Cursed Recipe

Today is Palm Sunday-the Sunday before Easter. It is the start of Holy Week for the Christian Faith. I don't really go to church regularity, but I still acknowledge the holidays, of course. I grew up going to church every week, then went thru years where we didn't really go to church anymore, and then I started going again with my mom. When I joined the military, I loved going to church because it made the connection with home. No matter where I went to church, it was basically the same, with the same songs and prayers, and it felt comforting. I was married in the church, and we went all the time until we moved to Texas, and felt very uncomfortable in the church there. But in Crete, Greece, with two little girls, I was once again drawn back to the church for many years, until we moved back to Maryland, and really never went to church again on a regular basis. I will always have my faith though, no matter where I am, and I think, some day, I will feel that need to start going again.

So, with the start of Holy Week, it is also the one week of the year when I can make a special Italian Easter Dish, we all know better as Skutzel. This is a recipe passed down thru generations, and is said to be cursed for anyone who makes this dish outside of Holy Week. Don't ask me what would happen. No one in my family has dared to make it other than during this week. One sister tried to stretch it by thinking maybe it would be okay to make it on "Easter Monday," but we couldn't find positive assurance that Monday was part of Holy Week, so I don't think she made it that year. I even remember one year my dad was driving all over town on Easter Sunday looking for Ricotta cheese so my mom could make it that day. I made my Skutzel today. It is also known as Easter Pie. It is made of layers of cheese and eggs with pepperoni between, and baked in a really good crust. This is it with the first layer of cheese/eggs mixture in the crust:

Then I added the pepperoni, cheese, pepperoni, cheese, and the top crust, and it looked like this in the oven:

It bakes for an hour. The recipe itself is special because it was one my mom used that my Aunt Barb had typed out for her. It even says to call her with any questions, and told when she was home. And that Aunt Barb passed away in January of this year, so I was also thinking of her, and my mom and my dad as I made it today. I also thought of my daughters, two of which don't like Skutzel, and the one in Texas, who actually makes it herself now. I think she might have the recipe my mom wrote out for me. 

While my Skutzel baked, I finished making the duck I was doing for my grandson's first Easter. Here is a picture of it:

He turned out really cute. He has crinkly wings, and a round rattle in his belly. I want to mail out the things I got him for Easter tomorrow. I don't usually send the granddaughters anything for Easter. It may sound odd, but they are always in Cabo, Mexico at their time-share for Easter, and this year they leave on Friday to go there. I know they do things with their other grandparents, and it doesn't seem like such a big deal if they wouldn't even have whatever I would send them on Easter anyway. So that is one holiday I never get to share with them. 

So, now my Skutzel is done!

And, here it is cut so you can see the layers of pepperoni in it:

It really is yummy. I love taking it in my lunch. And I have some in the freezer just to be sure it doesn't go bad before we can eat it. I love traditions. They really mean a lot. And I love that I have a cursed recipe in my family. That would be an Italian curse, and you just don't mess with that!