This week marks the second anniversary of my mom's passing. I think about her every day and now I'm planning a "Mom" trip to Italy where I will visit all of our favorite places -- and maybe a few of my own.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declared 2013 to be "The Year of Italian Culture in the United States." Italian culture revolves around beauty, love, passion and sensuality -- all things that feed the body and the soul.
A new Renaissance is exactly what we need, and are relentlessly trying to start, in Italy and in Europe, together with our American ally, to boost shared and sustainable growth and prosperity.
When you think about Italian food, the first foods that spring to mind might be pizza, pasta, Parmesan, or gelato, coffee and maybe even bread and olive oil.
Pan dei Morti, or Bread of the Dead, are fabulous cookies, dark, moist, very dense and chewy that appear much too briefly in Italian bakeries during the autumn season.