Christmas, as it is celebrated in Italy, has two origins. The familiar traditions of Christianity blended with the pagan traditions predating the Christmas era. The greatest feast of the ancient Roman Empire, "Saturnalia" (a winter solstice celebration), just happens to coincide with the Christmas fairs, merry-making and torch processions, honor not only the birth of Christ, but also the birth of the "Unconquered Sun" and its journey across the sky. "Natale" the Italian word for Christmas is literally the translation for "birthday".

As we progress through the upcoming month, I am looking forward to sharing many of our traditions with you. Naturally cooking and Italian food plays a major role in holiday celebrating so I am looking forward to sharing some of my favorite recipes with you as well.

One of my favorite traditions, which is rapidly disappearing in Italy, is the ushering in of the coming festivities by the "Piferari" or fifers, better know as Sheppards. They descend from the mountains of the Abruzzo and Latium (east of Rome), playing inviting and characteristic tunes on their bagpipes, filling the air with anticipation for the joyous celebration to come.

If you have any traditions you would like share, please comment, or let me know!

Rita

Our dinnerware creations originated in DeRuta, Italy several years ago. When we first started importing to the US, our collections were featured in stores like Williams-Sonoma, Neiman Marcos and other high end retailers. Due to import restrictions, as well as economic changes, we have sought to make our dinnerware line more affordable and our import process more streamlined. We hope these changes will make our dinnerware lines more available so that our love of the Italian culture and tradition can be shared with many more people. We constantly receive good reviews from our products... which is a great feeling, it makes me feel like the changes we have made were and are for the best. We have a great distribution center located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Our location allow us to ship anywhere in the US in a reasonable amount of time, and our location allows us to rapidly meet demand. Take a moment to visit our website and take a look at the full collection - we will randomly feature our collections here on the blog as well.

What are your traditions?
Friday is always a welcomed day for most of us. It means we get to spend time with our family, work around our homes, maybe do a little shopping. For me this weekend will be spent planning for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. Some of you may be wondering do Italians celebrate Thanksgiving? Well, the truth is Thanksgiving is pretty much a truly all American tradition, we do not exactly have the Plymouth rock in Italy, it would be just another stone in a 2000 year old Roman ruin. Even the transliteral phrase in Italian for Thanksgiving, La Festa del Ringraziamento, refers to a variety of religious holidays held throughout the year for patron saints. I guess you could say we celebrate the holiday all year long.

Most Americans who live in Italy find it hard to even find the ingredients to re-create a traditional meal. Italian Thanksgiving, for most Italian Americans, then, means the inclusion of special Italian recipes to accompany the Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Every family of Italian heritage has different culinary traditions to celebrate the holiday. Over the next few weeks I look forward to sharing some of my families traditions with you. And I would be delighted to hear from you about what makes your Thanksgiving special.

Rita Monti

Many people ask me how I come up with the designs for my hand-painted Italian dinnerware and tableware - well I suppose the best answer is this - I was just born with the inspiration and it is simply part of who I am. Italy and design are synonymous. In the world of design creativity, be it industrial design, art, fashion or furniture the world looks to Italy for inspiration. Since Roman times, Italians have led the way. It has been that way for such a span of time that this ability is more than heritage; it is a bloodline that sees and values the beauty hidden in an object.

I consider myself graced to have grown up in such beauty and to be influenced by such brilliance and honest heritage. Our goal at Rita Monti has always been to share the rich culture and tradition of our "bloodline" with others. When I create, I close my eyes and try and see my past, feel the beauty of my memories, and I just get inspired!

That's my answer, thanks for asking!