Not too long ago, I received an email in my inbox about ABC Italiano an Italian baby book by Sonya Caruso. I went to the website and immediately thought of my nephew (who is also our godson.) It didn’t take me long to buy a book for him and email the author telling her that [...]
When my parents were growing up in Calabria, they didn’t have much and when it came to cooking, nothing went to waste… especially since they grew up in large families (mom is one of 8 and dad is one of 6.) Many of the foods and recipes that they made came with them to the [...]
The last of the fresh black olives from California were still available this week, so we bought a few cases to cure for the holidays. These are colossal Sevillano Olives from Penna (some are almost prune size) and a little banged up, so I’m making them 2 ways. I’ll put the better olives under a [...]
It’s sometimes difficult to keep on top of your Italian language skills when you’re away from Italy, your family and others that speak Italian. I find that listening to music and reading are a big help… especially if you enjoy it. Here’s a song from Alex Britti called “Piove” that I like. Hope you enjoy [...]
So I managed to wipe out my entire hard drive last week… to add insult to injury, I have a back-up drive but never got around to hooking it up. All my photos (that I didn’t upload to snapfish) including some of the “fantastic photos” I had yet to post (sorry) and much much more. [...]
Italians like to make way too much food. Have you ever been to an Italian wedding or baptism or holiday dinner or any Italian occasion where food is served… and left hungry? My mother always worries that there won’t be enough food…
Me: What did you make?
Mom: I made some soup, a few pounds of pasta, [...]
I can fondly remember sitting with my mother and snapping the ends off green beans fresh from the garden when I was a kid, so yesterday when I was visiting my parent’s I picked the first green beans of the season and took them home, sat in the backyard and snapped away.
One of my favorite [...]
Little shops like the one in the photo Jady sent me below have a romantic feel to them don’t they? It makes me smile to see all the colors, fresh (probably local) products and down to earth owners that live in the community and care about their business and customers. There’s also a beauty in [...]
Italians like crusty bread and the end piece of a good loaf of bread. There is always a battle for the end piece (la tozza) in my house. I used to laugh when I would hear “PB and J with the crust cut off” … cut the crust off? why would you do that? I [...]
If there’s one thing that Italians have a lot of it’s proverbs… one pops up in pretty much every conversation I have with my parents or any other relative in my family. We all have our favorites and here are a few of mine:
When my mother makes a salad she’ll say (in Calabrese of course): [...]