MY GRANNY’S PORTRAIT

This book was created by junior high school students who participated in the e-twinning project “My granny’s recipes”.

@ Ionidios Model Junior-High School, Greece, 2014-2015

My granny’s name is Iphigenia. According to mythology, Iphigenia was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

My Granny was born in Ipeiros and is 75 years old. She is married to my grandpa, Charalambos and has two children, Fotis, my father and Pantelis, my uncle. Her favorite color is green and so she uses many herbs to cook. She is in love with  rosemary. She thinks that it gives food a mysterious smell, making you close your eyes and dream… Sometimes she uses basil, too, as she says, basil is the king of the herbs! It must be used in every recipe to make it special!

During her free time she likes writing and reading. She loves poetry and classic literature. Some years ago, she cooked for homeless people. However, as she says, she loves cooking, traditional dishes because they remind her of her family and friends at her village, where she first learnt how to cook. Her favorite dishes are pies and especially, “patsaria”, a special mixture of flour and spinach. It is not a pie, since it doesn’t consist of different layers. And that’s what it makes it special. Her granny was a great cook. She used to cook during the war for the whole village. She always offered food to people, homemade candies to kids and drinks of her own to older people. My granny says that it was her own granny who taught her the art of cooking.

by Irene Tzerbou

My granny’s name is Ourania and she is 76 years old. She lives in Lefkada and has five children, ten grandchildren and one great grandchild. Ourania first learnt how to cook when she was 11 years old and  first baked cookies at the age of 20. When I asked her if she has ever burnt the food, she answered: ” I’ve had five children, my husband, my parents and my parents-in-law to feed, so burning the food was the last thing I wished!”. My granny’s favourite dish is a pie called “Ladopita” (oil pie), which I have promised her to bake together soon!

By one of the grandchildren,

Georgianna Kokota

My granny’s name is Phoospa, which means flower in Hindi. She is from India and she is seventy-five years old. My granny has nine grandkids and one great-grandkid. I don’t know which is her favourite colour, but I could say that white is her best. She started cooking from a very young age because girls in India used to help their mothers in home chores such as cooking and cleaning. I love her so much because she is funny, sweet and kind. And one day, I would like to cook with her…

by Emanouela Verma

My granny is called Giannoula, which comes from Ioanna and she is seventy-seven years old. She lives in Trifos, Aitoloakarnania, where she was born. She started cooking at the age of twenty-three, when she had her own family, and she loves it when it is for her ten grandchildren. We really enjoy the food she cooks, especially the traditional greek recipes. I ‘d love to manage to cook as well as she does one day!

by Eftychia Vassiliou

My granny’s name is Anna. She is 64 years old and has 5 grandchildren. Her favorite color is red and she is definitely a summer person. Her favorite book is “Matomena Xomata” (“Bloody Earth”, 1962) by Dido Sotiriou. Listening to traditional Greek music is one of her joys. She started cooking at the age of 13 along with her mother. The other day, when I asked her about her favourite herb, I found out, that if she were a herb, she would be vasilicos-basil! Finally, spinach pie is on top of her favorite dishes, a memory which really goes back when she was young!

by John Misokalos

My Granny’s name is Chrysoula. She is 67 years old and has 7 grandchildren, including myself. Her favorite color is yellow and she really likes sunny, summery weather. She enjoys reading mystery novels and listening to traditional music from her village in Crete. She started cooking at the age of 12 with her mum and her granny. She likes using a lot of rosemary in her dishes and, if she were a herb, she would definitely be this one! Finally, she told me that, since her childhood, her favorite dish  has beenspaghetti with meatballs and red sauce!

by Chrysa Pratikaki

My grandmother is called Despoina Papadopoulou. She’s 75 years old and is from Ponto-Macedonia. She has two kids- daughter and son-and two grandchildren, actually, two girls. She loves listening to Greek music. In addition, her favourite colour is blue.

Cooking, is her great love! She first started cooking at 14 years old. My granny’s favourite recipe is spinach pie and mousakas. Her special Christmas dish is chicken with potatoes. Despoina is fond oflemon homemade spoon dessert.

by Ioanna Athanasiadou

Hello my friends!

My Granny’s name is Katherine Vagia and she is 75 years old. She has only one grandkid! Her favorite colour is black and feels beautiful when the weather is sunny! Her favorite book is “Little Ladies” by Alcott, Louisa – May and she likes listening to classical music. She started cooking when she was 15 years old. If she were a herb, she would chose to be lavender. Her favorite dish is rice with shellfish which she cooked when it was my 12th birthday!!!

by Konstantinos Vagias

My granny’s name is Kyriaki (it means ‘Sunday’ in Greek) Kountouri. Koula is her nick name. She is from Neapoli, Lakonia in Peloponese (southern Greece). Granny is 75 years old and has 2 grandkids- myself and my sister- and 7 siblings. Her favorite color is black. She started cooking when she was 10 years old. If she were a herb, she would be oregano. Her favorite dish is spinach pie.

by Constantinos Georgantzis

Hello there!

