Easter

Altamura, April 2011 Hello Dear Friends, How are you? We are fine. Fortunately it is spring! We can stay with our friends till late in the evening because the days are longer. In some days it will be Easter!! There will be some holidays at school. Only six days, but they are enough to enjoy it. During this period one of our most important tradition is that to give chocolate eggs, called Easter eggs, as presents. You always find a little surprise in them. Mostly young children are found of that tradition. What about your traditions? All our traditions begin on Palm Sunday. In the morning we go to the church for the blessing of the palms: they symbolise peace and it is important to exchange them with everyone. During the holy week there are many religious services, the most well known is the Way of the Cross on good Friday. Even at Easter time there are traditional cakes such as: “ I taralli” made with eggs and covered with icing; “le scarcelle”, that are cakes of different shapes: horses, hens, bells, puppets, baskets with some eggs in the middle. Grandparents give these cakes as presents to their grandchildren. Everyone goes to the church on Easter morning…and then the BIG LUNCH!!!! Hors- d‟oeuvre, salted meat, salame, olives, mozzarella cheese. Then the main course: “orecchiette with mushrooms, lasaghe al forno, crepes, cannelloni.

Roast lamb with salade and roast potatoes. Many kind of fruit and dessert. Typical is the “Dove” an Italian Easter –cake in form of a dove and the chocolate eggs. The “spumante” is the common drink together with orange juice, wine, coca cola for children. On Easter Monday people go out, to the country or to the seaside. It is the day dedicated to the amusement. Sometimes it rains, but people go out at the same to be respectful of tradition. Maybe in your town there are the same traditions. We wish you a very good time, Happy Easter!! A lot of kisses from the students of „Padre Pio‟ school - Altamura

Scarcelle This typical Easter cake has more than one shape: doves, rings, horses. It shows the creativity of the maker. Ingredients - White flour - Eggs - Olive oil - Sugar / salt - Milk - Lemon-peel Mix all the ingredients. Knead the mixture on your work table to obtain a soft dough. Roll out the dough and cut it in pieces. Put in the middle of them one egg and give them the shape you like. Bake the scarcelle at 180°C.for 25 minutes. Eat them when they are cold.