{Go, Greek!}

The mom of one of my childhood friends made wonderful food -- baklava and spinach pies,

in particular. I loved when my play dates at their house coincided with her cooking days so

I could watch her while she cooked and sample the goods. Their house often smelled like

magic to me. Ever since, I've wanted to make spinach pies from scratch.

I've settled for store bought or restaurant versions for the past 17 years, convinced that

working with filo dough was above my skill level.

Thanks to the Barefoot Contessa and the "Food Network", I got the encouragement I needed

-- "How easy is that?" -- to finally try my hand at making spinach pies from scratch.

(Graphic and photo credit: Google Images)

Ina Garten (who coincidentally shares the same first name as my childhood friend's mom)

made a whole Greek menu on her show. I duplicated it for our New Year's Eve dinner. It

was, hands down, the best meal I've made in a long time. I loved sharing it with David and

his parents. It made a stay-at-home and very chill New Years Eve a little more special.

I thought I'd share the end product and links to the recipes with you, too. (The color on

my photos is a little off. The food looked even better in real life. I'm still learning how

to capture good lighting and color at night with my flash.)

Greek Salad with vinaigrette (recipe here)

Lamb Kebabs marinated in a yogurt-rosemary mix (recipe here)

Spinach pies or Spanikopita (recipe here)

Tzatziki with grilled pita (recipe here)

I was so proud of this meal. It was loaded with flavor! It worked great for mixed company --

vegetarians and carnivores. I was able to go meatless and still have a totally complete meal.

They loved the lamb, a meat people don't eat as often.

I'll probably do a play-by-play post of the spanikopita next time I make them, you know,

now that I'm an expert. :) In the meantime, do you have a favorite Greek or Mediterranean

dish that you make? I'd love to hear about any and all. It's my favorite kind of food, but I

always go out to eat it. This meal gave me the confidence and desire to try making more

of it myself. That's a good thing.