Local traditions result from long complex historical developments and strongly influence local habits. Distinctive cultural and social differences remain present throughout Italy, although today mass marketing tends to cause a leveling of long-established values. In a country so diverse, it is impossible to define an “Italian” cooking style, but traditional food still is at the core of the cultural identity of each region, and Italians react with attachment to their own identity when they are confronted with the tendency toward flattening their culture.

Maybe it is because it is cold here in Miami and I have torn through my entire closet in the past few days to prepare and manage the cooler temperatures, none the less, I am going to share some of my favorite Italian Dressing styles with you this week. All of my closet clothes hunting tactics of the past few weeks has inspired me!

In a country where police uniforms are designed by Armani, it isn't surprising that the women take dressing very seriously. If you are planning a trip to Italy soon, and don't want to be pegged as a tourist, there is one important thing to remember. The objective of Italian dressing is NOT to blend in. Italian women take great pride in putting themselves together - "la bella figura". To show off your best features is the idea, so to blend in you must strive to stand out. So, where do you begin to acquire that special Italian flavor? In short, this week I will share a few of the key ingredients. We begin with Step One: Shoes! And I just love shoes!

Shoes: Nothing makes or breaks a look like footwear. Leave the tennis shoes for tennis and the walking shoes for the gym and park. Spice comes from style not comfort. The hottest designs incorporate pointed toes and high heels in the same shoe for maximum style and some discomfort.

More tips and tricks over the next few days! Stay tuned! - Rita

What with all this interest in tall buildings and the world’s highest skyscrapers, I thought it would be interesting to discover how Italy measures up on the tall buildings front. It turns out that Italy has quite a way to go to compete with the Dubai Tower. Quite a long way, actually. If you’d like to find out what the tallest building in Italy is, and where it can be found, then read on, curious reader.

Technically, the tallest building in Italy today can be found in Naples - and it is the Torre Telecom Italia which is 129 meters (423 feet) in height. This 33 floor structure, however, is about to be beaten by a building in Milan, which is already being listed as Italy’s tallest building on Wikipedia. The successor to the Italy’s Tallest Building title will be 161 meters (528 feet) high with 39 floors, and it will house Lombardy regional authority personnel . However, at a measly 161 metres, it’s not much of a threat to the record breaking 818 meters of the Dubai Tower.

Other tall buildings are on Italy’s horizon though, twenty seven of them, including one which will snatch the Italy’s tallest building title from the Lombardy council skyscraper – I Dritto – the Straight (or maybe ‘upstanding’ would be a better translation).

As I ponder what to write about today, I can not help but think about the change and renew a brand new year brings. It is a chance to start fresh, reset our mindset and push for better things. Personally I have been doing a lot of goal setting, some for business and a lot for family. 2009 was a tough year for many, and most certainly my business. We made a lot of progress and faced some serious challenges - all amidst a changing economy and a changing America. Since I am from Italy, and now live in the USA I have noticed a great deal of change. I think above all, we now live in a Global economy and a world where cultures will continue to collide, develop, share and eventually thrive together. I wish everyone a great new year, and I wish us all peace harmony and growth, both in our professional lives, home life as a people.

What are you goals for 2009?

Cookies have always played an important part in Italian cuisine, whether they are consumed for breakfast with a cappuccino, or nibbled with a quick shot of espresso at a mid-morning or afternoon break. It is at holiday time however, particularly Christmas, when cookies truly shine. In almost any Italian home, whether it be in Italy, or here in North America, most families prepare specific traditional cookies each Christmas, and often those recipes have been handed down through their families for generations.

In Italy, the generic term biscotti, pretty well covers all types of cookies, although biscotti literally translates as twice baked. Here in the US, we know biscotti to be the hard, crescent shaped cookies that have become so popular recently. It is not unusual in Italy, to find the same cookie in many different regions, given a different name in each. Many cookies are given names from folklore, or fairy tales, such as brutti ma buoni, which means ugly but good, or baci di dama, or lady's kisses. Most Italian cookies are either made from nut paste or are butter based, and are in general not overly sweet. Visit any Italian household throughout the holidays, and you can almost be assured of being offered a tasty treat from the cookie tray.

If you are interested in preparing your own Italian cookie tray this year, you might be interested in the following tips for baking cookies, as well as my favorite Christmas cookie recipes that follow.

Cookie Baking Tips:

• Always preheat the oven for even baking.
• Place cookies on cold baking sheets.
• Place the baking sheets at least two inches from the wall of the oven for even baking.
• If baking two trays at one time, switch the top and bottom tray mid way through the baking period.
• Don't depend on the suggested baking time. There are many factors that can affect how long your cookies will bake. Check your cookies a couple of minutes before the recommended time.
• Once cookies are fully baked, remove them from the hot baking sheets to wire racks to cool, because the cookies will continue to cook on the hot trays.
• Do not store cookies until they have thoroughly cooled. Store in an air-tight container.

