Karen Lefebvre-Christou chopped scallions while talking in Greek to her husband Christos. He was working in Paris for the week and a bad Skype connection meant that Karen and her son Alex had to raise their voices to clearly be heard. After disconnecting, Alex worked on peeling cucumbers for our tzatziki while trying to teach me the Greek alphabet.

Born in Syracuse, NY, Karen’s family moved to Huntingdon Valley, PA when she was a baby. While in high school, Karen and her family went on vacation to Greece. They took a small boat around some of the Greek islands. When the boat stopped at Syros, they disembarked to have a look around and by that evening, they had fallen in love with the island.

The next year, her parents bought a bed and breakfast on Syros and Greek culture became a part of Karen’s life. She moved there after college, working at a study abroad program, helping American students assimilate into the Greek lifestyle. That summer, mutual friends introduced her to Christos, her future husband. Karen credits him as the greatest influence on her cooking. “If I hadn’t fallen in love with a Greek man, Greek food would not be the main staple of my repertoire,” she said. While in Greece, Karen found a cookbook that belonged to Christos’ great grandmother. She copied down the recipes and taught herself to cook the food of her husband’s childhood. According to Karen, “Greek cooking is like the Greek culture; very open and yummy.”

As the founder of art2love, Karen works to empower, encourage and elevate children in crisis through art. She started the non-profit because she is passionate about kids’ art and couldn’t charge a fee to parents whose kids have cancer. When her son Alex started drawing, she made her first artling out of his art and never looked back. Since then, she’s done art workshops with children in need throughout the Greater Philadelphia area including homeless shelters and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“I was a sick kid and I knew how it felt to be special because you were sick.” Karen said. She felt drawn to working with sick kids because they are forgotten. At 5 years old, she was in the hospital for a procedure. At night, she was alone and cried. At 12 years old she suffered from toxic shock syndrome. At 20 years old, she had a brain tumor, part of Cushings syndrome. Her brain surgery was the day before her 21^stbirthday. It eradicated the tumor but caused meningitis. Now she has an autoimmune disorder, colitis and celiac disease. “I understand what it is like to be the sickly one and have people see you that way.”

To see Karen now, you would never know she had a history of illness. She vibrantly and enthusiastically commits her time towards her family and running her non-profit. Her philosophy of food represents her perfectly. Her charity is art2love and if her food philosophy had a label, it would be Greek2love. Karen says that food for her is, “an expression of love; a love of the Greek culture and a love of the Greek food. I fell in love with Greek culture, with their openness and hospitality. Greek food isn’t about being complicated or showing off.” Like her art, her love of Greek food and culture is something that comes from inside that she wants to share with everyone.

We started dinner with Dodoni Feta drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. Karen’s sister in law Candace prepared the feta by pouring a little olive oil on it. Karen laughed, said, “we’re Greek” and took the bottle from Candace so she could pour a generous amount over the cheese. After the feta came the Saganaki (fried cheese) which was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. It was crisp on the outside, gooey inside with a deliciously salty aftertaste.  This was followed by Spanakorizo (spinach and rice), Gigantes (beans) and pitas with Skordalia (garlic potato dip) and Tzatziki (cucumber dip). We were supposed to be eating Mezedes (small plates of food), but everything was so good that I wound up with 2 servings of everything on a very large plate. Karen said the Gigantes taste like home and after eating them, I knew exactly what she meant. A perfect bite is a combination of Gigantes and Feta. The texture of the the smooth, cool feta blended with the warm, slightly chewy beans to produce an incredibly tangy and creamy mixture.
Definitely Greek 2 Love.

