Maryann Serra was kind enough to contribute her recipe for Anise Cookies… Anise cookies are a popular tradition for Italians and other families around the world, especially during the holidays. This light fluffy cookie tastes much like licorice cake, so people who like the flavor licorice especially enjoy them. Making Italian anise cookies is fun and...

I found this article about wedding superstitions in a very unlikely place:  an American journal from 1906 called, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.  It was written by Memphis Scimiter… Wedding Superstitions The old rhyme that had to do with the days of the week still holds considerable power in the choice of the wedding day in some...

Emanuela wrote to me from Italy about how they eat chestnuts there in the fall.  She’s a teacher and they cook them at the school.  Here’s what she wrote: Hi Lisa, We eat chestnuts in November for autumn.  Grandfathers and their friends come to cook the chestnuts. (1st they need to have an x cut into...

Open Culture has a page of free language learning links covering 40 languages. Here are some of the languages you can find links for… Arabic, English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Finnish, Gaelic, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Maori, Norwegian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Swahili,...

My daughter’s class had a multicultural celebration recently where each kid interviewed a relative about a recipe that’s been handed down in the family.  My daughter interviewed my Mom about her manicotti recipe. Here’s part of what she learned: "Manicotti is from Italy, and it’s been in my family since 1810.  It was passed down from...

Candlemas is a Christian holiday that takes place on February 2nd each year. In France they eat crepes for Candlemas. Monique wrote, "…you have ‘la chandeleur – les crêpes’ for Candlemas.  From mid January till early February in stores they sell "crêpières" (flat, low frying pans to cook crêpes) and all the stuff necessary (or...

We’ve just released a new eBook for the Kindle – Italian Kids Songs and Rhymes. We’ve gathered over eighty Italian songs and rhymes, presented in their original language and with translations into English. Many have commentary sent to us by our correspondents around the world. It’s an ideal resource for teachers of the Italian language, parents...

  "January is named after the two-headed Roman god Janus, god of thresholds and beginnings… With his two heads he looks at the past and the future, behind and before… Which I guess is what we are all doing today." -Ernestine Shargool

Cuccìa is a dish made in some regions for Santa Lucia in Italy, especially in Sicily.  The word itself is Sicilian.  Cuccìa is typically made with wheat berries, ricotta and sugar. On Santa Lucia people eat a variety of dishes made with wheat berries.  It’s said that there was a famine in Sicily several centuries...

I’ve been corresponding with Gian Carlo Macchi who’s from Italy about foods eaten for Christmas and Santa Lucia in Italy and how they differ from food eaten by Italian Americans the US (I’m an Italian American).  We’ve also been discussing gift giving in both countries and greetings for the season.  These comparisons are interesting!  ...

Gian Carlo Macchi wrote to me about Santa Lucia in Italy.  He also shared these photos from the Santa Lucia celebration in Arzago d’Adda, Lombardy (about 30 km from Bergamo and 30 km from Milan).  Santa Lucia (St. Lucy) was born in Syracuse, Sicily around 283 and died in 303 AD. The myth is that...

Gian Carlo Macchi wrote about Christmas in Italy and how the one who brings presents to children differs from region to region.  Here’s his note: …About Christmas here in Italy I can add something. Traditionally, it is Gesù Bambino (the Child Jesus)* who gives gifts to children. But some places, for example in Bergamo (Northern Italy),...

Let happiness the guarded treasure be of the mind’s padlock, and true love be key. -from The Padlock (circa 1788) Love Padlocks can bee seen throughout much of Europe and other places around the world like Taiwan.  Peter wrote, "Couples put their names on a lock and then lock them onto some...

Pioggia is an Italian poem about rain by Giovanni Pascoli (1855 – 1912). Below you can listen to a recording, follow along in the original Italian and then read an English translation of the poem. First a note about the illustration, in English we say “It’s raining cats and dogs” when it’s raining very hard....