Go Texan..... Go Greek!

Today is the day when everyone here is supposed to "dress Texan." That can mean anything as simple as a red bandana around your neck, or an outfit complete with boots, hat, denim, fringe and lots of silver and turquoise. I don't know if they "go Texan" up in Dallas, but they sure do take it seriously around Houston.

I've got jeans, and western boots, and even a denim blouse that is covered with silver and faux-turquoise and fringe (a tag-sale find, for just a few dollars). I don't know how this tradition started, but I know it has something to do with the rodeo being in town. Which of course gives me another party idea--- dress Texas, bring something Texan. (But not this month... or the next.... we've got enough dinner parties between now and the end of April.)


I was watching the Food Channel yesterday and I happened to catch one of the chefs making Greek spinach pie. Not in a baking pan, though--- he was wrapping them up into little triangles, sort of like the way you fold a flag. Well, looked easy enough to me, and I decided to try it, even though we went out for Greek food the day before. I watched him fold those little triangles, and I thought I had it down pat.

My spinach-pie recipe made 26 triangles. Or I should say that I had about three triangles... and twenty-three little bundles of interesting shapes. With each one, I started folding the fillo into a triangle-shape, but then had to go with the flow of the dough as it cracked here and there. I showed the baking pan to my husband and told him to keep an open mind. "Somewhere, in this whole wide world, there must be a country that folds their flags like this." That was my theory. My other theory is that next time I make these, I need to defrost the fillo in the fridge the night before I try making the triangles.

The little individual spanikopitas were delicious, regardless of their shapes, and I plan to make those for the St. Patty's Day lunch instead of making a whole one-pan spinach pie. Maybe by that time, I'll have more practice in folding flags.

Today may be Go Texan day, but yesterday was Go Greek. Opa!!