Greek Dinner Festival begins Thursday

Get your Greek on at the 78th annual Greek Dinner Festival this weekend.

The three-day event begins Thursday and features baklava, souvlakia, Greek coffee, traditional Greek dancing, cooking demonstrations and more things Greek.

Lunch is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner runs from 4:30 to 8 p.m. The menu includes beef kapama, orzo with myzithra cheese and browned butter, and shish kebabs marinated in herbs and lemon.

Take-out orders are available.

Greek deli items – olives, cheese and other imports – will be for sale. So will beer, wine and Greek appetizers in the taverna.

Tickets cost $12 in advance or $15 at the door. Children younger than 12 eat for $6.

The fest takes place at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 1703 N. Washington St.

For more information, including locations for advance tickets, visit www.SpokaneGreekFest.org or call (509) 328-9310.

And here’s the church’s beef kapama recipe to get you started.

‘The Crimson Spoon’

Copies of “The Crimson Spoon: Plating Regional Cuisine on the Palouse,” a new cookbook by Jamie Callison, will be available for online purchase Oct. 7.

Callison, the executive chef at Washington State University’s School of Hospitality Business Management, co-wrote the book with Linda Burner Augustine. It sells for $38 and can be pre-ordered by calling the WSU Creamery at (800) 457-5442.

The 224-page cookbook includes 105 recipes, including Cougar macaroni and cheese. Recipes aim to use simple cooking techniques and feature ingredients produced by WSU departments as well as other regional producers.

Proceeds will help maintain and replace equipment used by hospitality students.

The book will be available at crimsonspoon.wsu.edu.

Three-course beer-tasting dinner

The Palouse Beer Tasting and Three-Course Dinner with Spokesman-Review beer columnist Rick Bonino takes place Oct. 4. But reservations are required by Monday.

Dinner includes a medley of German sausage, red potatoes and green peppers as well as apple crisp for dessert. At least three microbrews will be sampled. A discussion on brewing processes as well as a Q&A will follow.

Tickets cost $25 per person or $45 per couple.

Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. at On Sacred Grounds Coffee Shop, 12212 E. Palouse Highway in Valleyford.

For more information, visit www.onsacredgrounds.com or call (509) 747-6294.