Volume 19, No. 48

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NEWSLETTER FEATURES

What’s So Great about the Italian Piazza on New Year’s Eve and Everyday
Nowhere in the world is a space dedicated solely to people watching so revered and worshipped as in Italy. In the United States, we have nothing that comes close to a piazza. There is no place to just sit and be. A piazza in Italy is home base for a town, where neighbors gather to debate the issues of the day (from Italy’s place in the economic crisis to whether the town should invest in new soccer jerseys), gossip (mostly about who is sleeping with who), judge, entertain, and see and be seen.

New Year Brings Nostalgic Memories For The Past
Like most of us, I’ve had plenty of time to say good-bye to the passing year- to decide what I’ll miss most about it and to brace myself for the coming new year.

Share a Photo, Recipe, Story or Tradition
Italy is a wonderful and magnificent country filled with traditions, stories, incredible food and breath taking views. With your help Italiansrus.com can help show the world just what Italy has to offer. There are four ways you can help so just select one of the choices and you will be presented with guidelines and a form you can use to contact me about your submission.

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Molto Italiano featured item:

American with Italian Roots

Show your pride for America and Italy with this awesome design representing both nationalities. Choose from and over 50 products as you shop from home with the comfort of knowing that your order is backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. This 30-Day Guarantee gives you plenty of time to check items for color, high-quality, and size for yourself, family and friends.
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MOLTO ITALIANO FEATURES

* Photo of the Week
Castello Estense

The Castello Estense is not really on fire, but the picture does give you the impression that it is. This is the aftermath of a firework display by the city of Ferrara to celebrate the New Year.

* Proverb
Amico di tutti e di nessuno è tutt’uno.

* Recipe
Here is a great recipe for fennel salad.

 

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FEATURED PARTNER
Italian Clothing & Novelties
Proudly display the colors of Italy with these great products. There are over 100 different designs to choose from and over 50 products per design. Shop from home with the comfort of knowing that your order is backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. This 30-Day Guarantee gives you plenty of time to check items for color, high-quality, and size for yourself, family and friends.

Volume 19, No. 47

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NEWSLETTER FEATURES

The Christmas Eve Dinner
One of the big mysteries surrounding Christmas Eve has to do with dinner and the significance of the number of fish dishes prepared. Many people have asked me why do we have seven different fish dishes? To be honest I never knew why myself. Every Christmas Eve I can remember smelling the various fishes as my Mother prepared them. I never knew why we had to prepare so many I just knew that this meal had to consist of dishes that did not contain any meat and the number of fishes prepared had to be seven.

12 Days of Christmas for Italians
While we Americans are toiling at the office or wherever it is that we work during the holiday season, Italians are taking it easy. Most of them have off from Christmas Eve until the Epiphany on Jan. 6. Much of Europe celebrates the holiday through the “12 Days of Christmas.” The song isn’t just about some make-believe, fantasy world where the holidays lasts and lasts. With that in mind, I set out to write my own 12 days of Christmas for Italians.

Family Traditions Burn Brightly With The Lighting of the Christmas Tree
The one change I’ve noticed most this year is the scarcity of Christmas tree lots. Today, most folks just pick up a tree at the local pharmacy, department or grocery store. Things were different when I was a kid. You couldn’t throw a stone this time of year without it landing near a vacant lot that had been converted for the holidays into a forest of freshly cut pines, green trees in all sizes, shapes and heights, sold in a variety of prices from 50 cents to 75 cents a foot.

Share a Photo, Recipe, Story or Tradition
Italy is a wonderful and magnificent country filled with traditions, stories, incredible food and breath taking views. With your help Italiansrus.com can help show the world just what Italy has to offer. There are four ways you can help so just select one of the choices and you will be presented with guidelines and a form you can use to contact me about your submission.

_________________________________________________________________________

Molto Italiano featured item:

Buon Natale Greeting Cards

If you are looking for Italian Christmas cards to send to your friends and family here are five different designs to choose from. Greeting cards come in a package of 10, 20 or you can just purchase one. Each includes the saying Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo.
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MOLTO ITALIANO FEATURES

* Photo of the Week
Christmas in Milan

A street in Milan decorated for Christmas.

* Proverb
Al bisogno si conosce l’amico.

* Recipe
Here is a great recipe for pesce a la padella.

 

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FEATURED PARTNER
Italian Clothing & Novelties
Proudly display the colors of Italy with these great products. There are over 100 different designs to choose from and over 50 products per design. Shop from home with the comfort of knowing that your order is backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. This 30-Day Guarantee gives you plenty of time to check items for color, high-quality, and size for yourself, family and friends.

Volume 19, No. 46

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NEWSLETTER FEATURES

‘Tis the Season for Tombola
Italy is all fun and games during the holiday season. The country’s decorations are far more subdued and serious than those you might see in the United States. It’s all nativity scenes and gold stars with few trees and lights. But in homes across the country, the people come together to laugh, eat, drink – and gamble. It’s not what you think. Sometimes they’re playing for beans or one or two euro (which are coins in Italy). They are playing Tombola or the Italian version of bingo.

Panettone
During the Christmas season panettone is a staple that you will find in any Italian home. Panettone originated in the town of Milan and is a symbol of the city.

The Italian Ceppo
The ceppo is a yule log burned in the fireplace or a pyramid shaped structure made of wood and often called the tree of light. Just what is the significance behind this Italian tradition?

