Sassy in the South: Greek Food, Pumpkin Patches, and Alabama football

Friday evening John and I went downtown for the 41st annual Greek Festival at Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral. It always brings a ton of people. So, we knew in advance that we would be standing in line for a good hour. We didn't mind the wait though because it gave us time to talk and catch up with one another.

Once inside we chose two menu items to split between ourselves. I chose the Pasticho (layers of macaroni, ground beef in Greek tomato sauce, topped with a layer of creamy bechamel sauce) while John opted for the Souvlakia (marinated lamb skewered and grilled on an open fire). For dessert we couldn't say no to hot loukamathes (Greek fried doughnuts, dipped in warm honey and sprinkled with cinnamon) paired with Turkish coffee (roasted and finely ground coffee beans boiled in a pot with sugar and served in a cup where the grounds are allowed to settle). The food was filling, warm, and perfectly flavored and seasoned. Afterwards, we walked around the festival area and listened to live music, watched Greek folk dancing, and browsed Greek foods for sale.

Since it was still fairly early in the evening, yet late enough to where the only places open served food and/or drink (and goodness knows we didn't need any of either after the Greek Festival), we decided to drive to the top of Red Mountain. The gate to Vulcan Trail just happened to be open, even though it was clearly after hours. So, we took a stroll on the part of the trail that runs adjacent to the road and took in some amazing views of Vulcan and the city.

Saturday we woke up bright and early to get pampered at the hair salon and go to Pepper Place Saturday Market. It was by far one of my favorite markets of the year because it was full of pumpkins, colorful squash, gourds, apples, honey, and homemade butters and jams. You could feel, smell, see and hear fall everywhere. We ran across a beautiful table full of flowers and I couldn't resist grabbing a bouquet to take home.

That afternoon we headed to Blount County, the county in which I was born and raised, to go to the Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden. I hadn't been in years, and John had never been- so, since October is just around the corner, we decided to get a jump start and pick out the perfect pumpkins for our home. The weather was perfect and the pumpkin patch itself was picture perfect. After riding out to the patch on a wagon full of hay pulled by a tractor, we went to work finding our pumpkins. It was so much fun and such a wonderful fall day date.

That evening our friends Lauren and Lee came over to watch the Alabama-Ole Miss game. We made homemade pizzas, garlic cheese bread, and salad. Lauren made pepperoni, pineapple and mozarella pizza with red sauce and I made chicken sausage, feta, and herb with a pesto-olive oil sauce. It was quick, easy, and fun to assemble. After the game I made homemade ice cream sandwiches- ginger spice cookies with clove, cinnamon, and molasses filled with maple-walnut ice cream. I had originally intended on making Martha Stewart's pumpkin-gingerbread ice cream sandwiches, but the store was fresh out of pumpkin ice cream. So, I opted for the ginger spice and maple-walnut flavor combination instead and it paired beautifully.

Alabama won. So, needless to say, it was a great game! Afterwards, we went to a secret place which John and I stumbled on a while back, to show Lauren and Lee one of the best views of the city. It was picturesque and the crisp fall air made it that much better.