It’s time to show off your grape stomping skills! Join the fun noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 24 for the Great Grape Stomp at the Mon Ami Winery. Teams of four will compete for prizes by stomping grapes as fast as they can to produce grape juice. All proceeds will benefit the United Way in Ottawa County. The event will include music, food, art, auctions, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz from I Love Lucy lookalike contests, and more. Show everyone that you have what it takes to really put your foot into it — literally!
United Way in Ottawa County invests in programs that support the building blocks of life: education, income, and health.
To register, go to greatgrapestomp.eventbrite.com, or call 419-734-6645 for more information.
MacQueen festival and apple pie contest
If it’s fall, it’s time for the 35th annual Apple Stir and Crafts Festival at MacQueen Orchards, 7605 Garden Rd., Holland, celebrating apples and everything apple-related.
From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 7 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 8, you can pick your own apples, enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides, listen to live music, eat your fill of barbecue and doughnuts and other fair foods, and much more.
The orchard is also hosting its popular apple pie contest on Oct. 7, with entries due by 11:30 a.m. and judging at noon. Prizes range from $100 for the first-place winner to a peck of apples for fifth and sixth places. Participating bakers are required to register by Oct. 5.
Go to macqueenorchards.com for more details and to register for the pie competition. For more information, call 419-865-2916.
Greek cooking classes begin Tuesday
If you enjoyed the food at the Greek-American Festival hosted by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 740 N. Superior St., last weekend, then you’ll want to learn how to prepare some of those delicious dishes in your own home. On three subsequent Tuesday evenings, church members will offer hands-on instruction in make-and-take classes. The topics are Fun with Phyllo (Tuesday), dolmathes/stuffed grape leaves (Sept. 26), and spanakopita/spinach pie (Oct. 3).
Classes will be held 6 to 8 p.m. in the cathedral’s community center, and tuition is $45 per session or $125 for all three. Go to holytrinitytoledo.com/greek-cooking-class-series to register online or to download and print a registration form which can be sent in with payment.
For more information, call 419-243-9189.
Contact Mary Bilyeu at mbilyeu@theblade.com, and follow her at facebook.com/thebladefoodpage, bladefoodpage on Instagram, or @BladeFoodPage on Twitter.
First Published September 17, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
