Ottavo Bloghiversario

25 Monday Apr 2022

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Auguri 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

Buon Anno 2021

07 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging, Inspiration

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

2020 year in review, Blog year in review, Blogging, Italia

Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani! Spero che 2021 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 2021 brings good health and joy to you and your loved ones!

I usually write a Buon Anno post on New Year’s Day, looking back at the blog year. I am late in writing this one, since I wrote an end of year post Reflecting on 2020, summing up and bidding good riddance to 2020-although I was not that polite in my sendoff!

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

#10 Viaggio con Isabella A summary of a trip to Italia with my super-photogenic energetic travel buddy, my nipotina* Isabella. Since travel is still not possible, enjoy a virtual trip with us!
#9 Limoncello Because the pandemic caused a hand-sanitizer shortage, I was able to get some grain alcohol. When life gives you lemons……This post includes instructions and photos of the process to make limoncello at home.

#8 Cinquecento Love In May I published an article/photo essay about my lifelong obsession with the huggable Fiat 500 in a special print edition of Accenti Magazine. This post links to the full online article.

#7 The recipe for Olive oil Limoncello Cake was inspired by an art retreat at Casa Berti near Lucca, surrounded by 900 olive trees, freshly pressed olive oil and limoncello.

#6 Napoli Street Art I just love Napoli a perfect place for self-expression for the last few thousand years. Join me on a graffiti/street art tour in the Centro Storico. volto di Sophia Loren Napoli street art

#5 I was happy to see La Trinità di Masaccio on this list yet again! When I first published this art history lesson, it had about 30 views, but I discovered that it comes up as the 1st listing in a google search! This explains the steady trickle of views. I also suspect that it is on some sort of a reading list for art history classes in the US, because I have noticed a lot of views 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?

#4 I am so super thrilled that L’Arte sa Nuotare made my top list again! During my trip with my nipotina** 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 4th on a google search. Spread the Blub love- read about more Blub in Blub a Napoli.

#3 The Last Medici As an art history nerd, this post was my personal thanks to Anna Maria Luisa De’ Medici (AMLDM) the last of the Medici family, for leaving the world her family’s legacy of art treasures. I was thrilled to see it get some love!

#2 Italiano per Ristoranti-How to Pronounce your Restaurant Menu, this handy Italian menu pronunciation guide has been #1 every year until now. 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 on the post. Someday, I plan to expand and turn it into an ebook. Speriamo!

#1 For the first time ever a different post is #1. I wish I had not had to write this post, but I am glad I did. COVID 19-Andra tutto bene was my top post for 2020. A lot has been written since, but I wrote this early into the pandemic, after overhearing too many people saying that it was all a hoax and more people die from the seasonal flu. As a health professional, I felt I needed to provide some education as a public service. I followed it with another post COVID 19-Insieme ce la faremo.

For 2021 my goals are simple….lots of travel-if we are able, 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 2021 on Un po’ di pepe? Let me know in the comments. Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2021.

Vi auguro un 2021 piena di gioia e buona salute! Ciao, Cristina

*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.

**Nipote or nipotina means both niece and granddaughter in Italiano. In this case, it means niece.

Buon Anno 2020

01 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging, Inspiration

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

2020 year in review, Blog year in review, Blogging, Italia

Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani! Spero che 2020 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 2020 brings good health and joy to you and your loved ones!

It is the end of another decade! WordPress keeps end of year stats which I love to share because they are so interesting.* In 2019, Un po’ di pepe had over 12,000 views from 112 different countries! I wish I could visit all of of them! The top posts of 2019 are listed here, in case you missed any of them. 4 of the most viewed posts were published in 2019, and 4 were written as part of blogging linkups. I also discovered that the 5 most viewed posts all come out as top suggestions in google searches. Molto cool! Several book reviews post were published, and they can be found under the category ‘Libri’.

Based on the number of views, the top posts of 2019 are:

#9 Cristo si è fermato a Eboli. This post from January is a book review of an Italian classic-one of my favourite books, Christ Stopped at Eboli. I recommend everyone read it before visiting I Sassi di Matera.

#8 My recipe for Olive Oil Limoncello Cake was inspired by an art retreat at Casa Berti near Lucca, while surrounded by olive trees, freshly pressed olive oil and limoncello. It received increase exposure as a link on a new post Olio d’oliva in November and on Mamma Prada’s newsletter.

#7 I have been to 14 out of the 20 regioni-regions of Italia, and love them all, but my favourite, of course is Puglia. Puglia-La Mia Regione Preferita lists my top reasons to love Puglia.

#6 Palazzo Massimo alle Terme is one of my favourite museums in Roma. This 2017 post comes up 10th in a google search and was the inspiration for another posts that hardly anyone read- Hairstyling in Ancient Roma. Have you been to Palazzo Massimo?

