Easter is one of the most important holidays in Italy, and one that incorporates religious symbolism as well as traditions and customs celebrated by even those outside of the Christian faith. As is the heart of this culture, Holy Week is another reason to embrace family, friends, great food, and plenty of celebration.

Easter is known as Pasqua in Italy and it falls on April 1 this year. Festivities across the country typically begin on Good Friday with church service attendance and continue through Easter Monday, or Pasquetta.

The most famous celebration takes place in Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. The sitting Pope conducts evening mass, which is then followed by his walk with a large candlelit procession that starts at Palatine Hill and continues to the Colosseum, making 14 prayer stops along the way. These coordinated stops mirror the last walk of Christ. Religious or not, there is a lovely harmony that is experienced with onlookers lucky enough to participate in this sacred tradition.

Over the course of the weekend there are celebrations across the country in the form of parades and festivals. You’re more than likely to see a procession of people carrying statues of either Jesus or Mary with olive branches in hand as they make their way through town.

Most Italians are spending Pasqua Sunday enjoying large meals with those they love. Traditional meals include some sort of egg dish in the morning such as a frittata. The egg represents new life and new beginnings, symbolic of the resurrection of Christ. And while you won’t see the Easter Bunny hopping around Italy, they do color eggs and indulge in chocolate hollowed eggs filled with small treasures. If you walk the streets to browse shop window displays, you’ll likely see some very intricate and beautiful chocolate eggs created by the many master chocolatiers in Italy. These small works of art tend to make their way to the Easter table, along with the colored variety.

We have our own tradition to incorporate spring on our Easter table with the addition of our favorite handmade Italian dinnerware. These Intrecci handmade ceramics filled with candy egg treats and paired with spring plantings inside our Primavera flowerpots definitely make the table feel like Easter.

Beyond all the sweet treats, Italians feast on lamb for their main Pasqua meal. Every region may prepare it in their unique way, but at the center, lamb is the meal of choice. Roast lamb, lamb stew, grilled lamb, lamb skewers, lamb with sauce – it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s lamb.

Artichokes are also common across the country given spring is when they are harvested, but they are definitely a significant tradition in places like Rome. There are even artichoke festivals in some areas to celebrate the harvest season. A grouping of raw artichokes in a large Intrecci basket would be beautiful on the spring table!

Other traditional foods include Easter soups, rice balls, sweet breads, as well as specialty cakes like the dove-shaped treat called colomba. We’ve shared a recipe for the most popular Easter bread, or Pana di Pasqua, below along with a nice wine suggestion for your Easter meal.

After a full weekend of quality time with the family, Easter Monday is typically the time Italians spend with friends. Since it’s the first opportunity for a spring outing, the Pasquetta tradition is to find a favorite outdoor destination and have a picnic. You’ll find Italians flocking to seaside beaches, mountains, vineyards, parks, and country villas to celebrate the start of the season steeped in Mother Nature.

Whatever your plans this Easter, we hope you can spend it with those that mean the most to you. Don’t forget to fill the table with the bounty of the spring season and embrace the intended spirit of renewal and new life. 

Recipe - Pana di Pasqua

Makes 6 breads
This recipe is from one of our favorite bloggers, The Italian Dish Blog. It’s an easy version of this traditional Italian sweet bread and we think your family will really enjoy. You can either follow the instructions below, or visit Elaine’s site and see more photos along with the instructions to help you along.

• 1 package Rapid Rise (instant) yeast, about 2-1/4 teaspoons
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 cups flour (approximate)
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
• 6 dyed Easter eggs *
• sprinkles or pearl sugar

Instructions:

* Tip:  the Easter eggs do not need to be hard-boiled. They cook when the bread bakes. So just dye the eggs uncooked, but be careful they don't crack.

In a small saucepan, warm the milk and butter together, till butter melts. In a large mixer bowl, combine yeast, salt, eggs, and sugar.

Add the warm (not hot - it will kill the yeast) milk and butter. Add about half the flour and beat until smooth with dough hook. Slowly add the remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Don't worry about how much flour it ends up being, just keep adding until the dough is not sticky anymore.

