Where are we going, and what time are we leaving?
We were in our birthday suits, busily trimming the tomatoes for almost two hours, when that pesky cooking bug bit Mary again! When she uncovered an aggregation of squash blossoms, you could hear her heart begin to race. She burst out with “Stuffed squash blossoms for breakfast!” Four rabbits and a squirrel had heart attacks!
Well, that is all it took for us to gather the harvest: eight blossoms, seven boys, and a girl (can you tell the difference?).
We washed them, cut out their private parts, and stuffed them with cream cheese and softened feta. Feta late than never!Stuffing each with a spoon and a half of cheese was time-consuming but worth the effort. The blossoms are placed on parchment paper with a light coating of olive oil and a pinch of salt!
The girl is in the top right-hand corner, and she is with a child!
Fresh out of the oven, baked to perfection! We do NOT fry them.
Oh my, we have died and gone to heaven!!
We had a delightful first course, followed by a big serving of borscht. We enjoy eating healthy, and my bride takes great care of me. I have learned that if I even look at the candy bowl, my hand gets slapped!
We just worked around the house all day doing small chores and finishing off “The Good Doctor” series.
Domilita and crew came at 3:15 to clean house, and we departed for Long Beach to have dinner with Maria and Irene at our favorite Greek restaurant.
We had an excellent time and decided to stop at Patty’s quickly. We chatted with the locals for a while, and the bartender told us they had my Empress 1908 gin in stock again. Little did we know Empress has two additional flavors now!
Yummy
We departed Patty’s at 4:30 pm, which was good because, being retired, we had forgotten about this thing called traffic. We made it to the restaurant ten minutes early and chatted with the manager.
George’s Greek Restaurant in Long Beach is no longer part of the family, as the son sold the restaurant and the name to others. Apparently, they are experimenting with other foods, and it is not going well!
We ordered saganaki and asked that it be served as soon as Irene arrived. The booze was excellent this evening as flames shot out the front door and stopped traffic. Saganaki is hard cheese set afire with an alcoholic beverage.
Traditionally, Saganaki is not commonly served flambé in Greece, except in some restaurants in tourist hotspots. However, flaming Saganaki is a Greek American tradition that began in Chicago’s Greektown. And I must admit it’s a delightful sight!
So, if you choose to flambé the Saganaki, pour a bit of Metaxa (Greek brandy) or ouzo, ignite with a lighter, and squeeze a wedge of lemon over the cheese. OPA!
Oh my! We could make a meal of this!
Then it came to me! The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook! George’s stuffed steak is simply out of this world good!
The manager has things well in hand! Cell phone set to 9-1-1
We shared a boggle of wine and had a fantastic Greek meal, sharing the past few days’ events. Irene is still loving her party and seeing friends from Wisconsin! We started with Tzanziki which is Greek Yogurt, EVOO, Garlic, Mint, and Cucumber.
I got Maria to order the stuffed flank steak; like me, we thought it was terrific.
The opened steak was stuffed with the most delectable feta/spinach combination! The veggies were cooked to perfection and the lemon flavored rice was picked to the lst kernel!
I gained a pound just looking at the meal!
The manager brought out a special dessert for Irene. We could not get the Fire Department’s approval for candles so we used just one!
We tried to set it on fire, but it could not be set on fire.
We headed home at dusk and made our evening call to Jeff, offering him some of Mary’s cooking results from yesterday. We visited for an hour and talked to many neighbors walking by with their babies on lease.
We love dogs and our neighborhood is loaded with adorable babies!
We met three adorable baby Beagles. Mary took her life in her hands by holding one of the babies; wait until we got home and Scout got a sniff of Beagles; he will order Lox and bite his mommy!
The afternoon/evening porch event goes on several days a week!
After skipping home, we crashed maybe 300 feet away! Oh my, we didn’t even go into the pool!
Today was a great day!
