage to come up with raises over 3% this year.....

Did you catch the part where the spoofed "Body Heat"? Really cracked me up, it's one of my favorite flicks!!

Karen

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Same here guys . . . nothing written down.

Every Easter we would trick my poor dad. He did not catch on as he was very forgetfull. We would dye a special egg just for him . . . UNCOOKED. We would do "Christos Anesti" (Greek tradition of cracking eggs while saying "Christ is Risen") and dad would end up with a hand full of raw egg.

Your poor dad...my mom's grandfather found a perfectly egg shaped rock, colored it red and won every fight!

"Christos Anesti" is one of the things they taught me to say, but I wouldn't dare try to spell it...having seen you do it, it looks easy.

 

[been2marceline]

Yes I am very Greek...mom is a purebred and dad is a mix, but mom ruled the roost so we did everything Greek growing up. The foods, the traditions, the Holidays and Church with my grandmother. The only thing I can't do is speak the language. I can only say two phrases and I wouldn't even attempt to spell them so I'll save them for meeting in person.

I'm very proud to be Greek and I'm waiting for the new DC boats to add Greece and the Greek Islands to their med itineraries so I can go. My brother was there once on Greek Easter and he said everyone knew he was Greek and he had a blast. Everyone partying and cooking lamb in the streets...I can't wait to go, but only with DCL.

I would be on that boat in a NY minute! The Greek Islands are very high on my travel list!!

No Greek blood (that we know of) in our family, but one of my best friends is half Greek and half Irish! Really a fun and lively mix, I must say!!

Karen

 

[been2marceline]

I am finally all caught up!
John, thanks for posting the Post Count. It is funny I came with about the same amout of posts that I've done here!

Update on my friend - she is able to do the IVF before the Chemo starts on April 1. So she will start to get hormone shots next week. Makes me a little scared, but by doing this it will hopefully get her focused then on fighting the cancer (NHL). She has had two weeks of radiation already. The treatments will go until Oct. Her doctor gave her off until Dec, so she hopes to go back to teaching in Jan 08. Thanks for all the positive thoughts. I will see her tonight.

My sister has suprised me with an all paid Maui trip over Memorial Day week-end - four nights! Can't wait - she has lots of miles with work so we will travel first class and have a Mai Tai on the way! Actually, not a big fan of Mai Tai - maybe Champange! What do I care - I'll have a domestic beer. Four nights with no guitar lessons, homework, work....HEAVEN

Ok - off to work! Have a good day all. Lisa

Wow!! What a nice surprise and a nice Sis!!!

Lucky you!

I have a wonderful sister too!! She watches my DD when I am working and is planning a fabulous St. Pat's Day dinner tomorrow night. She is quite the Chef!!

Karen

 

[WldWcnWmn]

I am a sour mouth also.


That's A LOT of lemons...What kind of wine do you like?


Gosh, there are so many!! White or red???

I am a "Potty Mouth" kinda' like "Sour Mouth" well, maybe not.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

I would be on that boat in a NY minute! The Greek Islands are very high on my travel list!!

Should be just a matter of time, I'm hoping.

No Greek blood (that we know of) in our family, but one of my best friends is half Greek and half Irish! Really a fun and lively mix, I must say!!

Karen

Sounds like an awesome combination...what color eyes and hair?