Knead until smooth with either dough hook attachment or turn out on floured board and knead. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Punch the dough down and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece to form a 1 inch thick rope about 14 inches long and, taking two pieces, twist to form a braid, pinching the ends, and loop into a circle. (See Elaine’s images for visual instructions.)

Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpats. Cover and let rise until double, about an hour again.  Brush each bread with beaten egg wash. Add the sprinkles or sugar on the top. In the middle of each bread ring, gently place an Easter egg, making an indentation with the egg.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden - about 20 minutes. Cool on rack. You can eat the eggs, but if you leave the bread sitting out for a few hours, don't eat them. Common sense.

Wine Paring

For an easy wine pairing, we suggest this Italian Pinot Grigio made by the Candoni De Zan family in the Veneto region of Italy.  

Their tasting notes suggest it’s “Crisp, well-structured and sophisticated. It has a rich, pear-like nose, which is followed by crisp acidity, a medium body and a delicious mouth feel.”

Sounds like the perfect pairing to your Easter meal and our Pana di Pasqua recommendation. You can usually find it for less than $14, so why not pick up a few bottles.

Easter is one of the most important holidays in Italy, and one that incorporates religious symbolism as well as traditions and customs celebrated by even those outside of the Christian faith. As is the heart of this culture, Holy Week is another reason to embrace family, friends, great food, and plenty of celebration.

Easter is known as Pasqua in Italy and it falls on April 1 this year. Festivities across the country typically begin on Good Friday with church service attendance and continue through Easter Monday, or Pasquetta.

The most famous celebration takes place in Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. The sitting Pope conducts evening mass, which is then followed by his walk with a large candlelit procession that starts at Palatine Hill and continues to the Colosseum, making 14 prayer stops along the way. These coordinated stops mirror the last walk of Christ. Religious or not, there is a lovely harmony that is experienced with onlookers lucky enough to participate in this sacred tradition.

Over the course of the weekend there are celebrations across the country in the form of parades and festivals. You’re more than likely to see a procession of people carrying statues of either Jesus or Mary with olive branches in hand as they make their way through town.

Most Italians are spending Pasqua Sunday enjoying large meals with those they love. Traditional meals include some sort of egg dish in the morning such as a frittata. The egg represents new life and new beginnings, symbolic of the resurrection of Christ. And while you won’t see the Easter Bunny hopping around Italy, they do color eggs and indulge in chocolate hollowed eggs filled with small treasures. If you walk the streets to browse shop window displays, you’ll likely see some very intricate and beautiful chocolate eggs created by the many master chocolatiers in Italy. These small works of art tend to make their way to the Easter table, along with the colored variety.

We have our own tradition to incorporate spring on our Easter table with the addition of our favorite handmade Italian dinnerware. These Intrecci handmade ceramics filled with candy egg treats and paired with spring plantings inside our Primavera flowerpots definitely make the table feel like Easter.

Beyond all the sweet treats, Italians feast on lamb for their main Pasqua meal. Every region may prepare it in their unique way, but at the center, lamb is the meal of choice. Roast lamb, lamb stew, grilled lamb, lamb skewers, lamb with sauce – it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s lamb.

Artichokes are also common across the country given spring is when they are harvested, but they are definitely a significant tradition in places like Rome. There are even artichoke festivals in some areas to celebrate the harvest season. A grouping of raw artichokes in a large Intrecci basket would be beautiful on the spring table!

Other traditional foods include Easter soups, rice balls, sweet breads, as well as specialty cakes like the dove-shaped treat called colomba. We’ve shared a recipe for the most popular Easter bread, or Pana di Pasqua, below along with a nice wine suggestion for your Easter meal.

After a full weekend of quality time with the family, Easter Monday is typically the time Italians spend with friends. Since it’s the first opportunity for a spring outing, the Pasquetta tradition is to find a favorite outdoor destination and have a picnic. You’ll find Italians flocking to seaside beaches, mountains, vineyards, parks, and country villas to celebrate the start of the season steeped in Mother Nature.

