The world from my window

It was Greek Dinner night last night, a worldwide event dreamed up by Keri Douglas in Washington DC. All over the world and all through the day and night, people were tweeting about the Greek delights they were preparing and eating. Keri's aim was:  ' to celebrate Greek cuisine and promote amazing people, authors, chefs, businesses who are connected to Greece'. The menus came in all shapes and sizes. Some had a full blow-out in New Zealand, others went for a slimming soup in Athens. In the Grigg household, we asked four friends to bring Greek food to share. There is nothing like 'breaking bread' with people in the form of a meze, although we left out the bread because we're on a diet.     Mr Grigg created zucchini and fish rolls and tzatziki, with the aid of this wonderful book by Lyndey and Blair Milan. We had dolmades, feta cheese and Corfiot cured ham, spicy cheese dip, filo pie, kataifi and Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts.  A...

It's ten days into the new year and ten days since I've blogged. I'm ashamed of myself, I really am. I hope all is going well for you so far in 2014. Me, I'm abstaining from alcohol this month and still struggling with writing my book about our year in Corfu. Should I be humorous, like Peter Mayle in A Year in Provence , or navel-gazing like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love ? I just have to be truthful, I guess, and tell it like it was. An amazing, incredible experience but tempered by heart wrenching and unexpected homesickness. I have so many notes and photos to put into some kind of order. But bits of our big, fat Greek gap year write themselves, like the wonderful landscape and the warm, generous villagers who became like a second family to us. The climate, the blue skies and the food. Ah, the food. Oh how I love those Sunday lunchtimes of tasty, succulent roast pork in our local taverna. Or stifado next door or the best big beans in the world at the old...

Dark and eerie, like a lost scene from The Wicker Man . This was the Lush Places village square last night. As the bells rang out for the New Year, a huge circle formed to sing and dance Auld Lang Syne. Kissing and hugs followed. But, luckily, hardly any of it came out on this video. There is something wrong with my camera.  But you get the gist. Weird or what? And now it's pouring with rain, there is flooding everywhere and the weather vane is wonky again. That's about it. Love Maddie x