Monday, 12/28

 MONDAY, 12/28:

It half worked. And for a year like 2020, that's all we can ask.

First of all, hope you had a great holiday weekend, either with your loved ones in person, or—like me—virtually. This was never going to be a holiday like previous ones, so hope you were able to roll with whatever punches were thrown your way.

As we were last discussing, one of the punches that we were throwing was a wholesale change in how we celebrated Christmas. One of those changes was me trying to make Greek food for Christmas dinner, and I'm glad to report that, kind of, sort of, it turned out.

Kind of. Judge for yourself--

That's a picture of the Patitsio I made, and I'm happy to report that, foremost, no one died. My attempt at making didn't end up looking like the kind we usually get at the Greek Orthodox Church bake sale every year, but I'm happy to say that it did taste like it.

So I guess one out of two ain't bad.

The attempt, though, did give me respect for all of those people who actually DO know how to make Greek food. There was a LOT of preparation that went into it, including making a bechamel sauce, and I'd say that it ended up taking over two hours to prepare and bake.

And I think that's where my problem was.

Looking back on it, I probably could have—should have--spent another half an hour stacking the layers a little more precisely, so that it more closely resembled the efforts of people who've done it a few hundred times. I just kind of put them together without much thought, not arranging the noodles in a specific order, or making sure the cheese layers were uniform, much like one does with a typical lasagna.

But now I know that Patitsio is anything BUT a typical lasgna. So next time I put one together (and there will be a next time) I hope it tastes just as good as the one I made at Christmas.

And I hope that it looks just as good as the ones we get each and every year at the bake sale.

(jim@wmqt.com)