It is almost New Year’s Eve!! Like many, I am looking forward to 2021 and what it may bring (and more importantly, the end of 2020). One Greek tradition on New Year’s Day is a Vasilopita.
Vasilopita is associated with the legend of Saint Basil and the Vasilopita is a New Year’s Day bread or cake where a coin is hidden inside. It is believed that whoever receives the piece with the coin inside will be blessed with good fortune for that year. Considering how 2020 has went, I am sure we are all hoping to receive the piece with that coin.
I have seen a few takes on the traditional Vasilopita and was inspired by 54thirty’s recent Instagram post where they made Vasilopita cookies. Here is my modern take on the traditional recipe.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature
1 1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
4 cups flour
2 tablespoons baking soda
powdered sugar (to sprinkle on top after cooking)
almonds (optional)
Other:
coin & aluminum foil
mini-cupcake liners & cupcake tray
Instructions:
Wash and dry your coin and cover in a small piece of aluminum foil. You will need this to add into one of the mini-cupcakes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place cupcake liners in your tray to prepare.
In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy smooth consistency.
Add the vanilla extract, orange juice and orange zest. Beat all together until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat your eggs and then add them into the large bowl of wet mixture/batter. Beat until smooth.
In a separate bowl, add your flour and baking powder together. Slowly add this into the wet mixture/batter. You will only want to beat until it is mixed together.
Pour your batter into the mini-cupcake liners. You will only fill them about 1/2 to 3/4 full. This is when you will add the coin to one of the cupcakes. Optional: If you would like, top each cupcake with an almond.
Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until you can poke them with a toothpick and it comes out clean.
Allow them to cool and then sprinkle them with powdered sugar.
As September is coming to a close, I want to share the top items that I have absolutely been loving!!
Yoga Wheel
Since I fell last Thanksgiving, I have noticed a lot of overall stiffness. This yoga wheel has been amazing! It can be used so many different ways, and since I starting using it, I noticed more flexibility and less pain. You can order the same on using the Amazon link below!
Bralettes
I spent 6 months of quarantine being home (and braless). Now that I am back at work, I am all about comfort and bralettes. I picked this up at Target and ordered in XL. It fit loosely but is super comfortable. I am definitely planning on ordering additional colors.
Women’s Textured Seamless Longline Bralette by Colsie
Tik Tok Profiles
Stasia_Eleni: She makes Greek videos that are on-point, so funny and totally relatable.
MattLovesHair: He has such a great personality that makes you smile and gives amazing hair tips.
Hair Products
I am LOVING Drybar’s The Double Shot Blow-Dryer. It is a rounded brush and blow dryer all in one! It is like a fresh from the salon blow out every time! I pair this with Drybar’s “yellow” Southern line of products for amazing volume. You can find it in-store at Ulta, on Drybar’s website, and Amazon.
Lunchtime Salads
Because of Covid-19 safety issues, all the teachers at my building were directed to remove all personal refrigerators and microwaves from our classrooms. Typically, I would bring in leftovers from the night before and reheat them for lunch. Since this is not an option, my go-to lunches are salads. I have become obsessed with shredded carrots to top the salads off and switch up my dressings for a little diversity. Besides plain oil and vinegar, I also use Panera Bread’s Balsamic, Wishbones Red Wine Vinaigrette, and the salad dressing from Jordan’s Restaurant in Norwalk (you can buy it bottled). I am loving these twist top containers from Target. I purchased the Twist and Store Containers in large for the salad and pop the dressing into the small 4 ounce ones.
Fall is officially here! Bring on all the apple scents! All September I have been using this Appleberry scented candle from Red Leaf Home. You can find them at TJ Maxx, Homegoods and Michaels.
Hulu Binge
This month a few of my weekends consisted of me working on lesson plans and binging Hulu. Last year I started watching Good Trouble on Freeform (don’t judge), and since there aren’t any new episodes yet, I began binging the show it was based off- The Fosters.
What have you been obsessed with this past month? I would love to hear!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! While we did not celebrate how we traditionally do- with a large get together followed by the fireworks display at the beach, we still had a great time with our family. If you’re anything like my family, you made WAY too much food yesterday, and will be enjoying those leftovers today. One great way to change things up a bit is by adding a new side dish! This easy to make orzo salad is served cold, and pairs well with burgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken and helps to bring a little cold to this otherwise hot summer.
Ingredients:
1 bag of orzo
Baby spinach
Bite-sized tomatoes (cherry or grape)
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Vinegar
Lemon
Feta Cheese
Oregano
Kalamata Olives
Cucumbers
Instructions:
Prepare your orzo according to the package. While the orzo is cooking, prepare the other ingredients.
Wash and dry about 3 large handfuls of baby spinach. Add it to a heated skillet and cook until wilted. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, cut into thin slices.
Wash and dry your tomatoes. Cut into small bite-sized pieces. Since orzo is small, I cut my tomatoes into halves and then quartered each half.
Peel cucumbers and cut into bite-sized quarters.
Cut feta cheese into small cubes.
Drain, rinse and slice your olives.
Once your orzo is cooked, rinse with cold water and add to a large bowl. Mix in your cooked spinach, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and feta.
Optional: add fresh, sliced basil too!
Add salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, oregano and lemon to taste. Or instead, feel free to add your favorite bottled salad dressing!
Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to chill. Top with additional oil/vinegar or salad dressing and serve!
I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to come up with a plan to reorganize certain parts of my apartment. I have been living there for a few years and kinda dropped the ball on some projects that I didn’t finish when I first moved in. I started off with my art room/office.
I tackled the closet first to see what art supplies I had, and organized everything by adding in a metal shelf. I also spray painted everything gold to match the decor with the rest of the house.
When cleaning, I realized that I had QUITE the extensive collection of small acrylic paints from over the years. When it came to my acrylic paint collection, I needed to come up with a solution to find colors quickly. I ordered these plastic baskets from Amazon and spray painted them gold. I used Rustoleum’s Metallic Gold which I ordered from Target.
Once the baskets were ready to hang, I used regular screws (keeping in mind their length so that they did not poke through the door) on either side of basket where their first hole was. I used a level to make sure each basket was hung straight.
Once the first basket was hung, it was easier to match up the sides and screws. Once they were all up I was ready to start adding my paints!
I still need to paint the screws gold so they blend in
I can’t wait to finish the rest of the office! Check my instagram this week for pics of the results!
