Category Archives: Blogging

Bloghiversario #11

25 Friday Apr 2025

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Auguri a me! Today is another bloghiversario– blog anniversary.  I feel like we just celebrated 10 years of Un po’ di pepe! In numerology, Undici (oon•DEE•chee), 11 is a master number.  It is special because it repeats the #1. 11 is associated with creative energy, independent thinking, leadership and spiritual awareness. Good things for the coming year! I also love saying the word undici. Undicesimo Bloghiversario (11th bloghiversary) sounds even better.

As usual, I attempted to write more posts this past year.  It started out well, but for the last few months I have been recovering from a concussion.  I did not ski into a tree or anything molto dramatico, I just slipped on icy grass and fell backwards after throwing out the trash! In case you ever need to explain that in Italiano…. ‘Ho sbattuto la testa quando sono scivolata sull’erba ghiacciata, e ho un commozione cerebrale’. ‘Commozione cerebrale‘ makes it sound like there is a party happening in the brain, but that is the term for concussion. Do not ask me how many times I have been told ‘Meno male che hai la testa dura’ or ‘Menumale cà tien a capa tost!’ in the past few months. Those are ‘Good thing you have a hard head!‘ in Italiano and Dialetto. See what useful stuff you learn from this site!

I did finally publish posts on Artemisia Gentileschi, Panzerotti, Il Pumo Pugliese, I Cavalli di San Marco and 3 posts about Torino. The wine anthology I contributed to, ‘A Literary Harvest‘ is finally in print, and for my compleanno I published my piece in a bilingual post In Vino there are Memories /Nel Vino ci sono Ricordi.  Mamma loved it!  The anthology makes a great gift for the vino lover in your life-purchase information is   in both posts.

In July, I will be attending a family wedding in Roma!!! My recent posts have been Roma related- Giubileo 2025 about the Jubilee this year, Acqua Vergine and Fontana di Trevi. There are a few more coming.  Anyone else travelling to Roma this summer, make sure to read Beat the Heat-Surviving Summer in Roma.

I thought I would be celebrating follower #500, but seem to be stuck at 495-so hopefully soon.  If you change email addresses, don’t forget to resubscribe to continue receiving notifications of new posts.

April 25th is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945.  It has been a national holiday since 1946.  Viva la libertà!

Grazie to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to share my images and research and write about things that interest me!   You know….’Devo fare ricerca per il blog’ (I need to do research for my blog) is my reason to do all the things I want to do! If you have any suggestions for future posts or just want to say ‘ciao‘, leave me a comment.

To those who discovered the blog more recently or visit occasionally, Benvenuto!  Find out more by reading ‘Perché questo blog?/Why write a blog?’, ‘About me/Chi sono’ and my bilingual interview with Silvia L’Intervista con Silvia.

Grazie a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’ per continuare a leggere e per avermi dato una scusa per usare le foto che ho scattato e per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono. Ormai posso usare la scusa ‘devo fare ricerca per il blog’ per tutto quello che voglio fare. Lasciatemi un messaggio se avete delle idee per un post o se semplicemente volete dire ‘ciao’.

Per chi ha scoperto il blog più di recente o lo visita occasionalmente, Benvenuto! Scopri di più leggendo ‘Perché questo blog?/Why write a blog?’, ‘About me/Chi sono’ e l’intervista bilingue L’Intervista con Silvia.Frecce Tricolori Festa della Liberazione 25 Aprile

Hopefully none of you will need to use your new commozione cerebrale terminology-but use undici whenever you can! Ciao, Cristina

2024~Un po’ di pepe Year in Review

31 Tuesday Dec 2024

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As we prepare to ring in 2025, here is a look back at 2024 on Un po’ di pepe. Same amount of posts were published as last year, but with a lot more views. I am still hoping to write more post-there are many partially written ones in progress!

In April Un po’ di pepe celebrated 10 years of blogging, and I had a ‘Vespa’ hand printed linocut card giveaway for 10 readers. I still have to find 2 of you-Frank and Kathryn!

During my annual trips to Italia, I always try to visit 1 or 2 new places.  In 2024 I went to Calabria for the first time-definitely not the last time. Read about it in the post Catanzaro, Calabria.

In September I attended the AICW Biennial Conference in Toronto, reading a humorous, updated version of Aria Pericolosa.

WordPress sends me end of year stats which I love to share because they are so interesting.* In 2024, Un po’ di pepe had a huge increase in viewers-over 21,500 views from 131 different countries!  I know you are wondering, so I looked it up and there are 195 countries in the world! There were also over 12,000 google searches.

The top 10 posts (11 actually because of a tie) of 2024 are listed below, with links included in red, in case you missed any of them.  7 of the top posts of the year appear on the first page of a google search.  This is fantastic!  Most are not commonly searched topics but I am still impressed. 

Based on the number of views, the top posts of 2024 are:

#10 Che Cavolo-Non Rompere le Scatole! To celebrate Week of the Italian language in the World 2023, I published a post to liven up your language skills, using euphemisms to swear ‘politely’. Why is there a photo of flying genitalia?  Read the post to find out!

Flying cazzi amulet mobile at the Napoli Airport gift shop


#9 Artemisia Gentileschi I have wanted to write this 2024 post on one of my favourite artists since starting the blog, so I am thrilled it got some love. Art history rocks!

Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting 1638-39 Royal Collection, Windsor Castle

#8 Espresso Cookies  My 2016 espresso cookie recipe is consistently viewed, but it has only appeared in the top 10 once before this year.

#7 Tutti i Santi This 2018 post was written after I attended the annual November 1 festa in Orsara di Puglia to honour the departed with bonfires and carved pumpkins. I previously wrote about this event in another post Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje, but at the time had not attended in person yet.

