Grilled Pesto-Marinated Skirt Steak...
with toasted Ciabata...
and Blue Cheese Fondue and Avocado Salad with a Lemon Vinaigrette...
Finally, Blueberry Cheese Cake Ice Cream with Macerated Strawberries and Home-made Whip Cream...
We just celebrated our 200 something anniversary of telling the British we didn't want to pay their taxes. I used the opportunity to make ribs and a great new BBQ burger...
In addition to the two kinds of dry-rub ribs, there was a broccoli-cauliflower slaw, a cucumber & vadalia onion salad, and hot-off-the-presses grilled corn, scallion, and bacon cornbread muffin...
Those muffins were the hit of the evening...
The burgers were served the next night and we also well received. BBB Burger stands for Blue Cheese, Barbecue, and Bacon Burger...
The grainy picture has less to do with my camera and more to do with all the margaritas I had been serving myself...
The vinegar slaw and the potato & sweet potato salad were also a hit...
Finally, what celebration would be complete without the deviled egg...
I like how they look like soldiers... I was a little to drunk to remember to photograph the beans, but they were good. Oy and Happy 4th.
This was a random Tuesday summer lunch...
Smashed Plum Tomato Farfala
and Spicy Crab Spaghetti.
No one ever said that I would always be able to eat well, but seriously people, this is still America isn't it?
There wasn't anything good to eat in the park and so the only good meals I ate I can't attribute to the Mouse. This steak was attributed to Nick Faldo, but I doubt very much he cooked it...
Thanks to the Merriott Resort for the great steak. Another high light was the regional cuisine...
Yep, that's Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Pickles, and Fried Alligator Tail! I love the garnish...
After a long HOT day seeing the sites of Athens, Alex and I had to sit down to a little refreshment...
This was the other beer we drank in the old country: Mythos. (I know, I know, silly name...) When the sun went down, our view went from cool...
to really cool. (They had to bring in some French guy to set up these lights...)
We ate some stuff too, like a cheese platter...
and some poorly lit calamari...
Day 1 comes to an end...
So, without harping about this too much, I should mention that I have lived and traveled through some of the grubbiest places on the planet and, yet, Europe of the 21st century seems to have devolved into a land of philistines. This, for instance, was THE line for immigration in Athens. It wouldn't have been so bad, I guess, if people hadn't continually tried to get "ahead" of us in this particular line. (No one, I should point out, seemed to notice how ironic it was that after this line, we all got to wait, together, for our luggage.) All Alex and I could do was laugh...
Once we were given a little more elbow room, we found place near our hotel in the Plaka with some cold beer (There were forest fires raging around Athens, we would later discover while "reading" the newspapers.)...
This is Alpha beer, which you can start to see if you stare at the bottle long enough. We had some food...
Meet the Greek Salad. Alex and I would have at least one of these everyday for the rest of our vacation. Simple: tomatoes, cucumbers, purple onion, olives, sometimes: green or red peppers, a little lettuce, and over it all, a nice big block of feta. Superstar: I'm not sure why America is the strongest country in the world and all of our tomatoes taste like cardboard. In Greece, they all taste like tomatoes, real tomatoes! Amazing.
Another dish that I have been enamored of for years is tzatziki...
How could anyone possibly go wrong with yogurt, onion, and a lot of garlic? We also had this stuff: goats cheese with goats meat (also known as lamb).
British Airways prides itself. Huh.
I guess my favorite part is that everything on this pre-packaged tray looks like it was thrown on at the last minute. I guess their luggage handlers must also be in charge of the food service. I thought the little cans were cute, but, whatever. Never fly Singapore Airlines; you will be ruined for life for all other airlines...
Alex had a vodka and soda and I had a gin and tonic...
Alex wouldn't let me order any more after a certain point. I'm still puzzled by that and swear that the next time we fly anywhere, I'll be the one sitting on the aisle. He said it has something to do with the breakfast service, but come on, it was in a bag. Like that should count?
The sunset over North America was pretty though...
There always must be a beginning to a journey. Ours was humble...
Of course, in this case, the humbleness of the meal was dictated by O'Hare International Airport. Oh, how I miss traveling in the '70s and '80s, back when eating and drinking weren't thought of as a necessary evil...
So, then, this was the beginning of our vacation to Greece. We traveled from Chicago to London and then on to Athens. From Athens, we traveled to Mykonos, Santorini, Xania, Iraklio, and back to Athen to fly home. Even though we were pushed and shoved (What has happened to common courtesy and decorum in Europe since I last left its shores is beyond me.) and the average temperature was well above 40 C, we had a wonderful time.
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