Church cooks up a feast for a Taste of Greece

Trays of spanakopita, gyros, roast lamb, avgolemono soup and desserts lined the church hall as members of the church served food to those looking for an authentic Greek meal.

For three months members of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church prepared tray after tray of authentic Greek food in preparation of their bi-annual Taste of Greece festival, held on Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15.

ConnieLee Bebis, one of the event organizers, estimated they prepared 30 pans of spanakopita, 30 pans of baklava, 18 batches of one type of cookie and 16 of another.

“It’s just hours and hours and hours of happy hands,” Bebis said.

The women began baking every other week in September and October then in November they started baking weekly and then twice a week.

Kathy Gillet, one of the main cooks, said the whole process takes three months because they have to “bake everything, prepare everything, really only two, three weeks ahead of time.”

“We can make 10 pans of baklava at one time, and we make 30 and then we make the spanakopita, so that is even more time consuming,” Bebis said.

Every year the menu changes, with the introduction of Mediterranean bowls, avgolemono soup, and “take and bake” this year.

“We’ll stick with the couple of the solid items and then we change it over and add some different flavors,” Bebis said.

Preparing for the event and hosting it is a community effort, according to Bebis. 

“Everyone from our community, inside the community, our parish community, they help,” she said.

This included cooking the food, serving the food, grilling the meat, checking people out and running a raffle table.

“Whoever sits in the church is here at different times during it,” Bebis said. “That’s what it’s all about. It won’t work without the village here.”

Gilet noted that the event wouldn’t be possible without the support of the local community, who come out each year for the event.

“They come out, they support us,” Bebis said. “Every time we have an event, they see the flags go up, they’re like, ‘Okay, let’s go,’ and that’s nice. I love that.”

While funds from the event will go toward running the church and its missions, this isn’t the only reason why the church hosts the biannual event.

For Bebis, it’s also a chance to let the community know that they’re here.

“We are Orthodox Christians, and you want the people to see our church, to see what we’re all about, to become visible,” she said.

And the community turns out, packing the hall and filing through the service line non-stop throughout the day.

“It’s very heartwarming,” Bebis said. “We’re extremely grateful for [the community’s] support.”