A Greek Surprise and Bees

I received a treat package from Greece in yesterdays mail. I am a big lover of Greek food and I make a lot of Greek recipes for my family. When I was young and could not buy phyllo at the store, I made my own. I know a lot about Greek cooking so I was especially delighted to be introduced to something knew by one of my favorite bloggers, The Greek Witch. She sent me an assortment of candies, some lucky charms and a wonderful amulet for my house.

There was a bag of what she described as dakos. They look like big stale bagels. I was fascinated. I had never heard of these before. She was thoughtful enough to tell me how to prepare them. I took two out of the package and moistened them with a bit of tomato juice and set them on a plate to begin to soften a bit.




Then I threw all the tomatoes I could find into an oven proof bowl, sprinkled oregano, thyme salt and pepper and drizzled olive oil over them.


I roasted them on low heat for several hours. Then I pulsed them in my food processor to make a semi chunky sauce which I spread on top of the dakos.


I was out of feta having just used it all in a salad dressing, so I sprinkled fresh mozzarella over the tomatoes. I added Kalamata olives stuffed with garlic, chopped cucumber, shredded basil and diced parsley Then I drizzled some of the feta dressing over the top.


I added diced red onions and drizzled a bit of olive oil over the top. Super yum!!!! OMG...these are my new favorite things. There are endless possibilities for these. Thank you so much my fellow blogger for introducing me to something new and wonderful! These are like the best bruschetta you could ever eat.

Yesterday I was playing around in the garden and making some arrangements. Not much is blooming yet so I bought some daffodils to sit around for color. I went back into the house for a while and when I returned to the garden a short time later, I heard a faint humming sound.




Bees!


Bee Butts


Click for a closer look. The bees were a bit crazed.


They were frenetically flying from stamen to stamen.


This is the first pollen of the season and they wanted it!


Are you looking at me?


Twin buzzing.

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Comments

Rue said…
Aww - it's so nice to see bees! I'll bet they were really excited to see the flowers.

That bruschetta looks amazing - I'm drooling...must have some breakfast!
TMCPhoto said…
We had our first buzz last month, but then we have had an uncommonly mild winter. Our crocus' were out and blooming and the bees were out in droves. A sure sign that winter is taking her leave.... also off to eat some breakfast. Too bad mine won't look nearly as yummy as your dish.
You made those bees' day!
Sharon Day said…
Yummers! Greek is my favorite food of all! Have fun with it! We have the bees and the blossoms here too. It's insane. My allergies hate springtime, but my eyes love it!
I love all kinds of mediterranean food, but I´m not good at making it myself. Thankfully I have friends that are good at it :-) I´ve eaten something similar and it is heaven :-) :-)

We have very few honey bees even good summers here, but we do have a lot of bumble bees and solitary bees. But it´s way to early for any of those yet here. But I just long to hear that sound again!
Have a great day now!
Christer.
This post literally made my stomach growl...♥ I'm half Greek, and I LOVE Greek food.
I have to try this out!
Chowz Creations said…
Wonderful honey bee photos (and the 1 photo of the non-honey bee fellow). I was just checking my hives' activity yesterday after work. Nothing really in bloom over this way yet.

Spring is ALMOST here!! Yeah !!
Mama Feoneafey said…
Oh that looks yummy! Lucky you, i love Greek food too!

I have an award for you Here...
http://mamafey.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-first-blog-award-woowhooo.html

I hoe you will accept it .. your blog is always gorgeous and fun!
Ma Fey
Nadya said…
That sounds SO delicious!! Mouth watering .. . . I've made some nettle pesto already - such a nice early spring option! Tho it doesn't have the taste of basil - but the garlic mmmmmm

& yes, how fun to see the bees! We also (Oregon) had warm, then it's been chilly - sunny today, but slow to get warm!
How thoughtful of the Greek Witch to organize a gift package for you! The dako dish looks wonderful and I believe an aromatic whiff just slid in my kitchen window. Yumzzzzzzzz

Daffodils and beezzz....sweet.