Share a Photo, Recipe, Story or Tradition
Italy is a wonderful and magnificent country filled with traditions, stories, incredible food and breath taking views. With your help Italiansrus.com can help show the world just what Italy has to offer. There are four ways you can help so just select one of the choices and you will be presented with guidelines and a form you can use to contact me about your submission.

_________________________________________________________________________

Molto Italiano featured item:

Buon Natale Greeting Cards

If you are looking for Italian Christmas cards to send to your friends and family here are five different designs to choose from. Greeting cards come in a package of 10, 20 or you can just purchase one. Each includes the saying Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo.
_________________________________________________________________________

MOLTO ITALIANO FEATURES

* Photo of the Week
Cisterna

The well located at the Piazza della Cisterna in the medieval town of San Gimignano, Tuscany. As you can see it is a popular gathering place for people.

* Proverb
Tal padre, tal figlio.

* Recipe
Here is a great recipe for baccalà salad.

 

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FEATURED PARTNER
Italian Clothing & Novelties
Proudly display the colors of Italy with these great products. There are over 100 different designs to choose from and over 50 products per design. Shop from home with the comfort of knowing that your order is backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. This 30-Day Guarantee gives you plenty of time to check items for color, high-quality, and size for yourself, family and friends.

Volume 19, No. 45

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NEWSLETTER FEATURES

Santa Lucia
As legend states in the city of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, a child by the name of Lucia was born in the year 283 to a wealthy Sicilian family. As she grew older she choose to live her life like that of St. Agatha, who was a revered saint in a nearby town. With that she vowed to remain a virgin and give her possessions to the poor and needy.

Find Faith in Italian Nativity Scenes
Clearly, I need something to believe in, and I’m missing the holiday season in Italy, which is as much a celebration of hope as it is Jesus’ birthday. And just what is the ultimate symbol of Italy’s bright-eyed optimism at this time of year? The presepio or nativity scene. Others have their Christmas trees, but nothing compares to the masterpiece crèches for which Italians are famous.

Castagne
When many people think of chestnuts the first thing that comes to mind is the verse Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Many people don’t realize how important this food crop has been throughout history.

Share a Photo, Recipe, Story or Tradition
Italy is a wonderful and magnificent country filled with traditions, stories, incredible food and breath taking views. With your help Italiansrus.com can help show the world just what Italy has to offer. There are four ways you can help so just select one of the choices and you will be presented with guidelines and a form you can use to contact me about your submission.

_________________________________________________________________________

Molto Italiano featured item:

Buon Natale Greeting Cards

If you are looking for Italian Christmas cards to send to your friends and family here are five different designs to choose from. Greeting cards come in a package of 10, 20 or you can just purchase one. Each includes the saying Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo.
_________________________________________________________________________

MOLTO ITALIANO FEATURES

* Photo of the Week
Minni ri Virgini

These are called “Minni ri Virgini,” which means breast of the Virgin. This is a must desert when you go to Sambuca. The bar Caruso has them and the pastry shop near the church called Pendola.

* Proverb
I geni s’incontrano.

* Recipe
Here is a great recipe for olive bread.

 

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FEATURED PARTNER
Italian Clothing & Novelties
Proudly display the colors of Italy with these great products. There are over 100 different designs to choose from and over 50 products per design. Shop from home with the comfort of knowing that your order is backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. This 30-Day Guarantee gives you plenty of time to check items for color, high-quality, and size for yourself, family and friends.

Volume 19, No. 44

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NEWSLETTER FEATURES

Lighting of the Christmas Tree
One of the things I love about Italy is the different and unique traditions they do throughout the year and in particular during various holidays. One tradition that takes place during the Christmas season is the lighting of the Christmas tree in the city of Gubbio, Umbria.

Manarola’s Illuminated Presepe
An enduring tradition that has been a part of the Christmas season in Italy is the beautiful nativity scenes (presepio) that decorate homes and towns throughout Italy. Over the years these scenes have expanded to include more than just the Holy Family and the three Wise Men. They can be elaborate works of art that depict entire villages. Of all the scenes throughout Italy the one in Manarola stands out and can be seen for miles.

Share a Photo, Recipe, Story or Tradition
Italy is a wonderful and magnificent country filled with traditions, stories, incredible food and breath taking views. With your help Italiansrus.com can help show the world just what Italy has to offer. There are four ways you can help so just select one of the choices and you will be presented with guidelines and a form you can use to contact me about your submission.

_________________________________________________________________________

Molto Italiano featured item:

Buon Natale Greeting Cards

If you are looking for Italian Christmas cards to send to your friends and family here are five different designs to choose from. Greeting cards come in a package of 10, 20 or you can just purchase one. Each includes the saying Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo.
_________________________________________________________________________

MOLTO ITALIANO FEATURES

* Photo of the Week
The Adoration of the Shepherds

This painting is titled The Adoration of the Shepherds. It was created by Giacomo del Po and it is located on the wall of St. Michael’s Church in Capri.

* Proverb
Con nulla non si fa nulla.

* Recipe
Here is a great recipe for pasta al tonno.

 

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FEATURED PARTNER
Italian Clothing & Novelties
Proudly display the colors of Italy with these great products. There are over 100 different designs to choose from and over 50 products per design. Shop from home with the comfort of knowing that your order is backed by a 100% Money Back Guarantee. This 30-Day Guarantee gives you plenty of time to check items for color, high-quality, and size for yourself, family and friends.