#6  Polignano a Mare In this 2016 post about the stunning clifftop town on the coast of Puglia, read about my probable encounter with the mysterious ‘stair poet’  and learn what infraditi are. I was in Polignano again this year, so need to write a Polignano a Mare 2.0 post.

#5b La Madonna della Neve  August 5th is the feast day of la Madonna della Neve, one of Orsara di Puglia‘s patron saints.  This is the first time this 2016 post has been in the top 10, and it is fitting, because in 2024, the statue celebrated its 400th anniversary. Orsara’s beloved Madonna della Neve statue was carved out of a single piece of quercia (oak) by Napoletano sculptor Aniello Stallato in 1624. #5a Internment of Italian Canadians  This 2021 post was written on the 81st anniversary of the internment if Italian Canadians during World War 2, to coincide with a formal apology from the Canadian government.  It always amazes me how little is known about this subject.  This is the first time this post appears in the top 10 list.

#4 Italiano per Ristoranti-How to Pronounce your Restaurant Menu, this 2014 handy Italian menu pronunciation guide was #1 for many years, and has always been in the top 4.  In a google search for ‘Italian menu pronunciation’ it comes out as the top suggestion! Molto cool! A 6 page downloadable PDF is available via a link at the end of the post. It was downloaded 94 times in 2024! I would like to expand and turn it into an ebook someday. Speriamo! If any of you have experience or advice on this, let me know! Ravioli di ricotta e spinaci

#3 Napoli Street Art I absolutely love Napoli, a perfect place for self-expression since only the last few thousand years. Join me on a graffiti/street art tour in the Centro Storico. This 2020 post comes up 3rd in a Google search .I have  been to Napoli several times since writing this, and have enough new street art photos for a 2.0 version.volto di Sophia Loren Napoli street art#2 Sanremo 2024 For the third year in a row, I wrote a handy viewing guide to the 5 day Festival di Sanremo Italian song contest held in February, and it was well received, so I plan to keep doing it every year. In 2025 the festival is February 11-15.

#1 Hairstyling in Ancient Roma This 2017 post was on the top 10 list last year for the second time, and I am sooooo thrilled to see it is in first place again this year-by a landslide!  I am not sure why? I know some views have been referred via Pinterest and it now ranks 2nd in Google search, after Wikipedia. Another art history post of mine that suddenly had lots of views was because it was being used for a class by a college in California. Join me as I study ancient hairstyling practices by looking at Classical sculptures and paintings. Most of the research was done at Palazzo Massimo.  Yeah for archeology nerds!

For 2025 my goals are simple and the same as usual….less stress, more exercise, more art, travel and writing! 

I was just recently published in an Anthology along with 41 other writers.  You will be hearing about A Literary Harvest soon!

In July I will be attending a family wedding in Roma! Yipee!!!

To find out what I am up to, check out the Un po’ di pepe Facebook page and Instagram (@unpodipepe).  I know many of you read new posts only when they are posted on Facebook, but with the new algorithms, you are likely to miss them most of the time.  To get notified of new posts, it is best to sign up with your email in the top right hand corner of the home page. You will only receive an email when I publish a new post.

I would love to hear which post you liked best, and what you would like to read more about in 2025 on Un po’ di pepe?  Let me know in the comments.  Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2025. 

Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani!  Spero che 2025 porta buona salute e gioia a voi e ai vostri cari.  Happy New Year readers of  ‘Un po’ di pepe’, near and far.  I hope 2025 brings good health and joy to you and your loved ones!

Vi auguro un 2025 piena di gioia e buona salute!  Ciao, Cristina

Check out Italian Christmas Vocabulary for help understanding my seasonal greetings,

*Note…WordPress’ method of collecting stats is odd.  The newest post counts as a ‘Home page’ view until the next one is published and this definitely does affect the results, especially for those of us that do not post often.

10 years of Un po’ di pepe!

25 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in Blogging, Inspiration

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Auguri a me! Today is bloghiversario #10 for Un po’ di pepe! 10 years ago today, I hit the big blue ‘publish’ button and started this blog.  Where did the time go?  It feels like only yesterday I had trouble coming up with a cool name that was not already taken. This has been an amazing, rewarding experience and I have ‘met’ so many virtual friends and even reconnected with old ones. In the end, that is what this is all about-connecting with people to share ideas and experiences.

To those of you who have been with Un po’ di pepe since the beginning -most of you are related to me- grazie mille for your encouragement and support! To those who discovered the blog more recently or visit occasionally, Benvenuto!  Find out more about me by reading ‘Perché questo blog?/Why write a blog?’, ‘About me/Chi sono’ and bilingual interview L’Intervista con Silvia.

What does 10 years look like? 485 subscribers, 217 posts, ~50 views/day from 99 countries, 24 recipe posts, 7 posts that come up on the first page of a google search, 5 Caravaggio posts, 2 or 3 posts that have been used by art history courses, 1 Cannolo Award, 1 interview by a fellow blogger, and 1 global pandemic.

The top 10 posts from the past 10 years are*:

#10 Torta Caprese all’Arancia (2015) a flourless chocolate cake recipe written to celebrate receiving a Cannolo Award for authentic Italian food blogging.


#9 Benvenuti ad Orsara di Puglia (2014) an introduction to my little paese.Orsara di Puglia landscape

#8 The Last Medici (2020) As an art history nerd, this was my personal thanks to Anna Maria Luisa De’ Medici (AMLDM) last of the Medici family, for leaving Firenze and the world her family’s legacy of art treasures.  If you have been to the Uffizi or Palazzo Pitti, you will know what I mean. This post comes up 4th in google search both for the topic and her name

#7 La Trinità di Massaccio (2018) When I first published this art history lesson, it did not get much love.  A few years later, I discovered that it came up as the 1st listing after Wikipedia in a Google search! This explains the steady trickle of views. I think it was also on reading lists for art history classes in the US, since a lot of views were referred from the course websites of Santa Monica College and a Pittsburgh high school! Molto cool!

