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Saturday, January 23, 2021

Baker’s Urge/Splurge: $44.53 Spanakopita

The image above is worth a million bucks in my book. That magic happens when you combine phyllo dough, melted butter and toasty oven heat. Photo from the blog Alexandra’s Kitchen.

What’s a lifelong dessert baker to do when she swears off butter/flour/sugar combinations?

I send roses, roses to my long-time writer friend and fellow blogger, Kim, who wrote about the Alexandra’s Kitchen blog, which I love. I’m also holding myself back from ordering Alexandra’s cookbook, called Bread Toast Crumbs. It looks so good. Might succumb one day. (Breads generally don’t contain sugar!)

I made the large spanakopita below, not the individual strudels. (Keep scrolling way down, past the strudels.)

https://alexandracooks.com/2012/03/23/spanakopita-strudels/

I was thinking Punch and I would be in all day and night and I would have her make it. Pandemic cooking lesson #9? (Pot roast twice, chicken pot pies once, skillet chicken ratatouille twice, raspberry buttercream chocolate cake for Christmas, Baker’s Famous One-Bowl Brownies twice.) 

She would be very good at the layering of paper-thin phyllo dough, the spooning of spinach/cheese filling, the brushing of melted butter. I know she would.

BUT: Dan was driving down to South Jersey to get his first vaccine at Rowan University, then driving into NYC to meet his lifelong friend, Dan, for dinner at an outdoor cafe. So he took Punch with him. I got a whole Saturday afternoon and evening off. I plan to take a bath while this baby bakes. It is in the oven now. 

I made two important switches because the recipe was very rich:

  1. Reduced melted butter from 3 sticks (!!!!!!) to 1.5 sticks.
  2. Reduce feta cheese from 1.5 lbs. to 1 lb. 
  3. Reduce number of beaten eggs from 10 (!!!) to 7. After all, I was reducing the cheese, so it made sense to decrease the eggs in the filling.
  4. Had to reduce the baby spinach. Recipe called for 20 oz. total (hence, all that filling, I guess) and I asked for two 11-oz. bags, but my shopper brought me two 6-oz bags. Dan has our car, and I didn’t feel like walking to Kings in freezing cold or spending more money. So be it.
Here is the receipt:
  • Dozen eggs in cardboard carton (I sidestep single-use plastic when possible), $1.99.
  • 2 half-pound feta blocks at $6.99 each (sounds like a lot $), $13.98.
  • 2 six-ounce bags baby spinach at $5.99 each, $11.98.
  • Friendship Cottage Cheese, 16 oz., $3.79.
  • Athens Phyllo Dough, twin pack, 16 oz. total, $6.79.
I already had the butter on hand.

Grocery total: $38.53.
Tip: I had done $3.85 (10 percent), but bc Chaquanda had chatted with me about replacements, etc., I increased it to $5 after giving her a 5-star rating.
Service fee: $1.00.

I got Express Member free delivery but that is because I pay $9.99 per month for my Instacart membership so that I can get groceries and other items delivered from many different stores. Dan and I are looking at our grocery budget with a sharp eye, so I might cancel this membership. I’m not sure what delivery fees would be otherwise. But until now, this monthly investment has been pandemic wise, that’s for sure.

This big 9 by 13 pan is supposed to be 12 servings, so I figure if my family went out to a diner for spanakopita, it might not be as fresh and good as this and also, we would pay close to $10 each with tax and tip, and that’s not counting extras, like beverages. Maybe it would come with a salad, though.

12 diner servings x $10=$120.

Thus, $44.53 for the whole heavy panful is a bargain.

I roasted cauliflower with walnut oil. So I plan to have one serving and round out my plate with vegs.

I plan to watch the 1966 movie "Georgy Girl," set in "Swinging London," which I have never seen.

Good night to you.








6 comments:

  1. Yum! Spanikopita with roasted cauliflower! I haven’t the patience for making it. I bet it tasted even better for all the anticipation.

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    1. Hi Nan. Something is amiss—don’t think I layered right! Hope all is good. Love Alice

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  2. Yay! I will accept those roses! I love that blog. In fact, I posted a recipe from it today! Alice, follow her on Instagram, too (if you aren't already). She has great stories, little cooking-in-action videos.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I really like her blog....! thanks, Kim. Her cookbook is also quite inviting.

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  3. Dan got his first vaccine? Wow great news!

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    Replies
    1. Haha, never mind the spanakopita! Yes, he did. I’m still waiting for a slot. xo

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