#5 In My Kitchen in Puglia This post about my summer cucina and the amazing barrel-vaulted stone ceiling was written as part of the ‘In my kitchen’ worldwide blog linkup hosted monthly by Sherry’s Pickings.

#4 I was surprised to see La Trinità di Masaccio on this list again! Yipee! When I first published this art history lesson, it had about 30 views, but I just discovered that it comes up as the 4th listing in a google search! This explains the small but steady trickle of views.

#3 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.

#2-The number 2 spot is a tie! In second spot once again is 2015’s Grano Arso about a Pugliese gastronomic tradition that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors. In 2017 I did a reading on grano arso at the Association of Italian Canadian Writers Conference, which was published- Grano Arso in print. My first publication that is not about diabetes! There is not a lot written on grano arso in English, which explains why the post comes up 5th on google search.

#2a I am so super thrilled that L’Arte sa Nuotare not only made my top list but tied for #2! In May I was in Firenze with my nipotina** Isabella. We had a fabulous time and were on constant lookout for street art by Blub, the talented artist who plunges famous works of art underwater. This post also comes up as the 3rd listing on a google search. Spread the Blub love- more Blub in Blub a Napoli.

#1 Italiano per Ristoranti-How to Pronounce your Restaurant Menu, this handy Italian menu pronunciation guide is once again the top post, by a longshot. If you google ‘Italian pronunciation guide restaurant’ it comes out as the top suggestion! “Italian menu pronunciation’ comes in at #6 on the google listing. This 2014 post was updated in 2016 and is available as a 6 page downloadable PDF via a link on the post. Someday, I plan to expand and turn it into an ebook. Speriamo!

For 2020 my goals are simple….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 2020 on Un po’ di pepe? Let me know in the comments. Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2020.

Vi auguro un 2020 piena di gioia e buona salute! Ciao, Cristina

*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.

**Nipote or nipotina means both niece and granddaughter in Italiano. In this case, it means niece.

-detail of Lucania ’61 mural by Carlo Levi in Palazzo Lanfranchi, Matera from Wikimedia Commons

Buon Anno 2019

01 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging, Inspiration

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

2018 in review, Blog year in review, Blogging

Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani! Spero che 2019 porta buona salute e gioia a voi e ai vostri cari.

Happy New Year ‘Un po’ di pepe’ readers near and far. I hope 2019 brings you and your loved ones good health and joy!

WordPress keeps end of year stats which I find so interesting I need to share them. In 2018, Un po’ di pepe had almost 10,000 views from 97 different countries! I wish I could visit even a few of them! WordPress’ method of collecting stats is odd and I am not sure how much this changes the results. For example, the newest post counts as a ‘Home page’ view until the next one is published, making it difficult for a post from the second half of the year to make the top posts. We will have to work with that.

Something very different about the list this year….7 out of 10 were written in 2018. In other years, only 2-3 were new posts. I think this means more of you are reading the newer posts! Based on the number of views, the most read posts of 2018 are:

#9 A Perfect Day in Italia, describing my typical day in Orsara di Puglia. This April post was my first time joining the Dolce Vita Bloggers monthly linkup group.#8 In My Kitchen, September 2018 was my first time joining the ‘In My Kitchen’ (IMK) monthly blog linkup. It was fun, and I wanted to participate in December, but the deadline was too early in the month and all of the kitchen action started Dec 12th! #7 I was so surprised and super excited to see La Trinità di Masaccio on this list! Yipee! When I first published this art history lesson, it did not get much love, but I guess there was a steady trickle of readers throughout the year!

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

#6 is a tie. #6a is the 2017 post Palazzo Massimo alle Terme one of my favourite museums in Roma. It was the inspiration for Hairstyling in Ancient Roma. Have you been to Palazzo Massimo?#6b is Your Favourite Recipe. In September, for the second time, I prepared the wrong month’s topic for the Dolce Vita Bloggers linkup. The topic was supposed to be my favourite recipe, but since I was short on time, I wrote about the most popular of my recipe posts- Torta Caprese all’Arancia.#5 Uffa, allora, purtroppo, magari……mannaggia! This was a fun post to write, another Dolce Vita Bloggers monthly roundup on the topic ‘5 Words/Cinque Parole’. #4 Aria Pericolosa. I absolutely loved writing this post while I was in Italia, and plan to write more on this topic or do something else with it. I won’t say any more, but if you have not read it, click on the link! Read the comments too, and metti la giacca!#3 A recipe for the Olive Oil Limoncello Cake I was inspired to bake at Casa Berti in Lucca, while surrounded by olive trees, freshly pressed olive oil and limoncello.#2 is the same as last year. Grano Arso from April 2015 is about a Pugliese gastronomic tradition that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors. In September 2017, I did a reading about grano arso at the Association of Italian Canadian Writers Conference in Sudbury, Ontario. This may be the reason for the increased views -or the fact there is not much written in English on the topic.

