Mythology: Tzatziki

"Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth." -Homer, The Iliad

Paleo triple-berry sorbet!

For my contribution to the theme of Mythology, I chose to make a cucumber-yogurt dip called tzatziki. I had never even heard of it until we went to Romania, where we had it quite often on schnitzel and later on shaorma. Tzatziki is one of those things that you make and then think, "Now what?" And since it's a versatile sauce, that question is fairly easily answered. In Romania we had it on meat and sandwiches, here we dipped vegetables in the flavorful sauce. Also, I made a few alterations to the original recipe so it was extremely light and sour and a little more modern than your general serving of this Greek favorite. Below is the recipe as I made it--next time I would replace the lime juice with lemon, and add some fresh dill-weed:

Tzatziki (cucumber-yogurt) Sauce

and do forgive the poor image quality. this was done with my tablet-camera

what you'll likely need:

2 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded

2 cups Greek yogurt

3 Tbs. olive oil

Juice and zest of one lime

1 Tbs. minced garlic

salt & pepper to taste

1.) Grate your cucumbers and mix in medium-size bowl with yogurt and olive oil.

2.) Zest and squeeze lime and add with remaining spices to the cucumber-yogurt mixture

3.) Cover and chill in fridge until ready to use. Serve on pita-sandwiches or with fresh cut veggies.

In a fortuitous turn of events, we also had a lot of unused goat's milk in the fridge so I tried my hand at making homemade feta cheese. It wasn't until much later that I realized that too will fit into this week's theme, since feta cheese is an essential part of Mediterranean cuisine! The cheese requires salt-curing for 4-5 days so I won't be able to taste it and tell you how it turned out till next week. However, so far it looks perfectly edible! I also was set the task of pickling our overabundance of cucumbers--one of my favorite summer jobs. The results are, according to Daniel and one of his colleagues, "Unbelievable." Let us hope this is true, and not just a recommendation from starving bachelors. ;)

The tzatziki was fresh, delicious, and something we'll definitely make again! I'm hoping to use the rest in sandwiches or on a salad with the feta cheese next week--in the fridge I'm positive it will last that long. So now I'm wondering, what did you make? Don't forget to link up in the post below! I can't wait to look at all of the recipes you submit. :)

Potluck :/

You may not think it, but there are adventures everywhere. Even in homechurch! ;) Of course, they tend to be very minor, but they are there! :P For instance, potluck meals...who thought up that concept? For organized city people, potluck meals are awesome! And it certainly solves the problem of feeding 100+ people each Sunday! But one must have a streak of adventure to like it! I imagine the only hobbits who would dare to do a potluck would have been the Brandybucks, or some one of the other more perky families! ;) By now you may wonder how there can be anything remotely interesting in a discussion on potluck meals. Well, I'll tell you, that when one is hungry by the time church is over, their minds run much on the subject of which I speak.
There are three typical scenerios that occur:

1.) Everyone brings the same exact thing- I'm not kidding. This happens regularly. Today we had pasta galore. Last week it was rice. The week before, salad.

2.) The second scenerio occurs when all the families have gardens. During the spring and summer, be prepared to stuff your stomachs with salad during the weeks when lettuce and spinach thrive, and then squash and zucchini around this time. We had like 3 different squash casseroles a few Sundays ago! People tend to feed you what their family is sick of, and has eaten to the point of disgust. ;)

3.) The boys go outside and play volleyball, are called in for lunch but have to "finish this game", then come in and are shocked that the only thing left for consumption are a few chunks of cantelope, and a half-empty crockpot of rice. I try to remedy this by calling them multiple times but...guys....the blood's on your hands after that! :)

Then you always have what I call "dessert panic". This is when all the families are trying to "eat more healthily" (which really means they haven't been to the store, and they didn't wake up till 9, and had to throw something together super quick ;) and not a single family has brought dessert. This happened today. I was calmly eating my lunch on the porch with some others, and Gracie opened the door and bawled out, "Waychie! Are you dunna make bwownies? Mama told me to ask you!" I dutifully got up, and in the midst of the boys still going through the line, successfully quadrupled the brownie recipe. As soon as they were finished, we cut them, and 4 minutes later the only brownie left was a nondescript corner-piece. It is hilarious, trying to figure out the food. Another amusing occurance is when the only families to make it to church are the ones that have food allergies. They tend to bring things like potatos or rice, or things like that. And once in awhile you bite into a chewy brownie only to find it is gluten free and carob! :/
Well, anyway, that is just a ramble upon potlucks. Hope it amused you! :) -Rachel
p.s. anyone who has gone to a homechurch, am I right? :)