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Nowadays we plan what we cook, what sweets we will make, what drinks we will buy for the Christmas table. Luckily we have taken care of the decoration of the house by the beginning of December and that changes our mood. With one job and the other, time is running out and we are just starting to get anxious about whether we have done everything to get ready. We want our friends and relatives to come to our home to impress them, to thank them, to have a pleasant day.


Images from the past are deeply engrained within us and are never forgotten. We have Christmas memories of our childhood in the village near our own people who accompanied us until we opened our wings and made our own way in life.
They say that the memories of our childhood are the strongest. Days like these my grandfather slaughtered a well-nourished little pig along with my uncle George. My grandfather distributed it to the whole family. That was the custom then. They had to have home-grown meat from their garden. It’s a custom that my uncle still holds today.
However, today's Christmas moments are also of interest! We want these celebrations to have fun and to enjoy each other's presence. Our guests do better when they see us doing well. They feel uncomfortable when they see us exhausted, anxious and worried, and we need to eliminate it as quickly as possible in order to have a better mood. When we are in a good mood, what we cook and prepare will be more successful.
But to accomplish all that, one night while I was sitting on my couch, I took pencil and paper and started recording what I had in mind for these days. From the dishes I’d serve to the appetizers, the drinks, the treats, the ingredients I will need when I get down to the market and try to save time not forgetting something and having to go down to the market again.
For the meats I decided to make pork in the oven with lemon leaves. The pig is a Christmas meat. Not missing from the festive table these days along with the Christmas cake. In the same way I remember my grandmother making it for years in the wood oven and the neighborhood smelling like it was spring. This reminder of the smell of pork with lemon leaves woke me up and the result was amazing.
Happy Holidays, many years of health and love!

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Ingredients:
Pig with the skin on
Lemon leaves
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
Lemon juice

Method:
Wash the pork and wipe with absorbent paper to remove the liquids.
Wash several lemon leaves and let them dry on a towel.
With a sharp knife, ​​create small slits across the surface of the pig.
Salt the pig especially in the slits. Rub the meat with olive oil.
Push some slices of lemon leaf into the slits. Add a little fresh pepper and juice from a lemon on the pork.
On a baking tray or a casserole, lay lemon leaves on top of the pork. Cover with a lid or greaseproof paper and foil.
Bake in preheated oven at 190 degrees Celsius for 2 and a half hours. Take off the lid and continue baking for another hour.


Good luck!!!

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