Buona Pasqua!

Silvia, Sister Dee, and my Beautiful Mom and Christina's Giant Carrot Cake          

Yesterday was Easter Sunday. A day to rejoice and be glad! We went to the 11:00am service and what a mad house! We got there about a half hour before the service and just barely snagged some seats. Now we are hardly what I like to call "season ticket holders" when it comes to church attendance but Easter and Christmas seem to bring out just about everyone in town! It was a glorious sunny California day too. Picture perfect. I set the table so we could eat outside, and while doing so thought about Easter time in Boston where I grew up.  The days leading up to Easter were always spring like, warm and deceptive! Everyone would get excited at prospect of spring, new outfits would be purchased, yard work and outdoor sprucing would begin. Then Easter Sunday would bring a nice blizzard with 5 inches of snow...

There were 12 of us for dinner in all so a relatively easy meal to prepare and get ready for.  I promised my mother I would make the Easter Bread or Casatiello as we call in in our Neapolitan dialect. Saturday night at 11:00pm they were still in the oven baking when I ran out of steam and went to bed.  Frank said he would stay up and wait for it to be done as long as he could have a piece warm out of the oven. Seemed fair to me... It was a great day with family and some dear friends in attendance. Our menu (see below) as always includes some of our traditional Italian dishes as well as American favorites.

Appetizer platter with prosciutto di parma, pecorino romano, olives, roasted peppers and eggplant
Honey Baked Ham (sorry, I don't do lamb)
Filet with Horseradish sauce
Roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic
Sauteed artichokes
Russian salad (my friend brings this)
Deviled eggs
roasted asparagus
Fruit salad
Casatiello Easter bread
For dessert we had Pastiera which is a very traditional Easter dessert and Cassata Cake which is normally eaten at Christmas. We like it so much that we eat it every chance we get! Finally my beautiful Christina made this whimsical carrot cake shaped and decorated like a giant carrot. Adorable AND delicious!