Celebrate Christmas the Italian way with seafood
By Merle Exit The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), celebrated on Christmas Eve and also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in southern Italy. The long tradition of eating seafood on Christmas Eve dates from the Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence which, in this case, meant refraini...
Impact databank: imported sparkling wines rise 5,5% on Prosecco's surge
Several fast-growing Italian brands are leading the charge for the imported sparkling wine category in the U.S. market, which rose 5.5% to 6.7 million cases in 2013, according to Impact Databank. The imported sparkling wine category's two biggest brands—Freixenet USA's flagship Cava and Bacardi's Martini & Rossi—saw single-digit declines last...
GIs Helped Bring Freedom To Europe, And A Taste For Oregano To America
by Nina Martyris This week marks the 70th anniversary of VE Day, the great Allied victory over Hitler's forces in Europe during World War II. What you may not realize is that the war helped forever change the American palate, as returning GIs brought home a craving for a pungent, fragrant herb they had encountered overseas: oregano....
Anthony J. Celebrezze: Italian of the Week
On September 4, 1910, Anthony J. Celebrezze was born in Anzi, Italy. When he was two years old, he and his family moved to the United States and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. When he was a teenager, Anthony began to work on a railroad. He decided to continue his education and attended John Carroll University and Ohio Northern University, graduating w...
Frank Coletta Celebrates 37 Years With WJAR 10
Frank Coletta anchors NBC 10 News Sunrise and NBC 10 News at Noon. Frank joined NBC 10 in 1978 as an assignment editor. He became a general assignment reporter in 1981 and began anchoring the "Today" show local newsbreaks in 1982. He began anchoring the Saturday newscasts in 1983 and was named Sunrise anchor in 1985. Frank has receive...
Everybody’s Loves Raymond’s Marie Barone and the best advice
Actress Doris Roberts, who died at age 90 on April 17, was probably best known for playing the meddling Marie Barone on the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. As the matriarch of an Italian-American family, Marie was both a doting mother and overbearing mother-in-law. She checks up on her son Raymond (Ray Romano) who lives right across th...
La Mattanza and the Price of Progress
By Lucian I've always been fascinated by European traditions and am amazed at how much there is to discover. That so much is unknown to so many is disturbing, because many traditions have existed for over a thousand years. In a world where "progress" has become a buzzword used by the powerful to justify globalization and cultural leveling,...
Lady Gaga tipped to play Donatella Versace in American Crime Story series about Gianni's murder
Three years after releasing a song sending up her friend Donatella Versace, Lady Gaga may be striking even closer to home. As of Friday, Us Weekly are reporting that the pop singer will be playing the designer on the third series of American Crime Story. Last month, Variety reported that the series will relate the murder of Donatella's elder...
How Panerai Conquered the Luxury Watch World
In the 19 short years since Officine Panerai first became available to the public, the brand has grown into an astonishing success, renowned for a combination of distinctive Italian design and exacting Swiss craftsmanship. But the Panerai story goes back much further, stretching from the secret ministries of the Royal Italian Navy in the 1...
Italian Government Scholarships Call for applications - Academic Year 2014/2015
Introduction The Italian Government awards scholarships for studying in Italy both to foreign citizens and Italiancitizens resident abroad (IRE). The list of the countries whose citizens and IRE may apply can be seenon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs webpagehttp://www.esteri.it/MAE/EN/Ministero/Servizi/Stranieri/Opportunita/BorseStudio_stranieri.h...
Italian trio Il Volo excels in language of love
Turns out the U.S. isn't the only country putting together boy bands to make big bucks. Producers of popular Italian TV variety show "Ti Lascio Una Canzone" ("Leaving You a Song") saw opportunity and dollar signs when three good- looking teen boys auditioned for the show in 2009. That's how Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble bec...
Italy's Gtech buying slot machine maker International Game Tech for $4.7B in cash and stock
The Italian lottery operator Gtech is buying slot machine maker International Game Technology for $4.7 billion in cash and stock. Including $1.7 billion in debt, the companies on Wednesday valued the deal at $6.4 billion. Gtech said last month that it was in talks with the Las Vegas company and IGT said at the time that it was weighin...