Summer Scores

Mmmmmmmmmm.  Yesterday, when my mother-in-law said come down to the land and take some potatoes, this is what she really wanted me to take.

Included in my treasure chest (crate) were A LOT of potatoes (when I say A LOT OF POTATOES I mean enough to keep a fraternity house fed for at least the first two weeks of football season, ) A LOT of figs, some zucchini, some onions, and some chickpeas.

The land that she has all of these planted on is actually Christos's and mine.  Each of the brothers inherited a couple of different plots of land from their parents.  Christos and I also have a large olive grove.  I haven't actually introduced you to Spiros yet, the older brother of Christos and Makis.  He is a really neat, wonderful guy.  More on him later, for now, here is a shot of the brothers. 

The particular land where the vegetables above were grown was passed down to Christos from his mother.  That is her family land, and she has worked it for her entire life.

Most days, you can find her there, with this guy.....

That is her donkey.  We call him Donkey.  He is her mode of transportation and beast of burden.  No way could she lug all her goodies home all by her lonesome, nor could she make the trek down to the land on foot.  When her children were young, she would also haul them on the donkey and they would sit/ crawl/ play/ run around on the land while she hacked and pulled and planted. 

She uses a sickle for just about everything she does down there, and she wields that thing around like a champ.  It is a large scary tool to me, but she is about as comfortable with it as I am with my toothbrush.

P.S.  Donkey is a bit camera shy.

P.P.S.  Christos's mother is not.  Tourists regularly stop her to take a picture of her and Donkey.  They have actually offered her money on occasion.  She does not accept it.  Rather, she smiles, waves, and loves it.  She is so adorable.   





  




In addition to what you see above, among other things, she also has a lot of this

and these
                           
and these

and these

and these (on different pieces of land.)

A lot more on the last two, and what we do with them, later.

For now, I want to talk about these.

Do you know what those are?  Want a closer look?

They are raw chickpeas.  And, if you are Greek, besides make a delicious soup, do you know what you can do with these?  If any of you are thinking hummus, I do not blame you.  However, I have never ever seen hummus in Greece.  I have never met a Greek that has heard of it.  I know we all find it in Greek restaurants in the States, and I LOVE it (off the subject, but I make a mean hummus with boiled peanuts rather than chickpeas....a Southern Living recipe from years ago...I will have to try and find the original recipe for y'all.)  Maybe they have hummus in other parts of Greece that I have yet to visit, as the food can be regional here.  As far as I can tell, hummus is Lebanese, and, perhaps, can be found in other, more Middle-Eastern countries.  (Update:  I did a little research.  Hummus is Arabic/ Middle Eastern.  Oh, and yummy.)

Anyway, back to the other use for chickpeas in Greece....well, first you break off one little green pod like this.

Then you split it in half along the seam like this.  (The boys use their mouths to break them open, but I prefer to use my hands.)  And what you see will look about like this.

Then, you pull out that little raw, green, brain-like chickpea.

And you pop it right in that hole on your face!!!!

And they are pretty darn good.  They are a fresh little summer-time snack that provides entertainment in and of itself (a lot like sitting around shelling and eating roasted peanuts.)

Even Bella likes to get in on the action.  The boys can literally plow through a bushel in an afternoon.  I would imagine they ate quite a few during their tag-along-on-the-donkey days while mama dug potatoes. 







And, it is always fun when you get a pod with "twins."

Just wanted to share a little "taste" of my crate o' goodies and another little peak into summertime life on Corfu.

Oh, and I plan to eat lots of plain figs, but I also am looking into some good fig recipes.  Anybody got any ideas????