For more information: Italian Kisses – Rita Watson also PsychologyToday.com With Love and Gratitude
Category: Italian Kisses
An Attic Full of Treasures and Farewell
Thursday Posted Sep 1, 2016 at 9:30 PM This is my last “Italian Kisses” column. Every time that I wrote this column, I felt blessed. Now it is time to say goodbye and bring to fruition a book for my children, their children, our family, friends and readers who wish to experience the joy of Italian memories. It has been…
When She Wasn't Baking, She Was Crocheting
Posted Aug 4, 2016 at 9:30 PM/ By Rita Watson Special to The Journal It was during a holiday visit to Cape Cod recently that we began to reminisce about Italian customs and remembrances. Zia Concetta, often in her pink chenille robe and matching hair curlers, loved her bed dolls with their rows upon rows of ruffles. Uncle Ronaldo called them…
June meant lilacs, brides and bocce
Rita Watson’s Italian Kisses: June meant lilacs, brides and bocce Late-blooming lilacs, biscotti, bridal bags and bocce balls were signs of June at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Rita Watson’s mother, Clara Rose, in 1944, when she was 24 years old. Rita remember…[+] By Rita Watson Special to The Journal Posted Jun. 9, 2016 @ 9:00…
Summer Rituals: Fireworks, Flying Horses, and Frozen Custard
By Rita Watson Summer rituals and fireworks always take my breath away. Growing up Italian, we loved having any excuse for a celebration. One of my favorite times was gathering on the lawn at Grandma and Grandpa’s house on the water to watch the fireworks. Then the next day we strolled along the boardwalk to a…
Italian Kisses: Biscotti for fabric, a fair trade
Special to The Journal Posted May. 12, 2016 @ 9:30 pm To Grandma, looking fashionable was as simple as taking off the white baker’s apron that usually hugged her pastel-colored house dress. It was only on Sunday, when she dressed for church in her navy blue gabardine dress with the lace collar, that we could…
Grandma's Rose-Colored Words
Rita Watson’s Italian Kisses: Grandma tried to avoid unkind words By Rita Watson Special to The Journal Posted Apr. 14, 2016 @ 9:00 pm Grandma believed in clichés, euphemisms and kind words. “Bless instead of curse, because curses come home,” was a favorite saying. Grandma may not have seen the world through rose-colored glasses, but she…
From her Pizzagaina to Zeppole, Grandma Was Queen
By Rita Watson Special to The Journal Posted Mar. 17, 2016 @ 9:00 pm When both San Giuseppe Day and Easter would fall within weeks of each other — as with this year — Grandma would say, “I’m beside myself with all of the baking and cooking. I hope I still have the strength to stand…
Mixing Politics and Pastry
Rita Watson’s grandmother was always suspicious of pastry shops that did not have windows filled with trays of cookies Special to The JournalPosted Feb. 18, 2016 @ 9:30 pm Before moving to what we called “The Water House,” my mother lived briefly in New Haven, Connecticut, with my father’s parents. She was quite displeased by…
All about Grandma's candy drawer
>Posted Jan. 24, 2016 @ 12:01 am Grandma loved a good party. She thrived preparing for Sunday dinners. Because of the size of the family home, most birthdays were held at the house on the water. The one party that Grandma seemed to brush off was her own birthday “I don’t even have a birth…