It's a rare day Lou and Donna Mladenovic close Taste of Europe early. Their Crown Point, Ind., specialty foods shop is a mecca for all things European -- homemade sausages, breads, pastries, roasted peppers, cheeses, barbecued lamb and more.

But May 6 is the the feast of St. George, the Mladenovic family's patron saint. That means "Krsna Slava." So promptly at 1 p.m., the Mladenovics finished their long day of preparing "cevapcici," "slavski kolac," barbecued lamb, "sarma," "burek," and nut roll for other people's slavas, and headed home to greet their own guests.

To my knowledge, Slava is a uniquely Serbian custom and not every family takes St. George as their patron saint. In addition to being a time for pride, tradition and religious ceremony, feasting and entertaining hundreds of guests throughout the day figure prominently.

"Slavski Kolac" photo © 2008 Barbara Rolek licensed to About.com, Inc.