Pasta alla Carrettiera, or Cart Drivers’ Pasta, was a dish mentioned in my book. When a friend asked me about it, I figured I would share what I found here. To be honest, I’d never heard of this dish before. But it caught my attention during my research when I discovered that my great-grandfather’s occupation […]
Month: May 2025
Making Tigelle: A Taste of My Italian Heritage
Of my four grandparents, all who immigrated from Italy to the USA, three of them came as young children. They attended school in New York and fully assimilated to their new country. They only spoke English around their children, so my parents didn’t speak Italian. My paternal grandmother had a Brooklyn accent so thick, you […]
Honoring Mothers Through Fiction and Faith
When I started my novel, Emerging From Etna’s Shadow, it was supposed to be about my grandmother. I didn’t know much about her, so the project was always destined to be historical fiction. As I started writing, something unexpected happened: the characters took over. They guided me away from my initial plan, pulling me deeper […]
Blessed Salt & Narthex
When I was writing Emerging From Etna’s Shadow, , I wanted to ensure it was as historically accurate as possible. I pored over historical records and old newspapers to bring 1895 Sicily to life. But I also delved into the Catholic Church’s pre-Vatican II customs to ensure every detail felt authentic. A friend recently asked […]