Special
Features /December 2008-January 2009
A Glimpse of Greek Tradition
By Katie SchwendemanNot everyone spends the holidays eating chocolate buckeyes, sugar cookies and dressing. Some families spend the holidays eating baklava or spanakopita. For the Angelos, celebrating Christmas and New Year's is about a blending of American and Greek traditions.
Kiki Angelos came to Parkersburg in 1966 from Athens, Greece. Both she and her American-born husband George were raised Greek Orthodox. They met in Athens while George was attending the National Greek Conservatory for Music. George is a Parkersburg, West Virginia native. Kiki said her family begins decorating for the holidays at the beginning of December. Traditional decorations at the Angelos home include Christmas trees and decorations Kiki picks up when she visits Greece. Aside from authentic Greek ornaments, "I decorate like everyone else here," she said.
In early December housewives begin making traditional sweets which include kourabiethes, a cookie with confectionary sugar, and melomakarona, which are cinnamon cloves dipped in honey. "The kids expect a lot of Greek cooking at Christmas time," Kiki said.
Yet, despite all of the cooking, Greeks participate in a traditional fasting period 40 days before Christmas. During this time Greeks will not eat any animals or animal products such as dairy or eggs. Kiki said the whole extended family will get together to celebrate Christmas. This year everyone will be celebrating at her house. In the morning the family will attend church and then enjoy a big dinner which the housewives prepare. "Food is the foundation of the Greek family," Kiki said. Christmas dinner will consist of anything from a huge turkey to a leg of lamb, Kiki said. Other Greek dishes include mousaka, which is a Greek casserole, and spanakopita, which is spinach and cheese baked in phillo dough. Afterwards the family might eat some baklava, which is layers of phillo and walnuts with a syrup drizzled on top.
The Greek language is also important to the Angelos, as Kiki makes sure to teach her children and grandchildren how to speak Greek. "Kala Christouyenna," means "Merry Christmas" and is how many Greeks greet each other during the holidays. For Greeks the holidays are about more than Christmas and New Year's, but feast and name days as well. For example, between December 6 and January 6 anyone named Nicholas can receive presents in celebration of St. Nicholas day, which begins December 6. Greeks will greet one another on feast and name days with the greeting "Chronia Polla" which means "Many Years." On January 1 Greeks not only celebrate the New Year, but St. Basil's day as well. This is typically when gifts are exchanged, as opposed to December 25. "I teach my children that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, not gifts," Kiki said.
Another traditional way to celebrate the New Year is by breaking a pomegranate, which brings good luck.
Housewives make a special cake on January 1 as well. The cake is called "vasilopita" and is made of sweet bread. A coin is placed in the middle of the bread and then the father of the house slices the bread. "Once the cake is sliced each person will eat a slice and see if they got the coin," Kiki said. The coin is said to bring good luck to the person who receives it.
On January 6 Greeks celebrate the Feast of Epiphany, or "Ta Phota" which is when Greek Orthodox teaches that Jesus was baptized. Greeks also celebrate on St. John's day, which is Jan. 7.
January 8 wraps up the festivities of the holidays as this is traditionally the day that holiday decorations are taken down and the children go back to school, Kiki said. Kiki and her husband George are owners of Chik fil A, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, and Great Steak in the Grand Central Mall in Vienna, WV, as well as Olympic Deli on Murdoch Avenue. A variety of Greek pastries will be offered at Great Steak in the mall from now until New Year's.
Copyright © 2001-2009 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
Top • Home • Subscribe • Advertise • Submit • Distribution • Contact
Support Our Advertisers • Organization Resources • Women Owned Business
Organization Resource List • Women Owned Businesses • Support Our Advertisers
Maintained by TEABROOKE
Website Design | SEO | Social Media Consulting
Related Sites | XMLSiteMap | Web Portal
Landing Zone SEO - Website | Search | Usability | Results | Goodness
Send an Email About This Article