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My big fat Greek Festival

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The Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church's indoor basketball court is used as a cafeteria during the festival, and filled nearly to capacity. (Joshua Wineholt / The Signpost)

The Greek Food Festival, held Sept. 23 and 24, was a smorgasbord of tastes, smells and sights that were undeniably Greek. The festival did not, however, have chicken nuggets.

So, here I am, walking around the Greek food festival when I see my very favorite thing: CHICKEN NUGGETS. I’m a little bit psycho about chicken nuggets.

I’m pretty sure these chicken nuggets didn’t even look like chicken nuggets, I was just seeing them through my nugget goggles. Self-awareness, guys.

The said, chicken nuggets I beheld were small, fried and breaded. And they had samples!! Naturally, I made my way over there because who doesn’t love free samples? I mean, come on, that’s why we all go to Costco.

I pick up this delicious-looking creation of the gods with a toothpick, I take my very first bite and…honey and cinnamon?

I realized that this was not a chicken nugget and that it was, in fact, a tiny little delicious Greek scone.

Unfortunately, the deliciousness of the scone was not enough to overpower the initial shock of the taste.

After placing this GIANT bite of “chicken” in my mouth and tasting honey, I proceeded to cough, choke and make an absolute fool of myself in front of the four ladies handing out samples.

Red in the face, still choking, I managed to get out “It’s delicious!” Ahem. *looks around desperately for a hole in the floor I can crawl into.*

Upon further investigation, (a.k.a. I bought some because they actually were tasty), I discovered these scrumptious chicken nugget imposters were called Loukoumathes. I bet if I could actually read Greek, the sign would have said something along the lines of “NOT CHICKEN NUGGETS.”

These honey filled creations are soft on the outside, but have a very satisfying crunch on the inside. They are just one of the many Greek pastries available at the Greek Food Festival.

The festival, hosted every year by the Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, also offers a variety of meats, meals and drinks.

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A booth outside of the church which offers things like soda, water and cotton candy to those waiting in line for food. (Joshua Wineholt / The Signpost)

Pam Dawood, who runs the gift shop at the festival each year, said “We do jewelry, we do spiritual orthodox religious items, some Greek imports, donations from the community and some crafts and handmade things. And we always sell our community cookbook.”

The cooking is the main event of the festival, and Dawood said the church starts prepping for the food months in advance.

The Greek foods, especially the gyros, are what brings attendees back year after year, said festival goer John Keller. Many people share the same opinion, based on the lines for the food.

Even in the pouring rain there was a massive line for the ethnic food. With leg of lamb, gyros and those pastries, Linda Keller said, “It’s worth the wait! We’ve been waiting a long time!”

The annual Greek Food Festival is a unique opportunity to experience Greek food, music and culture. It is not, however, a great place to find chicken nuggets.

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