My Big Fat Greek Weekend

It’ s that time of year again – Greekfest!!….what,  you didn’t know? I had a pretty freakin amazing time at Greekfest 2006 DC so this year I trekked down to the surprisingly large Greek cultural epicenter in Norfolk, VA. on a press junket for food bloggers to visit my bro, his wife and the new baby…Pretty impressive show those ConfedeGreeks put on – I completely stuffed myself with moussakka, souvlaki and rice pilaf. But come Monday, we just weren’ t ready for Greekfest to end so the sister-in-law and I decided to try our hand at baklava. Now, phyllo dough is one of my fav ingredients, but I haven’t done many desserts, so we checked a variety of recipies online, before realizing there was one on the phyllo dough box. We went with that, because, really, the phyllo dough box probably knows what it’s talking about when it comes to baklava.

Not too complex – basically the same thing as anything else with phyllo…layer the sheets and make sure each one has enough butter to drown a horse. Alternate layers of filling (chopped walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cloves). Bake it for 45, then top with Syrup, which we made by simmering boiling water, honey, sugar and lemon zest.