From preparing mezedes (appetizers) to delicious Greek pastries and everything in between, “The Greek Feast” provides more than 200 easy-to-follow recipes for classic Greek dishes. The techniques and ingredients, as well as the recipes themselves, are as authentic as the traditional food cooked by a favorite yi-ya (Greek grandmother). Begin your Greek Feast with tasty appetizers: tiropita (traditional cheese pastry), spanakopita (spinach and feta with layers of filo dough) and dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves). Continue with an array of dips and salads, pastichio, moussaka, holiday breads, and vegetarian specialties. Get step-by-step help to prepare delectable Greek desserts: baklava, kataifi, kourabiedes, koulourakia, melomakarona, and many more. The time-tested and sure-to-please recipes in the “The Greek Feast” are accompanied by colorful stories and sidebars about Greek culture and cuisine. Learn all about Easter eggs, village salads and New Year’s Bread. Get an insider’s guide to lamb, and learn about the healing powers of avgolemeno soup and the origins of yogurt (in Greece, of course!). “The Greek Feast” had its origins at the Santa Barbara Greek Festival, one of the oldest and most popular ethnic festivals on the West Coast, proudly put on by the parishioners of St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church. Festival-goers repeatedly asked for the recipes for the meats, casseroles, dips, salads and fantastic desserts served at the annual gathering. The Philoptochos (“Friends of the Poor,” a charity run by the women of the church) gathered festival favorites, along with scores of favorite family recipes. St. Barbara’s talented cooks teamed with the Greek-American editorial staff of Olympus Press to capture the heart and soul of Greek cuisine in an attractively designed cookbook that any cook will be proud to own or share. Some recipes have been adapted to the California lifestyle—a little avocado here, some sun-dried tomatoes there, and more than a few vegetarian dishes are included. But by and large, the recipes collected in the “Greek Feast” are the traditional, home-cooked Greek flavors familiar to those lucky enough to grow up in a Greek family—or live close to one!