Church hosts one big fat Greek fest

(Greek salad and spanakopita made a great lunch)

Craving spanakopita?
Got a hankering for baklava?
Dreaming of a gyro?

Then head over to the Kimisis Greek Orthodox Church's festival this weekend for some really good ethnic fare.

I was dreaming about spanakopita this afternoon at work when the phone rang and it was fellow blogger/photographer Carolyn (Mommy Memoirs) calling to see if I wanted to meet up with her for lunch at the Greek Festival in Poughkeepsie.

Can you say, "Opa!"? (Thanks to D for correcting me on the "Oompah" bit, which would have been more fitting had it been an Oktoberfest instead of Greek fest - duh!)

The Greek Festival is a great opportunity to sample ethnic food and help support a community resource. The festival usually coincides with the Festa Italiana in Poughkeepsie, but this year, the Greek fest came a week later, which is probably a good thing, to spread out your choices of fabulous food and fun.

The Greek Festival continues today (Friday) from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the church grounds at 140 S. Grand Ave. in Poughkeepsie; Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.

The fest features main meals and pastries, rides and games, folk dancing and entertainment. And I'm told the beer truck comes out at night, which is probably when all the dancing gets under way!

Things were just getting started when I went for lunch.

Here's what I found Thursday afternoon:

Carolyn and a colleague of hers were munching on gyros under the food tent when I got there.

I made a beeline for the spanakopita and was greeted with a big smile, and a big piece, from Corina Navarra. It was only around 1 p.m. and she said she had already gone through about three trays of the spinach pie. There was also mousaka and pastichio.

A couple tables down were Cleo Titteris, left, and Heidi Souleotis, who were manning the desserts. Cleo is holding a container with Finikia, a type of walnut cookie, on the bottom, and Kourambiedes, an almond shortbread cookie dusted with powdered sugar, on top of that. Heidi had the Baklava, which is a phyllo pastry made with nuts and honey. They seemed to be all smiles serving up such sweet treats, all of which were homemade by members of the church!

I had to get a good sampling of desserts to bring back to share with my co-workers, who just love a little something sweet to get through the day.

Of course, no Greek fest is complete without some Loukoumades, fried yeasted dough balls topped with honey and powdered sugar — Yum! They reminded me of the zeppole at the Italian fest, but the honey syrup added a sweeter flavor. That's church member Anna Spyrou serving them up; she said she's been helping out at the festival for years and years.

I set up a dessert nook on one of the desks at work for everyone to get a taste of these sweet treats.

I brought back a gyro (make sure you say it with a soft "g" when you order it!) for my colleague John. Kostas Kaselis (doesn't he remind you of handsome Anthony Quinn from "Zorba the Greek"?) was only too happy to serve one up for me. That's Barbara Diaz behind the counter. Everyone was really friendly dishing out the food. There were hardly any lines at lunch, but I'm told it's another story at night, so get there early if you don't want to wait too long.

After I loaded up on food, I went over to the big tent where they were selling Greek Orthodox icons and other items from the church bookstore.

I just loved this blanket that says, "I love you Yia Yia," which is Greek for Grandma. A nice lady working the table had to translate for me. I thought it had something to do with getting your Ya Ya's out, but she corrected me on that one. The sign in front of it is Greek for "cafe." That would look really cool hanging in Grandma's kitchen!

I just had to buy a pretty beaded bracelet from Cally Meintanas after she told me her beautiful daughter, Dimita, who recently graduated from Iona College, had designed and made all the jewelry. That's proud Mom holding up her daughter's promo picture.

There was a colorful assortment of necklaces and bracelets by Dimitra Jewelry. She's really talented.

Greek seeds and other sundries were also for sale. I'm not sure what type of seeds these are, although they resemble pumpkin seeds.

Bottles of Greek wine were for sale along with Retsina, which is some type of ancient white wine made from pine resin. I would have liked to have tried some of that, or the ouzo, an anise-flavored liqueur, but I had to get back to work.

Seeing as the festival continues this weekend, I might have to go back for dinner, when an after-dinner liqueur and a cup of strong coffee would top things off quite nicely!