On Sundays the women of my family would gather around the kitchen table spread out the bounty they had gathered from the various markets around the neighborhood and prepare the family meal. their chatter and laughter would float out of the window filling the yard and mingling with the shouts of my cousins and I into the joyous music of family, soon after the air would fill with the glorious scents of the Sunday banquet. After we left Greece and immigrated to the USA I came to miss those Sundays and eventually the memories drifted from my mind.

In the early 1990’s I joined the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Columbus and one of the first events I participated in was the annual festival. I walked in to the social hall one day as the women were preparing the dolmathes and my heart stopped. Gathered around the table they were laughing and chattering filling the hall with joyous cacophony, from the kitchen came the scent of earthly food cooking and I was transported back to my childhood.

Dedicated to the ladies of the church who keep traditions alive. And to keria Koula the kitchen general who leads them all.