I received an early Christmas present. The AICW conference presentations were recently published in a special issue of the University of Toronto Dept of Italian Studies journal- Italian Canadiana Volume 32. This is my first piece of published writing that is not about diabetes! Yipee!

#1 by a long shot once again is Italiano per Ristoranti my handy Italian menu pronunciation guide. If you google ‘Italian menu or food pronunciation’ it comes out as the 8th suggestion! This post is from 2014, updated in 2016 and is available on the post as a downloadable PDF. I am still planning to expand on this post and make it into an ebook. Will I finally figure out how in 2019? Speriamo!

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

For 2019 my goals are simple….less stress, more exercise, more art and writing! Soon I will be making a big change to my work life so that I can have more flexibility. In the spring I will be a ‘libero professionista’-a freelancer!

On the blog, I plan to write more on Caravaggio. My 3 recent posts are not enough! I may be doing some type of collaborative post with Luca from Luca’s Italy. We don’t know what this will look like yet, but it should be fun. The Dolce Vita bloggers group is on a break but should resume soon. I also have several book reviews to post and more published writing coming up in 2019.

I would love to hear which post was your favourite. What would you like to read more about in 2019 on Un po’ di pepe? Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2019.

Vi auguro un 2019 piena di gioia e buona salute! Ciao, Cristina

Buon Anno 2018

01 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Blogging, Inspiration

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Blog year in review, Blogging, Inspiration

Buon Anno a tutti i lettori di ‘Un po’ di pepe’, vicini e lontani! Spero che 2018 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 2018 brings you and your loved ones good health and joy!

WordPress sent me some stats which i find so interesting I need to share them. In 2017, Un po’ di pepe had almost 7,700 views from 101 different countries! I wish I could visit even a few of them! This post is also a milestone, as it is post number 100! Last month I also reached 250 followers. Number 250 is the lovely Cher who I met at my exhibit in Pietrasanta, Lucca. Cher, if you are reading this, I will be sending you a ‘prize’ soon! Based on the number of views, the most posts of 2017 were:

#9 A post full of sundrenched photos from my daytrip to Trani this summer#8 At first, it seemed like this post didn’t get as much love as I thought it deserved, so I was felicissima that Hairstyling in Ancient Roma made the list! I am an archeology nerd, and obviously some of you are too!

#7 Torta Caprese all’Arancia the delicious flourless chocolate cake recipe I posted to celebrate receiving a Cannolo Award makes the list again this year

#6 My grand amico Peppe Zullo Il Cuoco Contadino will be thrilled that the post about him and his Azienda Agricola made the list!

Peppe Zullo nel vigneto. Photo Nicola Tramonte

#5 Pomodoro Day is a new post with links to 2 previous posts about the history of pomodori and my family’s annual passata di pomodoro canning. There are a lot of photos and they are very red!

#4 An introduction to my paese Benvenuti ad Orsara di Puglia made the list again this year. Viva Orsara! I need to publish a photo essay of black and white photos taken this year.

#3 I am so happy to see Mercato Inspiration in the top 3! This post is a link to a photography blog post written by someone who purchased a small print from me. He writes about how meeting me and talking about art inspired him. Molto cool!

#2 is my About me/Chi sono page but since it is not an actual post, the #2 spot goes to another old favourite. Grano Arso is about a resurfaced gastronomic tradition in Puglia that honours the resilience of our contadini ancestors. In September I read a piece about grano arso at the Association of Italian Canadian Writers Conference. It will be published in a special edition of the journal Italian Canadiana in 2018.

#1 by a long shot once again is Italiano per Ristoranti my handy Italian menu pronunciation guide. This post is from 2014, and updated in 2016. It is available from the post as a downloadable PDF. I would like to expand on this post and make it into an ebook once I have time to figure out how to do that!

Bruschetta (broo.SKET.tah)

In October, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by fellow blogger Silvia Spatafora. The link to her bilingual post is in L’Intervista con Silvia. Also molto cool!In 2017 I saw U2 perform live for the 7th time and I went to Italia twice! If you read the posts In Partenza and Autunno in Italia, you know that the second time was not planned very far in advance. Spontaneity is good! I have several blog posts coming in 2018 related to the short trip! I also have a few book reviews to post. My goals for 2018 are simple….less stress, more exercise, more art and writing!

I would love to hear which post was your favourite. What would you like to read more of in Un po’ di pepe? Looking forward to writing more cose interresanti /interesting stuff in 2018.

Vi auguro un 2018 piena di gioia e buona salute! Ciao, Cristina