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Greek Picnic on the Beach

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Hello and Welcome to Gordon and Julie Greek

We hope to fill this page with some wonderful Greek recipes over time, so check back every now and then to give us a look see.

We are a big lover of Greek everything, but especially the food.

Dinner at Hella’s In Tarpon Springs, Florida Sponge Docks

Click Here for our Dinner at Hella’s Restaurant

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We even gave out Greek themed care packages for Christmas.

(See Below)

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We also have an excellent Greek, Herb, Feta ,and Roasted Garlic Dip for you to try.

(Recipe Down Below)

AND….

Some Greek and Coastal Blend Seasoned Oven-Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Thank you very much for joining us and we do hope you will stay awhile!

Gordon and Julie

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Our Greek Oregano

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There is also nothing wrong with Greek take out! 🙂

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You might want to check out our:

Greek Octopus

Just click on the link above.

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Up First:

Our Greek Picnic on the Beach

Siminole, Indian Shores, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, all have excellent Greek Food Restaurants.

Tarpon Springs is home to the largest Greek-American population in the United States. Therefore, you know the food will be delicious! Although we have several Greek Food Recipes on our website, we wanted to arrange a beach picnic where we provided the homemade Olive and Feta Bread, along with a great bottle of Greek Wine, yet we visited a Greek Take Out Restaurant for the rest. It was delicious to say the least.

Picnic Basket, Beach Chairs, Beach Umbrella, Cooler, Mini Table, Flip Flops, Beach Bag…..

Greek Wine……

Our delicious Olive and Feta bread, some fruit…..

And our Greek Take Out!

Me, with my camera waiting for the sunset.

Gordon made the Bread, If you would like the recipe…….

Click Here for our: Gordon and Julie Greek (Beta)

Beautiful Sunset Beachy Picnic

Yamas!!

Look at the Sandcastle we came across.

The Last Photos of the Day

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Up Next:

Greek, Herb, Feta, and Roasted Garlic Dip

Ingredients:

2 Cups Chobani Yogurt

1 Tbsp. Greek Herbs

6 Roasted Garlic Cloves – mashed

10 Roasted Garlic Cloves – chopped

1 Tbsp. Parsley – saving some not chopped for garnishing

2 Tbsp. Dill, chopped

1 Tbsp. Basil, chopped

2 Tbsp Green Onions, chopped

1/2 Cup Feta Cheese

Juice of one Lemon

1 tsp. Lemon Pepper

Freshly cracked pepper to taste

We bought this Greek spice mixture…

But you can create your own by combining some dried oregano, garlic, sea salt, feta cheese powder, black pepper, onion and lemon zest, if you like.

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Place all the ingredients into a medium sized bowl.

Gordon Adding the Spices

Mash your roasted garlic cloves on the side of the bowl to help with evenly spreading it throughout the mixture.

Chop up your herbs thinly and place into the bowl.

Dill, Basil, and Feta Cheese

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Gordon Chopping the Herbs

Add to the Bowl…

Chop your green onions into thin rounds and place into the bowl.

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Crumble your Feta Cheese and add to the bowl.

Mix all the ingredients well before adding the yogurt.

Add the yogurt into the bowl.

Slice your lemon in half and …

Squeeze the juice out of the lemon.

Mix well and taste the mixture.

We believed it needed more lemon, so we added some lemon pepper.

And some freshly cracked pepper.

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Lastly, add your chopped roasted garlic cloves and mix well.

Eat the dip with various kale and spinach chips, or Pita, or any that you so desire.

Garnish with a few sprigs of parsley.

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Brussel Sprouts

Roasted GREEK Brussel Sprouts, to be Precise

(This recipe can be halved if you don’t want this many.)

To start, prepare your Brussel Sprouts the day ahead… or in our case 3 days ahead. You want to marinate them in your spice mixture.

Here’s how!

