Looking for the perfect gift for Mom this Mother’s Day? If she’s tech-savvy, here’s a freebie you don’t want to miss! For 2 days, from midnight May 3 through midnight, Sunday, May 4, the Kindle version of Domenico’s Table will be available for a free download on Amazon. This sequel to Bianca’s Vineyard has been […]

I should be lounging by the pool  – a romance novel in one hand and a sangria in the other – whiling away these precious summer days. But I’m not. I’m on my laptop. Everyday. All day. In addition to my day job as a journalist, I’m working on the second draft of my third […]

I attended my first Festa Italia in Seattle last weekend and, as I expected, it was soooo much fun.  The weather was perfect for most of it.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Seattle’s Convention Center, so I’d forgotten how beautiful the area is.  With its boho flavor, lovely boulevards and the […]

                            Italy never disappoints.  Not for me, or my husband, or children and their spouses.  Everything about it is sensual; the wine, the food, the art, the landscape, the people.  There’s really  no other way to describe it.  It’s a land of simple pleasures […]

  At Babe’s memorial service in Davenport, Iowa, Margie Kager — the eldest child of Violenza’s brother Silverio — gave me a copy of a letter she wrote to the Italian Bertozzis sharing her memories of Egisto.  I think Bianca’s Vineyard readers will enjoy her recollections:   To our Bertozzi Family in Italy: After reading the book “Bianca’s Vineyard” that […]

            She’s gone.  Our beloved mother and nona, Babe, passed away two weeks ago, and we’re still in a resigned state of shock.  For those of you who knew Babe through “Bianca’s Vineyard,” you know that she was a unique woman with an amazing family history.  Violenza Bertozzi didn’t let her mother’s mental instability or […]

  Happy Birthday Violenza! We celebrated Babe’s 94th birthday yesterday. Four generations all together in one house! What a wonderful, memorable time we had with her, as she entertained us on the piano and told stories. I made her a coconut-raspberry cake and since I didn’t have the numerals 9 and 4 for candles, I […]

You know how much I love Italy – and Italians — and I know I’m not alone!  Oregon has a thriving Italian-American community and the Tuscan Association of Oregon has invited me to share about Bianca’s Vineyard on Sunday, February 20.  I will be speaking in Calvin Hall at St. Phillip Neri Church on SE 16th and Division in Portland.  […]