Kourabiedes, or Greek Butter Cookies are my all time favorite Greek dessert cookies. They are known as the “celebration” cooking and are on the table whenever there is a special event such as a wedding or Christmas. I personally like to make them whenever I want! (But never, ever serve them at a funeral - my mom learned this one the hard way).

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The Mediterranean Diet has been getting a lot of press as being one of the healthiest diets in the world. In fact, much of the initial studying took place on Crete. When people first learned that the Mediterranean Diet was so healthy, they based their iinformation on those initial studies.

Of course, now the diet has been studied even more and we understand things about the diet that we didn’t at first. Here are some of the things that make the diet so healthy:

• Olive Oil
• Moderate consumption of wine
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Limited consumption of meat
• Higher consumption of fish and seafood
• Cheese and yogurt are eaten on a moderate basis
• People enjoy their meals with family
• Physical activity levels are fairly high

If you follow the basic guidelines of the Mediterranean diet you will be setting yourself up to have a healthy life. Just remember that eating to excess will get you into trouble so it isn’t just the foods that make it healthy. It’s the lifestyle. Be sure to lower your portion sizes and get enough exercise and you’ll be on your way to better health.

Some of my greatest Greek dishes have come from inspiration, not purpose. I believe that every good chef needs to learn how to cook a dish based on a recipe. However, with Greek cooking, recipes are not always needed.

I learned how to cook with my yia yia who almost never measured. It drove my mother crazy - mainly because she wanted to document everything. The family is glad that she did this - otherwise a lot of my grandmother’s recipes would be gone.

In order to learn to cook Greek food, yes, recipes and amounts are important. However, as you become confident or you realize that you need to start changing the recipe around a bit, the recipe becomes less important. The first few times I made dolmades, or stuffed grape leaves, I measured everything. Now I just eyeball it and they come out great. In fact, I am known for these grape leaves - my parents declare it my signature dish. I’ll share the recipe with you as soon as I write down the amounts.

So when you follow my recipes - I urge you to do it as exact as you can the first time around - especially if you don’t have a lot of experience cooking Greek food. Write down the adjustments you’ll make for next time. Do this each time you cook until you get the flavors right. Then the dish will be “your own” and you’ll soon be on your way to having your own signature dish!

This fruit salad is light and refreshing. You can use any Greek wine you can find. However, I reccommend Mavrodaphne. It is a dessert wine and very sweet - this makes it better suited in this fruit salad. The fruits that were chosen were available in Ancient Greece - at least their ancestors were. The fruits that are available now may be slightly different than they were back then.

You can basically use any fruit you want. I just included these as guidelines. Also, the almonds add crunch and are a tradtional Ancient Greek food. You can, however, also use almonds. Try to find raw orange blossom honey if you can to try to get the flavor as close to the Greek honeys as you can.

Ingredients:

1 cup cubed honey dew melon

1 cup cubed cantalope

2 peaches, pitted and sliced

2 cups grapes, any variety (golden is best, however)

1 cup Greek wine

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons chopped almonds or walnuts

Instructions:

Add chopped fruit to a large serving bowl. Pour wine and honey over fruit and toss to incorporate the flavors. Let sit for thirty minutes. Garnish with almonds or walnuts and serve. You can serve this in pretty dessert cups. Be sure that each serving gets a splash of the wine/honey dressing.