First You Need:

30 Brussel Sprouts

6 Tbsp. Seasonings – Any you like (we used GREEK)

2 Gallon Baggies that you can Seal (You will divide the Brussel Sprouts, Seasonings, and Olive Oil into separate Baggies to marinate.)

1 Cup Olive Oil – 1/2 Cup in each bag

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Cut 15 Brussel Sprouts in half, then wash them.

The Seasoning that we Used

Coastal Blend

You can use something with herbs, garlic, with a touch of salt and pepper or you can use an already prepared seasoning as we did.

Here is a Greek Seasoning

Place your cut Brussel Sprouts in two large zip lock bags.

Add about 1/2 Cup Olive Oil to the bag and your seasonings.

Zip the bag shut and toss to mix the ingredients.

The oil will help distribute the seasoning.

Place the bag in the refrigerator overnight to let the sprouts marinate.

We left them in the refrigerator 3 nights before cooking. That extra time with the marinade made them extra tender and delicious.

Here, we marinated the two bags of sprouts with different seasonings.

You could freeze one for later use if you like.

BUT FIRST, allow them to marinate for a day or two so that all the flavors can blend together before you place them in the freezer.

After 24 hours or so, place the sprouts on aluminum foil laid over a large sheet pan.

Ensure the sprouts are cut side down.

Roast them in the oven for ~35-40 min. at 350’F

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Here is a great picture of what they should look like when done.

The tops are well browned and the cut side caramelized.

These are PERFECT!

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The Gift of Greek

We wanted to give a Greek themed gift, with items that we had purchased from our visits to the famous Greek-American community of Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Tarpon Springs, home of the largest Greek-American population in America, was made famous by the Greek sponge divers that arrived from Greece in the late 1800’s. They still wear the diving helmets and dive suits to walk the bottom of the ocean floors harvesting their sponges.

Greek Care Package I created from items bougtht in Tarpon Springs_small

Tarpon Springs is a very charming community and one of our favorite places to visit, not just for the scenery, but for the food as well.

Beneath The 12- Mile Reef

This is a movie that was filmed in 1953 in Tarpon Springs, starring a very young and handsome, Robert Wagner. The movie depicts accurately the life of this small Greek fishing village and the sponge diving industry here in Florida.

sponge diving history dvd and book and sponge_small

In addition to the gift of food, we also wanted to give the gift of knowledge as well by including in the care package things like books of the area and even a documentary on Tarpon Springs sponge divers.

Some of the items that we put together were this delicious Greek coffee and a briki to cook it in on top of the stove.

We also included items of sea salt and olive oil from Greece.

Agora Food Market

Most of the items we purchased from the Agora in Tarpon Springs. Which means market in Greece. So actually the sign above reads, Market Food Market.

Giant beans Greek pasta and Greek seasonings_small

The Gift of Giant Beans, Greek Pasta and Greek Seasonings

You can also include a Greek cookbook or at least some recipe cards with some great ideas.

We bought some postcards from Tarpon Springs, photo above, to use as the ‘greeting card’. We also bought postcards with the Tarpon Springs Greek Salad recipe to enclose.

gift of olive oil soaps and a tarpon springs sponge_small

You can make the gift as simple or as elaborate as you like.

You can also find any sort of bag or box with the colors of Greece, blue and white.

olive oil soap and sponge from sea_small

Although not edible, I did include the gift of olive oil soaps and even one of the famous sponges.

This is my favorite thing to do right before I seal the package up to be mailed. I like to give hints of what is inside.

I placed some of the postcards on the top and I’ve scattered some Greek licorice candies all throughout the popcorn packaging.

Ouzo Candy

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Greek Bay Leaves

While we were doing our shopping at the Agora in Tarpon Springs, I noticed these big bags of bay leaves from Greece. One big bag only costs $2.99! There must have been about 60 – 70 leaves per bag. When I go shopping at the local groceries stores I probably spend almost $4.00 on a small bottle with about 5 of them inside.