Whatever your plans this Easter, we hope you can spend it with those that mean the most to you. Don’t forget to fill the table with the bounty of the spring season and embrace the intended spirit of renewal and new life. 

Happy Easter!

Recipe | Pana di Pasqua

Makes 6 breads

This recipe is from one of our favorite bloggers, The Italian Dish Blog. It’s an easy version of this traditional Italian sweet bread and we think your family will really enjoy. You can either follow the instructions below, or visit Elaine’s site and see more photos along with the instructions to help you along.

Ingredients: 

• 1 package Rapid Rise (instant) yeast, about 2-1/4 teaspoons
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 1/2 cups flour (approximate)
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
• 6 dyed Easter eggs *
• sprinkles or pearl sugar

Instructions:

* Tip:  the Easter eggs do not need to be hard-boiled. They cook when the bread bakes. So just dye the eggs uncooked, but be careful they don't crack.

In a small saucepan, warm the milk and butter together, till butter melts. In a large mixer bowl, combine yeast, salt, eggs, and sugar.

Add the warm (not hot - it will kill the yeast) milk and butter. Add about half the flour and beat until smooth with dough hook. Slowly add the remaining flour to form a stiff dough. Don't worry about how much flour it ends up being, just keep adding until the dough is not sticky anymore. 

Knead until smooth with either dough hook attachment or turn out on floured board and knead. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Punch the dough down and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece to form a 1 inch thick rope about 14 inches long and, taking two pieces, twist to form a braid, pinching the ends, and loop into a circle. (See Elaine’s images for visual instructions.)

Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpats. Cover and let rise until double, about an hour again.  Brush each bread with beaten egg wash. Add the sprinkles or sugar on the top. In the middle of each bread ring, gently place an Easter egg, making an indentation with the egg.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden - about 20 minutes. Cool on rack. You can eat the eggs, but if you leave the bread sitting out for a few hours, don't eat them. Common sense.

Wine Pairing

For an easy wine pairing, we suggest this Italian Pinot Grigio made by the Candoni De Zan family in the Veneto region of Italy.  

Their tasting notes suggest it’s “Crisp, well-structured and sophisticated. It has a rich, pear-like nose, which is followed by crisp acidity, a medium body and a delicious mouth feel.”

Sounds like the perfect pairing to your Easter meal and our Pana di Pasqua recommendation. You can usually find it for less than $14, so why not pick up a few bottles.

When most of us think about the Christmas markets, we tend to conjure images of the German influenced Christkindlmarkets. You can find one of these during the holiday season in most major U.S. cities as well as across Europe.  However, Italy also has it’s own magical markets known as Mercatino di Natale.

The markets of Italy are also grounded in German and Austrian roots, but Italians have adopted this tradition and made it their own.

Typically much smaller, and by default, more intimate than their German counterparts, Italian Christmas markets are quintessentially community events. These street markets are commonly open for business as the Advent is ushered in, and close out in line with the Epiphany in early January. They are a festive and fun way to introduce yourself to an area, while sampling the local delicacies, and supporting resident artists and artisans.

Christmas markets are structured much the same, but creative twists on decoration, lighting, themes, foods, and even activities can make certain markets more popular. Generally you’ll find the holiday market in a central location within a town or city. Officials will reserve locations such as large piazzas where locals and tourists alike come to socialize and open space is at a plenty. Streets are lined with small wooden huts or tents where various merchants bring their best representation of local goods and fare.

Market organizers will play to the senses with spectacular light shows, festive Christmas music, and the aroma of food and drink wafting through the air. If you’re lucky, there’s a merchant with a full cart of freshly roasted chestnuts and another with a hot cup of vin brulé, or mulled wine. Incorporating grand carousels and towering Christmas trees in the center of it all, organizing workshops and family games, all aimed at enhancing the social experience for every visitor.

Whether you’re looking for the best in shopping, or a food lovers paradise, or simply a fantastic evening for the entire family to enjoy, one of the many Christmas markets of Italy has what you need.