My Granny’s name is Katherine Anagnostou and comes from Mytilini island.  She is 64 years old and has four grandkids. Her favorite colour is blue. My granny is fond of fish soup. The other day, I found out that she started cooking when she was 20 years old. Three years later, she baked her first cookies. It was her mother who taught her how to cook. My grandma is the best grandma ever!

by Nikolas Dasios

My granny’s name is Lemonia and  she is seventy eight years old. She was born in Lamia. He is a Leot and has two sons and two granddaughters. Her favourite food is tomatoes filled with rice. In my opinion, her most successful one is spaghetti with her special sauce (secret recipe)!

by Evi Margaroni

My grandmother‘s name is Chrysoula and she is 67 years old. She has four grandchildren. Her favourite colours are blue and white. She started cooking at the age of 10 with her four brothers. In her free time, she listens to music, watches TV and plays with her grandchildren. We have a lot of fun together and I really love her very much. She is the best grandmother I could have.

by Maria Xagorari

My granny’s name is Ioanna and she is 74 years old. She has four siblings. Her favourite colours are pink and yellow. She can speak Greek and Italian. In her free time, she decorates the house and reads books. Her favourite book is “Magas” written by Penelope Delta. She truly loves dogs and cats. She first started cooking as a hobby when she was 17 years old, because she liked to make dinner for her family. Her favourite dish ismacaroni pie and grilled fish. I think that her best food is fish soup. I really want to learn the secret ingredient of her fish soup. When she became 25, she made her hobby a profession. So, she first worked as a chef in a tavern and, then, she opened her own restaurant which was open until 2002. I love my grandma very much and we have a lot of fun together.

by Alexia Papa

My granny is named Paraskevi. She is 68 years old. She has two grandkids, me and my cousin. Her favourite colour is light blue and her favourite weather is sunlight because she can feed the animals, take the goats out on the mountain, clean up the yard and take care of the garden. Her favourite book is the Psalms, because she likes Byzantine music and she is very religious. She started cooking when she was very young, namely about 16 or 17 years old, because her mother was sick and had to cook for her family. She learnt cooking exceptionally well while she was studying at a Home Economics School. If she were a spice, she would be salt, because she makes our lives “tastier”. She loves eating rice with fresh tomato sauce and capers because it reminds her of the nights she used to spend in her village, in Chios, (a Greek island) eating this remarkable dish.

by Alexander Sakellaridis

My granny’s name is Despina. She’s 75 years old and she has 4 siblings. Her favorite colors are white and lilac. She really likes the book ‘Love in the time of Cholera’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My granny started cooking when she was 10 years old, because she loved cooking for her friends. Her best food now is spinach pie. I really enjoy it. I’d like to learn how to prepare spinach pie like her! She only speaks Greek, but she can understand English. She loves listening to music and she also likes going to the theatre because she used to be an actress. Her favorite animal is the tiger. Her first job was in a pastry shop. We have a lot of fun together and she is the best!

by Ioli Steker

NAME: GEORGIA GOURVELOU

AGE: 79

GRANDKIDS: 9 (1 MORE TO COME)

SHE COMES FROM NAFPLIO. SHE STARTED COOKING AT THE AGE OF 15, TAUGHT BY HER MOTHER. HER FAVOURITE DISH IS FRIED CHICKEN WITH POTATOES AND SHE COOKS IT  WONDERFULLY.  YUMMY, YUMMY……

by Kostas

My grandmother’s name is Helen. She is 66 years old and loves cooking. She started cooking when she was eighteen years old. She is a housewife.  My granny likes reading religious books  and enjoys going to church. Her favorite food is lemon beef but she is very good at cooking wedding pilaf. Her favorite color is light blue. I like visiting her and spend time with her.

She is the best grandma ever!!

by Iraklis (Herculis) Tsavaris

My granny’s name is Maria. She was born in Tinos island in Cyclades and is 65 years old. Giagia (the greek word for granny) Maria has got 4 siblings. Her favourite food is fish. Her favourite colours are red and blue! She started cooking when she was 19 years old. She love listening to traditional music. Her favourite animal is the cat! She loves cats! When she was a child she had got 4 cats! I love her so much!

by Aggelina Nafplioti

Hello! I’d like to introduce to you my 67 year old grandmother! Her name is Meropi and she is a beautiful granny. Her favourite colour is violet purple. Her favourite book is «The Island’» by Victoria Hislop. She started cooking at the age of 9 because, at that time, it was important for girls to help their parents. She is always happy and has a sense of humour. She speaks Brazilian, Portuguese, a bit Turkish and GREEK. She is also good at cooking. Her best dish is fasolorizo (mine too!!!). Fasolorizo is a Brazilian food which is cooked by beans and rice and it’s accompanied with a red sauce!!!

by Vassiliki Panayotarakou

Hi everyone!

I would like to intrduce you my grandma Eftihia. She is 70 and  is an adorable person with an amazing personality. Although she is not highly educated, she is very hard working. In the past, she used to be a seamstress so she has made many cute dresses for me. Unfortunately, she lives far away from us, but each time I visit her with my parents I look forward to eating the food she has  prepared. She is very interested in both cooking and making sweets.

Her best dish is Mousakas a Greek traditional food which combines potato, minced meat and eggplant.

by Matina Tabakea

My granny’s name is Georgia and she is 70 years old. She has two grandchildren and takes care of them all the time. My grandma started cooking when she was eight as her mother was working as a seamstress and her father was a sailor and so she had to support her little brother and sister. She fell in love with cooking at once!!! Her best dish now is lentils with fish. It’s really delicious… She speaks Greek but she can also understand English.  In her free time, she enjoys walking around her neighborhood, especially when the weather is fine. Taking into consideration that she always eats healthy stuff, she mostly likes using vegetables in her dishes.  My grandmother is a kind and hardworking person…

by Georgina Saiti

My granny’s name is Vasiliki. She’s 73 years old and she is from Katouna, Aetoloakarnania, Greece. She cooks amazing traditional dishes. Her favourite book is Magas by Penelopi Delta.I love her so much because she is a wonderful person!

by Vasiliki Ximiali

THANK YOU FOR READING!