Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Greek Easter Dinner and Apple Squares

Last week, we had a traditional Greek Easter dinner at my parents’ house of roast lamb with gravy and potatoes. We also had avgolemono soup (egg-lemon chicken soup) as a starter, salad, feta cheese, and spanakopita (spinach pie triangles). My parents roasted the lamb in the oven (not outside on a spit) with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper (and I think oregano because they always use oregano). The lemon and olive oil kept the lamb from tasting gamey. The potatoes were roasted separately, but with the same ingredients.

Since I was busy studying, my only contribution to the feast was a hastily-made dessert. I didn't have to make anything because my mom had made all sorts of Greek cookies which I forgot to take a picture of (drank too much wine) – koulourakia (twisted butter cookies), melomakarona (honey and walnut cookies), kourabiedes (powdered sugar almond butter cookies).

I didn't get a chance to post pictures from Easter dinner last week. Since this is not only a CPA Exam blog, but also a Cooking blog, I wanted to take pictures of all the food we made and discuss the ingredients and cooking techniques used. But I was so hungry I forgot to take pictures BEFORE we ate; the picture is of the food that was left AFTER we ate.


Right before we left our house, I had made Apple Squares using the remaining frozen puff pastry dough sheet from when I made the Spinach Tart. I cut the puff pastry dough sheet into small squares and added an apple mixture I created by taste. I have to try it again to get the right proportions, but I mixed together approximately 10 oz of Mott’s Natural No Sugar Added apple sauce, about a tablespoon and a half of sugar, and a teaspoon or two of cinnamon. I spooned some of the apple mixture onto each square and baked them. The final product looked sloppy because I was in a rush, but they tasted so good! I thought they tasted like Pepperidge Farm apple turnovers, but everyone else thought they tasted like Entenmann’s Apple Puffs but without the icing. I am going to make them again soon so I can share the right ingredient amounts with you.

7 comments:

  1. Hey, I'd enjoy your blog. I'm also studying for the exam. Taking FAR on Friday. How do you like the DVD? I'm thinking about purchasing the AUD one.

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  2. Hi Stacy! Thank you so much for reading my blog! Good luck on FAR! I used the Yaeger Home Study DVDs and the Cram DVD for AUD. I didn't like the instructor (Gary Bulmash) at first, but he reminded me of a professor I had that was effective (I grew to appreciate the no nonsense delivery; even though it can be boring at times, it was effective, especially the Cram). Some people on the CPANet forum don't like him because he goes over the MC so fast (but he tells you to pause the DVD). He isn't as dynamic as Cindy. You should check out the demo on Yaeger's site (http://www.yaegercpareview.com/ click on "View Demos" on the left and select "AUD-Internal Control" under HomeStudy. This way you can see if his lecture style works for you. Let me know if you have any questions. And again, Good Luck on Friday!

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  3. Thanks! Just trying to find out if it's worth it. I recently got laid off and was wondering how you feel about the job searching potential out there. I live in Virginia. I've received a few phone interviews, but thats about it.

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  4. That stinks! I live in NY and there aren't that many jobs for my level (Accounting Manager or Asst. Controller). I have been on a few interviews, but they either hired internally, abandoned their search (a headhunter told me they do that when they don't have money for hiring in their budget but want to test the waters to see what's out there), or, in one case, they said they would love to hire someone like me but with a CPA license (yes that was actual feedback!).

    I think the economy won't get any better for a while, so we have to do what we can to stand out to employers. Good luck with your search! It may take a little while, but hopefully, we will find jobs!

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  5. Definitely use this time off to study for the exam. Good luck with studying for the next exam.

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