If it’s the food that’s driving your interest, the Bolzano market in South Tyrol is a good start. It’s one of the largest markets in Italy and mirrors the German markets with foods like apple strudel and hot biscuits. The medieval setting makes it truly a unique experience. In Florence, they too host a German influenced market filled with bratwurst and more, but also incorporate the Italian market for a cultural balance.

When you need to get the Christmas shopping done and are looking for something unique, markets like the Marché Vert Noël in Aosta fit the bill. One of the most popular markets in Northern Italy, this small town converts into an Alpine village and hosts more than 40 chalets filled with handmade gifts, food, wine, and more.

Venice also has a quaint market with the perfect opportunity to purchase hand-blown glass and lace from the nearby Murano and Burano Islands. Or you can score a few of the beautiful carnival masks for a truly unique gift.

Other popular markets are in Trento with more than 70 traditional huts selling merchandise, and in Turin where crafts and gourmet products are presented from 14 Italian regions and 8 foreign countries. Genoa hosts more than 100 artisans from all over Italy, and Naples is famous for their handcrafted precepi, or nativity scenes.

If you’re looking for a memorable family experience, numerous Christmas markets attract visitors far and wide because of their unique decorations and family activities.

In Le Marché, they are known as the medieval candle market. They periodically shut off all of their lamps all over town and then ignite only candles instead, a bewitching and captivating sight.

The Mountain Christmas in idyllic Selva in Val Gardena installs an old fashioned cable car of miniature wooden cabins that can be found hanging high above their magical Christmas village each year. Grab a cup of mulled wine and enjoy the direct connection to the legendary ski tour Sellaronda, with its 500 kilometers of perfectly prepared slopes. 

Places like Rome host several markets, but the most famous in the Piazza Navona takes on a different theme for their market each year. You’ll see spectacular lights, enjoy live music, and marvel at the street performers and acrobats. The entire market bustles with tourists, vendor stalls, a carousel, and festive balloons.

Merano’s market goes all out. The kids will never get bored with activities like pony rides, parades, ice skating, and carriage rides. And in Pisa, their market is solely designed for the kids in mind with the Father Christmas Factory, or Fabbrica di Babbo Natale. 

Across Italy, the Christmas markets host thousands and present a truly magical experience like no other. Enchanting small towns and bustling big cities alike, these special markets are an enriching way to experience the greatest Italy has to offer.

While we hope all of our followers will some day be able to experience a Christmas market in Italy for themselves, we also hope each of you will take advantage of the markets in your own local communities by attending one today. The fairytale settings will captivate and delight, awakening the Christmas spirit in us all – young and old.

Boun Natale!

It’s finally December and the spirit of the holiday season is getting in to full swing here in the U.S. For most of us, Thanksgiving officially kicks off the festivities, and for some, it even begins as early as Halloween. But no matter when your family traditionally welcomes the season, it’s a magical and wondrous time for the little ones in our lives. 

Ask anyone you know and they’ll probably be able to spout out one tradition that their family has had or continues during the holiday season. While the origins of this special time are based on religious and spiritual beliefs, many traditions celebrated are born from families creating memories in their own way and then sustained for years to come. It’s something that brings us together in familiarity and comfort.

Italians also understand this and base many of their traditions on bringing family together and creating a meaningful experience their children will remember and share for the rest of their lives. They also celebrate within their own cultural timeline.

Italians may begin their winter holiday a little later than us, but they also extend the celebration well into January, creating massive excitement and extended anticipation for kids across the country.

The season typically begins on December 8 with the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception. This is a national holiday with significant importance to the Roman Catholic Church, and also the official day when most put up their holiday decorations and Christmas trees. It’s a spectacle to behold with sights, sounds, and smells to heighten the senses of holiday revelers young and old.

In the Novena, or eight days before Christmas, streets are filled with carolers singing traditional songs. In Rome and other locations, you will see the zampognari or bagpipe players who travel from the nearby Abruzzi Mountains to play throughout the streets for the local children. At the same time, piazzas across Italy are enveloped with beautiful lights and decorations, including artisanal handmade presepi, or nativity scenes. You’d be hard pressed not to find one in any city or town.

