Faux Baklava aka Honey Pie

I went to a local Greek Festival a few weeks ago and since then I've had baklava on my mind.  Then my latest issues of Taste Of Home came in the mail with a picture of what appeared to be a baklava pie on the cover.  I knew I had to make this.  It was actually a Greek Honey Pie but it seems pretty baklava-ish to me and I'm assuming much easier.

So I made it.  I halved the recipe though so it was a mini Greek Honey Pie...

Mini Greek Honey Pie (based on Taste of Home's Recipe)-Makes 4 servings

1.5 cups of walnut pieces
1/8 cup brown sugar
a couple sprinkles of cinnamon
1/2 package of phyllo dough (from freezer section) thawed
3/4 of a stick of butter (I cut this down some from the original recipe)

Syrup-
a little more than 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract


I used a mini deep dish pizza pan to make this.  You  need something that's about half the size of a regular pie pan (like a small casserole dish).

-mix walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside
-brush pan with some melted butter
-layer 8 1/2 sheets (I cut the sheets in half since I was using a smaller dish) of phyllo dough (slightly larger than the pan so it hangs over the sides) and brush each one with butter
-then add 1/3 of the nut mixture
-then four more sheets of butter/phyllo dough
-then 1/3 of nuts
-4 sheets butter/phyllo
-the rest of the nuts
-8 sheets butter/phyllo
-then fold the hanging edges of phyllo into the center of the pan and put one last layer of butter
-cook at 350 for about 35-40 minutes
-to make syrup, mix the remaining ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until it boils, then let it simmer for 10 minutes
-pour the syrup over the warm pie and serve

This was delightful, although probably not the healthiest thing ever.

Do you have a Greek Festival in your city?
What's your favorite Greek food item?

Half-Full Friday-9/16/11

I've been taking a non-paid blog vacation.
I've actually been working on some crafts but they are for a party I'm throwing for someone later so I can't share them yet.

Half Full Sitches-
I was insanely tired on Wednesday but that was because I stayed up past midnight watching the new SMG (Sarah Michelle Gellar, duh) show, Ringer.  This is positive because....1-New TV is starting up again.  2-SMG is back on TV (your guys watched Buffy, right????).  I was a little iffy on the pilot (and also the giant SMG art in the apartment) but I'm pretty sure I will eventually love it and get to discuss it with Shanzie every week.

I had to drive/walk all over main campus (my building is off campus) on Wednesday (my super sleepy day) to get payroll submitted for a new student employee.  But.....1-I did get it, so her payments won't be delayed (although she will never know about all my hard behind the scenes work and that she almost didn't get paid) and 2-once I came back from campus the whole morning was gone and it was time for my lunch break (time passing fast at work=Win).  So, win, win.

I bought some airplane pants (aka slightly fashionable sweatpants that can be worn on an overnight plane flight).

One of my friends had a new niece born this week while another friend has a new nephew 2 days later. They will probably get married in 28 years.

I learned how to make a really easy frozen key lime pie.

I'm addicted to Zappos.

It's semi cold today (50s).  I heart Fall!

Half Day Friday!!

What's making your Friday, half full?
Did you watch Ringer?

TV Talk Tuesday-One Tree Hill Set Tour

My mom and I hung out with these people this weekend.

OK well I didn't actually see any of those people but I did go on the One Tree Hill set tour in Wilmington, NC where One Tree Hill (and previously Dawson's Creek) is filmed (at Screen Gems Studios).  I even conned my mom into going with me so I didn't have to go alone. 

They threatened to escort us off the property if we took pictures so I don't have any pictures of the sets but it was pretty interesting.  I saw Nathan and Haley's house, Brooke's Beach house and Red Bedroom Records. 

Fun Facts...

1-The brick isn't real.  Although Red Bedroom Records looks like it has brick walls, when you touch the walls you realize they are hollow.  It's wood or plastic that has been painted.  Same for the granite counter top in Haley's kitchen.  It's actually just painted wood.  I think the set designers do a really good job of making it look real on tv.

2-Lots of other stuff is fake.  The sinks don't have running water.  If they need water or electricity for any of the kitchen items, they have to run in a hose or bring in an extension cord. 

3-There's no real food in the fridge.  They showed us Brooke's fridge which has no power.  Most of the stuff is just empty boxes or Tupperware that has been painted to make it look like there is food in it.  Sometimes they move things around to make it look like people have actually been eating food from the fridge. 

4-The pool from Nathan and Haley's house is inside.  It's a real pool but they actually have it on a set beside the house.  They definitely had me convinced that the pool was outside on the show.

5-The stairs lead to nowhere.  All the sets are on one story so if you see someone go up stairs, they are not really going anywhere.  It just ends.  They put tops of trees outside of windows to make it look like they are on a higher level.

6-They have a side parking lot with cars used in the show.  A few years back when I drove by I saw Peyton's old car.  I guess they don't need that anymore.  But I'm pretty sure these are the cars from the hit and run last year.  Yeah, look familiar?

Ok, so those might only be fun facts if you've actually seen the show.  Overall things were a lot less fancy and high tech than I would expect them to be on a TV set.  They do a good job of making fake things look real on the show.  So now I have fulfilled my lifelong dream of touring a tv set so I can move on.  (But if anyone wants to get me on the set of PRec or The Office, I will still accept the invite.)



parking lot outside the studio

Have you ever been on the One Tree Hill set tour or on any other TV show set?
Are you going to watch the final season of One Tree Hill this year?