Anyone who knows my passion to cook, especially Italian dishes, knows also of my heritage from Tuscany. You can’t get more Italian than having had a mother from Elba and a father from Lucca who became a noted restaurant chef during California’s heyday in San Francisco and Los Angeles. It’s one of the good things in my genes. But these Italians avoid Southern Italy, their famous limoncello...[Read More]
Blank so Long...
Over the past several months, I have yet to post in my blog any relevant words. The reason for this is that I have been embroiled in preparation for what might become my last trip to my fatherland. First I had to celebrate a birthday that so clearly defined me a senior citizen that it put me in a state of melancholy for weeks. Then came household property matters about new fire...[Read More]
When I find an article this worthwhile, I want to pass it on. This site is scientific, researched, referenced and trustworthy.
In my prior healthnaturally business for years we passed along similar information; I’m grateful they are now on-line....[Read More]
The magnificent Neptune Fountain in Piazza Signoria in Florence is on full view again after being covered for restoration for 2 years. The restoration project costing €1.5 million was funded by Salvatore Ferragamo.
The first public fountain in Florence, it was commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici in 1559 after a competition to chose a design. Baccio Bandinelli was chosen as the winner but he...[Read More]
Just outside Bologna, FICO is the world’s largest food park. Food from all over Italy is on display in a huge 100,000 square metre area that used to be a wholesale market in the 1980s....[Read More]
Like so many things in Italy, bread and cakes come by many names, especially if it is a holiday and then, it depends on what kind of holiday or occasion it might be. Of course the names and kinds of bread and cakes come with their own legends, traditions, cautions, and ingredients born from science, literature, ancient manuscripts or the simple competitiveness of the Italian people....[Read More]
Afar.com posted photos from Shutterstock of the remarkable yearly Poppy Show at Walker Canyon, Lake Elsinore, Ca. because this year the amount of auto and foot traffic from spectators “was unbearable”....[Read More]
FARM FRESH TO YOU is my go-to Organic CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture) supplier of fine organic fruits and vegetable to my door. Take a look at their website for easy to customize deliveries of local goods of all kinds, including farm fresh organic eggs, jams, honey, baby food, cereals, etc. etc. etc.–remarkable variety and quality....[Read More]
Dubbed "the house that kills", this 500 year old Venetian Gothic palace has claimed lives and repelled boatmen, boarders, renters, owners and potential owners like Woody Allen. Built for the aristocrat Giovanni Dario in 1479, the house then passed on to a long list of owners who were stabbed to death, murdered, or died by suicide or assassin...[Read More]
Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), aka All Saints Day, All Souls Day, is celebrated throughout the world, especially in Mexico, South America, the Caribbean and is associated with American Halloween....[Read More]
Betty is a California-based writer whose work explores local history, travel, food, and the people who shape community life. Her storytelling is rooted in curiosity, culture, and real-world experience.
Stories of place, people, and culture - told with curiosity and heart - telling stories that bring places and people to life.
Betty is a Gold Country-based writer covering regional history, travel, food, and human-interest stories, with a focus on the people and traditions that define a place.