Cretan Cornucopia Cakes

The last few weeks have been very busy with one thing and another, work, music, sorting the house and Cake!

Cake Pop testers!

Cretan Cornucopia Cakes are a new enterprise for me. The cakes are made and flavoured with herbs and fruits from Crete.Their first outing was at the May produce market in Vamos.

All ingredients are locally sourced where possible.

Where it is not possible to find an ingredient locally I source from other greek islands or mainland Greece - e.g. butter and flour milled in Greece. Of course some items such as sugar, chocolate etc have to come from elsewhere

Walnut and cherry brownies - Walnuts from my own trees and Cherries grown in Rethymnon

Luscious Orange cake

Lemon drizzle cake

"Cretan Delight" flavoured with rosewater filled with rose petal conserve and topped with chocolate ganache

Carob cake

Local carob flour and buttercream flavoured with carob syrup.

Sticky walnut cake

Lemon Geranium cake

Delicately flavoured with lemon geranium from my garden and filled with home made lemon curd

Carrot cake with locally grown carrots, my own walnuts and oil, or perhaps you fancy a honey cake or an Almond and orange gluten free cake?

Look out for them at local sales or if you would like a whole cake just contact me (Apokoronas area!) 

Beaches of Crete

After such unseasonable weather I thought it would be nice to remember the glorious Cretan Beaches in the summer

Tamarisk trees

Quiet mornings

Sails on the sea

"The Pirate ship" rock

Pebbles and sea urchins

Footsteps in the sand

Unusual tourists

A family day out at Kalivaki

Turquoise waters

The surf breaking

High summer

Lagoons

A museum and a love story

Just outside of Rethymnon on the Spili road is the little village of Somatos. Here you will find a tiny war museum run by Vangelis Hatzispiros

Vangelis is now 85. When he and his wife Chrysa were 16 years old they eloped. Their families found them and after "a good hiding" they were married and their families helped them for a couple of years. They have now been married for 69 years.

Vangellis started collecting artefacts as a young lad on the way to and fro school. There had been partisans in the area during the war and many battles had left debris to be picked up

Now, due to his collecting and donations from friends over the years he has his own museum

Guns, shells, original newspaper cuttings, uniforms, gas masks, etc.

Helmets, shell cases, wheels.

Pictures, certificates,

Medals, coins,

An eclectic mix including old pots and pans from the Arkadi monastery

Old amphora and oil jugs

A raki still 140 years old

Cannon balls and shells

Hats, helmets

An old BMW motor bike from the war

.. and the best raki we have tasted in a long while. Call in and see them for a fascinating time.

To find it head out of Rethymnon and take the turning before the Minoan Graves. 

Morning light in Vrysses and Kalyves

Early morning as the sun is coming up is a lovely time to enjoy the colourful plants and trees

Vrysses church against a blue backdrop

Mainstreet shaded by trees

Over to Kalyves before the visitors are about

The colourful sunbeds at the ready

A multitude of colours

Enjoy the early mornings