Other Italian traditions include skipping meat on Christmas Eve as a way to purify their bodies for Christmas Day, often replaced with grand feasts and multiple courses of beautiful seafood instead. While many end the day with Midnight Mass, there are also those brave ones who ski down the Dolomites at the strike of midnight carrying torches to welcome Christmas – an incredible sight to behold.

Christmas Day of course is filled with large meals, loads of family and friends, and glorious Italian foods, including the traditional dessert of panettone, a sweet bread loaf filled with candied fruit and raisins that children love.

The feasting and celebration continues into the New Year, but comes to a crescendo January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas and the Day of the Epiphany. 

The night before, large meals are once again shared with family and friends to mark the end of the season, and La Befana, a witch who flies on her broom and brings good children treats and bad children coal, delivers her gifts and goodies. 

We delight in and appreciate all of the holiday traditions of Italy and hope that all of our followers are able to continue their own family traditions, or start some new ones. Focusing ideas and activities around the children in our lives is a great place to start, and often means these traditions are carried forward for generations to come.

We’d like to help by offering tips and ideas for the table – more specifically, the children’s table.

Rather than setting up a small card table or relegating the little ones to a counter with stools, make their meal memorable by creating something colorful and unique to mark the occasion. Kids notice these things and love when they are singled out with something special just for them. And if you turn it into a tradition, they have something to look forward to each year.

Our children’s table shown here uses our bright and cheerful POP collection. Use these pieces as a backdrop for anything you’d want to add to make it even more festive for the kids. Involving them as much as possible in the party and the preparation makes it special for everyone!

Consider a few of these ideas to get your creativity flowing and to start some new family traditions.

• Let kids create an ornament or other fun craft to designate their spot at the table.
• Make a gingerbread house centerpiece and plan to decorate it together earlier in the day.
• Ask each child to bring a dozen of their favorite decorated Christmas cookies for the whole family to enjoy.
• Provide a special holiday dish just for them to have at their table. Maybe a frozen cranberry reindeer or Christmas tree crudité.
• Provide an age appropriate table game like holiday trivia questions with a prize for the most correct answers, Christmas bingo, I Spy, or place a number under a plate later to be drawn for a prize. You could even fill a large clear vessel with candy and each child guesses the amount inside. When the meal is over they can count the contents and closest to the number wins a prize.
• Lay out crayons or markers and a butcher paper tablecloth for creative drawings or thoughtful messages throughout the meal.
• Place several disposable or digital cameras at the table and let the kids get creative with special shots from their point of view. Share the images in the coming days so everyone has something to look forward to.
• Place pens and paper on the table and have each child write a few sentences that later get compiled into one story. Share the story with the family after dinner. Have them get creative and as silly as they like, these can be the best stories.
• Share with us your favorites. What does your family do for the holidays? Do they plan something special just for the kids? Let us know your favorite traditions.

No matter what you have planned this season, we hope you all are lucky enough to spend just a small bit of time seeing the holidays through the eyes of a child and creating new traditions and memories for years to come. The pure joy, laughter, and whimsy children evoke is the most simple yet poignant way we can think to embrace and celebrate the season. 

Buon Natale!

For the fourth and final entry to our fall lifestyle series, let’s end with the cocktail hour.

Having guests over on a crisp fall evening can be the perfect festive occasion. And you don’t always have to entertain by preparing a large meal. Sometimes inviting friends for a cocktail is the best way to do some stress-free entertaining during a busy holiday season.

To set the scene, a bouquet of colorful fall tulips in our Zucca pitcher and a decanter from our Selezione collection full of our famous Rosemarino cocktail are just the ambience needed for a pre-dinner happy hour. Pair them with a cheese or charcuterie appetizer served on our Legna olive wood servers, turn on some music, and you have the ideal atmosphere for entertaining your holiday guests.

 Rosemarino Cocktail

• Make rosemary simple syrup by combining 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, and some sprigs of rosemary in a saucepan and place on a low simmer until well combined.
• Place 2 ounces of bourbon, 2 dashes of orange bitters, and 2 teaspoons of simple syrup in a shaker and blend well.
• Pour the mixture into your Selezione decanter and serve over ice with a sprig of rosemary for decoration.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our Fall Entertaining Series and that you’ve been inspired to try some of these ideas yourself. Remember, keep it simple, mix and match, and let the natural beauty of the dinnerware and delicious food be the perfect backdrop for what really matters most; precious time with family and friends.

