I thought it would be fun to invite some friends over and make up my own grazing table with some homemade baked goods. I’ve been going to many events lately and they all seem to have beautiful grazing tables. Some were savoury based, some with desserts and fruits and others an array of nearly everything you can think of.

My plan was to cook up a few things before hand, freeze them and just defrost them the day before ready to serve up on the day. There is nothing like cooking up a storm and serving it up to family and friends. The benefit of a grazing table is that you don’t have to stay in the kitchen throughout the party. Nearly everything can be pre prepped leaving minimal to do on the day. Then, an hour or so before the party starts, all you need to do is set up the grazing table. That way you can sit and enjoy the company at the party, while nibbling on the baked goods.

What to include on a grazing table?

The first thing I did was write a list of what I would of liked on the table. I wrote a huge list of some of the things that could be pre made and stored. Then, evaluated the list based on when you can make each item and how many people can actually come.

Here is a list of things you could add to your grazing table. Choose according to the look and feel you are going for, the type of crowd you are serving it up to (kids, adults or both?) and for how many people. I chose a few things from each section to have a good selection and to try and cater to as many dietary requirements and tastes as I could. These are just examples and many of the items I used for my grazing table.

Savoury and Breads:

• Koupes – Savoury meat rolls exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Eliopitas – Olive bread sticks exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Anari Tiropitas – Small ricotta pastries exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Tiropita pita – Cheese pie exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Tiropita – Cheese pastries exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Dolmades – Vine leaf wraps exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Marinated olives – try our Fennel and Orange Olives free on the blog or a Lemon and Rosemary flavour exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Crackers – try our Seeded Crackers exclusive to the Salad Collection
• Psomi – try making the everyday bread exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook. This recipe makes 3 loaves of bread so you can add some haloumi cheese, olives or sun-dried tomatoes to change each loaf. This will give different flavours and looks to the table also.

Dips:

• Cheese and Chive Dip free on the blog
• Hummus – exclusive to the Salad Collection
• Cheeseballs – try a Curry or Macadamia Flavour exclusive to the Christmas Collection
• Basil Pesto – exclusive to the Salad Collection
• Tzatziki – Greek Youghurt and Garlic Dip exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Taramasalata – Fish Roe Dip exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Skordalia – Potato and Garlic Dip exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook

Sweets:

• Halva – Greek Semolina Cake or the gluten and dairy free halva both recipes free on the blog
• Bougatsa – Custard Filo Rolls exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Chocolate Fudge Brownie exclusive to the Christmas Collection
• Cheesecake – try Dani Valent’s Basque Cheesecake or make small individual serves.
• Fudge – Salted Caramel Fudge, Chocolate Fudge, White Chocolate and Pistachio Fudge
• Rocky road exclusive to the Christmas Collection
• Peppermint Bark exclusive to the Christmas Collection
• Butter Biscuits exclusive to the Mezze Cookbook
• Roasted Macadamia
• Cupcakes

Fillers to fill gaps with:

• Fruit
• Sliced vegetable sticks: cucumber, carrots, celery
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cold Meats: Salami, prosciutto, ham
• Cheeses
• Dried fruit
• Nuts or seeds

One of the keys to a perfect grazing table is to stick to finger type foods. Choose food that can be put on a small plate instead of things needing knives, forks and a table that they need to sit down at. Also, be thoughtful not to have anything that might melt like frozen desserts.

Use this list as an inspiration and guide to making your own list. Once you decide what items you will have on your grazing table, you can plan out when you can pre make as many of the items on the list as possible. Try not have too many to make on the day so you can just focus on prepping the fruit and veggie sticks and setting up the table on the day.

I hope these tips help you create your very own homemade grazing table! I would love for you to share your creations in the FAYI Facebook Group. Your creation may be a table or just a grazing plate but I would love to see what recipes you have used to create them.

I think it’s time for you to get to know me a little better, learn a few things about my journey that you maybe didn’t know. So, where should I start…

On Thursday afternoon, as I walked down to my local farmers’ market to stock up for the week, all I could think was… THIS is where I should start! You see, I have a little obsession with markets. Not just farmers markets but any market. It helps me immerse into a place that I like to call my happy bubble. I love to find places, people and activities that help put me into this bubble as it really boosts my mental and physical wellbeing. 

