If all goes to plan, Sicily and Sardinia will be allowed to join the rest of Italy in lifting many coronavirus restrictions, as much of the country moves from the moderate-risk orange to the low-risk yellow zone, The Local-Italy reports.

The restrictions are set to be lifted on Monday, May 17, including travel restrictions to and from regions among citizens.

Roberto Speranza, the nation’s health minister, is set to approve the proposal on Friday evening.

In yellow zones, restaurants, museums and cinemas will see a comeback.

So When Will Tourism Return?

According to Reuters, in light of the fact that tourism makes up about 13% of Italy’s economic output, the country is poised to let international travelers back in to overcome 2020’s crippling revenue losses.

Last week, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that he expects Italy’s tourism sector to “bounce back as strong as it was before and even stronger.”

And Draghi also spoke directly to Western tourists, saying: “It’s time for you to book your holidays in Italy. We look forward to welcoming you again soon.”

By June, Italy wants to allow tourists from the U.S. to visit without quarantine if they test negative, if they have a vaccination certificate or if they’ve recovered from the disease in the past six months.

However, guidelines, restrictions and reopenings could shift or change if infection rates surge again in the country.

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The strategy was straightforward: to score political points and curry favor in mostly Democratically-run cities, all one needed to do was remove a Columbus statue, look the other way when one was illegally toppled or simply rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day.

Read on: Italian Americans Will Unite at NYC’s Columbus Circle This Week

The formula worked for years, the blowback was containable and several media outlets, sympathetic to the anti-Columbus movement, didn’t kick up much of a fuss.

But quite a bit has changed over the past 12 months, as Italian American organizations continue to mobilize and fight back — not with rocks or spray paint — but rather, with sweeping lawsuits and waves of condemnation, petitions and protest.

Apparently, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Department of Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter weren’t aware that the anti-Columbus playbook now carries with it significant political risk.

Consumed by a deepening PR crisis, de Blasio said he and Porter were blindsided this week when Columbus Day was changed to Indigenous Peoples Day on the NYC school calendar.

In a rather unbelievable move, the mayor blamed the former chancellor, Richard Carranza, for the name change and declared that Italian American Heritage Day/Indigenous Peoples Day would be celebrated on Oct. 11 with a day off from school.

However, that half-baked solution has only further enraged the Italian American community, which has watched in awe over the past year as our history and heritage were stripped away by rioters and grandstanding politicians.

Congressman Tom Suozzi, of New York (D-Long Island), was the first of several public officials to come to the defense of the Italian American community by calling upon the mayor to rescind the name change. (Read Congressman Suozzi’s letter to Chancellor Porter here.)

Now, state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) — outraged by de Blasio’s botched name change — plans to introduce a bill next week that would restore the explorer’s name to the New York City school calendar.

Meanwhile, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations is spearheading a federal lawsuit in Philadelphia to reverse Mayor Jim Kenney’s executive order that changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day in the city this past January.

The lawsuit seeks to designate the Italian American community as a protected class under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and if that happens, the precedent would suddenly make it much harder for elected officials to cancel Columbus in the U.S.

Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) is suing the city of Pittsburgh and Mayor Bill Peduto, after Peduto approved the removal of the city’s 50-foot Columbus monument.

Anti-Columbus legislation was recently shot down in the Maryland state senate, and statues were saved in two Connecticut cities as local leaders and voters pushed back against protestors.

The list goes on and Italian America’s voice grows louder by the day to end the un-democratic discrimination of our heritage.

Our History

The time-honored Columbus Day celebrations were launched in the late 1800s as Italian immigrants attempted to create a sense of self-esteem and dignity during a period where they were subjected to lynchings, bigotry and prejudice throughout the country.

Columbus’s journey sparked 500 years of immigration to America, attracting peoples from throughout the world seeking a better life for their families — this is the spirit we champion and are fighting to preserve, and this is what the Columbus statues stand for.

Our Stance

The Italian American community has always supported the designation of an Indigenous Peoples Day as it is most rightly and most justly deserved.

However, it’s absurd and unjust that our heritage be erased in order to appease another group.

To all of the politicians who are still hellbent on destroying our heritage, we have but two words: good luck.

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Watch coverage of the press conference here.

Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) is co-sponsoring the presser, and Pro-Columbus supporters are encouraged to attend the event, which will be held at the Northeast Corner of Columbus Circle.

Our History

The time-honored Columbus Day celebrations were launched in the late 1800s as Italian immigrants attempted to create a sense of self-esteem and dignity during a period where they were subjected to lynchings, bigotry and prejudice throughout the country.

