GREEK CHRISTMAS SWEETS -No2

DIPLES

Diples is a typical Greek-Peloponnese type of dessert, usually served

in New Years Celebrations.

It is a deep fried thin dough, dipped in honey or syrup made of sugar, 

water, lemon and cinnamon.

Commonly shaped like a bow tie or spirals.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Home_made_diples.jpg/1200px-Home_made_diples.jpg

Method by Greek Chef Akis Petretzikis

(akispetretzikis.com/en/categories/glyka/diples)

• In a bowl, combine the flours, eggs, salt, olive oil and sugar with a fork.
• Continue mixing with your hands until all the ingredients come together to form a dough.
• Divide the dough into 5 balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-12 hours (the longer the better).
• When ready, roll out each ball of dough on a lightly floured working surface. Dust continuously so that the dough doesn’t stick to the surface. You need to be quite patient at this stage since it will be hard to roll out the dough for the first 2 minutes. The longer you work with the dough, the more it will soften and be easier to work with (if you like you can use a pasta machine to help you).
• Roll out a very thin strip of dough that is 10-15 cm wide. Then cut it 20-25 cm in length (should be 25x15 cm).
• Place a pan full of a generous amount of vegetable oil and let it get hot.
• Using 2 spoons to help you, turn it into a roll as you fry it. Make sure you add a few pieces of dough at a time so that they don’t stick together.
• In the beginning it may be a little hard to give them the right shape but you will soon get the hang of it.
• When ready, remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels to drain from excess oil.

For the syrup

• In a saucepan, combine the sugar, water, lemon juice and cinnamon.
• Place over medium to high heat and boil for 5 minutes.
• Add the honey and remove from heat.
• Drop the honey rolls into the hot syrup and allow each one to soak for 2 minutes.
• Serve with honey, cinnamon and walnuts.

GREEK CHRISTMAS SWEETS

Melomakarona

In ancient times after funerals people were offered a «makaria»

which was a small baked good in a round shape.

In later times honey was added to the recipe of “makaria” 

and that is when the name changed to “melomakarono”, 

which means “honey (meli) and makaria”.

Today, we eat them mainly at Christmas to celebrate birth

(the birth of Jesus) as opposed to mourn.

Their main ingredients are olive oil, sugar and honey.

How we celebrating Christmas in Sweden.

In many swedish families we are starting the celebration the 23 of December in the evening with bingo. We are preparing with very good tasting snacks. Like different kinds of cheese, meat, fruit and drinks. The bingo is called “uppesittarkväll” which means “up sitting night”. In the Christmas morning we eat porridge with an almond in it. In the afternoon the whole family meets and we watch  Donald Duck together. After that We have dinner consisting traditional Swedish food. It’s herring, ham, meatballs, sausage, salmon, potatoes and much more. In the evening Santa is coming with gifts.

Merry Christmas from Spain

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

Ceramics - The Vlog

Ceramics

 

 A day with Ceramics

On a sunny morning of 23rd of October, we and our classmates, as a part of the Erasmus+ project, visited both the Acropolis Museum and the DotAhart workshop. Besides from allowing us to develop our skills on the making of all types of ceramics, the information given was very useful and interesting enchancing our knowledge in an interactive way and allowing us to learn a lot more on this crucial part of the Greek culture and history. With that said, we'll now let you taste our experience and share everything we've learnt with you!

Starting with the most common use of ceramics, they were designed for feasts and daily family life, which                    A wide variety of containers found in the Acropolis Museum

required large supplies of
tableware, including transportation and storage vessels for wine andother liquids, jugs, cups for serving and drinking, plates and, finally, bowls for consuming food and holding sauces and condiments.

                                                    Acropolis Museum's jugs and bowls

  The econimic and trading activities of the inhabitants are reflective in the use of marble and lead balance weights and the amphorae, many of which bore stamps on their handles marking their city of provenance.

                                           An example found in the Acropolis Museum

  The clay moulds for making terracotta figurines and the unfinished sculptures point to the existence of pottery and sculpture workshops in the area.

  Kitchens were equipped with all the necessary utensils, vessels, basins, plates, grinders and pestles. The food was cooking on portable blazers and escharae, which were also used for heating the house. 

 Besides from the big diversity of jugs, bowls and plates, there were also made plenty of ceramic sculptures from the past till up to date.

   Clay-made plates and bowls

Sculptures found in both the Acropolis Museum and the DotAhart workshop

    As for the workshop, slides were shown, full of amazing pictures of the history of Ceramics and Sculpting.

The presentation was conducted by a professional of the area

Example of images shown on the presentation

 

    Finally, we tried to make a ceramic bowl by ourselves, guided by an experienced worker. We had a lot of fun making it, you should absolutely give it a try, it is completely worth it!

                             After being taught on how to do it, many students got the chance of trying to sculpt


   Our teachers tried it as well, as even one of them tried to sculpture Marios' (a greek student) nose.


                                                                      A talented teacher

 And, with this, we concluded our experience on working with Ceramics. It was a a really helpful activity and we really hope to have the chance to use the knoiwledge we gained again, someday.

 

Acropolis museum

 Acropolis museum

Caryatids

Acropolis built in LEGO

Caryatids

Visitors

                      

Museum’s entrance

Tuesday 22 October ,  11:30     

We visited Acropolis museum , one of the largest museum’s  in Greece.

Location 

The acropolis museum is located to the southwest to the rock of the acropolis
on the ancient road and its the most modern building in its area.

Foundation

It was founded in 2003 and it was opened for the public in 2009.

Visitors

Every year, more than one minilion people from around the world visit this museum to see its greek ancient exhibits and admire their beauty.

Kind of museum

Acropolis museum is an archaeological museum and its one of the best of its kind.

Must see : 

If you going to have the opportunity to visit this amazing place you should not miss the Acropolis built in LEGO bricks. Also you should walk around ancient statues and witness excavated treasures.

Things they need  to be careful with :

There's a strict area where you can't take photos. Moreover you have to be silent during your visit and listen to your guide. Last but not least don't eat or drink anything else (instead of water) when you are in the museum.