This article originally appeared in the December 2020/January 2021 issue of Dream of Italy. My first visit to Basilicata in southern Italy was to see where my grandmother’s family came from. My husband, Bryan and I, along with my mom and sister, stood at the high-altitude town awestruck by the beauty that surrounded us. On a subsequent visit I found family members, …
Polenta: A Poor Food That Endures (December 2020/January 2021)
This article originally appeared in the December 2020/January 2021 issue of Dream of Italy. You probably don’t think of corn among Italian food ingredients unless the subject of polenta, a cornmeal porridge, comes up. Even then, Italian cornmeal is generally associated with the northern part of the country. Yet there is a long history of corn cultivation in central Italy. …
Italy Is The Answer: A Love Letter
This article originally appeared in the December 2020/January 2021 issue of Dream of Italy. Italy is the answer. I’m sure of it. You may be too. What’s the question you ask? I don’t even know if you need to pose one to know Italy is truly the answer. But let’s play along, Maybe… What is one word to summarize all that …
December 2020/January 2021: Italy Is The Answer
Italy Is the Answer Warmth. Connection. Beauty. Escape. Do any of those words evoke images of Italy in your mind? They do for Kathy McCabe, especially amid pandemic-related travel restrictions, when dreaming of Italy is especially bittersweet. Kathy reflects on the life experiences, big and small, that keep her coming back to Italy — and shares why Italy is, as …
Book Excerpt: Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
We will be joined by author Mark Sullivan on Facebook Live on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 to discuss his book Beneath a Scarlet Sky, an amazing WWII novel, based on a true story. You can purchase a copy here but first enjoy an excerpt: June 9, 1943 Milan, Italy Like all the pharaohs, emperors, and tyrants before him, Il Duce had seen …
Make Spectacular Italian Locations Your Photography Classroom
In his Italy Photography Workshops, Jeff Curto puts more than 30 years of professional photography and college-level photo teaching experience to work leading small (7 person maximum) groups to Tuscany, Umbria, Puglia, Sicily and other great Italian locations. Workshop participants return home with great photographs and unforgettable memories. Jeff says, “I think of these experiences as both cultural and photographic …
Recipe: Baccalà Fritto For Christmas Eve Seafood Dinner
Seafood is essential to the traditional, meatless Christmas Eve (La Vigilia) dinner in Italy. Chef Gianluca D’Esposito is well-known for the mouthwatering uber-fresh seafood dishes he whips up at Ristorante Michel’Angelo on the island of Capri. Chef Gianluca and his wife Holly joined us live for a wonder Italian Christmas Seafood virtual workshop. You can purchase the workshop here and …
Podcast Episode #9: Your Crowdsourced Italian Travel Dreams
Transcript with Show Notes Embedded: Geri Romeo: I’m Geri Romeo of Miami, Florida. When I dream of Italy, I dream of peeking down an alley on the island of Murano in Venice. “Ciao bella,” calls out a man to me, a beautiful man dressed in an exquisite blue suit. Yes, I know a good suit when I see one. The …
Recipe: Traditional Emilia-Romagna-Style Piadina
This recipe originally appeared in the article Piadina: Emilia-Romagna’s Daily Bread in the October/November 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. Makes 5 piadine Ingredients 4 cups of super fine flour 4 generous tablespoons lard 2 pinches of baking soda 1 ½ teaspoons of salt Directions Place the flour on a spacious flat kneading surface and create a small crater in the middle, …
Piadina: Emilia-Romagna’s Daily Bread (October/November 2020)
This article originally appeared in the October/November 2020 issue of Dream of Italy. My technical first encounter with the piadina tradition happened in a way that would make any red-blooded romagnolo wag his finger—and possibly tell me, rightfully so, that it didn’t really count. I was in Piedmont, of all places—specifically, just a few feet from Turin’s National Museum of Cinema—and …