"Una Mamma Italiana" is a column written by Tiffany Longo. Here you will find everything from recipes to crafts to humorous Italian commentary for other Italian mammas and the whole family!

Being Italian in America
Being Italian, there are a few unspoken rules that we would never dare to break. Don't buy jarred pasta sauce, pre-made lasagna is taboo, men don't move out of the house until their 35….you know, the really important life rules. Every Italian knows them, and any self respecting Italian lives by them. Unless, of course, we are trying to live in a world that is both Italian and American.

Christmas: Commercialized
This time of year can get pretty hectic. Everyone's getting ready for Christmas - the most wonderful time of the year! 'Tis the season to hit the malls and spend all the money you don't have on outlandish, impressive Christmas gifts (half of them for people you don't even care about). Am I right? Well, if I am, it's only a result of the commercialization of this joyous holiday.

Italian Connections
It's kind of like magic --- the way that any two people, from opposite sides of the world - that have NEVER met before - can somehow meet and feel as though they've known each other their entire lives. No, I'm not talking about soul mates or true love. I'm talking about a real, live paisano!

An Italian Love Story
Oftentimes, when times are tough, we fall into a mode of depression, assuming that things just can't get any worse. It is precisely in these moments that we must depend on family to get us through. In light of the difficult economic times our country faces, I engaged in a conversation with my grandmother, who went on to explain what hard times really meant. What I got out of our conversation was not only a valuable life lesson, but a tale of true love that tops any romantic Valentine's Day story in history.

Meatballs for Breakfast
The day my four year old son asked for meatballs for breakfast, I happily thought to myself, 'this boy's definitely got Italian blood running through his veins!' At this moment I realized the importance of passing on to my children the love of everything Italian.

Preserving the Family Meal
I could never imagine taking my great grandparents to a drive-thru for dinner. They would surely be coming after me with a wooden spoon. A burger and fries….or let me rephrase that - an order of grease - could never be dinner to them. After all, there was much more to dinner than just the food we were eating.

Re - discovering Columbus Day
This federal holiday has more to offer than we may think - it gives Italian families another excuse to celebrate our heritage. Since 1866, Italian-Americans have used Columbus Day to celebrate both America and our Italian passion for discovery. Today, these sentiments still exist, as do the Italian-Americans who feel them. It seems the only thing missing is the celebration. This places the responsibility (yet again) on the Italian-Americans of our generation to preserve our innate passion for life.

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