Ever since high school I have been in love with Greek food. My grandparents befriended their new neighbors who happened to be Greek and a whole new world opened up for me. To this day, the wife made the best pastitsio I have ever tasted, either here or in Greece! With that first bite, I heard the angels sing and a lifetime obsession was born.
Is it just me or does everything seem to be flavored with pumpkin this year? I mean I realize pumpkin is always popular this time of year but this season there seems to be pumpkin mania. Really it seems completely out of hand. It’s like pumpkinpalooza. I guess it finally dawned on everyone how truly special pumpkin can be and they just can’t get enough.
I moved to New York City right after college. Two weeks after to be exact. I know my parents and my boyfriend at the time were not thrilled but I had to “get out of dodge.” It wasn’t so much a desire to move to New York as it was a burning need to finally leave Philadelphia. You see I grew up there and went to college there, so as you can imagine, I was chomping at the bit to leave.
When I mention the words “olive oil cake,” I am always surprised at the reactions I get. They range from “what cake?” to “eew” to simply wrinkling their nose. Each time I am utterly amazed how many people have not heard of olive oil cake and consequently how many people are missing out on something so wonderful.
I was having my daily phone conversation with my mother and was going over my plans for apple crumb cake bars. You see, I always talk through my recipe plans with my mother before I start. I am convinced it bores the hell out of her but she always so politely pretends to care. (She has zero interest in baking. Zero.) So I am discussing my plan to cut up the apples when she interrupts me and says “What if you use apple butter? No working mom wants to slice apples.” “Hmm good point” I reply. “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”