My quick sketches of the vanishing point, perspective lines and triangular composition. The colour image is my entry ticket from 2004!

#6 Polignano a Mare (2016) In this post about the stunning clifftop town on the coast of Puglia, read about infraditi and my probable encounter with the mysterious ‘stair poet’.

#5 Napoli Street Art (2020) Napoli-the perfect place for self-expression since the last few thousand years. Join me on a graffiti/street art tour in the Centro Storico. This post comes up 3rd in Google search. I have enough new street art photos for a 2.0 version soon.Madonna con la Pistola Banksy Napoli street art

#4 Hairstyling in Ancient Roma (2017) This post was ignored until 2022, then in 2023 it was the most viewed!  I am not sure why? I know some views have been referred via Pinterest and it now ranks 3rd in Google search. Join me as I study ancient hairstyling practices by looking at Classical sculptures and paintings. Most of my research was done at Palazzo Massimo.  Yeah for archeology nerds!

#3 L’Arte sa Nuotare (2019) During a trip to Firenze with my nipotina Viaggio con Isabella we were on constant lookout for street art by Blub, the mysterious street artist who plunges famous works of art underwater. This post also comes up 2nd on the first page of a Google search, after the artist’s Instagram page!  More Blub love in Blub a Napoli.Putto Raffaello Firenze street art Blub

#2 Grano Arso (2015) Burnt grain, a Pugliese gastronomic tradition honouring the resilience of our contadini ancestors. There is not a lot written in English about grano arso, which explains why it is always on my most viewed list and comes up 5th on a Google search.

#1 Italiano per Ristoranti (2014) This handy Italian menu pronunciation guide is the top suggestion in google search for ‘Italian menu pronunciation’.  A link to a six page downloadable PDF is available at the end of the post. I would still like to expand and turn it into an ebook someday. If you have experience with this, any advice would be appreciated!

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

Those are the top 10 posts, now let’s take a look back at 10 of my favourite older posts that did not get the love I think they deserved:

I Trabucchi del Gargano (2014)  the fascinating fishing contraptions found along the Adriatic Coast, specifically the Northern coast of Puglia

Passata di Pomodoro (2014) Highlights of my family’s annual tomato canning day!

Le Isole Tremiti (2015) A helicopter trip to islands in the Adriatic.San Domino Isole Tremiti, Puglia

Nel blu dipinto di Azzurro (2015) The long, amazing history of blue pigment and the colour blue.

I Sassi di Matera (2015) the ancient city in Basilicata has a mystical, otherworldly feel about it and a fascinating history.

Margherita di Savoia (2016) This post is about random associations I have to Regina Margherita di Savoia.

Caffè con Caravaggio a Roma (2018) A walk through Roma visiting 3 churches where you can see 6 Caravaggio paintings for free, hanging where they have been for over 400 years, and stops for caffè along the way.

Il Sole di metà pomeriggio (2018) Sunny mid-afternoon summer photos taken in Orsara di Puglia while everyone is resting-except me.

Percorso della Memoria (2021) A tour of Orsara di Puglia with giant old black and white photos displayed in the Centro Storico.

Che cavolo!  Non rompere le scatole! (2023) I love this language post about euphemisms!  Even photos of flying genitalia did not entice readers!

Flying cazzi amulet mobile at the Napoli Airport gift shop

Did you know a few of my posts are not Italian themed?!  They include Halifax and the Titanic, 100 years of Insulin, Madame Gautreau, 2 Australia posts and 4 Covid 19 related posts.

Upcoming stuff:  In the next few months, I have ‘In Vino there are Memories’ being published in ‘A Literary Harvest:  Canadian Writing about Wine and Other Brews’ edited by Licia Canton, Giulia De Gasperi and Decio Cusmano.  Upcoming posts include Torcello, Artemisia Gentilleschi, more Caravaggio and some book reviews. The list is long!

April 25th is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation from Fascist occupation in 1945.  Since 1946, it has been a national holiday.  Viva la libertà!

Grazie to all of you for taking the time to read, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to share my images and research and write about things that interest me!   You know ….’Devo fare ricerca per il blog’ (I need to do research for my blog) is now my reason to do all the things I want to do! If you have any suggestions for future posts or just want to say ‘ciao’, leave me a comment.

Grazie a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’ per continuare a leggere e per avermi dato una scusa per condividere le foto che ho scattato e per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono. Ormai posso usare la scusa ‘devo fare ricerca per il blog’ per tutto quello che voglio fare. Lasciatemi un messaggio se avete delle idee per un post o se semplicemente volete dire ‘ciao’.

To celebrate bloghiversario #10, I am giving away 10 signed ‘Vespa‘ hand printed cards.  Next week, I will put the names of everyone who left a comment into a hat and Mamma will draw 10 winners.  In bocca al lupo! It has been an amazing decade and I look forward to the next one!  I’ll leave you with a link to my very first post Il Gigante, about Michelangelo’s David.  Ciao, Cristina

Grazie mille to Isabella for the pink cupcakes and Mamma for the pesche made for my big compleanno in January!

*Note…Stats are really interesting, but WordPress’ method of collecting stats is odd.  The newest post counts as a ‘Home page’ view until the next one is published and I am not sure how much this changes the results.

