Italian Easter Bread
First. Post. Ever! I'm not sure how this is all going to work. To date, I only use Facebook and Pinterest. I have no clue about Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. And I'm sure as we speak there is some new social media being born that I don't know about. The other day my friend (you know who you are cool friend) told me to check out her "IG story" and that's when I decided I better not put this off any longer! I cant'tbe that mom! The one wearing mom jeans with 90's cheerleader hair who has no clue what their kids are talking about.
This is what I came up with for this year. I like to "shop" around my house and pull a theme together. This year it was bunnies in the carrot patch.
Aren't the pewter forks engraved with herbs the cutest!
Once the dough was soft and not too sticky we put it in a lightly oiled bowl, covered with a towel and placed in a warm, dry place to rise for 2 hours (or more).
A little trick I learned to help dough rise is to place it in your cold oven (or microwave if your husband steals the oven to cook a pizza ) with a pan or bowl of hot water below it. My dough never seemed to rise until I started doing this trick. But BE SURE not to make the mistake that I did once and forget that your dough is in the cold oven and preheat it to make dinner. Oops! We had flat baked Easter Bread. I cried! A lot!
Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size.
After the dough has risen to double its size punch it down. The threenager loved this! I had to make her stop punching, lol!
Next, divide your dough into two equal balls and roll each one out into 24 inch logs.
Braid the logs and form into a circle. Pinch the ends together and place a dyed egg into each cavity.
So, I'm going to blog in an attempt to accomplish a few things. Selfishly, I hope it will serve as a place for me to get all these ideas and thoughts that swim around in my mind 24/7 out of my head! I need them to go somewhere, far away from my pillow each night, so that I might turn my brain off and sleep. Well, kind of sleep. I mean I have had the low cackle of the baby monitor singing in my ear for almost four years now. And now, it seems as if it is going to be there for at least four more (and I wouldn't have it any other way.) More importantly, I want the blog to be a place for moms to share their own "tidbits" with each other. Finally, I want it to be a place to share all things "tutu", meaning pink and girly, in honor of the two loves of my live, my beautiful little girls! Tutu (or should I say toot toot) number one is a beautiful and sassy threenager (yep, it's a thing) who is about to turn four and tutu number two is a precious and sweet 7 month old who's adoption is about to be final! Our days are filled with impromptu-tu dance parties and tea parties, trips to the grocery store, the library, ballet, soccer, a million errands, diapers, stickers, crayons, crying and most importantly, laughing! Lots and lots of laughing!
Life couldn't get any sweeter!
Please join me, mother of two tutu wearing girls, on our adventures as we share little tidbits about all the things we love; children's arts, crafts, book and activities. We will also slip in some tidbits about my other loves; cooking, decorating and entertaining too! It's all random, just like my mind! But we are sure you will find something interesting, funny, or just plain ridiculous!
Warning: I am a self proclaimed perfectionist who annoyingly plans and organizes way too far in advance. I somehow thrive on pressure. I make things hard on myself! That's why it's taken me so long to make a first post. So I am giving myself permission to just write and not overthink it. I'm going to try to keep it simple, keep it real and keep it fun!
Won't you come share some tidbits and tutus with us!
Here goes......
I have so many wonderful childhood memories of Easter. Most of my memories (and everyday thoughts) are centered around food. After all, they say that food and memory are very closely linked. Anyway, my mom always made a beautiful Italian Easter bread for us to eat Easter morning before church. I can smell and taste it now just thinking of it. I am a very sentimental person who loves, loves, loves family traditions (especially our Italian ones) and so I am always trying to pass as many of them as I can to my girls. So this year, like every year, we made some Italian Easter Bread. My family doesn't have a set recipe so I looked around the last couple of years for one that I liked. Last year, I stumbled across this one and really like it. I can't remember where I got it or I would post a link. For now, I will just transcribe it below for for you. But first, a quick peek at our Easter table (and yes, for those of you that know me, it has been set for a week! I just can't help myself!)
This is what I came up with for this year. I like to "shop" around my house and pull a theme together. This year it was bunnies in the carrot patch.
And it would not be Easter without my grocery store plates. I have had them in my "hope chest" since I was at least 13 years old. That's right! While the rest of you were watching MTV and taping Duran Duran posters to your wall I was polishing up things in my hope chest, which really was a hope closet. I had spatulas, glasses, napkins, measuring spoons, tablecloths and dishes long before I could even drive! My grandmother, mother and I picked these beautiful plates out at Skaggs Albertson long ago when they were the featured place setting of the month. They came with a teacup and saucer and must have been $1.99 a set, with the newspaper coupon of course!