Columbus’s journey sparked 500 years of immigration to America, attracting peoples from throughout the world seeking a better life for their families — this is the spirit we champion and are fighting to preserve, and this is what the Columbus statues stand for.

Our Stance

The Italian American community has always supported the designation of an Indigenous Peoples Day as it is most rightly and most justly deserved.

However, it’s absurd and unjust that our heritage be erased in order to appease another group.

We hope to see you on Wednesday, May 12 in NYC!

Sponsors

The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations

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Her day usually started early in the morning, at about 5 a.m. On Sundays, we were awakened by the melodious sounds of clamoring pots. Yep, Mom had already started the sauce; it would simmer for hours, and she’d make enough to last for weeks.

At 8 a.m, with a babushka wrapped around her head, she dashed off to an early Mass.

Once a week, she baked her delicious bread and pies. Our favorites were the “pichaladit,” rolls made with anise seeds, quickly doused in boiling water, then baked. The aromas of her baking were heavenly, escaping from the house to seduce the neighbors.

Monday’s were wash days. She dragged her heavy oblong copper tub, placed it on a two-burner stand, and soaked the whites in scalding water.

Mom created her own brand of soap detergent made from chips of a Fels-Naphtha soap bar. After allowing the sheets to boil for a while, she pulled them out with a long wooden spatula and placed them in the washer. When she hung them out on the line to dry, they were as white as snow.

Mom cleaned the house on other days of the week, and on a seasonal basis she washed the room walls. I helped, and thankfully we only had a small five-room home! Of course, the dust mostly came from our coal and wood-burning furnace.

We didn’t always have a TV, so in the evenings we listened to the radio. Mom’s hands had to be busy. She just couldn’t sit around, so she either crocheted or knitted. Her products were in demand, mainly afghans, baby blankets and doilies. They made great wedding, baptism and birthday gifts.

Amid all else she had to do, Mom had to study and prepare for a citizenship exam. For weeks, my siblings and I helped her with the questions and answers. Her pronunciation of some of them, however, was a “hoot.”

We really shouldn’t have laughed, but as kids, we couldn’t help it. But Mom laughed with us. For example, whenever the word loyalty appeared, she pronounced it as “oilty.” Despite it all, she passed!

Mom was a gentle soul, always ready to give a hand to anyone who asked for help. She had a unique talent, a blessing in disguise. Mom was often called on to relieve those cursed with the Mal’Occhio.

Many came knocking on our door begging for relief. As much as she did not enjoy performing these rituals, she never turned anyone away. It visibly took a toll on her. I would often see tears in her eyes after the proceedings.

She often declared she would no longer do these rituals. But, when the next knock came, she could not refuse them.

Mom often complained she did not understand why “Il Dio” gave her such a spiritual gift? “Io che non riesco a leggere o scrivere,” I who can’t even write or read!

I would say to her, “Mamma, forse è per questo che il Signore ti ha dotato di questo dono eccezionale?”  Mom, maybe it is for this reason why the Lord endowed you with this exceptional gift!

In the end, it was Mom who was the gift — a gentle soul filled with grace and love who labored day and night to provide a good life for her family.

Happy Mother’s Day to our beloved madri and nonne!

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What is Italian American cuisine? How do we define traditional dishes transformed by Italian immigrants? Is the food we eat today the same as our mothers and grandmothers prepared?

Italian American food traditions are often misunderstood and defined only in comparison to the “true” Italian canon.

In reality, Italian American food is its own unique cuisine, dishes, preparations, and ingredients that represent the immigrants’ experiences and settlement patterns.

Watch the presentation, here:

Rich in history and traditions, creative and comforting, Italian American dishes are packed with pride and originality.

They often represent the newfound abbondanza — or the ability to feed family and friends on foods they couldn’t afford in their native land as a result of their greater purchasing power.

Amy Riolo, award-winning author, chef and TV host, will explore these themes and more in a new virtual event hosted by the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles and the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA).

The way our families cooked Italian food in the United States was filtered through memory and was made by necessity with what was available at that time.

Amy Riolo, as a food historian, culinary anthropologist, and Mediterranean Diet specialist, illustrates the genuine culinary traditions of Italians in America and defines five distinct categories of Italian American cuisine and how they came to be.

