Anyway, I don't know about you but I've had the most Monday-est Monday ever. I come in to work and suddenly all of our security doors close and I can't get them to open back up. Why is this an issue? No one could access their offices. See the issue now? So by 8:15 I was getting a phone call a minute and an e-mail a second "informing" me of the issue. It was annoying and stressful. After a few more hours the problem was fixed and I was returned to my regularly scheduled programming. This weekend, however, was far from the "case of the Mondays" I experienced this morning - it was magnificent!
Friday night saw beer drinking, baked ziti eating and Walking Dead binge-watching. It was glorious and just what the doctor ordered after a long week last week (and an even longer week this week).
After being recliner-bound for longer than I'd care to admit, Saturday Nate and I were itching to rejoin the world of the living (pun intended) and a trip to Raleigh's Greek Festival was the perfect excuse! I love Greek Festivals and I went to Albuquerque's Greek Festival annually for many years. It will always hold fond memories for me and I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered Raleigh hosts it's own last year.
My favorite part about Greek fest is definitely the food...or is it the wine? The dancing and music? It's obviously very difficult for me to pick a favorite. This year Nate and I opted to split a "Greek Sampler" plate with a side Greek salad for me and half a chicken for him. The sampler came with giant chunks of salty feta cheese, briny kalamata olives, lemony Dolmades (stuffed-grape leaves), flaky and buttery spanakopita (spinach and feta pie), pepperoncini, and Greek meatballs. Nate and I split everything except the spanakopita and the meatballs. Everything was excellent and I wish I had brought my extra stomach along to gorge myself more.
After linner, Nate and I took a stroll around the market place and bought some homemade soap and jam before hitting up the beer/wine/spirit tent. The wine at Greek fest is superb. A delectable dry red wine was the perfect ending to my Greek feast (and I got a whole bottle to take home with me for $19), while Nate opted for a shot of ouzo. I am not a huge fan of liquors that taste like fennel...or star anise, meaning you won't catch me drinking ouzo or absinthe anytime soon. But Nate liked it. We drank our wine while we watched the dancers and then wandered over to a cooking demo! How great is that?! We learned to make a Greek side dish that I intend to make very, very soon.
You may be asking yourself, how could they possibly eat any more food?! Well, we couldn't leave Greek fest without some dessert. We could've opted for a baklava sundae (yum) but instead decided to get the Loukoumades aka delicious balls of fried heaven sprinkled with cinnamon, powdered sugar and chopped nuts. Seriously, I could've eaten an entire bowl of these babies myself but I decided to be nice and share with my husband instead.
I love this festival and may even stretch to say it's a little better than Albuquerque's. Unfortunately, this year's festival is over (it was only for the weekend) but if you love Greek food, music and having a good time, I highly recommend checking out next year's festival!
Stay tuned for some fall recipes coming up and stay safe. I will be sending good vibes down South until this whole mess is resolved and urge you to do the same.
All the food was great. The soap and jam came from an Orthodox monastery in Troy, NC.
ReplyDeleteOh, that looks so good. And sounds fun.
ReplyDelete