Cheese Stuffed Tomatos

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350F. Grease shallow baking dish. Cut off top 1/4–inch from each tomato and set tops aside. Scoop out pulp from tomatoes. Drain excess liquid from pulp and set aside. Heat butter in skillet. Add onion and celery and cook over medium heat until tender.

2. 2

   In mixing bowl combine onion and celery with rice, cheese, tomato pulp, mushrooms, salt, marjoram and pepper. Spoon mixture into tomato shells. Replace tops. Place in baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

3. 3

   It’s All Greek To Me One of our favorite quotes from the movie Zorba the Greek goes, “What I eat I turn into work and good humor.” Whether it’s in song, dance or food, Greeks love to share the joyful spirit. This would be called a joie de vivre but of course that’s an entirely different language, so instead. that phrase having already been taken, it’s called philoxenia. came by to stay with us. George Spirodopolous brought Christina, his wife, and little Georgio (who was at this time, five years older, a foot and a half taller and more worried about girls since we had last seen him!) It wasn’t long before they had commandeered the Inn kitchen, and several volunteers, to prepare some Greek specialties for our lucky guests. The emphasis of Greek food is simple preparation and wholesome ingredients since Archestratus wrote the very first cookbook over 2000 years ago. Unfortunately, it was not a best seller. Since every recipe had to be chiselled on pieces of slate, (“carved in stone” we refer to it today), the book not only took many decades to complete but weighed more than the average Greek cupboard could hold. Can you imagine checking it out of the Romus Librarius? “Two days overdue, eh, Spiros? Get your hernia fixed—you have a date with the lions!”) Two things we discovered about Greek food from George and his family. First, much of the food is prepared with olive oil, which in today’s health conscious eating is very good because it holds cholesterol levels down. Second, the food keeps extremely well, not only providing great leftovers but often tasting better the second time around. Legend has it that Greek food is so aromatically delicious that one can swoon in ecstasy. Me, I thought it was the amount of garlic in many dishes! So, George, Christina, and little Georgio wish you bon appetit...no,no, there we go again...they wish you Kali Orexi!

4. 4

   Appetizers (mezethes) are meant to be sampled sparingly, with ouzo as an accompaniment. Michael and I, in the early days of our marriage, used to go to our favorite Greek restaurant and eat a whole meal just from the appetizer list!