I Think This Has Now Become An Official Easter Tradition

I'm wondering of other families in the Hudson Valley share in this somewhat new tradition that my crazy-fam has established over the past few years...let me explain.

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Nobody Does Easter Bread Like Grandma Turco

To provide some background information, our Italian family grew up looking forward to grandma's famous Easter bread each holiday season. Unlike anything you could find in a store, it wasn't too sweet, was pretty dense (could use it as a door stopper) and we would toast it with butter each Easter morning as we opened our baskets.

These days, now that we're all grown up and 'responsible' for the baking, none of us have been able to recreate grandma's recipe, so we've had to resort to (gasp) buying the store-made ones. The past few years we haven't been able to find anything quite like grandma's around here, so we've made a day out of going down to the Bronx to get the goods for our 'Easter bread taste test....' along with a few hundred dollars worth of other finds on the Ave.

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Arthur Avenue Pre-Easter Family Voyage

You're certainly missing out on some good ol'fashion family-fun if your clan doesn't hop into the car together and take a mini-crusade into the Bronx during one of the busiest weeks of the year to get Easter bread and other Italian delicacies.

These days, we've reached the point of collecting lists from friends and family before we go, and loading the trunk full of everyone's Italian favorites to divvy up across the Hudson Valley.

Our stops this year included Casa Della Mozzarella for cheese, especially the one stuffed with prosciutto. Tietel Brothers for olives and stuffed peppers. Madonia Bakery for breads and Italian cookies. Morrone Pastry Shop for St. Joseph's pastry, more Easter-bread and other desserts, and then we were off to lunch at Mike's Deli.

Once back in Dutchess County, it was time to divide and label everyone's deliveries...

An afternoon well spent with plenty of laughs, crossed off checklists of everyone's Arthur Avenue picks, way too much Easter bread, and that 'I couldn't eat another bite' feeling in our stomachs. The invite stands if you want to join next year's adventure....unless you have your own family holiday-antics to share?

Now, while you're in the Bronx....