Deep Rooted

Food. Fun. Family. Friends. Music. Dancing. Good times. A day in the life of a Greek for the most part. I LOVE my roots. I LOVE my heritage. Can you tell by my OP logo, the GOLD Greek Key? 🙂 And it’s this time of year that I get the warm fuzzies about my culture and heritage. Why?

It’s the annual Greek Festival in my hometown of Oklahoma City, where every fall, our St. George Greek Orthodox Church hosts a weekend of Greek heritage and culture to share with the world. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! …. takes me back to all the summers growing up as a girl going back to the motherland, seeing my Yia Yia and PaPou, going to the Acropolis, all the WONDERFUL foods…. I’m SO proud to be Greek, and I love that my daughter says to me, “Mom, I LOVE being Greek! I can’t imagine life NOT being Greek…. I think it would be BORING!” Well said sweet girl!!

Look at what I spent my Saturday doing….

This labor of love is our community of women and men baking the famous Koulouria. This is a staple in almost every Greek home, and it’s a cookie that is paired usually with a cup of coffee.

Here’s the finished product….

And as you can see this is a family affair… 3 generations baking strong!

Is greek coffee and cookies ALL you get at the Greek Festival? No way! You can do some grocery shopping, you can watch live entertainment with Greek Dancers and a Greek Band, you can buy some Greek art, some gifts, some jewelry, and OOOOOOOooh the food that’s there! As you saw, the food is made fresh from our community. From Saganaki (Greek cheese that is set on fire with brandy and lemon juice), to Calamari, to homemade donuts on the spot (Loukoumades), to all sorts of pastries, gyro OF COURSE, and a wonderful full plated dinner. You can also take a tour of our church and learn about the Greek Orthodox religion, the religion that remains unchanged from the time of Christ.

For more information on the St. George Greek Festival in Oklahoma City, stop on over here.

Is my life like the movie? Do I have a big fat greek life? YES! I did not marry a xenos, I did marry a good greek boy, but my life is full of family, laughter, food, busy-ness, and OH is it GREAT to be Greek! We do eat lamb, and no we do not use Windex on everything, well, not really! If you are in the Oklahoma City area during the weekend of September 14, 15 and 16, I invite you to come be Greek for a day! I promise you, you’ll want to be Greek EVERYDAY! Come see me in the Loukoumades booth with my father in law GUS (yes like the movie) because my husband will be at the DRY CLEANERS. ( yes, like the movie! HA!)

OPA!