2023~Un po’ di pepe Year in Review

31 Sunday Dec 2023

Posted by in Blogging, Inspiration

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As we prepare to ring in 2024, here is a look back at 2023 on Un po’ di pepe. More posts were published than last year (yeah!) although still not as many as I was hoping for. The post pandemic creative slump is still lingering, but things are slowly improving. There are many half written things in progress!

I did manage to participate in a Countering Isolation with Creativity project for seniors. Click on the link to view the 1.5 hour mixed media selfie collage workshop on Youtube. Early in the year, post #200 was published, and I had an ‘Espresso per uno‘ print giveaway for 3 readers.  

During my yearly trips to Italia, I try to visit 1 or 2 new places.  In 2023, I went to Procida for the first time-definitely not the last time.  I also took an unexpected short trip to Costa Rica and saw lots of monkeys!   It is probably news to most of you that I am a huge U2 fan. In October, I went to see them in Las Vegas at the Sphere! It was amazing, and we even had surprise guest Lady Gaga for 3 songs!  The visuals and acoustics at the Sphere are so good it has ruined me for any future concerts.  Have a look at my 2 minute video-make sure  to watch it till the end:

 

To celebrate Week of the Italian language in the World, I published a post to liven up your language skills ‘Che Cavolo! Non rompere le Scatole!‘. 

WordPress sends me end of year stats which I love to share because they are so interesting.* In 2023, Un po’ di pepe had over 14,000 views from 112 different countries!  I wish I could visit them all!  The top 10 posts (11 actually because of a tie) of 2023 are listed below, with links included in red, in case you missed any of them.  7 of the top posts of the year appear on the first page of a google search.  This is fantastic!  Granted, they are not commonly searched topics but I am still impressed. The art history related posts seem to do well-I will have to write more of them in future!

Based on the number of views, the top posts of 2023 are:

#10a In my kitchen in Puglia 2023 Once again, my summer cucina with its amazing barrel-vaulted stone ceiling was well read.  This post was written as part of the ‘In my kitchen’ worldwide blog linkup hosted monthly by Sherry of Sherry’s Pickings

#10b tied with #10a Appuntamento con la Daunia.  Every October I receive an invitation to this event and I was finally in Italy at the right time! Hosted by my amico Peppe Zullo at Villa Jamele, this event features local food and wine, focusing on the biodiversity of the Monti Dauni area of Foggia.

#9 Tutti i Santi This 2018 post was written after I attended the annual November 1 festa in Orsara di Puglia to honour the departed with bonfires and carved pumpkins. I previously wrote about this event in Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje, but at the time I had not attended in person yet. 

#8 Grano Arso A Pugliese gastronomic tradition that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors. There is not a lot written in English about grano arso, which explains why this 2015 post is in my top 10 every year and comes up 5th on the first page of Google.

#7 L’Arte sa Nuotare  made the top list again! During a 2019 trip to Firenze with my nipotina Viaggio con Isabella we were on constant lookout for street art by Blub, the talented artist who plunges famous works of art underwater. This post also comes up 2nd on the first page of a Google search!  Spread the Blub love- read about more Blub in Blub a Napoli.Ragazza con l'orecchina di perla Blub street artist Firenze, Girl with a pearl earring#6 The Last Medici As an art history nerd, this 2020 post was my personal thanks to Anna Maria Luisa De’ Medici (AMLDM) the last of the Medici family, for leaving Firenze and the world her family’s legacy of art treasures.  If you have been to the Uffizi or Palazzo Pitti, you will know what I mean.  I was thrilled to see it on the list again! It  comes up #4 in google search both for the topic and for her name!

#5 Bialetti Moka A 2023 post about the history and invention of the beloved Moka caffettiera which revolutionized caffè for Italian households around the world.  The best invention to come out of observing laundry!

#4 Italiano per Ristoranti-How to Pronounce your Restaurant Menu, this handy Italian menu pronunciation guide is usually #1.  In a google search for ‘Italian menu pronunciation’ it comes out as the top suggestion! Molto cool! A 6 page downloadable PDF is available via a link at the end of the post. I would still like to expand and turn it into an ebook someday. Speriamo! If any of you have experience or advice on this, let me know! Ravioli di ricotta e spinaci

#3 Sanremo 2023 For the second year in a row, I wrote a handy viewing guide to the 5 day Festival di Sanremo Italian song contest held the first week of February and it was well received, so I plan to keep doing it every year.

#2 Napoli Street Art I absolutely love Napoli a perfect place for self-expression since the last few thousand years. Join me on a graffiti/street art tour in the Centro Storico. This 2020 post comes up 3rd in Google search .I have  been to Napoli a few times since and probably have enough new street art photos to make a 2.0 version.volto di Sophia Loren Napoli street art#1 Hairstyling in Ancient Roma This 2017 post was on the top 10 list last year for the first time, but I am sooooo beyond thrilled to see it is in first place for 2023!  I am not sure why? I know some views have been referred via Pinterest and it now ranks 3rd in Google search. Another art history post of mine that suddenly had lots of views was because it was being used for a class by a college in California.  It is hard to know for sure why? Join me as I study ancient hairstyling practices by looking at Classical sculptures and paintings. Most of the research was done at Palazzo Massimo.  Yeah for archeology nerds!

For 2024 my goals are simple and the same as usual…. travel, less stress, more exercise, more art and writing! 

I would love to hear which post you liked best, and what you would like to read more about in 2024 on Un po’ di pepe?  Let me know in the comments.  Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2024. In April, Un po’ di pepe celebrates 10 years of blogging, so I will have to plan something special!

To find out what I’m up to, check out the Un po’ di pepe Facebook page and Instagram (@unpodipepe).  I know many of you read new posts when they are posted on Facebook, but with the new algorithms, you are likely to miss them most of the time.  To get notified of new posts, it is best to sign up with your email in the top right hand corner of the home page.

Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani!  Spero che 2024 porta buona salute e gioia a voi e ai vostri cari.  Happy New Year readers of  ‘Un po’ di pepe’, near and far.  I hope 2024 brings good health and joy to you and your loved ones!

Vi auguro un 2024 piena di gioia e buona salute!  Ciao, Cristina

Check out Italian Christmas Vocabulary for help understanding my seasonal greetings,

*Note…WordPress’ method of collecting stats is odd.  The newest post counts as a ‘Home page’ view until the next one is published and this definitely does affect the results, especially for those of us that do not post often.

Bloghiversario #9

25 Tuesday Apr 2023

Posted by in Blogging, Inspiration

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Auguri a me! Oggi Un po’ di pepe compie 9 anni! Yeah me! Today Un po’ di pepe turns 9! Another bloghiversario– blog anniversary.  It is hard to believe it has already been 9 years since starting Un po’ di pepe.  Where did the time go?  It feels like only yesterday I had trouble coming up with a blog name that was not already taken. This has been an amazing, rewarding experience and I have ‘met’ so many virtual friends and even reconnected with old ones. The first thing I published was my ‘Perché questo blog/Why write a blog?’, which can be read here. My first actual post was Il Gigante, about Michelangelo’s David.

Last month, I published post #200!  To celebrate this milestone, I held a giveaway.  The names of the 10 readers who left a comment on the post Bialetti Moka were placed in a bowl and drawn by Mamma.  The 3 winning readers of my linocut print ‘Espresso per uno‘ are Daniel P, Joanne S and Anna M!  Your prints are in the mail and I hope you like them.

The actual 200th post was a link to a 90 minute zoom workshop I gave on creating a mixed media self portrait collage.  It was part of a post pandemic grant received by Accenti magazine and is now up on Youtube.  To read more about it or to participate in the activity, the link is Countering Isolation with Creativity and the post outlines the materials needed.

In 2022, I only published 13 posts, but I feel like I am finally recovering from the post pandemic writing blahs. Yipee! I was also away a lot, trying to make up for almost 3 years of no travel.  Take a peak at my adventures in Post Pandemic Travel Postcard.  I have upcoming posts about Torino, Venezia, Peggy Guggenheim, Ostia Antica, Napoli and a recipe for polpo e patate…maybe even off-topic ones on Paris and Santorini!

One of my posts was sort of a public service.  Anyone planning summer travel to Italia needs to read Beat the heat-Surviving Summer in Roma.  Prego! I only participated in the monthly ‘In my kitchen’ worldwide blog community once last year, and it was from my kitchen in Puglia.

April 25th is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945.  Since 1946 it has been a national holiday.  Viva la libertà!

Grazie to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to share my images and research and write about things that interest me!   You know….’Devo fare ricerca per il blog’ (I need to do research for my blog) is my reason to do all the things I want to do! If you have any suggestions for future posts or just want to say ‘ciao‘, leave me a comment.

Grazie a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’ per continuare a leggere e per avermi dato una scusa per usare le foto che ho scattato e per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono. Ormai posso usare la scusa ‘devo fare ricerca per il blog’ per tutto quello che voglio fare. Lasciatemi un messaggio se avete delle idee per un post o se semplicemente volete dire ‘ciao’. Frecce Tricolori Festa della Liberazione 25 Aprile

Un abbraccio, Cristina

Buon Anno 2023

05 Thursday Jan 2023

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Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani!  Spero che 2023 porta buona salute e gioia a voi e ai vostri cari.  Happy New Year readers of  ‘Un po’ di pepe’, near and far.  I hope 2023 brings good health and joy to you and your loved ones!

I usually write a Buon Anno / year in review post on New Year’s Eve , looking back at the blog year.  I am late in writing this one, since we celebrated my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary on Dec 27th and I posted some of their wedding photos in Diamond Anniversary. I also slipped and took a tumble down the stairs 3 weeks ago and have been moving at a slow pace. Guess I should stop practicing the Wednesday/Mercoledi dance!

2022 was the year I wrote the least amount of posts.  Mannaggia!  Post pandemic creative block was partly responsible, and I was also away a lot.  I attempted to make up for 3 years of not travelling, and did quite an epic job of it.  Read all about my travels in Post Pandemic Travel Postcard.

WordPress keeps end of year stats which I love to share because they are so interesting.* In 2022, Un po’ di pepe had almost 14,000 views from over 100 different countries!  I wish I could visit all of of them!  The top posts of 2022 are listed here, in case you missed any of them.  All of the links included in red!  Based on the number of views, the top posts of 2020 are:

#10 Beat the heat-Surviving Summer in Roma This post is based on my many years of travelling to Roma in the heat of summer.  It was published while I was in Santorini in June. 6 weeks later, I was in Roma, having to take all of my own advice! The recommendations are specific to Roma, but the information is useful for travel anywhere in Mediterranean Europe during the summer. 


#9is a tie 9a Hairstyling in Ancient Roma I am sooooo beyond thrilled to see this 2017 post on the top 10 list for the first time!  It needed some love. Join me as I study ancient hairstyling practices by looking at Classical sculptures and paintings. Most of the research was done at Palazzo Massimo.  Yeah for archeology nerds! 

Exquisite mummy portrait in encaustic wax on wood panel, Hawara, Middle Egypt, 120 AD. Photo National Museum of Scotland

#9b Polignano a Mare In this 2016 post about the stunning clifftop town on the coast of Puglia, read about my probable encounter with the mysterious ‘stair poet’  and learn what infraditi are.  In June I was back in Polignano!

