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cookie packaging By Marie Carras’ estimation, baking nearly 200 finikia for her church’s annual Greek Festival is the

easy part if she bakes three dozen each night after working all day.Dipping each Greek spice cookie in honey syrup and nuts

is the most time-consuming task, she said.Luckily, Carras, a member of Saints Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church in

Frederick, had some help Tuesday evening in packaging her cookies to sell at the church’s annual Greek Festival, which

begins today.Nearly a dozen members of the Ladies Philoptochos Society rolled up their sleeves and donned rubber gloves as

they assorted and packaged eight different Greek pastries into clear, plastic containers on tables in the church

basement.Sheets of baklava — filo dough with honey and syrup —were cut and lifted into containers as the women arranged

kourabiedes, a powdered sugar cookie, on white wrappers. The shelves on the far side of the basement were already half-

stocked. The work would continue until the festival ends Sunday.‘‘Just boxing it is a lot of work,” said Georgia Lizas of

Frederick. ‘‘I feel good that when it’s over, we’ve donated time to the church.”The Ladies Philoptochos Society is a

philanthropic organization of women at Saints Peter and Paul Church that regularly holds charitable fundraisers for

organizations and supports the church in its mission. The Ladies Philoptochos Society is national in scope.Since 1993, when

Frederick’s Greek Orthodox community began worshipping at its current location, the Ladies Philoptochos Society has baked

pastries to sell at the church’s Greek Festival. The proceeds go back to the church’s operating budget.Last year, the

society sold 15,000 individual pastries and cookies, selling out their stock.The women have also published a cookbook of

Greek and American family recipes, which will also be on sale throughout the weekend.Georgette Calomeris said she turns to

her grandmother’s recipe from the Greek island of Chios, to make her favorite cookie, koulourakia, a dense butter cookie

that goes well with coffee. The island of Chios is famous for mastina, a tree resin that is used to make ouzo and Easter

bread, she said.Calomeris, a Frederick resident and Philoptochos member, said she baked five dozen koulourakia and twisted

them into braids, s-shaped waves and buns and lightly sprinkled with sesame seeds.Philoptochos members choose what they want

to make for the festival and bake at home, Carras said.Some specialties, like galatouboureko, custard with filo dough and

syrup, must be made last, said Gloria Palios, treasurer for the Philoptochos Society.‘‘Presbytera’s Rice Pudding,” a

family recipe shared by the Rev. Anastasios Kousoulas of Saints Peter and Paul Greek Church also has a short shelf-life and

must be made the day before.As the women organized cookies and pastries, Kousoulas was overseeing the rice pudding that a

trio of men boiled in three, four gallon pots in the church’s full service kitchen.Only six ingredients make up the family

recipe that was handed down from his father-in-law and has become a church tradition and popular festival food.Long-grain

rice, whole milk, sugar, butter, eggs and pure vanilla extract are the special ingredients. ‘‘It’s not just a recipe. It’

s how you stir it,” Kousoulas said.Boiling the rice in milk will bring out the rice’s starch and thicken the mixture into a

custard-like consistency without using cornstarch, he said.Every night until the festival ends, the church will make 12

gallons of rice pudding to sell for $3.50 in eight-ounce dessert cups.Last year, the rice pudding sold out during the last

day of the festival, Kousoulas said.Greek festival11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., today through SundaySts. Peter and Paul Greek

Orthodox Church, 920 W. 7th St., FrederickCall 301-663-0663 or visit www.stspeterpaul.net