Market Fun Before Kids

Before having our two children, I would take my husband to every market I could find or have time for. Cleveland markets, Mummy Tree Markets, The Jan Powers Farmers Market, Mt Gravatt Street Food, Eat Street Northshore, Brisbane Etsy, you name it. It wasn’t about going there to buy a hundred things but more to experience something unique and exciting. I enjoy walking through a market to see what people were proudly creating, growing or selling. It was a blissful hour strolling through, looking, smelling and always enjoying a meal. It was a guaranteed way to put a smile on our face.

I continued this love affair with our first born and even while I was pregnant with our second little one. I mean, I literally was walking a market while experiencing labour contractions that I thought were only Braxton Hicks. That was the one of the last markets I had really enjoyed for a while. I don’t really remember going to too many markets once we had our second child. As you can probably relate, life with two small ones doesn’t allow for much leisurely strolling.

Life With Two Small Children

Food shopping then became more about home deliveries. Tell me I’m not the only one that had to do this!? I definitely didn’t feel the same satisfaction with just a box delivered to my door. I felt no connection to where or who the ingredients had come from or if there was any love that went into their production. At the time, it was how I got through the days and managed to cook for my family.

Luckily, that didn’t last too long and now that the kids are a little older, I am ecstatic to be back enjoying the markets and even more excitingly, have THEM enjoy the markets with me. 

Teaching My Kids Young

I enjoy the time we spend as a family visiting markets on the weekend and choosing out fresh produce for the week. The kids eagerly nibble at what we have bought which I think allows them to learn and appreciate so much about the food they are eating. It’s definitely an experience that everyone should have. 

We use the opportunity to talk to our farmers, stall holders and produce makers. It gives us time to connect, learn of their practices and engage in their stories. I encourage you to get out there and talk to these amazing people and embrace their stories! Listen to their journeys and how they are bringing you the remarkable products they are selling to you.

What about you?

I would love to get to know more about you! Please comment and share where your happy bubble is? How do you complete your weekly shopping? Is it something you do grudgingly each week or something that takes you to your happy place?

In my next post, I will be introducing you to some of the amazing producers in my local market who have so kindly shared their stories with me.

Until then,

Chrystalla

So you’ve heard the news … and if you haven’t, then check out Sia’s goodbye video here. I can’t stop watching it, like it’s surreal or something. Still so heartbroken over the change but l respect the the decision that Sia’s had to make. I could see this weighing on her shoulders for so long now.

I know so many of you have been waiting for our upcoming Salad cookbook! However, with Sia leaving Fayi, so many things had to be put on hold, sorted out, understood and mostly, accepted… it’s been a huge transition. For now, I want to talk about what these changes really mean. 

What does this mean for FAYI?

At the moment I’m not going anywhere. I feel there is still so much I want to do and recipes I want to convert. It does however mean that things might be a little different, but I hope you’ll stick around. I definitely don’t have Sia’s amazing blogging skills but I promise to do my best! So please bare with me as I learn a few of the tricks of the trade and by that I mean convert my iPhone notes into an actual blog post haha! 

The blog may not be just Greek food converted as for me that is not authentic to myself or what I want for my brand. I really love converting these family traditions but then I actually enjoy converting it to a wholefood state so that my family can enjoy it also with their dietary requirements. This may be a little different for some of you but I think it’s important to stay true to what I love and will show through the recipes I share and blog about. 

Staying authentic really made me think about our current branding and the words “traditional recipes converted”. This has been a huge part of our branding and I thank each and every one of you that have supported it and that part of our story. But for me that’s not all I believe “FAYI” (which if you don’t know means food in Greek) is about.

For me food is life!! It enriches every part of my soul, makes my heart sing just to talk about it and my life is really consumed by good food. So I have thought long and hard about making a change to our brand with the already big change of Sia leaving and I felt it was needed to be true to me and what I want FAYI to be about because for me .. it starts with food.

Food is such a huge part of my life and that’s why I believe it’s the soul of life. If you don’t have good food then so many areas of your life will be affected. Didn’t eat a good dinner, maybe thats why you didn’t sleep well? Kids skipped breakfast, then they couldn’t concentrate at school today? 

It’s my honest belief that so much of our life starts with food and moving forward I want to show you what I mean by that. I want to fill your heart with good food! Through the stories, recipes and the ideas that I would like to share, I hope I can get you to love food as much as I do! I want you to feel some of the excitement I get when thinking, serving or making a meal so let’s enrich our life with good, healthy, nourishing, soul filling food! 

I’m really looking forward to sharing what I’ve been working on with you all soon. 

Until then,

Chrystalla