Greece - Our 24th Meal

For our 24th meal, we dined in Greece! (Officially, the Hellenic Republic.) And were joined by our parents and dear friends Sue and Rob. 

Dolmathes! These were a labor of love to make, for sure -- very time-consuming to wrap each individual leaf. I bet it would be relaxing if I weren't in a hurry. They turned out delicious though, very tender and lemony.

Grape leaf with stem snipped... ready for filling!

The moussaka, before it was covered in Bechamel. I really liked this!

Chicken souvlaki, cooked on the grill and served with the veggies you see here. 

Homemade pita bread. We've also had pita at our Iran, Egypt, and Morocco meals, all different recipes.

A widespread love of pita

The dessert, galaktoboureko, a lovely custard pie baked in phyllo dough, and soaked in a cinammon-lemon syrup.

Imported Greek wine

Tsipouro, a Greek brandy. This was a hit. 

After dinner, we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). (We considered Zorba the Greek, but the crowd voted the other way.) In this scene, the main character gets teased by the whitebread girls for her Greek lunch -- moussaka!!

When? August 28, 2022

Who cooked? Lauren 

What's for dinner? (Recipe links) 

Dolmathes, Moussaka, Souvlaki with tzatziki sauce, pita bread, galaktoboureko 

Greece Stats

• Population: 10.72 million (the state of Georgia has 10.5)
• GDP: 55th in the world 
• Life Expectancy: 25th in the world, way better than US (54th)
• Founding Date/Age in 2022: Greece is one of the oldest civilizations and the cradle of Western civilization, but in its current form, was only founded in 1821. 201 years old 
• Official Language: Greek.
• Random fact, 93% of Greeks are Christian
• Rankings:
• Highest consumption of olive oil per capita (26.1 kg or 57.5 lb / year!!!)
• Largest merchant marine fleet by deadweight tonnage
• Highest consumption of tobacco per capita (4,313 cigarettes / year -- that works out to 12 per day!)

Germany - Our 23rd Meal

For our 23rd date night, we had a special guest chef -- Opa helped Mark cook a German meal! And we were joined for dinner by our families out here in Michigan.

A beautiful German feast! Everything was delicious. I especially liked the sauerbraten (roast that was pickled for 4 days) and rartoffelknodel (potato dumplings). 

Picture-perfect and delicious apple strudel. The phyllo dough was not handmade but the rest was!

I surprised myself by liking this beer. The brandy made nice Manhattans. 

Cheers to the chefs!

After dinner, we started to watch the comedy Good Bye Lenin! (2003), but the subtitles were off. We will have to try again with a different version.

I'm glad Mark took Germany, because I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable celebrating the cultural legacy of a country whose most famous "accomplishment" is the near-extinction of my people. I'm sure Germans today don't want to be defined by the ugliest period in their history, any more than Americans today want to be defined by the horrors of slavery, or the genocide of Native Americans. But just as we are grappling with ongoing racism, and the legacy of historic oppression, Germans must keep dealing with the sequelae of the Holocaust. I know that some people would love to say that the Holocaust is in the past, it's history, but sadly that is not true: anti-semitism is alive and well in Germany (see one recent Times piece, for a discussion). The USA also has these problems, but modern Germany is objectively more anti-semitic than the US. Not great.

Anyway, we didn't let these considerations color our meal, which was very pleasant. And perhaps that is a  victory, that we are still here, and can enjoy a nice meal with our family!

When? August 13, 2022

Who cooked? Mark

What's for dinner? (Recipe links) 

Sauerbraten (roast and gravy); Rotkohl (sweet & sour red cabbage); Kartoffelklöße (potato dumplings); Erbsen & Karotten Mischgemuse (Buttered Peas and Carrots); Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel)

Germany Stats

• Population: 83.2 million (like California, Texas, and Florida combined)
• GDP: 5th in the world (following only China, US, India, and Japan)
• Life Expectancy: 27th in the world... UK is 28th. USA is a shockingly low 54th in the world, highlighting our outrageous health and wealth disparities. 
• Founding Date/Age in 2022: Region of Germania dates from 100AD, but officially formed in 1871. 151 years old. 
• Official Language: German
• Rankings:
• Largest producer of rye, hops, lignite
• Largest net exports (balance of trade) 
• Highest government budget surplus
• Largest natural gas importer
• Most Winter Olympic medals
• Best performance at a bunch of sports things
• The world leader in the use of solar energy per capita