Go to the delicious recipe for a traditional Italian Easter bread at Bake with Christina. Instead of making individual breads we made one large one.
Go to the delicious recipe for a traditional Italian Easter bread at Bake with Christina. Instead of making individual breads we made one large one.
My helper learned how to knead dough.
Once the dough was soft and not too sticky we put it in a lightly oiled bowl, covered with a towel and placed in a warm, dry place to rise for 2 hours (or more).
A little trick I learned to help dough rise is to place it in your cold oven (or microwave if your husband steals the oven to cook a pizza ) with a pan or bowl of hot water below it. My dough never seemed to rise until I started doing this trick. But BE SURE not to make the mistake that I did once and forget that your dough is in the cold oven and preheat it to make dinner. Oops! We had flat baked Easter Bread. I cried! A lot!
Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size.
Next, divide your dough into two equal balls and roll each one out into 24 inch logs.
Don't you just love the concentration!! Two of her loves, art and butter! What could be better. She loved brushing the bread with melted butter. And she also loved brushing her tongue with it after. Cover the bread with a warm towel and let rise for one hour.
The last step was drizzling the bread with a powdered sugar glaze and then topping with sprinkles. Doesn't everyone bake in their Frozen nightgown and tiara? Well, you should!
And here is the finished product!!! Cant' wait to eat it with a hot cup of coffee on Easter morning!
Happy Easter!
The rest of our Easter Menu this year includes many of our family favorites. The harvest potatoes are an old family recipe from my husband's family. They are sometimes referred to as Funeral Potatoes but I much prefer their name. My husband's Aunt Jan has to bring two giant pans of them because the family loves them so much! My grandparents fell in love with President Reagan's macaroni and cheese recipe. My grandpa made it so much that he didn't have to use the recipe. Along with the Italian Easter bread my mom always made the best french coffee cake for Easter morning. She found the recipe a long time ago in a magazine. We have just recently added Sigrid's carrot cake to the menu in the past couple of years. Instead of making it in a sheet or bundt pan, I like to make it as a two layer 8 inch cake. Instead of mixing the pecan pieces into the cream cheese frosting I like to coat the sides of the iced cake with them and add nice big rosettes of cream cheese to the top. This makes for a really pretty presentation! Finally, one of my brothers brought the Secret Ingredient Honey Garlic Roasted Carrots and they were amazing and pretty too!! Everyone loved them, especially the kids. They are definitely going to be on the menu every year.
The last step was drizzling the bread with a powdered sugar glaze and then topping with sprinkles. Doesn't everyone bake in their Frozen nightgown and tiara? Well, you should!
And here is the finished product!!! Cant' wait to eat it with a hot cup of coffee on Easter morning!
Happy Easter!
The rest of our Easter Menu this year includes many of our family favorites. The harvest potatoes are an old family recipe from my husband's family. They are sometimes referred to as Funeral Potatoes but I much prefer their name. My husband's Aunt Jan has to bring two giant pans of them because the family loves them so much! My grandparents fell in love with President Reagan's macaroni and cheese recipe. My grandpa made it so much that he didn't have to use the recipe. Along with the Italian Easter bread my mom always made the best french coffee cake for Easter morning. She found the recipe a long time ago in a magazine. We have just recently added Sigrid's carrot cake to the menu in the past couple of years. Instead of making it in a sheet or bundt pan, I like to make it as a two layer 8 inch cake. Instead of mixing the pecan pieces into the cream cheese frosting I like to coat the sides of the iced cake with them and add nice big rosettes of cream cheese to the top. This makes for a really pretty presentation! Finally, one of my brothers brought the Secret Ingredient Honey Garlic Roasted Carrots and they were amazing and pretty too!! Everyone loved them, especially the kids. They are definitely going to be on the menu every year.
Pulled Smoked Ham
Deviled Eggs
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| The French Chocolate Coffee Cake is so delicious! Love the chocolate, sugar and cinnamon mixture in the center! |
Happy Easter!
Do you have a family recipe you make every Easter?
We would love to hear about it in the comments below!
Won't you share some tidbits with us!
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