One of my favorite times of the year finally happened, Honolulu Greek Festival! I can't even remember how long I've been going, it's been that long. Usually we try to go to both days but as I've gotten older, I treat my mama to the second day. I had to work one of the two days this year so my mom and I went on opening day, my treat. This year was just as great, not to mention delicious. Over the years we've learned that on the first day you get there super early in order to make it into the pastry line first. Those suckers sell out by the first couple of hours. This year we stoked up on pastries up to my eyeballs. Baklava, chocolate baklava, kataifi, koulourakai, and sooo much more. It was a good call because by 3:30 (festival opens at noon) half of it was sold out.
After we pretty much single-handedly bought out the pastries we headed to the greek kitchen section to feast. I got the spanakopita plate which included greek salad, feta cheese and bread, olives, rice pilaf, dolmathes, and a piece of baklava. I also got an extra piece of spanakopita because it's my favorite and just so damn good. My mom shared the plate with me but got her own piece of spanakopita and a piece of moussaka, her favorite. We found seats near the main stage where we got a great seat in the shade under the trees and watched the live greek band, Apollo, perform. We lucked out that some of the festival volunteers from the Greek Church danced to traditional songs.
About an hour later we decided to muster up the energy to get up (and not explode) and walk around. I always love visiting the booth that a local jewelry store, Artlines, sets up. I usually find a bracelet or ring that I like but this year I found a sick bell bell chime that I couldn't pass up. It was so hot that day so to cool off we shared a bowl of lemon sorbet. Before we called it a day, I picked up a gyro for dinner and a greek sausage and pita bread for my mom. Overall, another great festival and a very satisfied Kiyana.
