Oat flakes cookies

Healthy (?) cookies today! I had some left overs of oat flakes from a visitor and I was thinking what to do with that. Until I have seen in the package a recipe for cookies... The ones that know me, can predict the rest :) I was waiting the opportunity to try it. And guess what? I did it!
I cannot say that I am thrilled but they have a nice surprising taste of sesame that I love and a friend of mine that was passing by could not wait them to get out of the oven and found them delicious. Your turn now...

Recipe reminder (spetzofai)

What have I cooked for yesterday? Spetzofai...
I had almost forgotten the impact that this dish has to my non-Greek friends, they become addicted! Reminder then for this heart-warm dish and special tribute today that is a pretty cold one and there is still snow around.
Find all the details here: http://vivianiscooking.blogspot.fr/2014/03/spetzofai-weird-name-greeek-taste.html

Evi's cake!

Let's start 2015 with a recipe that a dear friend Evi sent to me. Evi with Natalia (if I remember well :) tried this recipe, liked it and sent to me photos from the result yesterday to publish in my blog. Evi says that it's a tasty one and worth to try it but I am very busy right now so until I will give you my personal opinion here's the recipe in case that you are anxious to try for yourselves (send me photos if it's the case). Please Evi comment this post and give more information directly :) 
Thanks for sharing girls!
Btw, looking for this recipe I came across with Nanaimo bar recipe that I would definitely would like to try!!! Google it and see what I mean *slourp* 

Vivian's king's cake or "Vassilopita" in greek

In Greece, the 1st of January we make our favorite cake or a special recipe from our region and we hide inside a coin (covered with aluminum foil, of course :) and we call it "Vassilopita". It's the equivalent of the "king's cake" or the "Galette de roi" that we find in other christian countries for the Epiphany.
We gather in family and share the cake and the one that will get the hidden coin will be the king of the year, aka the lucky of the year...
I will share with you the recipe that I adopted since the birth of my daughter, that is a very fluffy cake scented with orange zest and rich in ground almonds. You can make it all year through but it has some luxury touch that makes it a good candidate for a special occasion :) Here it goes...

Happy New Year 2015!

Happy New Year dear readers! 

May 2015 be a year full of health, creativity, passion and love...

 

"Juicy" apple pie

Apples are a great ingredient when baking cakes, so find today one more way to enjoy them always with a cinnamon touch :)
Review with the occasion, all the other apple cakes of this blog like this Apple pie, or the apple cake with coconut crust and let me know which one you prefer more (given that you have baked them of course...).
Excellent cake for Autumn!!!

Ingredients
250gr butter
1 cup of sugar
5 eggs
2 cups of self-raising flour (you can replace some with almond powder btw)
2-3 apples (depending how much you like them :)
Some extra sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on applesas well as ground walnuts

Kourabiedes (Greek Christmas Almond Cookies)

🌟 Difficulty	⏱️ Time	🍽️ Serves	🔪 Skill level
★★ Easy	~1 hr	~50–60	Beginner–Intermediate

These buttery almond cookies, dusted with snowy powdered sugar, are a classic Greek Christmas treat. Though traditionally shaped like half-moons, feel free to use your favorite festive cookie cutters! In Greece, no holiday table is complete without these sweet, melt-in-the-mouth bites. This version, passed down from my mother, is simply irresistible.

Fresh cranberries crunchy muffins

My program is very heavy this period, so I am not cooking and baking so much and when I do, I do not have time to describe it here... But I have discovered by chance (looking for something completely different) a blog recently that I liked and that I think that has the same philosophy with my blog. I am talking for the blog "Les recettes de Virginie".
So, I could not resist and woke up very very early this morning to make one of it's recipes to surprise my family for breakfast. I will share with you the result only in photos as I am telling you, no time for more :)

Cake pops!

I was resisting in falling into cake pops mania until ... one day I opened my door and dear John and his girlfriend came holding a bunch of cake pops in their hands ! And you can imagine the rest :)
Kids were crazy, and they kept asking me when I will do them again. So, we went and bought a silicone mold and sticks and here we are making them again and again. I continue to think that it's too much hassle but what the hell :) Let's share this mania with you, dear readers...

Ingredients (check also my cupcake recipes)
113gr of butter
113gr of sugar
113gr of self-raising flour
3 eggs
some cocoa powder (optionally, if you want a chocolate flavor)
Topping: 100gr of chocolate, some colorful decoration

"Tigania" or fried pork

"Tigania" is a fast and tasty way to prepare a starter for a nice dinner. Actually these starters in Greece we call them "mezes" and we can eat several starters like this instead of following the classic procedure of a dinner.
Once again, a Greek recipe that in old times, people were cooking in villages with meat coming from their own pigs and instead of olive oil, they were using the pork fat. Not so healthy, but soooo delicious! Even the modern version is very tasty, so do not hesitate to try it :)

"Karydopita" or moist walnut cake

Classic Greek cake, "karydopita", is a moist walnut cake that smells cinnamon and clove and is rich in walnuts. It's quite sweet, so adapt the recipe to your style but I will give here the one that is the typical that you will be served in a Greek house.

Recipe reminder

Have you seen my recipe for a "quiche"?
I have done it recently and I though to remind you of this easy and tasty solution for a starter.
This version is with feta, tomatoes and ham cubes and some grated yellow cheese.
But you can use whatever you have in the fridge in general...
Especially for John that tried it and liked it :)

Greek Stuffed Vine Leaves (Dolmadakia)

"Dolmadakia" are stuffed grape leaves and it is a very popular dish as it is very tasty and once you try it, you get addicted :)
You can find it in several countries and even at the supermarket in small cans.
I will share with you today one of the greek versions that is called "yalantzi" and it is the vegetarian version using rice. If you prefer adding minced meat, find the recipe here: 

Dolmadakia me Kima (Stuffed Vine Leaves with Meat)

I could not miss from this blog a traditional greek recipe like this one...