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By CAMILLE BELOLAN Times Leader Correspondent
Wednesday, April 19, 2000     Page: 1D

Jennie Allegretto denies it, but she still rules the roost when it comes to
preparing Easter pies.
   
Allegretto, who is 94, said that this year she would “try” to help make
the egg, ham, sausage and cheese pies to sell at son-in-law Carmen DeLese’s
bakery, located at 37 E. Broad St., Hazleton.
    But her daughter Marie DeLese sees things differently.
   
“She’s being modest. Last year, she had her hand in every pie. She’s the
official taster. She makes sure the dough is right,” she says of her mother,
who doesn’t look a day over 80.
   
And this is no ordinary pie crust either.
   
The dough is rich with eggs and brushed with an egg wash before baking to
impart a golden-brown color.
   
“It’s not pie dough. It’s thicker and heavier,” says Marie DeLese.
   

   
The 10-inch, deep-dish pies, an Italian delicacy most often enjoyed at
Easter time, sell for $24.95 and must be special ordered. They’re “on the
shelf” about 12 days before the holiday, says Ann Marie DeLese, one of
Jennie’s 23 grandchildren and manager of the bakery.
   
To keep up with the pie orders, which are also taken at Carmen’s Bakery
kiosk in the Laurel Mall, Ann Marie, along with Allegretto, Marie DeLese,
Cathy Kutchie (another of Jennie’s grandchildren), baker Vasa Marjoncu and his
wife, Jeannine, have several pie-making sessions before the final pickups on
Holy Saturday. Last year they sold 165 pies to eager customers.
   
“They even come from out of town to pick them up. Every year it grows,”
Marie DeLese says.
   
For those who must watch their fat and cholesterol intake, moderation is
the key to enjoying the pie, which is similar to French quiche but much
heartier.
   
“You take a smaller piece and that’s it,” Marie says. However, she adds
that having a glimpse of the pie can make it hard to eat just one serving.
   
“Once the pie is there, you see it, you want a piece,” she says.
   
Easter pie can be enjoyed at any time of the day, say these experts, but
all agree that it wouldn’t be prudent to snack on a large slice shortly before
sitting down to dinner.
   
“You eat a piece of that, you’re full,” says Allegretto. She adds that an
Easter pie can even pinch-hit for a well-rounded meal on its own because
“it’s got everything in it.”
   
The pies must be refrigerated and are most often eaten cold. They are
prepared using a family recipe, which was taught to Allegretto by her
mother-in-law during the 1920s. Variations of the pie do exist; some people
use wheat, rice and even cherries. But Allegretto likes her method best, says
Marie.
   
Allegretto notes she was just 12 when her own mother died, leaving most of
the cooking and cleaning chores to her. “You grow up real fast,” she says of
those difficult days.
   
When her son-in-law first started selling the pies, Allegretto made them at
her home. She says that even now, she would like “to do more,” to help the
pie making marathon along but can’t because of her age.
   
Still, the deeply ingrained work ethic prevails. “I do a little bit. Sit
down. Do a little bit. That’s how I do my work,” says Allegretto.
   
Carmen’s Bakery can be reached at 455-3700.