Lessons Learned:
-Despite being a proud sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, it turns out that I don’t know the Greek alphabet. I tried to impress Alex with my knowledge of Greek, but he just laughed at me because I grossly mispronounced all of the letters. In my college sorority I learned proper etiquette, lots of songs and how to behave at a fraternity mixer.  Apparently, I wasn’t paying attention the day they taught us the Greek alphabet. Thanks Alex for setting me straight.
-If you are planning to visit Karen, call ahead to make sure it’s Dance Night. I was lucky enough to get there on such a night which meant that after dinner, the lights in the living room were turned down low while Alex played DJ on itunes. Hip hop music filled the room and everyone danced around. Alex is especially good at handstands and will happily show off his skills. I am quite a dancer myself and I’d like to take a moment and brag. . .
-I can still do the running man. This was a great lesson learned. I haven’t forgotten everything from 8th grade! Sure, I can’t remember most of the math from that era, but I can still do an awesome running man and I know every word to the Beastie Boys’ Paul Revere.
-Karen has a cool device for removing garlic peels. I’m scared to do the trick where you lay a knife down on the garlic and then slam your fist down on the side of a knife. Her method is a lot safer. Rolling this little plastic cylinder is the perfect way to get rid of the garlic skins. Also, thanks goes to Candace who gave me my own garlic cylinder for Christmas.
-Did I just say Christmas? Yes. Sadly, I interviewed Karen in late November and it has taken me since then to get this posted. Procrastination lesson learned. I’m trying to post much more frequently this year.
-Most important lesson: art2love is a wonderful charity that does great work. They need people who can sew, help them write grants and get sponsorships. If you have any time or money to volunteer, please contact Karen at klchristou@yahoo.com

Saganaki (Fried Cheese)
Ingredients:
Kefalograviera cheese
Enough olive oil to generously cover the bottom of the pan
½ lemon
Directions:
-Turn heat under pan on stove to medium-high
-Cut the cheese into long triangles approximately ½ inch thick
-Fry it in pan until bottom is crunchy brown then flip and fry other side
-Squeeze a little lemon on top
-Serve warm

Spanakorizo (Spinach Rice)
Ingredients:
4-5 scallions chopped up
¾ cup olive oil
1 lb frozen spinach
1 ½ – 2 cups water (enough to almost cover the spinach)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup brown rice (you can use white but Karen prefers brown because it tastes nuttier)
1 cup chopped dill
½ lemon
Directions:
-Saute scallions in the olive oil
-Add the rest of the ingredients and cover
-Cook about 10 minutes or until the rice is done
-Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the rice

Pita bread
Ingredients:
Pocket-less pitas
½ cup of olive oil
1/2 cup Oregano
Directions:
-Lightly brush both sides with olive oil
-Sprinkle oregano over pitas
-Put pitas in pan on medium heat
-Check the bottom to see if the oil has been absorbed. It should now be a golden brown.
-Turn it over and cook the other side as well.
-Serve warm

Gigantes (Giant Lima Beans)
Ingredients:
1 bag Gigantes
1 cup fresh parsley chopped
1 cup large white onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
Salt & Pepper
1 cup olive oil
28 oz canned diced petite tomatoes
1 cup chopped dill
Directions:
-Soak the Gigantes overnight
-Rinse & put them in an ungreased casserole dish, set aside
-Fill pan with ¾ cup of extra virgin olive oil and saute parsley, onion and garlic for 5 minutes
-Add a dash of pepper and salt to pan
-Add 28 oz of canned diced petite tomatoes
-Stir ingredients then bring to a boil
-Cover and let simmer for 8-10 minutes
-Pour tomato mixture over beans in casserole dish
-Add ¼ cup olive oil over top
-Add I cup of chopped dill on top
-Bake uncovered at 340 for 40 minutes

Skordalia (Garlic Dip)
Ingredients:
2 small russet potatoes cut into chunks
5 cloves garlic
¼ cup olive oil
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt (to taste)
Directions:
-Cover potato chunks with water and boil until soft
-Drain water
-Mash potatoes with fork
-Chop 5 garlic cloves and add them in
-Slowly mix in ¼ cup olive oil
-Add 2 tsp red wine vinegar
-Add pinch of salt

Tzatziki
Ingredients:
2 large cucumbers
16 oz sour cream (this recipe usually made with greek yogurt but sour cream is a cheaper ingredient)
2 cloves garlic
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
½ cup chopped dill or more
Directions:
-Remove the seeds and peel 2 large cucumbers then grate them
-Put the grated cucumbers in a strainer and using the back of a spoon, press it against the strainer to remove the water.
-Add 16 oz of sour cream
-Finely chop 2 cloves of garlic and add them in
-Mix in 3 Tbs red wine vinegar
-Add ½ cup of chopped dill (According to Karen, when you think you have enough dill, add more).

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