Love to Teddy Bear...
I adore Greek food! Once again, you have made me hungry. That looks absolutely yummy!

Bees and daffs - spring has sprung. Happy Ostara in case I don't get to comment between now and then.
greekwitch said…
I have a problem these days with my internet connection. It came pretty quickly. I am impressed. I am more impressed by the salad. It looks so much better than the regular recipe. The weird thing is i ate dakos an hour or so ago. I am glad you enjoyed it. The masticha, it is written mastixa is a type of resin of a tree that grows in Chios and you can chew it as gum, but if you process it and add it in cakes like vanilla extract it gives a unique flavour and aroma. I am not sure if i told you that already in the letter.
I am definitely going to try your recipe with the roasted tomatoes. They look delicious!
Lucie Le Blanc said…
Christmas in spring ! So cool !

Bees ! Lucky you ! We are still in snow but it's going away real fast !
Tristan Robin said…
There must be something Greek in the air - I was just going through all my photos of our holiday in Athens! I have never had dakos - but they sound wonderful. I'll have to look for them in the bakery.

I hope our bees aren't out yet - I have two windows open - and haven't put the screens in yet LOL.

Thanks for the recipe!
brokenteepee said…
How exciting.
I will ask the male person about a book. He picks up the mail.
Thank you.....
Cindi Myers said…
Yum! I had a bowl of cereal for dinner! I need to come live with you! LOL!
No bees here yet! High 60's today but snow predicted for the weekend!
sigh.........SOMEDAY Spring will come and STAY!
I know nothing of Greek food but know I am missing a lot! This sounds wonderful and looks delicious! I did have a wonderful Greek lunch at a friends home once and it was great. Some sort of soup.
How nice of your friend to gift you with something she knows you are really interested in.
:)
Mona
p.s. Wait! I wanted to comment a tad on the bee's. We have a bee hive in our back yard between two fences. My husband was all for getting "rid" of them..but I will not let him do that. I think they have something to do with my little lemon tree being SO loaded with lemon blossoms and having so many lemons on it last year..and..my flowers are amazing this year. There is something basic about seeing them on the flowers and busy as little...bee's?
:)
Mona
(Yeah...I know! )
Litty said…
Where would you purchase dako?
Guillaume said…
I love Greek food and Greek civilisation in general. Even my favourite crime writer is Greek-American! My wife and I are pretty good at making spanakopitas now.
Jodi Widhalm said…
Thanks for commenting & following my blog! Just stopped over to check yours out. Those dakos look SO yummy!! The bees are great, too. We just went to a local honey store yesterday to see the bees and buy some honey, but the beeskeeper had taken the hive out to work on it. Oh well, it's an excuse to go back for more honey! Have a great day.
Aussiemade said…
Bees, oven cooked tomatoes? Hey Jaz you are really on holidays somewhere warmer aren't you..lol

I can smell the aroma of that tomato dish. Will have to see how I can do this as I have so many cherry tomatoes to use. The tomatoes I can smell are actually really roasting in the oven with garlic,onion, thyme and oregano. These will be frozen and used for a soup, stew or pasta bake during winter.

There is something truly wonderful about sharing our upside down seasons. Have to love this world we live in!
Sharlene T. said…
Did you send me some dakos?? Hmmm?? They sure look tasty. Thanks for sharing. And Bees!!! Are they back? Can we count on them this year? I hope so. Have really missed them.
Suzie said…
How wonderful to receive such a nice suprise in the mail! And you created magic with it!! It looks SO good, it even made my stomach flip-flop in anticipation.

And the flowers are a welcome jolt of Spring, especially since I'm looking at snow falling at the moment. Those darling bees would not be pleased with my weather at the moment. Good thing they are in your garden instead!
Bridgett said…
You always have the best ideas! Those look amazing.

I love the Greek Witch. Shs's the sweetest, most loving person.

And bees! Yay!