GLORIOUS EASTER MEMORIES

Easter is early this year.  Barely getting the snow shoveled from the driveway and awaiting the crocus explosion heralding the first day of spring.  But no matter when Easter arrives, it comes with memories.  Of parades down 5^th Avenue past St. Patrick’s Cathedral with the most glorious Easter bonnets, of a roasting leg of lamb redolent with garlic, rosemary, and red wine, thinly sliced to a perfect medium rare, served with oven roasted potatoes and carrots.  Our first course was always pasta of something ethereal and perfectly dressed. Manicotti, ravioli, or delicate lasagna with miniature meatballs in an herby tomato sauce.  Then the fresh artichokes, trimmed and stuffed with seasoned, cheesy breadcrumbs, each person delighted in his/her own portion, carefully scraping off the savory stuffing from each individual leaf, and reaching the heart of the artichoke, the best part. Italian Easters were ones of much anticipation, not only for the feast on an embellished table, but for the ceremonial presentation of each course.

The day always began with a parade of neighbors walking to our local parish, with the children in their Easter Sunday fineries.  Back in the days…in the 50’s and 60’s, this holiday always portended the initial wearing of all things spring-like.  New lacy topped white socks, Buster Brown shoes, white gloves, darling straw bonnets to match the pastel or floral crinoline lined dresses and patent leather purses holding no more than a tissue and maybe a  tiny tube of lipstick, if you were lucky.

The table was always set with the finest china, crystal, freshly cut flowers from the garden, and of course, linens pressed to crispness that only my mother had the patience to perform.

Good Friday was always such a somber, solemn day.  No school.  No television or radio between the hours of 12 and 3, preferably it was time spent at church, saying the Stations of the Cross.  Then baking of the Easter bread.  The dyeing of the boiled eggs, the rising of the anise scented dough, the rolling out into ropes and forming circles encasing 5 colored eggs.  The house smelled divine.  Icing each loaf and sprinkling with colored candies was the conclusion of a day’s hard work.  And then a dinner of simple fish and seafood. Never eat meat on Good Friday!  Sauteed shrimp with pasta, grilled calamari in tomato sauce over bruschetta, or maybe just a comforting bowl of  spaghetti with freshly made ricotta, grated Parmesan cheese, olive oil and black pepper. 

To this day, I still make my Easter breads on Good Friday.  I don’t go to church on Good Fridays anymore.  I do teach this baking tradition to my grandchildren. I taught my daughter how to make these breads when she was just a child, and when she moved to Omaha after her marriage, she taught her friends the joy of the Italian Easter bread.  They still carry on the memories she made for them.   I now make enough to give as Easter gifts to friends and family.  I am passing on memories.  Glorious Easter memories. 

Maybe you are not as traditional as I was, but your family was more of casual Sunday brunch with all the guests contributing a dish for the late morning feast.  (This, I must admit, was a strange concept for me when I first lived outside of Brooklyn.  Brunch?  With ham?  And egg casserole? And canned fruit cocktail with marshmallows and coconut?)  Blasphemous, I say!

But if you’re searching for a perfect brunch dish…here it is.  Egg Puff with Pancetta.  Fluffy eggs, beaten with chevre cheese, sautéed golden brown pancetta, fresh chives from the garden, baked to cheesy custard-like perfection.  And I am also including a perfect side dish of asparagus and carrots. I like the carrots of many colors for this dish, accompanied by a zesty lemon mint aioli.  Can a dish scream out “SPRING” any louder?  There is also a photo of a colorful cheese platter, with Easter Egg radishes in hues of pinks, deep reds, light purples.  Perfect with the creamy blue cheese inspired cambozola and a wedge of English stilton studded with apricots, simple crackers, sliced watermelon radishes, and fanned out Bartlett pears and apples.  A five-minute assembly of a starter dish for the spring season.

Hope you have a beautiful Easter Sunday, whether celebrating by feasting on family favorites, dining out at a resort overlooking the last vestiges of snow veiled mountains, or a casual brunch with friends and family after a strenuous bike ride, long hike or Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard.

NOTE:  There are still a few openings for my cooking classes this spring.  New summer on the patio classes will be posted shortly on my website.  Keep your eyes tuned for its arrival. I will announce when with much fanfare, for the patio is the place to be this summer with some very exciting guest speakers on various foods, my cooking, your wine, the grapevines overhead, and cool summer breezes.

Also, on another note.  If you are searching for previous FFF for a specific recipe, go to the upper right hand side of the email where it says “View this email in your browser.”  You can share the email and check out previous newsletters for that one recipe you forgot to print off.

Buona Pasqua a tutti!