Hristos Anesti (Christ Has Risen)! I would like to wish all of my Greek family, friends, philHellenes who celebrated Easter yesterday. I hope your day was filled with many fond memories, that the Gods blessed you with some good Spring weather and the banquet of Easter delights exceeded all your expectations. Despite the gloomy forecast [...]
I’m often asked why us Greeks celebrate Easter on a different day than everyone else. This question is only partly true as I can recall when our Easter fell on the same day as the Catholic Easter. A calculation is made and there are three main factors that affect the date: It is based on [...]
My parents come from towns in northern Greece (Macedonia) that are located in the mountains but most of my time spent in Greece is near the sea. All of my relatives in Greece are on my mom’s side of the family and the majority of them live in Greece’s second largest city, Thessaloniki. One of [...]
Today is the last day of Carnival in the Greek calendar. Tomorrow will be “Clean Monday” and the start of the Great Lent. Clean Monday acquired it’s name from long ago: it was the day on which the housewives cleaned all their kitchen untensils so as to rid the last traces of the Carnival food. [...]
Today in Greece, it’s one of the biggest celebrations of food, it’s  “Tsiknopempti” or literally, “burnt Thursday”. In Greece, they are well into Carnival celebrations. The most well known city for Carnival celebrations takes place in Patra but there are other cities & towns with their own unique, most interesting and often hilarious ways of [...]
when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. We’re upon that magical day, Christmas. I feel it today…that state of mind, the Zone. It’s not just a holiday, it’s a state of being…almost out of body – surreal. Christmas, the holidays, the end of the Year all wrapped-up in [...]
Today is the Patron Saints’ Day for Constantine & Helen in the Greek-Orthodox calendar. For those of you who are Greek or those who are friends of Greeks, you’ll know that we have alot of Constantines and Helens out there. My brother plus three first cousins share being named after my maternal grandfather, Konstantinos. My [...]
I wasn’t sure if I was going to write about this traditional Greek Easter Soup but Easter would not be complete without Magheritisa. Magheritsa is a soup make from the broth of lamb offal and any other part of the lamb (combination varies from family to family). After a long Lenten Fast, Magheritisa is the [...]
It’s the day after Easter and it’s also the Feast of St. George so my best wishes and “Hronia Polla” go out to all the George’s out there. I have to admit I’m quite today. Yesterday was a huge success. Toronto basked in a glorious and sunny 20C with little wind. Greek Easter is meant [...]
Today is “Megalo Savato” or Great Saturday in the Greek-Orthoodox calendar. Yesterday and today are filled with church services and lots of preparation for the festivities tomorrow. I’m at ease knowing that Easter Sunday will greet us with mild, sunny temperatures…perfect for Greeks who enjoy the outdoors. Greek Easter Sunday is meant to be spent [...]
