This posting is very heavy on the pictures, but they're very low-quality pictures, so that makes up for it. (I think.)
Jason Returns to the Greek Funstival
DATELINE: San Antonio, October 20th. St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church held their annual fundraiser, the much-beloved
Greek Funstival. (Οπα!) Their previous outing must have been pretty successful, because they had some better quality chairs, tables, tents, and trash cans than I have seen in previous years. Probably also helps that they had sponsors this year - Papouli's, Santikos Theaters, Bud Light, and soforth. Was it always this way? I don't really remember...
In any case, they had a Greek-American band called Kefi performing, as well as the children's dance group. I really don't know why I enjoy watching folk dances. It doesn't seem like something that would appeal to me, but it does; it's one of the things I love about the
Folklife Festival. (For the record, this past Folklife was a disappointment, having shrunk as much as it did.)
And there was food.
So much food.
What you see above is keftedes with stewed green beans, tiropita (similar to spanakopita, but without spinach), dolmades, and pastichio, a sort of baked macaroni casserole. (I need to find a recipe so I can make this at home.) Good stuff; stuff that is good.
This shirt was very popular. How popular? That shirt on display was the last one left by the time the Funstival opened up on Sunday. It was all sold out, and a medium doesn't fit me.
Jason's Brown Thumb Turns Green
I do, in fact, have two literal "brown thumbs." But I also have one in the figurative sense, in that I have the opposite of a "green thumb." That is to say, I kill plants. They don't do well under my care. But, it seems that my luck is turning around. Not only have I grown myself a sizable basil bush that's yielded me soup, curry, and pesto, but now I have grown my very first vegetable.
BEHOLD:
That is a pod. It came from a plant that was grown from a pinto bean. It was an experimental undertaking, just to see if I could do it. Apparently, I can. The ultimate yield, sadly, is less than spectacular...
I doubled my food supply! Wait...