Welcome to 2018!
Before we get on the subject of the Aromatic Greek Octopus Salad, I’d just like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope you had a lovely Christmas.
My resolution for 2018 is “to live a fuller life”. I’m not sure what that means yet, but I’ll let you know once I’ve worked it out (haha).
What New Year’s resolution have you made this year?
This year I also want to raise my bar by creating more new and exciting recipes to share with you and post stories the are even more engaging and fun to read.
To check that I’m on track with my goals, I’d really appreciate your feedback, good or bad – please.
I’ve been reflecting on the past couple of weeks and I must say, I’m a little sad that Christmas is over, but I am really excited to see what 2018 has in store.
2017 was a mixed bag for me and my family. It started off badly with my beloved dad passing away. He was a kind and gentle man with big strong hands and a huge heart. I remember being little and waiting for him at the front gate to come home from work. He would always greet me with a smile and scoop me up with is big hands to give me a hug (and a chocolate bar).
Dad loved his family, especially his 7 grandchildren and great grandson. Mum says that he would sing and dance around the house every time she told him “the kids are coming”. His happy place was outside at the barbecue cooking for us with music playing on his radio – we called him “barbecue man” because he cooked a mean barbecue that we all loved.
In contract to the sadness of losing my dad, we had the most beautiful and happiest of occasions – my son’s wedding to his beautiful lady! The wedding took place on top of a hill, outside a gorgeous little white chapel on the Greek Island of Naxos , with the bright blue Aegean sea as the backdrop. It was simply spectacular!
If you are looking for a place to visit where the sun shines everyday, has amazing beaches, great nightlife and there’s not toooo many tourists, I highly recommend Naxos. Just take a look at some of these photos!
Oh, and if you’re wondering about the food … it’s great, especially the seafood. One dish that my son and I absolutely loved was the Octopus Salad. It was one of the most tender and tasty octopus salads I’ve ever eaten.
I loved this dish so much, that I had a go at making a version of it for Christmas lunch that I call Aromatic Greek Octopus Salad. The consensus from my harsh critics was that “it was fantastic” and was so easy to make. You can find the recipe at the end of this post.
I am pleased to say 2017 ended on a high, with my eldest son and his wife announcing they were expecting their second baby – yay, another grandchild! My husband and I are elated and can’t wait for the arrival of “Peanut Junior” to join big brother. You have to be a grandparent to understand how we feel.
This was the first Christmas without my dear dad and, not being able to hug him and wish him a Merry Christmas was tough, but I could definitely feel the warmth of his smile around us.
I know my dad would have wanted the family to spend Christmas together, so I decided to host Christmas lunch because that would have made him happy. Having my family together always makes me happy too.
Christmas lunch turned out perfect, thanks to my family helping with the preparations and, especially to my hubby, who worked so hard to get our place looking so nice. I couldn’t have done it without him!
Once Christmas day was over, we headed to the beach for a few days to relax and enjoy a glass of wine or two with great company, which was exactly what we needed after a crazy few weeks of cleaning, cooking and preparing for the big day.
We are so grateful to have people in our lives who are so generous by sharing their beautiful holiday homes with us – thank you Phil & Cate and Manny & Mary for your hospitality!
A special thanks to Manny for letting me drive ‘Soula‘ (his beautiful classic Mustang) – I had soooooo much fun!
And a special thanks to YOU for coming back and reading my posts. I wish you and yours a healthy and happy 2018. Please come again and feel free to FOLLOW me (Follow buttons on the sidebar and bottom of the page), or leave a comment any time!
And now, back to the Aromatic Greek Octopus Salad. If you’ve ever had succulent, tender delicious octopus at a Greek restaurant that you have wanted to reproduce at home, then click this link – AROMATIC GREEK OCTOPUS SALAD – or click the image below to go to a recipe I know you will love.
AROMATIC GREEK OCTOPUS SALAD
Cheers
Vicki
Meatballs and Muffins 