Melina Kanakaredes' Very Easy Tiropita (greek Cheese Pies Recipe

When Melina Kanakaredes visits her family in Akron, Ohio, the first
stop on her list is her uncles’ candy store, Temo’s Candy. “I’m 25
years old, and I still run straight to the caramel table at the candy
store,” says the actress, who plays the newly engaged Eleni on CBS’s
GUIDING LIGHT. “Everyone in my family has the cavities to prove we
grew up working in a candy store.”

Kanakaredes may have grown up toiling at Temo’s Candy, but not always
with the sweet smell of success: “I failed peanut clusters 101, so my
uncles relegated me to the role of putting paper candy-cups on trays.
Still, I got to eat chocolates while I was doing it.”

And though Kanakaredes never mastered the art of concocting sweet
confections, the newly married actress IS fond of making ethnic
specialties with her husband, fellow Greek Peter Constantinedes.
Together, they make everything from spanakopita to moussaka and
tsatsiki.

Kanakaredes says her grandmother Areti is particularly proud of the
actress’s daytime profession. “She used to listen to GUIDING LIGHT
when it was on the radio in the late 1930s,” says Kanakaredes. “But
she laughs at my character, who is a Greek immigrant, and says, ‘Why
you talk broken English?’ I tell her ‘Grandma, you know that the way
YOU speak.’ Eleni’s been in America a while now, so thank goodness I
can lighten up her accent.”

Blend feta cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs together until creamy. Add
shrimp, then dill, salt, and pepper to taste. Brush each defrosted
won ton skin with beaten egg whites to keep from sticking. Spread 1
teaspoon of shrimp-and-cheese mixture ont each skin. Heat oil in
frying pan. Fold skins in half and fry for 5 minutes on each side, or
until golden. Serve as an appetizer.