Domestic life: adventures in a Greek kitchen

Came home from work on Wednesday to find this:

(there used to be a faucet there...)

But generally, I have a lovely (half-underground) home:

The front gate to the little cottage "in the woods"

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This weekend I stayed in Athens--a much needed break from work, and a chance to:

Go to a lovely laiki (farmer's market):

 Gorgeous produce, and astoundingly cheap!

Where I was able to buy all of the ingredients for:

A tasty and refreshing orange, fennel, red onion, and mint salad

And since I had the time, I also embarked on a culinary adventure: bacon and leek risotto. The challenge was threefold:

1) Greece does not have chicken broth, so I was left with only this:

2) I had to trust in the 2 euro bottle of Greek white wine whose label I could not read:

And 3) Greece does not really have what we Americans would call bacon

Things did not start off promisingly when I dumped the "bacon" into my (regrettably not nonstick) pan, and it immediately proceeded to form a thin crispy coating of bacon glued to the bottom of the pan, while the rest of it refused to cook. But after pulling out the uncooked bacon and instead nuking it in a microwave for at least five minutes (until the sound of crackling grease became too disconcerting) and hacking away at the adhered bacon on the bottom of the pan (which resulted in some very tasty bacon dust), things turned out quite successfully.

And also became an even more indulgent leftovers meal when I fried up the remaining risotto to crisp it up (and topped it with a pouched egg)--a perfect ending to a 12-hour day of work!