My Big, Fat Greek Christmas

Oh-pah!  All we needed to round out our Greek Christmas was the Papadopouloses from the 80’s sitcom, Webster.  You might be able to tell from my header pic that I’m not Greek.  I’m actually Filipino.  It’s probably not the best angle to be able to see, but I’ve been told by many that I bear a striking resemblance to Tiger Woods (which was pretty cool up until a couple weeks ago).  So do we owe our Greek culinary expressions to my wife?  Nope, she’s Italian and Irish, which means we would have had Lasagne and Lucky Charms for Christmas.

We’re just weird like that.  We like to mix it up for the holidays, even experiment.  We’ve done a couple traditional Christmas meals with Turkey or Prime Rib.  We’ve paid homage to our respective ethnic backgrounds with Italian and Filipino celebrations.  A couple years ago we did a funky (but tasty) Mexican/American BBQ fusion in which we served up smoked brisket tacos and smoked pork tamales.

This year’s Greek spread was an all-day affair of cooking.  It was quite a bit of work, and I wouldn’t necessarily call it our forte, but I think we pretty much nailed it.  Pictured above, starting at the top and working around clockwise: spanakopita (feta cheese and spinach wrapped in phyllo), tabouli salad, dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), sliced cucumbers, humus, baba ghanoush, wheat pita bread, and rice pilaf.  All these tasty sides make a fitting frame for the main event, tri-tip kabobs.

Stay tuned for recipes.