Easter Eggs and Easter Bonnets. Easter Mass and Easter Brunch. These are the memories I have of Easter as a child growing up in Chicago. Easter was a holiday my Mother cherished. I can say with confidence that Easter was her favorite holiday: She loved it because there was more than food to make this a special day. My Mother, being a devout Catholic, followed the religious traditions and guidelines which went along with this holiest time of the year. For the 40 days previous to Easter, we did not eat meat on Friday, attended Mass every morning before school, gave up something we loved for Lent (for me it was ice cream), did the Stations Of The Cross” on Friday afternoons, and practiced fasting, instead of feasting, for most meals. “We have to sacrifice something,” Mom would say, “since Christ sacrificed his life for us. It’s the least we can do.”
All through the 40 days, Mom would talk about Easter. It was Easter “this and that”. When Easter Week finally arrived, Mom would begin to prepare for the Big Day. First there were Easter dresses, pastel car coats, frilly hats, patent leather shoes and ruffled stockings to buy for me and my sister. A new suit for my little brother. A new outfit for Mom as well. And Dad. Well, Dad just got to sit back and watch the frenzy. After all of the Easter outfits were purchased, she would then concentrate on Easter Brunch and Dinner.
We would start Easter day with attending 9:00 Mass dressed in our Easter finery. Before Mass there were pictures to be taken of us, in our Easter pastel clothes, in front of the house, then we would walk the three blocks together to Mass, weather permitting (I remember snow one year). After Mass we would come home to a table set with our traditional Easter brunch. A brunch Mom would start to prepare on Friday. That Friday of preparation was a day of making Grandma Lucia’s Satoni (aka Calzone, Easter Pizza, Easter Pie) I’m still not sure of the spelling and we pronounced Satoni as Shatone. But the spelling doesn’t matter nor does the pronunciation. What did matter was the amount of time it took to make the Satoni (usually 6 pies) and the way they looked. We knew they would taste great but the look had to be just perfect. No cracked crust for my Mother.
On Saturday Mom would make the Frittata. The question always was “How many eggs?”. The answer, always, “24”. Twenty four eggs, one pound of ricotta, one pound of Italian sausage, one pound of ham. No salt, no pepper, no spices. The giant Frittata’s flavor came solely from the sausage and ham. The sausage always homemade by either Mom or Grandpa and the seasoning of the sausage with salt, pepper and fennel seed always perfect. In the picture below you will see the beauty of the Frittata. Cooking it today is so much easier than when Mom labored over it since the non-stick pans didn’t appear in our home until late in the 60’s. She would stand over that pan for what seemed like hours, stirring it to make sure it did not stick. It would cook over the lowest of heat. She timed it perfectly so it would not turn into scrambled eggs. What a job. Flipping it was another chore. It became a family project especially when my sister and I got a little older. Now, with today’s non-stick pans and my re-creation of the preparation using the stove top and the oven, this is no longer a huge ordeal.
The rest of the brunch would consist of a Baked Ham and Hot Cross Buns (the ham bone would make it’s way to the pot later in the week when Mom would make minestrone). Mom would buy the buns at a local bakery early on Easter morning. That was a time when bakeries were open on holiday mornings.
Along with the five of us, Grandpa, Uncle Dom, Aunt JiJie and her husband Epol where at the brunch table. Sometimes other relatives would join us but usually the rest of the family would gather later in the day for Easter Dinner: not always at our house. Dinner was another story, Pasta, “Gravy” Meat, Leg of Lamb, Potatoes, Vegetables………… On and On it went.
Dinner was always great but it’s the Easter Brunch I remember the most. Sometimes I re-create that wonderful brunch using only my Grandmother’s and my Mother’s recipes. Here are the two staples for Easter – Grandma Lucia’s Satoni and my Mother’s Easter Frittata.
Buona Pasqua!
camille@camillecooksforyou.com
