Ever wonder how to put together a Greek Easter? Here's my recap of dying eggs for the tsougrisma, rinsing and soaking intestines for the kokoretsi, and preparing the spit for the lamb we would be roasting over the weekend. // alexandracooks.com

Last Friday, I packed the kids into our spaceship and zoomed north to celebrate Greek Easter with my aunt and uncle, who had been preparing for the occasion for days: dying eggs for the tsougrisma, rinsing and soaking intestines for the kokoretsi, preparing the spit for the lamb we would be roasting over the weekend.

Vermont, as always, was a dream. Here’s a little recap of the occasion:

On Sunday morning, Uncle Wade and company prepared the coals
preparing the coals

while Ajax stood watch.
Argos

Inside, we punched down a double batch of Lahey pizza dough,
lahey dough rising

divided it up,
dough portioned

dropped it into well-oiled pans,
focaccia, rising

topped it with rosemary and sea salt, and made focaccia:
ready for the oven

Meanwhile, Marcy made pita,
making the pita

making the pita

baked pita

and Tig slept.
Tig, sleeping

Outside, Wade prepped the lamb
preparing the lamb

and the kokoretsi.
preparing the kokoretsi

Of course, there was punch.
punch bowl nearing its end

Throughout the day…
basting the lamb

we grilled halloumi,
halloumi on grill

rubbed focaccia across the turning lamb,
Rubbing lamb with bread

and took turns turning the kokoretsi.
wren and ben

basting the kokoretsi

kokoretsi

cooked kokoretsi

lamb, cooked

ella and graham

It was exhausting.
sleeping doggy

dogs

sleeping argos

After dinner, we played tsougrisma,
red eggs

brewed coffee,
chemex

and introduced Tig to Ajax and Argos.
Tig and pups

Wren helped get Tig ready for bed,
wren and tig

then made a run for it.
wren, naked

Just before calling it a night, we tapped into the Metaxa, which is so, so good.
Ever wonder how to put together a Greek Easter? Here's my recap of dying eggs for the tsougrisma, rinsing and soaking intestines for the kokoretsi, and preparing the spit for the lamb we would be roasting over the weekend. // alexandracooks.com

Menu:

Grilled Halloumi with olive oil, lemon & oregano
Will provide a recipe (which is hardly necessary) soon. Halloumi is hard to find. Whole Foods, where our friends found it, was out when I went. And when I called around to a few other places, they said they wouldn’t be getting it till around Memorial Day weekend. WF said sooner.

Spanakopita
(scroll down to end of post past strudels)

Focaccia
Double recipe of Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Pizza Dough, baked in three 9×13-inch Pyrex dishes with lots of olive oil, salt and rosemary. Baked at 425 or so for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden.

Greek Salad
(scroll down to #2)

Lamb on spit and kokoretsi
(If anyone wants details, I will get info from aunt and uncle re preparing and timing — let me know!)

Red Eggs
My aunt dyed the eggs two ways: with dye and with onions skins. The darker eggs in the photo above were dyed naturally. Again, if anyone wants details, I can find out.

Nigella Lawson’s Boozy Chocolate Loaf Cake
We made this twice over the weekend.

Metaxa

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