Blogs

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A visit to Segesta–secondhand.

I have yet to visit Sicily, though a couple of my favorite books about Italy take place there. (See the book reviews here and here.) Today I’m sharing another writer’s experience visiting one of Sicily’s premier ancient sites, the Greek temple at Segesta.

The ancient Greek temple at Segesta. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The ancient Greek temple at Segesta. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Honestly, I just read about Segesta in another book yesterday. I was reading aloud to my mother as we sat in the car, waiting in line for a ferry across Puget Sound.

Then I saw that the Sicilian Housewife has a guest post about a visit to Segesta, along with wonderful photos. The journey to Segesta is as entertaining as the photos. So sit back and enjoy a mini trip to Sicily today! Just click here.

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Agrigento’s Almond Blossom Festival

Blossoming Almonds by Hungarian painter Tividar Kosztka Csontvary (1853-1919). Image in public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Blossoming Almonds by Hungarian painter Tividar Kosztka Csontvary (1853-1919). Image in public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Do festivals appeal to you? Agrigento’s Almond Blossom Festival is relatively new in Italian terms–only about 70 years of celebration so far. Many Italian festivals have several hundred years of history.

But even though the festival is young, the almond has been in Italy hundreds of years, since its introduction by the Arabs (who brought many other delicious foods with them, too). And the almond trees around Agrigento accent the city’s ancient Greek temples.

Temple of Concordia in Agrigento. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Temple of Concordia in Agrigento. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Debra Santangelo ofSicilian Connections has a blog post with great photos of the festival just now concluding, and from earlier years.

Of course, almond based foods accompany the celebrations, and here’s another link to a recipe for cassata, a Sicilian cake–and what a beauty!–from Manu’s Menu, a blog by Manuella whose Sicilian heritage figures heavily in her blog. The visual archive of recipes will make your mouth water.

Tell me, readers, you have a wide range of interests. What would have more appeal to you in Agrigento–the almonds or the temples? 

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Italian Christmas: Buon Natale!

Today I’m sharing a link to Walks of Italy’s blog, a great piece on Christmas traditions in Italy. Walks of Italy offers some interesting touring options, and custom walks for those with specific interests. I hope you enjoy this post, and wish you all a blessed holiday!

http://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/traditions-2/christmas-traditions-in-italy

Photo by Gino il Pio via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo by Gino il Pio via Wikimedia Commons.

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Looking for Italian roots?

I discovered an Italian genealogy research outfit today, and thought I’d share a link. Initially I emailed Cherrye at My Bella Vita about some research interests because I know she does Heritage Tours in southern Italy. She referred me to Roots in the Boot, and I was very excited to find their website and the services they offer.

You can find suggestions for research compiled on websites like Italiamia.com’s page about genealogy, and there’s a lot to learn at ItalianGenealogy.com.

Have you found useful websites for Italian family history? Please do share in the comments!

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My mouth is watering for tiella!

This week I confirmed that I will visit Gaeta in August and have some of their famous tiella. The photo above, from a Flavor of Italy blog, shows a few of the widely varied fillings used in tiella.

I found a recipe for tiella on Lidia’s Italy website, and it looks yummy! The recipe calls for escarole–something use more often in salads than in cooked dishes, which makes this recipe all the more intriguing to me.

When I go to Gaeta, I’ll be meeting Nicola Tarallo (aka Nico Rosso), author of the ebook Mangia Tiella! We’ve corresponded on Facebook before, and I’m looking forward to learning more about Gaeta from him, as well as trying some tiella at last.

Have any of you readers made, or eaten, tiella before? Please share!!

 

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Buona Pasqua, amichi!

Today I’m sharing the Sons of Italy blog post about the differences between Easter celebrations in Italy and the U.S.  I enjoyed it, and hope you will too.

And the illustration in that blog post, of the delighted child opening a Kinder Egg, prompts me to add this article about the recent decision to allow an ‘adapted’ form of Kinder Egg to be sold in America.

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Re-blog: Sheep kabobs!

Here’s a regional Italian food I’d like to try! We never eat mutton, on rare occasions eat lamb (which I love) so I am intrigued by the sheep-kabobs. Reblogged with permission. Thank you, Maple and Saffron! Check out their blog at http://mapleandsaffron.wordpress.com/

Here’s a regional Italian food I’d like to try! We never eat mutton, on rare occasions eat lamb (which I love) so I am intrigued by the sheep-kabobs. Reblogged with permission. Thank you, Maple and Saffron! Check out their blog at http://mapleandsaffron.wordpress.com/

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Re-blog: Italian Christmas traditions, the American way!

Christmas is in full swing where I live, and in most of the world where it is celebrated. Today I’m sharing another blog I found, and I’ll let “Una Mamma Italiana” tell you about her Christmas traditions:

http://unamammaitaliana.blogspot.com/2011/12/italian-christmas-advent-traditions.html

And now I’d like to hear what you do to give your Christmas an Italian touch. I’ve posted before about my family tradition of making torcetti, and will be doing that when my sister arrives from out of town. My daughter has already made hers, across the country. What about you? Please comment!

Christmas_postcard_from_Bressanone,_Bolzano,_Italy,_1931