#8 The Last Medici As an art history nerd, this 2020 post was my personal thanks to Anna Maria Luisa De’ Medici (AMLDM) the last of the Medici family, for leaving Firenze and the world her family’s legacy of art treasures.  If you have been to the Uffizi or Palazzo Pitti, you will know what I mean.  I was thrilled to see it on the list again! It  comes up #5 in google search for the topic!

#7 Grano Arso a Pugliese gastronomic tradition that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors. Grano arso is also the subject of my first non- diabetes related publication! There is not a lot written in English on grano arso, which explains why this 2015 post comes up 6th on Google search and this post is in my top 10 every year.

#6 La Grande Cacata  Wow-or should I say merda! I couldn’t believe this 2018 post where I attempt to be an art critic was one of my top 10.  If you need a good laugh, my scathing review of a bruttissima monumental excremental sculpture in Piazza della Signoria in Firenze should do the job.  #5 In my kitchen in Puglia 2022 My summer cucina and the amazing barrel-vaulted stone ceiling were sorely missed during the pandemic! Check out the photo of Mamma cleaning octopi at the kitchen sink. This post was written as part of the ‘In my kitchen’ worldwide blog linkup hosted monthly by Sherry’s Pickings.

#4 Matrimonio in Puglia In June I went to a wonderful family wedding in Puglia, which included an 1100 year old church, a dress made by a 91 year old Nonna and dancing under the olive trees. Auguri Federica e Antonio!

#3 Napoli Street Art I absolutely love Napoli a perfect place for self-expression since the last few thousand years.  Join me on a graffiti/street art tour in the Centro Storico. This 2020 post comes up 5th in Google search. I went to Napoli again, so stay tuned for more posts and even more street art.Madonna con la Pistola Banksy Napoli street art

#2 L’Arte sa Nuotare  made my top list again! During a 2019 trip to Firenze with my nipotina Viaggio con Isabella we were on constant lookout for street art by Blub, the talented artist who plunges famous works of art underwater. This post also comes up 2nd on Google search!  Spread the Blub love- read about more Blub in Blub a Napoli.Putto Raffaello Firenze street art Blub#1 Italiano per Ristoranti-How to Pronounce your Restaurant Menu, this handy Italian menu pronunciation guide has been #1 every year except one.  In a google search for ‘Italian pronunciation guide restaurant’ and ‘Italian menu pronunciation’ it comes out as the top suggestion! Molto cool! This post is available as a 6 page downloadable PDF via a link at the end of the post and. I would still like to expand and turn it into an ebook someday. Speriamo! If any of you have experience publishing ebooks and can give me some advice, let me know! 

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

For 2023 my goals are simple….lots of travel-although not as much as last year- less stress, more exercise, more art and writing! 

I would love to hear which post you liked best, and what you would like to read more about in 2023 on Un po’ di pepe?  Let me know in the comments.  Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2023. I have a long list of posts to write based on 2022 travels.  Next month, I also plan to do a writeup on this year’s Festival di Sanremo as I did last year.  

Vi auguro un 2023 piena di gioia e buona salute!  Ciao, Cristina

Check out Italian Christmas Vocabulary for help understanding my seasonal greetings,

*Note…WordPress’ method of collecting stats is odd.  The newest post counts as a ‘Home page’ view until the next one is published and this does affect the results, especially for those of us that do not post often.

Ottavo Bloghiversario

25 Monday Apr 2022

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cupcake and candleAuguri a me! Today is another bloghiversario– blog anniversary.  It is hard to believe it has already been 8 years since starting Un po’ di pepe.  Where did the time go?  It feels like just yesterday I had trouble coming up with a blog name. This has been an amazing, rewarding experience and I have ‘met’ so many virtual friends and even reconnected with old ones.

in numerology, the number 8 is associated with compassion, freedom and self-reliance.  A 8 on its side is an infinity sign, symbolizing the constant flow of energy and power. We can all use more of these things in our lives!

Last year I only wrote 13 blog posts.  Halfway through the pandemic, I kind of lost my energy.  Luckily I have plans coming up, so potential inspiration is in the works.  Last week, I went to Ottawa for a meeting-my first time on a plane since Aug 2019! Air Canada was strict with mask wearing on the plane, which was a relief!   In 6 weeks, I am finally heading back to Italia and am excited to be attending a family wedding at Santa Maria di Siponto. Viva gli sposi!

In late September, I will finally be going to Torino for the AICW (Association of Italian Canadian Writers) Conference. It has been rescheduled 3 times due to the pandemic.  I have been waiting a long time to try Bicerin!  Venezia for the Biennale is also on my schedule. My last visit to Venezia was in 1994!  Plenty of inspiration and material for future blog posts!While in Puglia, I plan to drink lots of vino.  Have you read my 3 part series on Vini di Puglia?  Here are the links;  Vini di Puglia, Part 2 Aglianico to Zibibbo, and part 3 Il Tuccanese.  Here is a link to my first post Perché questo blog?/Why write a blog?

April 25 is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945.  Viva la libertà. Since it is relevant to what is happening in the world today, I would like to share this 1955ish quote by Piero Calamandrei, an author and protagonist of the Resistenza:

‘La liberta è come l’aria.  Ci si accorge di quanto vale quando inizia a mancare. /Freedom is like air.  We only realize how much it is worth when it is lacking’


Grazie to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to research and write about things that interest me!  If you have any suggestions for future posts or just want to say ‘ciao‘, leave me a comment.