This is one of my favorite holiday traditions in Italy. On Christmas Eve, children set out their shoes for the female Santa Claus, La Befana, to fill with gifts of all kinda like toy's candies and fruit. If the children have been good all year long, their shoes are filled on Christmas morning. If the children have not been good ---- their shoes are filled with coal. La Befana is the best-know legend in Italy. She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick and wearing a black shawl covered in soot because she enters the children's homes through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag filled with candy and gifts. Here is little poem about La Befana.

La Befana vien di notte
Con le scarpe tutte rotte
Col vestito alla romana
Viva, Viva La Befana!

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.

We wanted to give as many people as possible the opportunity to try our wonderful coffee, so what better way to do that than to offer a way you can experience The Italian Way of Life on us! Each month for the next few months we will be giving away a free Rita Monti espresso machine and Rita Monti coffee for a whole year to go with it! Each month you will receive our coffee delivered right to your door. We guarantee it will be as fresh as it was the day it was roasted in our roasting facility in Salerno. To enter is simple, just log on to our website and sign up to become a member. You will not receive spam, and we will never sell your name or e-mail to anyone. Each month we will select 2 members at random to receive this great giveaway. So what are you waiting for? Sign up now!

This is a delicious unique topping for bruschetta that would be great for the upcoming holidays when we are all looking for new ideas to serve to family and friends. The radicchio topping can be made up to two days in advance, and when needed the bruschetta can be assembled in just a few minutes. Radicchio di Treviso is a long, dark red lettuce with a slightly bitter flavor. By slowly cooking the radicchio with sliced red onions until soft with a little honey and balsamic vinegar, the topping has a sweet and sour flavor that Italians call "agrodolce". This topping is spread on top of creamy goat cheese which adds a whole new dimension of flavor. I used a multigrain baguette type of bread, but any long, crusty bread would work well. Serves 6-8 by Deborah Mele. To view more recipies by Deborah please visit her site.

This will be the first in several posts on Thanksgiving meal ideas, hope you enjoy and feel free to send in your favorites or any ideas you would like to share. We begin with the Antipasti (before the meal). Olives are always a great and wonderful addition to any mealtime. Baking olives with just a few chosen herbs and spices brings out their earthy flavor. This is a great addition to any party, or an antipasto tray. We always have some olives in the refrigerator to snack on, and if friends stop by for a glass of wine, seasoned olives can be added to a tray of cheese and crackers to nibble on. I used oil cured olives in the photo, but any good quality black olive would work well.

8 Ounces Imported Black Olives
4 Cloves Garlic, Peeled And Halved
1/2 Lemon, Thinly Sliced
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds
1 Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
Pinch Red Hot Pepper Flakes (Optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the olives with the other ingredients, and spread them out on a baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring a couple of times during the cooking process. Transfer to a serving dish, and serve warm or at room temperature.

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

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the comments from blogcatalog - I never knew building my brand could be this rewarding. I am really enjoying connecting with new friends and most certainly appreciate the support, it has made a very big difference. Also thanks for the positive reviews of the new blog style, it has a much more "me" appeal now!

I will be working on posting conversations of interest, links to common interests and helping to educate others about the true origins of "real" espresso! Our dinnerware line is getting rave reviews and we are in talks with new distributors so that is very exciting! My main goal is to share my love of my rich Italian heritage and tradition with others. Please let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to sharing with you everyday!

My best,

Rita Monti

This November we decided to do something fun and exciting for our customers. What is more fun (especially now) than offering our customers and those of you who may be NEW to Rita Monti the opportunity to win a Fabulous New Espresso Machine and a whole year of Rita Monti Coffee! To sign up to enter please visit us HERE!

This promotion will run through December 2009. To enter become a member of RitaMonti.com. Winner chosen randomly from new member submissions. (2) Winners each month (November-December 2009).

Good Luck!

As coffee-lovers everywhere know, drinking coffee is an aesthetic, sensory experience with its own set of rituals that can be shared with others or savored alone. Rita Monti provides the ultimate coffee experience by producing the world’s finest espresso with superior aroma and flavor. Transformed from plant to cup, the taste experience that develops within this bitter black brew will remind you of its origins at the heart of a bean.

Find out how to save money and make that perfect coffee shop cappuccino, or latte right in the comfort of your own home! **Average cost savings of $700 per year!

Lean How HERE!