The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church’s Greek Food Festival is selling all types of goodies

WILKES-BARRE — Hungry office workers get ready. The Greek Food Festival is about to serve up some tasty lunches and will get you back to the office before your break is over.

Twice a year, the roughly 100 parishioners at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church fire up the church’s kitchen equipment and begin baking and cooking Grecian goodies. The event, which is the church’s major fundraiser, began more than 20 years ago, said festival chairwoman Christine Stelmack, and although numbers have dropped in the way of man, and woman power, the group still rallies to make hundreds of pounds of both savory and sweet food items.

“A lot of older church members do all the cooking,” Stelmack said. “The rest of us will come in and help once all the main cooking is done. It’s a lot of work, but we’re hanging on, we’re definitely a tough group.”

They’re tough enough to bake nearly 1,000 pieces of Galaktoboureko, a traditional pastry made up of layers of phyllo dough filled with custard and covered with a sweet syrup.

Festival volunteer Dina Banas said the hard-to-pronounce dessert is one of the fastest sellers at the festival. Another sweet item that sells out quickly is the Melomakarona, a spiced cookie with walnuts.

“My mother makes the best in the world,” Banas said.

Harriet Koukoltsios, Banas’ mother, had a hand in helping prepare the food, so chances that festival goers might get to try some of the cookies that are dubbed “the best in the world” are pretty good.

Moving on to savory, there’s plenty to fill up on for those on lunch breaks or taking home a different kind of homemade dinner. There are common favorites such as Greek salads, Spanakopita, Gyros and Souvlaki.

“It’s really our mothers, the older parts of the congregation that do the most part of the cooking,” Banas said. “As far as the preparation goes, we help. We all help roll the grape leaves.”

And help they must, as nearly 3,000 stuffed grape leaves, or Dolmadakia, are prepared.

“They prepare about 160 pounds of ground beef for the grape leaves,” Banas said.

Preparing for the Greek Food Festival is no easy feat. Banas said it takes months and lots of freezer space. Everything that can be made ahead of time is and then frozen. It’s prepared shortly before the festival and once it’s sold out, that’s it.

“We do run out of food,” Banas said. “It’s time consuming to prepare, so we can’t run back to the kitchen to make more.”

The festival is held from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 to 9 at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 32 East Ross Street. If you don’t have time to make it over to the church, orders of $30 or more will be delivered within a 2 to 3 mile radius.

Preorders can be made by calling 570-823-4805 during festival hours or by visiting the festival’s website.

Galaktoboureko is a traditional Greek pastry made up of layers of phyllo dough filled with custard and covered with a sweet syrup. More than 1,000 pieces were prepared for the twice-annual Greek Food Festival which begins Oct. 7 and runs through Oct. 9.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_custard2.jpgGalaktoboureko is a traditional Greek pastry made up of layers of phyllo dough filled with custard and covered with a sweet syrup. More than 1,000 pieces were prepared for the twice-annual Greek Food Festival which begins Oct. 7 and runs through Oct. 9.

Volunteers and parishioners at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church prepare Galaktoboureko, a traditional pastry made up of layers of phyllo dough filled with custard and covered with a sweet syrup.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_volunteers2.jpgVolunteers and parishioners at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church prepare Galaktoboureko, a traditional pastry made up of layers of phyllo dough filled with custard and covered with a sweet syrup.

Galaktoboureko is a traditional Greek pastry made up of layers of phyllo dough filled with custard and covered with a sweet syrup. More than 1,000 pieces were prepared for the twice-annual Greek Food Festival which begins Oct. 7 and runs through Oct. 9. Volunteers serve diners during the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church’s Greek Food Festival last year. This year’s event takes place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 to 9.

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_greek_food2_faa2.jpgGalaktoboureko is a traditional Greek pastry made up of layers of phyllo dough filled with custard and covered with a sweet syrup. More than 1,000 pieces were prepared for the twice-annual Greek Food Festival which begins Oct. 7 and runs through Oct. 9. Volunteers serve diners during the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church’s Greek Food Festival last year. This year’s event takes place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 to 9. Fred Adams | for Times Leader