Growing up Italian Catholic, I cherish my family traditions. From Thursday through Sunday, we prepared for Easter. There are so many memories, including attending one of the daily Masses, choosing our new outfits and preparing the family traditional recipes.
When I was around 7 years old, I participated in 4H. We had a demonstration on bread baking and were each given the Fleischmann’s New Treasury of Yeast Baking cookbook. I came home and proudly shared it with my parents. That began the annual tradition of my father and I making Italian Easter Bread and Panettone on Good Friday. A tradition I continue today that warms my heart. When I was getting ready to head out to college, we taught my middle brother, Michael. There were some years that I could not get home and Michael and Dad kept the tradition alive. Other times, the three of us were in the kitchen together. We had a rhythm and Michael was the king of kneading, but I will never understand why he couldn’t keep the flour on the counter!
In addition to spending the entire day baking breads with my Dad, I love that we shared our breads. I still make individual breads to give to family and dear friends. I really enjoy delivering them on Saturday and Sunday. The big ring of Italian Easter Bread and the Panettone are eaten on Easter Sunday at our family celebration. The Italian Easter Bread is the centerpiece on the beautifully set table. We always hope that there will be extra Panettone because it is delicious toasted in the morning. You don’t even need to put anything on it. That is how good it is to eat!
It is never too late to revive or start a beautiful family tradition. I hope that this inspires you. If you'd like to leave a comment below, I would love to hear about your Easter traditions.
Simply,
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