Easter Family Traditions - Mangia Bene!

I hope that everyone had a
happy Passover and Easter!

Do you have any family traditions
- for example; do you have to
cook a special kind of food that
your parents or grandparents cooked
for a holiday? And so hopefully
hand down to your children?

My maternal grandparents came here
from Naples, Italy and brought many
family food recipes with them. 

Easter bread

 This is store bought - my grandmother
used to make this round and braided
with at least 5 colored eggs. It 
represents "new life" and is for good
luck. (normally I would make this
myself) It's a cake like bread.

Pizza Rustica

 This also is store bought - my daughter
brought it here from an Italian store
on Long Island. My grandmother made
the best! Although, this one was very
good! Normally it was made with all
your leftover cold cuts, etc. Ham,
salami, dried sausage and many different
cheeses and almost one dozen eggs.
My grandma would make three of these
the day before Easter because "every
body has to have a piece who stopped
by to visit." 
 I'm not thinking about calories (-:

Sausage bread

       
 I'm not sure how to spell it in
Italian. One of Grandma's favorites.
It has pieces of ham and dried sausage.

I did break tradition by making Ravioli
instead of Lasagna )-: My mom would
make the Lasagna and a ham or pork
roast.
Too lazy this year to cook too much!

Zeppoli

    Zeppoli is a deep fried dough -
you add yeast and a little water;
then when they're still hot, you sift
confectioners sugar all over them.
I did make these because they're
my favorite!

I love carrying on family traditions;
it makes me feel close to my roots and
those family members that have passed
on. While we eat the food; we share
stories about what we remember from
past holidays. It makes us feel happy
and still connected to them!

 Mangia Bene!