Phyllo Factory

requisite old Greek lady

the gooey final product. topped with pistachios! 

Bring On The Roasted Potatoes!

some say she would turn in her grave, but I say she'd love it! julia's a freewheeling gal

Street Corn

almost like the elote from home! only without crema or spicy pepper- and especially delicious after my corn free summer in Italy. seriously, the Italians need to get on that

Street Meat

totally random meat roasting station on the street

what appears to be shwarma wrapped in either stomach or intestine 

and a coupla chickens

the most adorable Greek butcher. he was smiling like crazy when he saw that I was talking photos of him

Impromptu Bakery Stop

We literally jumped out of the car to run inside and investigate this bakery. Such delights to behold!

I thought these were macarons but they were actually just macaron shaped butter cookies dipped in chocolate- with a thin layer of apricot jam in the middle... ain't nothin' to sniff at

crumbly cookies with sesame seeds

green pies! oh, green pies.

Happy Birthday Julia Child!

how right she is. was. will always be.

Cretan Baked Goods

an apple fritter

my beloved green pie, this time in the form of a coiled snake with a phyllo crust. flaky and buttery on the outside, super creamy cooked greens redolent of mint and dill on the inside. 

Outdoor Market in Rethymno

olives, olives, and grape leaves

dried favas, olives, eggs, cheese

snails!

some of the most beautiful squash blossoms I've ever seen

green and black figs

LOOK at those colors! fripping gorgeous

the old cretan lady that tried to converse with us in greek

prickly pear! it is literally all over Crete. they surprisingly only eat the fruit and not the cactus leaves

peeled prickly pear

some sheep's milk cheese

kzynohodros! the fermented milk and grain product we were researching 

cheery tomatoes and beans

mini pears!

the wild greens that grow all over the island. though they are actually weeds, the Cretans have harvested them for millenia. these are the cooked down greens that grace my favorite green pies! 

Mirogdies

Mirogdies! Or 'aromas' in Greek. This restuarant was recommended to us by the lovely ladies at The Cretan Diet. Located in the heart of old town Rethymno, the majority of patrons were actually Cretan, not tourists; this quelled my suspicions. 

The adorable outdoor dining area complete with 3 person band.

Their menu was quaintly rife with translation errors. Allow me to point out:

- "handmade homemade". I love that stuff

-" fried pluck in small bites". It turned out to be some kind of offal

Page 2 of hilarious mistranslations (sorry for the bad photo):

- "burger giant half-half"

- paste days!

yogurt and beet dip, olives, peeled cucumber sticks, whole wheat bread, white wine

a beautifully assembled Greek salad with 2 kinds of cheese, and green pies, possibly my favorite thing on the island. 

traditional smoked pork dish

chicken and sauteed bell peppers in an extremely light cream sauce

some sort of lemon custard for dessert

Greek Breakfast

This is what constituted our daily breakfast in Crete: Greek yogurt drizzled with honey and topped with whatever fruit we had bought from the local outdoor markets. Uhm, hello perfection. Our fruit choices varied  from nectarines, to peaches, plums, and of course, the all mighty fig.

So Effing Good We Had to Go Back

Aaaaand we're back. After visiting the Palace of Knossos we stopped back in the town of Fodele to clock in a couple of hours at the beach. Our stomachs a-rumbling, we decided to try the same taberna from our first meal. It did not disappoint.

Beet salad, the ubiquitous Greek salad, and the meze platter

look how beautiful all the swirls are! the blood red liquid contrasting with the pools of olive oil... loves it.

Chania Street Food

pork souvlaki station

Loukoumades aka fried donut holes in honey

the prep

a different loukoumades station

2 little girls watching the hot donut man at work

our midnight snack: flipping AMAZING pork souvlaki and crunchy loukoumades with honey and sesame seeds