This is a family favorite and a Facebook Recipe request. Traditionally this candy treat is served during the Winter Holiday Season. There are usually 2 different kinds of Torrone served, a hard and a soft version. My favorite is the soft. The recipe below is from my grandmother. Be prepared to spend a few hours preparing and making this delicious treat - but trust me it is worth the work and the wait!

ITALIAN TORRONE

1 cup honey
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 pound almonds,
shelled and blanched
1/2 pound hazelnuts,
shelled and lightly toasted
1 teaspoon candied orange peel, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Place the honey in top of double boiler over boiling water for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until honey is caramelized. Stir the honey frequently. Beat egg whites until stiff. Slowly add to honey, mixing well. The mixture will be foamy white. Combine sugar with 2 tablespoons of water in small saucepan and let boil, without stirring, until caramelized. Add caramelized sugar to honey mixture a little at a time, mixing well. Cook mixture a little longer until it reaches the hard ball stage. (A small drop turns hard when placed in a cup of cold water.) Add nuts, candied orange peel and grated lemon rind. Mix well and quickly before it hardens.

Immediately pour mixture two inches deep into two or three (depending on size) loaf pans lined with parchment paper. Let cool 20 minutes. Remove from pans and cut each slab into rectangular bars. You may make one cut lengthwise down the center forming two torrone rectangles or slice crosswise to make five or six smaller torrone bars. Wrap each bar in aluminum foil or waxed paper and store at room temperature in an airtight container. It keeps for a long time if wrapped well.

To serve, cut the torrone bar into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thin slices. Serve with coffee or tea following a holiday meal.

Note:
Traditional torrone is sandwiched between two pieces of ostia or thin sheets of unleavened wheat bread. Ostia is often called "wafer." I've omitted this ingredient in the recipe, as it's hard-to-find. The torrone I made was fine without it. But, if you can find "wafer" or ostia at an Italian market, you may want to use it. In that case, you would place a sheet of wafer on the bottom of each loaf pan before pouring torrone mixture. Then top the torrone with another sheet of wafer.

The World of Italian Coffee. Today we continue on our journey through the history of coffee. Most of the world's coffee today comes from either South America or Indonesia, hence the nickname Java, but coffee originated in the highlands of Ethiopia and did not reach Europe for thousands of years. It was not until the 16th century that the introduction of coffee to Europe took place. Coffee arrived from the Middle East where it had achieved a near cult like following, with the first coffee houses being established in Istanbul. Once accepted by Islamic law the beverage followed the spread of Islam across Africa and Eastern Europe. It was very nearly banned, like alcohol many times. Venice, which relied heavily upon trade with the Muslim east, was first introduced to coffee in the mid 1570's. However coffee would remain a luxury item at this time and was not enjoyed for refreshment, but as a medical drink. Once coffee was transplanted to European colonies in Asia and South America the bean thrived and became accessible to the public.

The 17th century saw the opening of the first European coffeehouse in Venice, which later spawned over two hundred others along its canals. Coffee spread quickly at this point and other coffeehouses were founded in the major cities of Italy. Some of these dignified and elegant establishments are still in existence in Venice, Turin and Rome; virtual palaces to the national stimulant. To read more please visit Life In Italy.

It would be hard to think of Italy without coffee. After all it is the national breakfast and the home of coffee drinks that have taken the rest of the world by storm. Without Italy, Starbucks would not exist and without coffee, Italy would simply grind to a halt. No, coffee was not invented in Italy but coffee culture as we all know it did originate in Italy. Today, Italy is a country of coffee aficionados who will not tolerate much less visit an establishment that has bad coffee. Many of my friends in fact will skip coffee at a restaurant after dinner just to visit their favorite coffee bar. For the next few posts I am going to discuss a bit of coffee history and share my philosophy on Beans, Roasting, Brewing at Home, and will mention a few of my favorite Espresso Machines! Sharing coffee with a someone is a wonderful experience I enjoy every day - I look forward to sharing that experience with you. Have a wonderful day! - Rita

If you cannot imagine how mere cornmeal can be turned into a tasty meal, then undoubtedly you have never eaten polenta prepared in an Italian kitchen. Once considered peasant food, polenta is now appearing in even the most elegant restaurants. Earlier in this century, polenta was a staple food eaten out of necessity, sometimes two or three times a day. Some families would dump a big mound of polenta onto a board, and everyone would sit around sharing it. It would be flavored with broth, a little sauce, vegetables or sausages. Polenta is still a staple in many homes in northern Italy today, particularly in the regions of Veneto, Piedmont, and Tuscany, although generally considered "home cooking" and not served for company.

Polenta has had a reputation for lengthy and extremely laborious cooking that originates in its Italian roots. Throughout history polenta was cooked over a wood fire in a central hearth or on a wood stove in a traditional curved bottom copper pot with a long handle called a paiolo. Copper was preferred as it conducts heat evenly, and the curved bottom of the pot exposed a greater portion of the cornmeal to the heat which insured there was no corners for the polenta to get stuck in and allowed for even cooking. The long handle of the pot kept the cook a comfortable distance from both the fire as well as the sputtering cornmeal. Constant stirring with a long-handled paddle, stick, or spoon was necessary to keep the polenta from burning. Today, there are very few of us that still cook over a wood fire, and our heavy bottomed cookware and modern stoves that have burners we can maintain at a constant low heat, allow us to let the polenta simmer away on its own with just occasional stirring to prevent lumps.