Grazie mille a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’ per leggere e darmi una scusa per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono.  Lasciami un messaggio se hai un idea per un post o semplicemente per dire ‘ciao’.  Un abbraccio, Cristina

2021~ Un po’ di pepe year in review

31 Friday Dec 2021

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As we prepare to say Addio 2021, we continue to face uncertainty and frustration with constantly changing recommendations and regulations. In my last end of year post Reflecting on 2020, I wrote about examples of kindness and human resilience despite the global pandemic. A lot of the things I wrote about in that post have not changed…but there is one huge difference since 1 year ago.  Now we have vaccines!  There are still COVID cases, but they are fewer and those who are vaccinated are not getting as sick.  Things are slowly improving, even if it sometimes does not feel like it.  I no longer feel like an extra in a bad science fiction movie, where everything in the world is upside down…well, not often anyways.

One of my friends gives me a figurine for my Christmas village every year.  Last year was the masked toasting couple, shown in the photo between Tiny Tim and Eliza Doolittle. She added the little latex masks.  They are cute, but I did not plan to have them in my village again. If all goes well, they will be unmasked next year! This year’s figurine is a snowboarder, so that is already progress.

Starting in May, I took on extra work as a COVID immunizer. It has definitely been a positive, rewarding experience.  You can read about my experiences in post #4 below.  As a result, the # of blog posts I wrote this year decreased.  I average 2 posts per month, occasionally 3. May 2021 is the only month since starting this blog in April 2014 that I published 0 posts.  Several other months I only published once, so I need to get writing next year! The good news is that 5 posts from 2021 are on my top list, so at least someone was reading the ones I did write!

WordPress keeps end of year stats which I love to share because they are so interesting*.  In 2021, Un po’ di pepe had over 13,000 views from almost 100 different countries!  I would love to visit all of of them!  The top posts of 2021 based on the number of views are listed here, in case you missed any of them.  Lots of links are included!

#10 Tiramisù  The history of Tiramisù and my recipe, published for Giornata Mondiale del Tiramisù-World Tiramisù Day. Tiramisu'

#9  La Trinità di Masaccio is on this list again! When I first published this art history lesson in 2018, it did not get much love.  Last year, I discovered that it comes up as the 1st listing after Wikipedia in a Google search! This explains the steady trickle of views over the last few years. I also suspect it is on some reading lists for art history classes in the US, because a lot of views were referred from the course websites of Santa Monica College and a high school in Pittsburgh! How cool is that?  Didn’t I say the stats were fascinating?

My quick sketches of the vanishing point, perspective lines and triangular composition. The colour image is my entry ticket from 2004!

#8 In My Kitchen, Summer 2021 ‘In My Kitchen’ is a monthly blogging group hosted by Sherry in Australia. Check the post for the link.  I join in a few times a year.  For the second year in a row, I missed my kitchen in Puglia due to the plague and pestilence of the global pandemic. This post documents my summer kitchen adventures at home.

#7 100 years of Insulin During my career as a Diabetes Educator, I have taught thousands of families how to give insulin. This life-saving therapy was discovered in Canada 100 years ago, and I happily share the story of its discovery with all of you. Canada Post stamp from April 2021.Canada Post Stamp commemorating the discovery of insulin

#6a 6th place is a tie. Grano Arso a Pugliese gastronomic tradition that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors. Grano arso is also the subject of my first non- diabetes related publication! There is not a lot written in English on grano arso, which explains why this 2015 post comes up 5th on Google search.

#6b Internment of Italian Canadians I am always amazed at how little is known about this time in history when it was a crime to be Italian.

#5 Napoli Street Art I absolutely love Napoli a perfect place for self-expression since the last few thousand years.  Join me on a graffiti/street art tour in the Centro Storico. This 2020 post comes up 4th in Google search.volto di Sophia Loren Napoli street art

#4 Reflections from a COVID Immunizer This post is based on notes I kept about what people said to me while working as a COVID immunizer.

#3 Limoncello Ricotta Cookies This 2018 post is on this list for the first time, and a lot of the views were referred from Pinterest!

#2 L’Arte sa Nuotare  made my top list again! During my 2019 trip to Firenze with Isabella we were on constant lookout for street art by Blub, the talented artist who plunges famous works of art underwater. This post also comes up 2nd on a google search, after the artist’s own Instagram page.  Spread the Blub love- read more about Blub in Blub a Napoli. Putto Raffaello Firenze street art Blub

#1 Italiano per Ristoranti-How to Pronounce your Restaurant Menu, this handy Italian menu pronunciation guide has been #1 every year except last year.  In a google search for ‘Italian pronunciation guide restaurant’ and ‘Italian menu pronunciation’ it comes out as the top suggestion! Molto cool! This post is available as a 6 page downloadable PDF via a link at the end of the post and was downloaded 44 times this year.  Someday, I will expand and turn it into an ebook. Speriamo! If any of you have experience publishing ebooks and can give me some advice, please contact me!

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

I also published my first ‘interview’ post this year.  I interviewed Diana Iuele about her study of Italiese, our italocanadese hybrid language.

Grazie mille to all of you for continuing to read and follow Un po’ di pepe.  I would love to hear which post/s you liked best, and what you would like to read more about in 2022 on Un po’ di pepe.  Let me know in the comments.  Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2022.

Tanti auguri a tutti i lettori di Un po’ di pepe per un 2022 piena di, pace, gioia, buona salute e sicurezza Wishing all readers of Un po’ di pepe a 2022 full of peace, joy, good health and safety!

 Virtual baci e abbracci, Cristina

Refer to Italian Christmas Vocabulary to make sense of my seasonal greetings!

*Note…WordPress’ method of collecting stats is odd.  The newest post counts as a ‘Home page’ view until the next one is published and I am not sure how much this changes the results.

In my Kitchen-Summer 2021

05 Sunday Sep 2021

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For the second year in a row, I am missing my kitchen in Puglia due to the plague and pestilence of this global pandemic. Hopefully we will see each other again next year. You can see why I miss it by checking out the IMK post I wrote the last time I was there In my Kitchen in Puglia.

