Despidoodle

the digital alias of Despina Panagakos Yeargin

  • Roasted Vegetable Salad

    Roasted Vegetable Salad

    Frozen (or fresh) Brussels sprouts are roasted with cubed butternut squash. Once they cool, I add diced apples, red onion, sliced radicchio and pumpkin seeds. Everything is tossed with my apple cider vinaigrette and there’s your easy weeknight or weekend dinner. Add a roasted chicken, and you have a memorable meal loaded with nutrition. The…

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  • Pumpkins & Spice & Cream & Pralines

    Pumpkins & Spice & Cream & Pralines

    An easy-to-assemble and bake pumpkin spice custard topped with a glorious combo of whipped cream and almond pralines. How’s that for a make-ahead dessert to turn you into a dessert celebrity? I developed this recipe last November, typed it up in December and forgot to post it! Today, I present you with the best seasonal…

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  • A Dessert to Make You Cry

    A Dessert to Make You Cry

    That’s right. My recipe for a traditional rice pudding with a Greek twist may actually cause you to cry. It’s another GrecoSoCo recipe–my take on a traditional Southern rice pudding. If you’re in a hurry, here’s the printable recipe, otherwise, scroll down for a teeny touching story. Rice Pudding? Yes, I’ve taken the traditional recipe…

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  • Where’s the Meat?

    Where’s the Meat?

    If you were to scroll through my posts over the years, you’d find meat dishes, but most of my posts and recipes are vegetable-forward. Why is that? Is it because I prefer to post recipes about side dishes? No, that’s not it. I’ll give you the answer, but first, please bear with me as I…

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  • Serendipity

    Serendipity

    Yes, that’s the word! Serendipity–an unexpected surprise. We’re visiting Dewey’s son, Thomas, in Seattle. Thomas has been a great host. Over the weekend, we visited his favorite spots at Pike Place Market to enjoy samples and small bites, had a fabulous first night dinner of local seafood while enjoying a late afternoon view of Puget…

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  • Keeping It Simple

    Keeping It Simple

    Keeping it simple doesn’t mean that your meal will be tasteless. Gasp! Why, there’s a whole dietary movement devoted to “clean eating” where you cook the way people all over the world used to cook–you eat whole foods without much added and without sauces and processed foods. If you try it, it will be a…

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  • End-of-Summer Mediterranean

    End-of-Summer Mediterranean

    The Mediterranean diet is loaded with fresh vegetables. Today I had eggplant, yelllow squash, onions, garlic, red, yellow and green peppers and frozen Fordhook lima beans. I threw them in frozen. Chopped a lot of fresh parsly, added salt, pepper and a generous amount of olive oil. Link to method and ingredients here, but use…

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  • GrecoSoCo Greens, Beans & Middlins

    GrecoSoCo Greens, Beans & Middlins

    Middlins? Yes, middlins, the broken pieces of rice collected during the processing of Carolina Gold Rice. My friends at Marsh Hen Mill in Edisto, South Carolina, like to work backwards in a way that preserves tradition and a simpler way of processing beans and grains, cornmeal, grits and rice. I love these guys! Yes, it’s a…

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  • Update From Trikala…and Meteora

    Update From Trikala…and Meteora

    Somehow, when you order a mixed fried seafood plate at a small Greek taverna by the water, it doesn’t make you think of calories and cholesterol. Instead, you think, Wow! And then you dig in, fingers only, and eat fried fresh anchovies and squid as if they’re French fries. You squeeze lemon juice over everything…

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  • Update From Nafplio Greece

    Update From Nafplio Greece

    Traditional fish soup of Nafplion I am lost in time! My update from Nafplio is late, and it’s almost time to give you an update from Trikala, which is where we’ve been since almost a week ago. We chose to travel by foot or taxi on our stops and to use a transport service to…

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