Polenta can be creamy, served soft with a scoop of sauce, or firm served as a side dish to grilled or roasted meats, or stirred into soups and stews to thicken and add flavor. Whatever way you choose to eat polenta, the basic principles of preparation remain the same. Although you now can buy instant polenta that can be prepared in under 5 minutes, or even precooked polenta ready to be sliced and fried or grilled, I find the effort it takes to prepare polenta the old fashioned way to be the best.

Basic Polenta Recipe
6 Cups Cold Water
1 Tablespoon Salt
1 Cup Cornmeal
3 Tablespoons Butter
2 Ounces Grated Parmesan Cheese

Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the salt and reduce the heat to medium low. As soon as the water begins to simmer, start pouring in the cornmeal in a thin stream, very slowly while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent lumps. Once all the cornmeal has been added, keep the water at a simmer, and stir frequently. It should take between 25-30 minutes to fully cook the polenta. Once cooked, the polenta should pull away from the sides of the pot easily. Just before it has completely cooked, stir in the butter and the cheese.

Italian is a Romance language, which means that Italian, just like Spanish, French, and Portuguese, is a child of Latin. Latin was once the official language in a large part of Europe because the Romans ruled so much of the area. Before the Romans came, people spoke their own languages, and the mixture of these original tongues with Latin produced many of the languages and dialects that are still in use today.

If you know one of the Romance languages, you can often understand bits of another. Just as members of the same family can look similar but have totally different characters. You find the same contradictions in the dialects (regional or local language differences) in Italy and in other countries.

If you visit Italy, you’ll hear various accents and dialects as you travel the country. Despite the number of dialects, you may be surprised to discover that everybody understands your Italian and you understand theirs. (Italians don’t normally speak in their dialect with foreigners.

The Umbrian city of Gubbio has a spectacular way to mark the end of Christmas. 800 water fountains illuminated with thousands of lights form a gigantic Christmas tree climbing the side of Mount Igino. The ‘biggest Christmas tree in the World’ (according to the Guinness Book of Records) is on show from 1-10 January and is absolutely spectacular.

Epiphany (Befana) rolls along on 6 January, a Catholic holiday vying with Christmas for importance. Epiphany celebrates the arrival of the Magi. Legend has it that the Wise Men asked an old woman for shelter. The woman (La Befana) refused, and has been wandering the planet ever since looking for the baby Jesus. Epiphany Eve (5 January) sees a good witch flying from rooftop to rooftop with gifts for children who’ve been good. If that sounds familiar, it’s a variation on the same folk tales that have come down to us as Father Christmas, with La Befana even popping down the chimney.

Travel to the Abruzzo region on 16 January and you can enjoy the Farchia festival. The people of the marvellously named mountain town of Fara Filiorum Petri construct 30ft bundles (fasce) of sticks, stand them on end and burn them like tapers. Songs are sung to celebrate Saint Antonio’s Day, and then it’s open house for a feast of sweets, wines and local spirit.

Carnivals or Carnevale are celebrated all over Italy, strictly speaking it is the lead up to Lent. Venice has a tremendous fortnight-long masked event and the celebrations on the Tuscan seaside resort of Viareggio are world famous. But the little Tuscan city of Foiano della Chiana, near Arezzo, claims its celebration as the oldest in the region, with the first Carnevale taking place on 18 January, 1809, 64 years before Viareggio. With parades of giant floats, colourful masks and costumes, music and dancing, and a feast of good food on sale in the streets, this is great fun for families. And if you’re used to carnivals running over a day or two … not in Italy. The celebrations here run from the last Sunday in January to the third Sunday in February.

Just north of Bologna, the Emilia-Romagna town of Cento is ‘twinned’ with the rather more famous Rio Carnival, with the winning float being shipped off to Brazil. The Cento events make Foiano appear a mere newcomer, with the city proudly pointing to artist Guercino’s painting of 1615 Maschere Folleggianti which depicts the celebrations. This is a serious business, with a guild of float makers training apprentices in the old craft. The spectacular celebrations culminate in 30,000 pounds of sweets being thrown to the crowds. The carnival runs for around a month from the penultimate Sunday in January.

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I am often amazed at technology - it actually inspires me. If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would have an online business I would have said - "what"? Today, technology and the Internet makes it possible for me to share my favorite things with other people. It is much like a dream come true. I don't use computers to do my design work, but I do use computers to share my work with the world. Today while trying to decide what to blog about, I began looking through pictures from my travels around home (Italy) - and I suppose I am a little bit homesick at the moment also. I use google for a lot of things, my e-mail, my blog and the list goes on here, but my point is that I came across the Picasa picture program and I downloaded it - it took all the pictures from my files and organized them, (WOW!), and it also has a lot of very neat tools as well. It took a while for the program to scan all my files, but once it was complete I ended up playing around with the program for a while. I was able to create a collage of pictures from Rome and I even scanned some new designs I have been working on - just rough drafts but it put them into a new perspective which helped me feel more creative. Anyway, check it out if you get a chance - it is free and has some great features. In fact, I came up with a great idea for a Christmas gift for a good friend. After all a picture is worth a thousand words! Click here to get to the program!