It's all Greek

With November already here, you know it won't be long before you're called upon to supply an appetizer or some other dish for a holiday party.

You could stop by a warehouse store and pick up one of those Greek hors d'oeuvre trays. Those are easy, and they seem to go over OK.

Or you could pre-order the real thing, made here in Huntsville with time-tested recipes from the families of Holy Cross - Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church.

It's up to you, of course. But store-bought pastries are no comparison to authentic, freshly prepared Greek baked goods, says Popi Missios, chairwoman of this year's Greek Bake Sale.

Missios, a native of the island of Rhodes, Greece, has been active in the parish's Greek Bake Sale since she moved to Huntsville in 1991. But the bake sale had been operating in one form or another long before that - since the parish was founded in the 1960s.

Like Missios, most of the other bakers have prepared Greek breads and pastries for decades, both at home and in previous bake sales.

"The recipes are from a cookbook that is the church's," says Missios. "They are family recipes that have been tested for years and years."

As the bake sale gets older and its organizers wiser, they develop strategies that benefit the parish and the bake sale's patrons.

Preparation for the sale "takes a lot of effort," says Missios. So parishioners begin the cooking process several weeks before the actual event.

This works out well for those who order because many of the items are prepared up to the baking stage, then frozen for thawing and baking at home. Baking instructions are included with each order.

Other items are made ahead, then thawed and baked at the church a couple of days before the sale so customers can buy ready-to-eat treats.

Missios acknowledges that the bake sale falls in the middle of a busy fundraising season for many local churches, schools and non-profit organizations. But the sale is timed for when the baked goods can be most useful.

"We thought if we do this before the holidays, then people can use (the baked goods) for the holidays," she says.

Missios and her committee encourage pre-orders, but walk-ins also are welcome during the sale.

Want to try your hand at authentic Greek pastries? Missios shares the accompanying recipes.