Since I had to stay home again this summer, I invited friends over in my backyard a few times. I would usually make pizza for this type of gathering, but my 23 year old oven had been unpredictable and slowly dying. One time my crust would be nice and crispy, another time barely cooked. For a change, I was very Pugliese and made panzerotti. They were delicious, but messy to fry.  Next time I will do it outside on my portable induction burner, but this wasn’t possible by myself. Making panzerotti is really a 2 person thing. They need to be fried soon after being formed, or else they continue to rise, and the tomato sauce starts to seep through the dough. Both of these things can cause them to open and then the oil splatters and gets very messy. I did finally get a new stove last month. Isn’t it beautiful? Now my appliances are the same colour and my pizza crust is evenly cooked.  Yeah!

The pomodori in my garden have been happy. I grew all the plants from seeds, harvested from last year’s crop. Mamma and I have already dried seeds for next year.

My pomodori come in all shapes and sizes.  They have been eaten every day, in every possible way. The cherry ones taste like candy. I walk outside and eat them straight off the vine.

Speaking of pomodori, a few weeks ago, my parents’ cantina had only 3 litres of pasta left on the shelf! That has never happened before. Luckily, my family got together for our 2 day ‘salsapalooza’ and made 273 litres of passata di pomodoro. The cantina is restocked, as you can see!  The whole process can be found in the post Passata di Pomodoro. Most of the tomatoes were purchased, since the ones in our gardens are not all ripe at the same time. We are usually making our passata while jet lagged, right after getting back from Italia, so we supposedly had extra energy this year-although it didn’t feel like it!

Once the pomodori were canned, the rest of the basilico was used for making Pesto Genovese. Now I need to make some Corzetti to serve the pesto with.  I can pour myself a glass of white wine and pretend I am in the Cinque Terre.

My good friends from Sooke came to visit and I made a cake for Susanne’s birthday. Using my most popular recipe, I made Torta Caprese all’ Arancia. The margherite (daisies) design were made with almonds.  I sprinkled the entire cake with icing sugar, then removed the almonds. Ta-da!

The fig crop this year was unbelievable. My family ate all the figs we could, but there were way too many to eat #italianproblems. We made fig jam and even extra fig crostata to freeze. Next year I will have to try drying some too.

That is about all from my cucina (and my parents’ garage) for now.  What is happening in your cucina?  Let me know in the comments.  This post is part of the monthly ‘In my Kitchen’ linkup hosted by Sherry.  To read the other posts in this linkup, click this link to her blog Sherry’s Pickings.

Ciao, Cristina

Settebello-Bloghiversario #7

25 Sunday Apr 2021

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Today is another bloghiversario-a blog anniversary.  It is hard to believe it has already been 7 years since starting Un po’ di pepe.  Where did the time go?  If feels like just yesterday I had trouble coming up with a blog name. This has been an amazing, rewarding experience and I have ‘met’ so many virtual friends and even reconnected with old ones.

7 is a lucky number in many cultures.  Settebello, the sette denari (7 of coins) is the luckiest card in an Italian deck of cards.  Let’s hope that means it will be a lucky year! We could all use more settebello.Settebello

Last year, I did not write a bloghiversario post.  We had been in ‘pandemic mode’ for 6 weeks, and it is hard to believe that 1 year later, the world is still sottosopra…upside down, and I still feel like an extra in a low-budget science fiction movie where plague and pestilence run rampant.  

I started out this pandemic being crazy productive-increasing from 2 blog posts per month to 3, trying out all the recipes I could never find the time to get to, Zoom yoga 3-4 times a week and planned out  many art projects.  I lost steam at some point and now have trouble concentrating enough to write a shopping list or paint my nails.  I am now spending most of my time reading and growing seedlings, but thankfully I am still doing the Zoom yoga 3 times a week.

5 masks hanging on a clothesline

The loss of life, paralysis of the world economy, and mental health effects of this pandemic have been devastating.   Each of us copes differently with the confusion, fear and stress of quarantine, distancing, and finding distraction from all things Coronavirus.  Some of us are madly productive, and others slow right down.  I have yo-yo’d back and forth.  What I am trying to say is, as long as what you are doing helps with coping and local guidelines to help everyone stay safe are followed, it does not really matter. Just stay safe!

I decided to do my part for ‘the cause’ and got a temporary new job.  I will be doing some relief work with the COVID 19 Immunization clinics for Vancouver Coastal Health.  My training session was a few mornings ago and it was a happy place.  The 3 people I immunized were so excited, relieved, and ecstatic, it made my week!  

Personal Protective Equipment

Today is also La Festa della Liberazione d’Italia, the anniversary of the liberation of Italia from Fascist occupation in 1945.  Viva la libertà. Since it is relevant today, I would like to share this 1955ish quote by Piero Calamandrei, an author and protagonist of the Resistenza:

La liberta è come l’aria.  Ci si accorge di quanto vale quando inizia a mancare. /Freedom is like air.  We only realize how much it is worth when it is lacking.

SettebelloGrazie to all of you for taking the time to read, comment, send messages and especially for giving me an excuse to research and write about things that interest me!  If you have any suggestions for posts or just want to say ‘ciao‘, leave me a comment. Here is a link to my first post Perché questo blog?/Why write a blog?

Grazie mille a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’ per leggere e darmi una scusa per scrivere di cose che mi piacciono.  Lasciami un messaggio se hai un idea per un post o semplicemente per dire ‘ciao’.  Un abbraccio, Cristina

Forza! Continue to stay safe everyone, and hang in there.  Un abbraccio, Cristina