Beep For Baklava: The St. Louis County Greekfest

GET A TASTE OF GREECE WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR CAR
The St. Louis County Greekfest Kicks Off Summer With a Curbside Food Fest May 27- 30, 2022
Online Orders Accepted Beginning May 23

Drive up for Dolmades! the St. Louis County Greekfest is back to kick off the summer with a curbside food event at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church.

Celebrating its 40th Anniversary, the annual food festival takes place over Memorial Day weekend, May 27-30. Customers can choose from a variety of plated dinners, appetizers and desserts. Expect traditional favorites, including Dolmades, Baklava, Spanakopita, Gyros, Souvlaki, Kataifi and more.

To browse the menu and place a food order, go to: www.stlgreekfest.com.

Pickup is easy. Diners just drive to the church and their online orders will be delivered directly to their car.

WHAT: The St. Louis County Greekfest
WHEN: Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday, May 27 – 30, 2022,11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Sunday until 3 p.m.).
WHERE: Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 1755 Des Peres Road, St. Louis, MO 63131
HOW: To place a food order beginning May 23, go to: www.stlgreekfest.com.

FOR PEEP’S SAKE: IT’S A NEW EASTER FREAK SHAKE AT SODA FOUNTAIN AT UNION STATION

Forget April showers, robins and blossoming flowers. Peeps marshmallow candies are the real harbinger of spring in St. Louis.

To celebrate the season and welcome the Easter bunny, Soda Fountain has created a new over-the-top Freak Shake called For Peep’s Sake.

The outrageous sweet treat begins with a banana milkshake and the serving glass is rimmed with green coconut Easter “grass.” The Freak Shake is topped with a Peeps Kabob, a La Bonne Bouchee pastel rainbow sugar cookie, a rock candy stick, jelly beans, whipped cream and a cherry.

The springtime shake will be available throughout April at the popular retro diner located under the train shed at Union Station. Soda Fountain is open daily from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.

St. Louis Union Station also has debuted a new place to satisfy a sweet tooth. The Cookies & Cupcakes treat shop has opened just outside the entrance to the St. Louis Aquarium.

The shop features whimsically decorated cupcakes — including one designed to look like a shark fin emerging from blue icing waves. The treats are from Jilly’s Cupcake Bar in St. Louis. Fudge is also available at the shop, along with chocolate “Shark Poop.” Cookies baked on site come in a variety of flavors and are served daily along with Kaldi’s coffee and barista-made espresso-based drinks. St. Louis Union Station Cookies & Cupcakes is open daily from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

St. Louis Union Station is located at 201 S. 18th St., St. Louis, MO 63103. @sodafountainstl; www.sodafountain-stl.comwww.stlouisunionstation.com; @unionstationstl

I’m Breaking-Up with Little Debbie

I did it! I made it a year without soda! It feels amazing to reach that goal and to surpass it, feels even better.

For all the life that I can remember I have always drank soda. That delicious Mountain Dew or tasty Dr. Pepper. Those were my favorites. For the longest time I have been trying to quit the sugary drink but always failed. This time around though I stuck my heels in and managed to make it a full year without soda. It feels good not wanting a soda. It’s nice not being so addicted to soda that you’re cranky when you don’t have one. It’s even better to lose all that weight from cutting out all of that sugar… wait… that didn’t happen. Which is why I am here, I am breaking-up with Little Debbie.

I regretfully did not lose any weight by cutting soda out of my diet. It’s probably because during the pandemic my relationship with Little Debbie got a little too hot and heavy, but today that all changes! If I can quit drinking soda and stay off the corn syrupy nectar, than I should be able to break up with Little Debbie as well. So that’s what I am doing today, me and Little Debbie (as well as her friends Hostess and Mrs. Freshly) are breaking up. No more snack cakes for me!!!

I will be starting a new Days Since to track my struggle with this break up. It’s a hard thing to do, but it needs to be done. Little Debbie, I’m sorry but it’s over between us!!!

Why We Need To Bring Back Victory Gardens

World War I and World War II took a toll on the country’s budget and led to an increase in the cost of living. With no end in sight for the war, the government was at a tight spot, trying to find food for the marines overseas while also keeping the cost of food in the country at an affordable level.

The solution? A rallying call to all Americans to grow food in their backyards to supplement the nation’s demands. These backyard gardens came to be known as “victory gardens.”

The concept spread like wildfire as citizens heeded the call. Communities came together and put idle land to use. Vegetables were grown in lands owned by churches, schools, and factories. Individuals heeded the call in their own way, growing vegetables at their front or backyards and even in parks.

The rallying call paid off, and food prices remained affordable during the war, which was critical in maintaining the stability of the country.

A New Call for “Victory Gardens”

The wars may be over, and today, the country is self-sufficient and faces no risk of escalating food prices. However, there is a new challenge to be tackled: expensive healthy and organic foods.

Today, Americans are taking processed food more than ever before. Processed ingredients are not as healthy as their organic counterparts. When food is processed, it is exposed to different chemicals to increase its shelf life. These chemicals deplete the ingredients in the plants, meaning we do not end up with the required nutrients for every serving we eat.

The foods that we buy are taking longer to reach the shelves. Moreover, they are being grown under controlled conditions with pesticides, which means they end up having potentially dangerous minerals in our food. Some pesticides have been linked to the development of chronic diseases like cancer.

Is it time to bring the Victory Gardens back? Absolutely yes!

Grow Your Own Food

A Victory Garden, or whatever name you may wish to call it today, allows you to grow your food at home and enjoy the benefits of a fulfilling outdoors activity. Keeping a vegetable garden is an excellent way of reducing your bill and bringing your family and the community together.

You do not need a large tract of land to start gardening. Even the little 10ft x 10ft backyard or front yard enriched with compost will do.

Here are some reasons why you should start a Victory Garden this year.

  1. Reduce your food budget – Starting a Victory Garden is an excellent way of supplementing your food budget. You can drastically reduce your grocery budget when you grow food at home. Moreover, you can determine what foods to grow depending on the quantities you usually need.
  2. Get nutritional value – Homegrown fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients since they are under your control. You won’t have to worry about the plants being subjected to harsh pesticides or herbicides. Moreover, you can ensure that the plants grow organically by engaging in good ‘ol farming techniques.
  3. Engage in outdoors activity – Farming is a great outdoor activity that will keep you and the whole family busy. The activity is not physically laborious, especially if you have a small parcel of backyard garden. You will love the fresh air and bonding with your children while carrying out the gardening tasks.
  4. Reduce carbon footprint – Growing your own vegetables also helps to reduce carbon footprint. With the dangers of the high amount of carbon in the environment, you can play a small part in reducing the footprint by planting your own vegetables.

How to Start Your Victory Garden

Gardening is not as difficult as it may seem. In fact, you may already have a flower garden at home. If this is the case, how about converting it to a vegetable garden? If the garden is in the backyard, you can transform it with the vegetables that frequently feature on your menu. Onions, spinach, carrots, and tomatoes would definitely be in the list.

If you do not already have a backyard garden, the first thing to check is whether you have some space that you can use for gardening. If you are a tenant, find out from the landlord whether you are allowed to keep a garden. If you own the land, nothing should stop you from starting to dig a small portion of the backyard to be the garden.

You may have to carry out some tests to know whether the soil is good enough for growing vegetables. Ask for help from an experienced local farmer or get a soil test kit online and carry out the tests on your own.

If the soil is not suitable for growing vegetables, perhaps you can enrich it by adding compost or look into creating a container garden. After this, you should be ready to plant your first vegetables.