One of the nicest Italian rituals I continue to observe  is the “Sunday visit.”  The idea of the Sunday visit is centered on spending time with your family and friends, maybe consuming an espresso or aperitif, and celebrating a leisurely day without work or obligations.  I was exposed to the Sunday visit early on at my grandparent’s home, where we […]

I’ve always been interested in language and partly because I grew up speaking two languages at home. Specifically, I speak a southern Italian dialect from the Bagnara Calabra region of Calabria and, of course, English.  My mother tells an interesting story of the local kindergarten teacher in New Jersey wanting to send me back home on the first day of […]

(photo: grapes ready to be crushed) Late September is one of my favorite times of the year here in Northern New Jersey.  The temperature and humidity dip, leaves begin to change color, and I begin to relish my days spent outdoors in the sun and cool air (it’s amazing what happens to one’s sense of appreciation when certain things won’t […]

Hello everyone!  Just a simple post today with some items from our New Jersey garden: (photos: close up of a red, mission, fig)   (photo: red, mission, fig cut in half)   (photo: the red fig)   (photo: cucumber) (photo: eggplant) (photo: basil)

The year was 1997 and I was a college junior applying for a prestigious fellowship for first generation college students.  The fellowship provided funds and a mentor to guide and prepare students for graduate work in the humanities and sciences.  The fellowship had strict academic and social-economic requirements.  On the socio-economic side, students were expected to be first generation college […]

(photo: Tripolini close up) The Northeast saw a monster wind and rain storm over the weekend with many downed trees and electrical lines.  Some of our neighbors in NJ also lost water pressure.  Luckily our home was spared and we didn’t see any crashing white pine, sycamore, or silver maple, as was the case a couple of years ago when […]

(photo: notice the natural mold on the exterior of the Creminelli product; this mold imparts lots of taste on meat and also prevents it from drying out, along with the casing) There are certain items or products that are immediately associated with a given country, for example: ice hockey and Canada, beer and Germany, haute cuisine and France, hot dogs […]

Fresh Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe Growing up in New Jersey I was surrounded by people from all over the world; on my block alone I remember families from Italy, Egypt, Lebanon, England, Spain, etc.; needless to say, the aroma of food hovered on our small block like haze hovers over Los Angles. One of my favorite food smells came from my […]

Photo: Hadley, MA I’ve always had romantic notions about living in the country.  I’ve dreamed of waking up early and going for long walks and surveying the many acres on my “property” ; maybe encountering wild life and foraging for wild mushrooms (just like Mayle’s book, “A Year in Provence”).  I would certainly take refuge in the fact that I could […]

Sport has always been part of my life; partly because of genetics yet mostly because of the hyperactive friends I made growing up in 1980/90’s New Jersey. As a young kid, I played on our suburban block until dusk and only came in for dinner after my mother unleashed her fiery call: “il pranzo è pronto!”  As a 13 year […]