Sweetness

I told myself we'd do many more feast day celebrations this year and had every intention of starting with the Feast of the Assumption...back on August 15th. My Marian Devotions in the Domestic Church suggested a Greek meal for this feast, because apparently it's a very important holiday in Greece. I wasn't quite ready to tackle it on the 15th, but last Thursday I decided to take the plunge. (Thursdays will be our liturgical celebration or baking or art day, depending on how ambitious I'm feeling and where we are in the liturgical year.)

So Second Son and I made baklava, by which I mean, of course, I tried to chop nuts and assemble this decadent dessert while bouncing him in the carrier. He pretty much cried until he fell asleep, probably because he's not old enough to eat it himself.

The cracked top at all the cuts is what happens when you're rushing to put it in the oven while Second Son has been dumped in the swing (because the oven is one thing I won't use with a carrier) and forget to cut it halfway down before putting it in. Trust me, it still tasted amazing. I've never had real baklava so I can't compare it to anything else, but it was good and incredibly sweet. In fact, I might decrease the honey next time. Kansas Dad seems to think we should make it an annual tradition.

It is, by the way, a very easy dessert, if you're looking for something to impress. The phyllo dough is the trickiest part, but you can by the sheets already cut to fit a 9 x 13 pan so you don't have to cut or shape at all, just lay it down and spread some melted butter. Repeat with layers of chopped nuts and cinnamon every so often. There's also a syrup to pour on top after it's baked, but that only takes a few minutes on the stove.

We sent most of it to the office with Kansas Dad so we wouldn't eat it all ourselves.