As we continue our series, let’s turn to our attention to creating an elegant serving display.

First, we are very excited about the inclusion of our new olive wood collection called Legna. These rich and elegant pieces are durable, come in a variety of sizes, and bring more of that natural element to any table.

All of our products function quite well for prepping, but they’re also attractive enough to go straight to the table for serving appetizers or incorporating into a buffet. And the Legna collection is no exception – they are perfect for serving your guests. Below, we’ve layered them with crisp linens on our natural wood table to serve parmagiano reggiano and mozzarella cheeses, hand picked apples, and pane carasau – thin, crispy, twice baked crackers. The addition of the rosemary sprig provides just enough texture and a whimsical accent of greenery. Again, you have a neutral backdrop that’s warm and elegant contrasting with the color and texture of your food resulting in a beautiful and inviting display.

Our ceramic centerpieces also work well for many purposes, including as a serving bowl for salads as we’ve used ours below. You can also use them as a place to put a hardy mum surrounded by gourds or greenery, to hold your favorite seasonal fruits, or you can partner them with the olive wood boards to serve breads and crackers. The possibilities are endless. The beauty of the piece with its swooping handles, unique shape, and artisan hand painting requires only simple solutions for its contents.

To round out your serving needs, the dual-section of our antipasto dish is used here for additions to the salad, but we’ve also used ours for olives and pits, nuts, candies, and condiments. Its versatility makes for a wonderful gift that will be used again and again.

Bringing these pieces together and layering them with beautiful linens and textures from nature places the attention on the food while still providing a festive backdrop for your holiday entertaining.

Our next in the series - Cocktail Hour

It's almost time to celebrate! New Year's Eve is right around the corner, so now is the time to plan the festivities. For those looking who love Italian culture, or anyone wanting to add some new traditions, look no further.  

Party in Style

If you're having friends and family over for your New Year's Eve party, set a gorgeous table. Our POP Gold Collection offers cheerful gold tones reminiscent of a bubbly glass of champagne. Pair items from this collection with our Vetro Oro Small Glass Plate and our Villa d'Este Amber Champagne Flute for a perfect table setting. 

Enjoy a Game

Gather your guests for a game of Tombola! Similar to bingo this game was created in Naples in the 1700s as an alternative to gambling. King Charles banned gambling during the Christmas period only. Neopolitans found a way to get around the new law by playing Tombola during the holidays.

Eat for Prosperity

Lentils, sausage, and grapes anyone? Lentils are a food symbolizing wealth. Combine them with sausage which is thought to bring good fortune and you are starting the year off right! Finish your meal with grapes as they insure you'll be frugal with your new found wealth. 

However you are ringing in the new year, enjoy your time with friends and family. From all of us at Modigliani, we wish you are yours a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year. 

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings." William Arthur Ward

While we often mention that the holiday season is our favorite time of the year, we love to carry the sentiment in our hearts all year round. That means, for us, showing our gratitude each and everyday. So as you sit with your family and friends gathered around the table this Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Hanukkah, we encourage you to carry that feeling in your hearts the whole year. Approach each day with a sense of gratitude and express to others how much they mean to you. We have compiled a list of a few wonderful ways to express thanks and are excited to share them with you. We also invite you to leave a comment here, on Facebook or Twitter letting us know how you carry gratitude with you throughout the year.

• Pack a note in the lunch of your child or spouse
• Offer a genuine compliment to a co-worker
• Put a sticky note somewhere random that will make a stranger smile
• Mail a handwritten thank you note to someone who inspires you
• Smile at everyone you see
• Pay for the coffee of the person in line behind you
• Give a larger tip than usual with a service industry worker and include a note of thanks for what they do
• Volunteer your time
• Acknowledge someone publicly for their contributions
• Send flowers or a small gift to thank someone for their time
• Verbally give thanks often