Ham, Eggs and Cheese...OH, MY!

Homemade Pie Crust is the base for our Ham Pie... Watch the video below to see how it's done!

What a happy day for all of us here at Termini’s.  Our Easter products hit the stores today, meaning Easter season is finally upon us!  Easter is one of our favorite times of the year, and is host to some of our longest held and most beloved traditions.  In recent years, we’ve added a few items to our Easter Menu, but all of them still hold emotional and historical significance to us.

Today, the kitchen has been rife with the scent of our amazing Italian Easter Ham Pie (also known as pizzagaina, pronounced  “pizza jay-nuh”), so we thought we’d tell you a little more about the history of this relatively new addition to our Easter line-up.  Pizzagaina is a traditional Easter dish for people from the Abruzzo region of Italy.  The pie consists of layers of ham and other pork meats, eggs and cheese in a sweetened bread shell, and is only made once a year to celebrate Easter.  The dish is made in celebration of the Resurrection and commemorates the end of Lent with a rich combination of meats and cheeses, items that are generally prohibited during the Lenten season.

Meat after being ground...watch the video above!

One of several kinds of meat that goes in the pie!

Regardless of your nationality or religious affiliations, we invite you to try this celebratory dish in the presence of friends and family during this joyful time of year.

Wishing you all our best,

Termini Brothers Bakery

Cupcakes!!

Last week, Termini Brothers Bakery had an important mission. 

The players: Retail Operations Manager Alyssa Phipps, Decorator Nick Fossell and Joey Termini.

The mission: A cupcake decorating lesson

The targets: 48 cupcake-loving 4^th graders

The team headed off to Waldron Mercy Academy at 1300h on Wednesday afternoon. 

When they arrived, the kids could not have been more excited! 

When asked about the event, Alyssa said, “Those kids were SO HAPPY!  I mean, they had buttercream, sprinkles, chocolate chips, candies, the whole nine yards… One kid had his cupcake topped with what must’ve been 6 inches worth of toppings.  It defied gravity it was so tall!”

Nick said, “Some of those kids were actually pretty good!!  I told them to come see me in the kitchen when they’re old enough to get a job!”

Joey’s response: “What better way to spend an afternoon?  Getting to hang out with a bunch of great kids, do what I like to do best and give back to the community all at the same time?  It just doesn’t get any better than that.”

The students of Waldron Mercy Academy reminded us all of what is most important to our business and community: our children.

 

Mission accomplished.

In Full Bloom

Long sheets of dough are cut into pieces

We’ve got Easter on the brain here at Termini’s. We just finished creating the crusts for our Easter Pies, and we couldn’t be more excited. As many of you know, Easter is a special celebration for us, and special celebrations deserve special treats!

The sheets are then folded

One of our four Easter Pies is the traditional Neopolitan Pastiera, one of our most beloved and time-honored creations. If you’ve never tried it, Pastiera is made with a mixture of eggs, ricotta cheese, sweetened wheat and citron in a pie crust. These ingredients are not only a delicious combination, but they also hold historical and emotional significance. Wheat seeds, which lay dormant through the cold months and bloom in the spring, are seen as symbolic of life and rebirth. Citrus fruits, which prior to modern farming methods only grew after the frosts faded, represent the beginning of spring. Eggs, which have strong roots for Easter, were originally gifted as reminders of the Resurrection. Ricotta, a rich dairy product, was included to celebrate the end of the Lenten season. And if that weren't enough, these pies require several days to make, meaning that it’s a true labor of love. For us, this truly is *the* Easter Pie.

Getting ready for the pie tin

Next time you’re in the neighborhood of our Flagship 8th St location, we invite you to come visit us in the kitchen and possibly see the making of this remarkable confection. We’ll be taking orders for Easter Pies immediately, and our Easter line will be in the stores starting on March 30th, so give us a call or stop by the store if you’d like to serve some Pastiera to your loved ones. Until next time, from our family to yours, molte grazie for all of your support. We can’t wait to see you again!

