How Do You Celebrate Easter?

[CM]

We all have family traditions and favorite Easter foods, fun decorating projects and holiday memories of what mom and grandma used to make.

In our family, the tradition has always been to make Pizzagaina and Ricotta Pie for Easter. Pizzagaina is a large rich pie pie filled with cheeses and layered with thinly sliced Italian cold cuts, fresh cheese (it comes in a mesh basket only around Easter) and sometimes slices of hard boiled eggs (but not always). It's quite a project assembling this pie and shopping to collect all the ingredients, but it's worth it for special occasions. (We have another version that's less elaborate and uses chopped cold cuts with a filling somewhat more like a calzone for an ordinary weekend meal).

We also make rich sweet bread. I like to make chocolate bunnies and eggs and decorate real eggs, too. I usually serve a Virginia style ham baked in honey and brown sugar with a pineapple glaze.

When I was a child, a friend's mom who was Ukranian/Armenian would make the most elaborately decorated and intricately detailed Easter eggs. I've always wanted to do this but haven't had the time to acquire the necessary equipment, nor the patience to develop the skill required for all those perfect little lines, squiggles, zigzags and scrolls on the Easter eggs. So, I just color my eggs in pretty pastels, sometimes using a fine paint brush and masking off progressive colors with wax.

[lovetobake45]

I hope everyone had a great Easter.We had ham,scalloped potatoes and veggies,for dessert we had pies and a trifle,all was delicious.It was fun getting together with family and celebrating the holiday.Easter Sunday we had a light breakfast went to Church and then a great dinner about 3 p.m.,the children were all hyped up on sugar and it was a nice day so they ran off a lot of energy.I made marshmallow Easter eggs that were a great hit,for kids and adults both.The recipe is posted on:www.havefunbaking.com and also check out: www.lovetobakeandcook.blogspot.com

[starrskitchen]

It seems that the enduring Easter food tradition in our family is ham, tho it is more likely to be spiral cut and glazed rather than Virginia style. As I kid, I learned more from our Eastern European neighbors than from my father's Italian family, except for Pizzelles. This year I took Pizzelles to our church's Easter Breakfast, resulting in an Anglo / Hispanic / Italian meal!

Easter Breads are important, but they take different forms through the year - Eastern European Kolachi, Anglo Hot Cross Buns or (?) Easter Braids with eggs baked into the ropes.

You must try your hand at Ukrainian Easter Eggs, called Pysanky! The tools and dyes are no problem to find. (will I get into trouble if I post a link?) Google "pysanky egg supplies" and order everything you need from the Ukrainian Gift Shop. It's okay to be Italian and make Ukranian eggs.

[CM]

Ham or Turkey is the main attraction for Easter here. Then there are the sides, such as Pizzagaina and Ricotta pie, and Babka or some other bread, this year it was tsoureki which is very much like a Portuguese Sweet Bread, but with fewer eggs.

I've lost my pizzelle maker (I've got an electric one somewhere) but I've got a Swedish krumkake iron; they're pretty much the same except the pizzelle maker has slightly bigger channels. I like to make these using anisette or anise oil for flavoring and I use them either with a cream filling or to make ice cream sandwiches but it's not that time of the year yet around here Sometimes we dust them with confectioners sugar or drizzle with honey, too.

I found the tools you mentioned for coloring eggs, thank you! One of these days...