On Saturday, two churches named for the same saint will host such extravagant bake sales that Cookie Monster would hyperventilate at the sight.
“I think, last year, we made 6,000 cookies,” said Carol Yonov of St. George Orthodox Cathedral, 738 Glenwood Rd., Rossford. And they’re making just as many this time, for their 15th annual Holiday Cookie Sale.
“It’s just tray after tray after tray ... it just goes on and on,” she said. Members started their baking spree in November to get everything ready, with an ingredient list that included 18 pounds of cream cheese and 40 pounds of apricot filling.
What: St. Anna Ladies Guild’s 15th annual Holiday Cookie Sale
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or until supplies run out) on Dec. 8
Where: St George Orthodox Cathedral, 738 Glenwood Rd., Rossford
More information: 419-662-3922, Event Page
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What: St. George Fellowship’s 11th annual Christmas Cookie Bazaar
When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (or until supplies run out) on Dec. 8
Where: Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Cathedral, 3754 Woodley Rd.
More information: 419-475-7054, Event Page
As Ms. Yonov carefully sliced cherry-pecan icebox cookies, several bakers cut dough for kolachi (jam-filled cookies) with a scalloped cutter because “it makes them a little fancier,” said Joanne Pentsos. Still more varieties are baked by parishioners at home.
Meanwhile, sisters Mary and Milli Corey were lovingly decorating more than 500 sugar cookies. “People say they’re too pretty to eat,” Milli said of Mary’s work; but she gleefully devours them anyway.
Their brother, Al Corey, is “the baklava king,” the women said. Milli said they’ll use “time-honored recipes” handed down from their church’s founders to make that and other traditional Lebanese sweets, such as ma’amoul (date or walnut-filled cookies) and ghrabee (tender butter cookies).
At their cookie walk, you can fill a tin with classic and/or ethnic treats for $10 per pound. Special sweet breads will be sold separately.
The 11th annual Christmas Cookie Bazaar at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Cathedral, 3754 Woodley Rd., will have its own extraordinary array of baked goods, as well as vendors and a lunch of chili and hot dogs.
“We have a big baking day on Dec. 1,” at which 100 pounds of flour will be used just to bake bread, said Karyn Hajjar, coordinator of the Cathedral Baking Ministry. Only 10 pounds were used at a smaller prep session two weeks earlier.
Rounds of dough are stamped with an array of Christian symbols, said Father Michael Shaheen, pastor of the church, who blesses the loaves before they bake. The finished breads are fragrant with orange blossom syrup that’s brushed over the tops.
Lebanese treats — including decorative date-filled cookies, baklawa, and ghrabee — will also be pre-packaged for the sale. Great attention is paid to the handmade pastries: “They grind their own walnuts. They boil down butter to make ghee. They make their own syrup,” Karyn said.
Additionally, a cookie walk will allow shoppers to fill tins with their choice of assorted goodies for $10 per pound. At least 20 parishioners have been baking at home too, said Karyn’s daughter-in-law, Joy Hajjar, and each will each bring 10 to 12 dozen to the sale.
And yet, despite the copious quantities, “We sell out by noon,” Joy said of the Toledo event. Stanley Pentsos said of the Rossford one, “If you come at 11, 11:30, don’t bother. It’s all gone.” (The latter assigns numbers as customers arrive, allowing a few shoppers at a time to avoid crowding.)
Clearly, smart cookies will be up early on Saturday to get to the bake sale of their choice.
Follow Mary Bilyeu at facebook.com/thebladefoodpage.
First Published December 2, 2018, 2:05 p.m.
