Recipes and posts by email and GDPR

Recipes and posts by email and GDPR

Dear Readers

You may have heard the term GDPR a lot recently. It's basically the new data protection law in Europe and citrus spice and travels are included in this. It protects your data (information about you), how it is collected, what it is used for, the fact that it is kept securely and that you reserve the right to withdraw your data at any time. Your privacy is important to me and at citrusspiceuk.com I will never pass your information on to anyone else.

I do use some third party sites like Feedburner (owned by Google) who send out my posts by email to you, but they also have to protect your data and can't pass it on. They must store it securely and only use it for the purpose you signed up for. Google have updated their policy on 25 May 2018 when the law came into effect.

Posts by email

If you signed up for my posts by email, I will never contact you personally. My posts will be pulled from my site by Feedburner and emailed straight to you, you will never receive anything else by email from me and this is the only way your details will be used.

Newsletters

If you have signed up for my newsletter, you will receive emails in a monthly newsletter format from me, I will not contact you personally unless you choose to email me with a query or a question.

Competitions and Giveaways

I will never pass your email address on unless you have won a competition and I have asked your permission to pass it on to the company supplying the prize.

Finally, I appreciate all your visits and respect your privacy fully. Please take a moment to read my privacy policy for more information. If  can 

If you enjoy visiting citrus spice uk and have not signed up would like to receive regular updates and a monthly newsletter straight into your inbox please sign up by email. You will find the email signup right at the top under my photo in the side bar.

or click the link below.

Subscribe to Citrus Spice and all things nice by Email

Thank you for being part of  citrus spice and travels.

A Greek Feast at Olea Villas Crete

On our recent trip to Crete we had the opportunity to stay at the Olea villas, which are set amongst olive groves facing Loutraki Bay, near Chania Crete The villas are fully equipped with a modern kitchen with all mod cons, crockery and cooking utensils if you want to do self catering. However for those who go on holiday and want total relaxation you can even arrange for a private chef to come and cook a Greek feast for you.

We were very lucky to experience this service. On our second night while we relaxed with a glass of wine, our own personal chef Stefanos Bourdakis and his partner came fully prepared to cook some amazing Greek dishes for us

It was really interesting to watch him create some regional Cretan dishes made from scratch. Being a vegetarian I was amazed that almost every dish he made was meat free and I was able to sample them all.

For starters we had butternut squash soup - Kolokythósoupa. I had a hands on cookery lesson from Stefanos. He sauted onions in olive oil, once the onions were translucent he added the butternut squash, carrots, potatoes in white wine. Once the vegetables were cooked he seasoned it with salt and pepper and added Mytzitahra cheese to it and blended it to a smooth puree. A finishing garnish of Greek yoghurt and cream were added before serving.

We really enjoyed our candle light dinner on the terrace overlooking Loutraki Bay.

The soup followed with a plate of Kolokithakia Tiganita or Deep Fried Zucchini (courgettes). Wafer thin slices of zucchini are soaked in water for half an hour after which they are towel dried. The zucchini slices are then tossed in a seasoned flour to coat them before deep frying them until they are crisp and golden brown. These are so delicious with a squeeze of fresh handpicked lemons straight from the lemon groves.

After enjoying these two wonderful starters there was more to come. Stephanos made us these delectable spinach parcels called Kaltsounia. Greek phyllo pastry filled with spinach and Mytzitahra cheese and herb filling and then shallow fried till until they are golden brown. They are finished with a coating of sesame seeds.  These were served with mini pastry tartlets filled with an avocado salsa.

When we thought that we had finished, how wrong we were there was more to come!!! For the main course we had Simbetherio (συμπεθεριό).This is a type is the Cretan vegetable stew cooked with a medley of seasonal vegetables on the stove top. The meaning of 'simbetherio' comes from the relationship of the parents-in-law of the two members of a marriage; the families become related to each other through marriage (they are 'simbetheroi' to each other). 

The simbetherio dish uses the extended family members of various similar species, cooked in the same pot. This dish had potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, tomatoes, aubergines and had a garnish of Mytzitahra cheese. Simplicity at its best!!

To accompany the Simbetherio, we had Melintzanes Stolismenes these are thin slices of eggplant shallow fried and rolled with feta. The eggplant rolls are layered in an ovenproof dish and topped with a spicy tomato sauce and Keseri cheese. The dish is baked in the oven until the cheese is golden brown and crisp.

After this incredible Greek gastronomical feast, our stomachs were aching from the fullness and ready to explode, but there is always room for dessert!!!

So for dessert Stephanos made us these delectable little deep fried Greek honey and sesame coated balls call Loukoumades. They were really delicious and the perfect end to this Greek Feast.

I would like to Thank Stefanos and his wife for spoiling us rotten by creating such a wonderful banquet for us. We were totally transformed into a food journey through Greece with all the flavours and dishes.

In the picture Heidi Roberts, Katilena , myself, with Stefanos and his wife.

If you ever visit Crete and would like Stefanos to cook for you you can contact him via email s.bourdakis@hotmail.com

To read more about my trip to Crete do check the posts below:

Chania and Olea Villas ~Crete

Unicorn ~Bostik Challenge

This month the Bostik box is all about creatures. In our box we had some love glittery foam and pink items. Little M my crafting buddy came over to help me create our monthly craft. We chatted about creatures and she told me her friend had a unicorn themed party so we decided to make a unicorn with the items in the box.

We later had some strawberry ice cream with lots of blue berries and mango as she wanted something to make unicorn ice cream. Little M loves to try foods with different colours. unfortunately we did not get time to take a photo of our unicorn ice cream as it was really hot and the ice cream had started to melt.

To make the Unicorn you will need:

• 1 sheet white glittery funky foam
• 1 sheet pink funky foam
• 1 small sheet gold card
• Stick on gems
• Pink rafia or thread for mane
• Black pen
• Scissors
• Bostik Glue

How to make:

1.On the white glitter funky foam draw a circle about 10 cm in diameter and cut it out.
2.On the white funky foam draw two ear shapes and cut them out.

3. On the pink funky foam draw two ear shapes slightly smaller than the white ones and cut them.
4.On the pink funky foam draw and cut out two round circles the size on a five pence piece.
5. Using bostik glue stick the smaller pink ear shapes to the larger white ones and stick both ears to the top of the circle.

6. On the gold card draw and cut out one unicorn horn shape.
7. In between the ears stick the uniform horn.
8. Stick the pink circles to make the cheeks.

9. Using a black sharpie draw the unicorns eyes.
10. Underneath the Unicorn horn stick the pink mane and decorate with stick on gems.

This craft is suitable for young children although, adult supervision may be required for using scissors. If you like this project check the link below for more art and craft projects, that you can do with your children.

Kids Arts and Craft Videos
Kids Arts and Crafts Projects 

Being part of the Bostik 2018 bloggers with Tots100 and Merrily Crafts, I was sent some craft items in a box to create this project.