Carnevale actually begins after Christmas Day for many of the Italian provinces. This year March 8th is the last day before Lent... Fat Tuesday March 8th

This link will show Italian recipes for different regions and festivals that we Italians and Italian-Americans celebrate.

Italians love fried sweets, fritters, frappe and castagnole.

Recipe for Frappe (also called Chiacchiere):

If you feel adventurous...

Mix

 - about 1/2 pound of all purpose flour with about 2 ounces of melted butter, 1 whole egg and 1 yolk, 3 ounces of sugar and a pinch of salt,

 - then roll out the dough so obtained into a very thin sheet.

(But if you don't want to go through all that, buy regular puff pastry in sheets already made.)

Either way,

- cut the sheet it into strips of about 1 by 3 inches long, keeping the cut slanted so that they take the shape of an irregular long diamond .

- Fry them in a pan with abundant hot vegetable oil until golden,

 - let them rest on paper towels to absorb the excess oil

- and then place them on a large plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Recipe for Castagnole:

 - Mix 1/2 pound of flour, 2 ounces of melted butter, 2 eggs, 4 tbl spoons of sugar and 1 tbl spoon of brandy or cognac (optional).

 - Heat up abundant frying oil in a pan but don't let it burn.

 - With a spoon take some of the dough and using your finger let it drop into the hot oil so that it will take the shape of a little ball.

- Fry until golden brown all around,

- Let dry on paper towels, place over a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.