The dough is hand-molded into the tins

Termini Brothers Bakery

All ready to get some tasty filling!  We'll show you the finished product next week...

St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's

My, oh my!  What a weekend here on 8^th St!!!  First we had Saint Patrick’s Day on Saturday, and then the South Philly St Joseph’s Day Festival on Monday.  We had so much fun tapping our toes to the Bravissimo Band’s live music and visiting with all of our wonderful patrons that we just can’t stop smiling.  Thanks to all of you who helped us celebrate.

Shamrock Cookies: Mint Chocolate Chip

Irish Potatoes

The Zeppole went quickly!!

While the Irish potatoes, Shamrock cookies and Zeppole are gone until next year, we’ve got a lot of exciting things coming up.  Easter specialties are now under production, so you can look forward to something new.  We’ll be offering four Easter Pies (including our time-honored Pastiera and our relatively new Ham Pie), special Easter bread (some are even shaped like Easter bunnies!), two Easter themed cakes (Lambs, Bunnies and Eggs galore!) and our special Hamintash cookie baskets.

Our cabinets were decorated in traditional red for St. Joseph's

Stop by soon so we can see how you’re doing, offer you a sample of something new, and take you on a tour of our kitchen!  Until then, take care of yourselves and your families; you’re always in our hearts and minds. 

Thank you for helping us to celebrate and remember Mr. Joe  

We’re sending you all our best,

The Termini Brothers Team

Thank You

Family and Friends,

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for voting us 2012 South Philly Review Readers’ Choice Awards winners in TWO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES!!!  The results just came in, and Termini Brothers Bakery won both Best Cannoli and Best Cookies award.  We are truly humbled by your support.

Award-Winning Cannoli!

Award-Winning Cookies!

We must also offer our thanks to our forefathers, Giuseppe and Gaetano, for without their vision we wouldn’t be who or where we are now.  Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Termini for continuing the tradition and giving us the knowledge and values that we strive so hard to uphold every day.

Mr. Joe

Three Generations

The honor of winning this award only makes us want to work harder to continue to be a part of your lives and family traditions.  We pledge to continue to adhere to our legacy of hard work, commitment to product quality and exceptional customer service.  If there is anything we can do to improve your experience, please, tell us; we’re listening!  You are our lifeblood and our reason, and we celebrate you daily.

 

Joseph and Vincent Jr.

With love and gratitude, 

Termini Brothers Bakery 

The Termini Brothers Team

Spring is Here!

Daylight Savings Time is a lovely holiday, perhaps one of the least celebrated but best loved by all of us who work indoors all day… What a wonderful surprise to leave the office and still have a bit of sunshine to spare!  Oh, Spring!  You’re finally on the way!!


Zeppole dough waiting for the fryer

What you may not know is that Daylight Savings Time also signifies that zeppole are frying away in the Termini Brothers kitchen.  These tasty little treasures are of special significance to all of us here at Termini's; the recipe was brought here by the first Joseph Termini from Enna, Sicily and has been a closely guarded family secret ever since.  If you haven’t yet tried this pastry, it’s worth your time to sample.  A fluffy, golden and beautifully swirled morsel of twice-fried egg dough is filled either with our ricotta and chocolate chip mixture or with vanilla Italian pastry cream, then topped with a candied cherry.

Frying away in Mr. Joe's original fryer!

The zeppole are traditionally made to celebrate St. Joseph’s Day, patron saint of Italy and all those named Joseph, among other things.   Interestingly enough, St. Joseph’s Day is also Father’s Day in Italy, so if you have a special fellow in your life—Father, Brother, Uncle or Husband—stop in to get him a little treat to celebrate him!

Getting filled

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, know that we here at Termini Brothers are looking forward to your next visit.  Until then, enjoy the daffodils and sunshine!



Happy St. Joseph's Day!!!