Spanikopita

otherwise known as spinach pie, Greek style.  If I didn't have such a wretched memory (or if I practiced using my memory) I would remember the name of the woman who was the mother of one of Lee's classmates at Maclay.  We were there, a group of four, to plan some fund-raising event, and she asked, How about a snack?  There were these little treats in the freezer; she popped them in the hot oven and we ate them and I was smitten.

Spinach, cheeses, egg, onion, herbs all wrapped up in butter (or olive oil) slathered phyllo.  Heavenly.

I got the recipe, I made it - a lot of times.  Everyone who's ever been served it loves it and I've shared the recipe so many times.

So, tonight. What's for dinner?  OMG, who knows, I am tired of cooking!!  But there's a bit of frozen spinach, a bit of leftover phyllo, assorted cheeses and such and who cares what the recipe says about this and that and the other.  Just put it together. 

It's pretty and it is oh so tasty, and who needs a recipe any more?

Spring, Sort of

Today is the first full day of spring. SPRING!!  Sunshine! Daffodils!  In the USofA, they have sprung forward with the clock.  Here in Germany, the "spring forward" will be on the last Sunday in March. 

So the calendar says spring, but it is still pretty cool.  Like freezing! My "spring" outfit today included a fleece pullover, a fleece shirt and a down-filled jacket, scarf, gloves, and rosy cheeks.

A few weeks ago it climbed to 60° for a couple of days and folks went wild.  But that was very short-lived and now we're back to "normal."

Patience.

We do have crocuses and the little early daffodils and snowdrops.  And of course, ramps (Bärlauch).

I am my mother's child. Offer me something for free and I'll likely take it. Foraging is a lot of fun and gets us out of the house.  Even when it's sooo cold!  So, off to the park and free food.

There are a few places nearby that are actually a bit hilly, and so it is by the river.  The trees are quite bare still, though some shrubs are starting to leaf out.  And all the green on the ground?  That's mostly Bärlauch.

It was poking up during the brief warm spell, so I thought it would be really big now, but I guess the cold kept it from growing very fast.  But it didn't take long to pick enough for several pots of pesto and soup and sauce for pasta.

Before heading back home, we took a bit more exercise and walked around the park.  Someone decorated LOL!

Gray with low clouds. It'll be a few more weeks before the sun will reliably shine.

We walked along the river and then through the woods and then back to the car while visions of hot chocolate danced in my head.

We unloaded our booty

and then drank our reward. 

New Veggie

Bremen is not a big town - around 600,000 or so - but we spend most of our time in our part of town, Vegesack, which has maybe 35,000 inhabitants. So we're small, but incredibly diverse, with folks from at least 50 countries in our area.  

We do most of our shopping for fresh veggies at the outdoor market, but there are some "specialty" shops that cater to these diverse populations, too.  I'd say they mostly fall into either African, eastern Mediterranean or Arabic categories.  Nearby there's a shop run by a Lebanese family, and we go there pretty often.

So this week, there was Malve, mallow. What?  I know it as a garden flower (you know, Marsh Mallow!)

I often have it in our little space in the summer.  It's easy to grow, undemanding, makes lots of pretty flowers.  But eat it?

Well, you can, but the eating variety has more modest blossoms and a different leaf.

I knew none of this when I saw the bunches of mallow at the shop, so I asked the guy at the counter how to fix it up.  I was not at all surprised when he told me had absolutely no idea! He said they'd bought it for their Syrian customers who seemed to like it. Well, we know some Syrians (and then there is the interwebs), so I bought it.  For €1.50 it was a modest risk.

Our dear Eilaf said, We love it!  Sauté it, add some onion, salt and pepper, that's enough!  The interwebs had lots of other suggestions with either chicken or lamb, with lots of interesting spices - cinnamon, coriander, bay leaf, garlic - so we considered it all and modified.  We roasted our bit of chicken with all the spices, sautéed the greens with onion and a big bunch of cilantro (fresh coriander), The side was Lebanese rice (spaghetti or linguine cooked till brown in oil then boiled with the rice with a good teaspoon of ground coriander).

We eat like royalty, as Werner has often said. He's right. The greens were deeply green in color and taste, slightly bitter with a hint of sweet, somewhere between turnip greens and spinach and oh so tasty. Are we surprised that this veggie is packed with all kinds of wonderful vitamins and minerals? Not at all.

Next time I see malve at the shop, I'll buy it.