Whether the food we eat is an exact replica of what our mothers and grandmothers created, whether it’s fusion food representing elements of both cuisines, or “American” dishes inspired by Italians, Italian American cuisine, when labeled as such, is a fascinating mosaic that deserves its own place in gastronom

A graduate of Cornell University, Amy is considered a culinary expert and enjoys changing the way we think about food and the people who create it.

By highlighting how our mothers and grandmothers built culinary bridges that connected our two cultures, the presentation promises to forever change the way we think about Italian-American cuisine.

Join Amy Riolo and Italian American Museum of Los Angeles Executive Director, Marianna Gatto, for a special livestream discussion on the food that helped shape our families’ lives.

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Is there anything more delicious than a classic Sicilian cannoli?

Purchasing pre-made shells saves hours of time in the kitchen, and when you don’t have to fry the shells the cleanup is a snap.

There’s no shame in getting a little help in the kitchen once in a while. Let’s call it semi-homemade, shall we? Amazon has several options for different size shells; you can also check your local grocery store’s bakery department too, as they will likely have them.

Because the filling is only a few key ingredients, purchase the best whole milk ricotta you can find. Bel Gioioso is my preferred brand when I made them at home.  

Cannoli are best filled immediately upon serving, so prepare the cream when you’re done with dinner and ready to serve dessert.

Or you can prepare the cream beforehand, refridgerate it, and just hold off on filling the shells until you’re ready to serve. You can refrigerate them for up to 1 day, but as you probably know, expect the shell to get a bit soggy.   

Ingredients  

½ cup heavy whipping cream 

½ cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting 

4 cups whole milk ricotta 

8 large cannoli shells 

16 maraschino cherries (optional) 

½ cup miniature chocolate chips (optional) 

Crushed pistachios (optoinal)  

Instructions  

1. In a medium bowl whip the heavy whipping cream and sugar using the whisk attachment of your mixer. Mix until fully whipped and stiff, about 3 to 4 minutes.  
2. Gently add the ricotta to the whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Mix just until combined, do not overmix.  
3. Using a pastry bag or a plastic freezer bag with the tip cut off, pipe the cream into the shells. Decorate with a half maraschino cherry at the end, or dip the end of each cannoli into the chocolate chips or crushed pistachios, if desired.
4. Add to serving platter and dust with additional powdered sugar. Serve immediately or refrigerate for a max of 1 day.  

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According to The New York Times, the new floor will feature a lattice of specially treated wooden slats that can be rotated to allow air to circulate and to expose the beehive of subterranean corridors. It was created by a team led by Milan Ingegneria,

In a news conference announcing the winning concept, Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum, said, “The structure is light and recalls both in form and function the original plan of the wooden arena at the time it was first in use.”

She noted that her team will be committed to protecting the monument during the lengthy construction phase.

However, despite Russo’s aspirations and promises, several academics have criticized the new floor, arguing that the decision is rooted in attracting tourists moreso than preserving a piece of history with a violent past.

The Colosseum opened in 80 A.D., and historians estimate that 400,000 people perished in front of a mob of roaring fans.

The arena is the most visited site in Italy, and prior to the pandemic, it attracted nearly 8 million tourists a year.

The floor will be completed sometime in 2023, and it will be used for concerts and theatre productions.

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The country’s tourism, fashion, automotive and restaurant industries have been hobbled, and now more than 1 million families are living in poverty in Italy.

Pope Francis is scheduled to open the May 14 online meeting by discussing the challenges posed by Italy’s low birthrate.

“For more than a decade, Italy has become an increasingly elderly and less populated country, suffering from structural and legislative shortcomings at the fiscal, economic and social level,” which have all exacerbated the drop in births, according to a press release regarding the unprecedented initiative.

The meeting will “launch an appeal for co-responsibility in restarting the country beginning with new births” as well as studying the challenge of a “demographic winter” and look for a new way to talk about the issue of birthrates.

Gianluigi De Palo, president of the Forum of Family Associations, who helped organize the online meeting, last month said that Italy’s low birthrate is not just a “cold statistical fact” but represents a real national tragedy that is already crippling the nation’s social security system, welfare assistance, universal health care and the future of younger generations, The Boston Pilot reports.

Visit the Vatican’s YouTube page on May 14 to watch the meeting and Pope’s opening address.

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Dukakis passed away at her home in New York City on May 1.

“My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City,” wrote her brother Apollo, who confirmed her death on his Facebook page on Saturday. “After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis [Zorich].”

The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Dukakis was 56 when she played the quintessential Italian matriarch, Rose Castorini, in Norman Jewison’s romantic 1987 classic “Moonstruck.” Her deadpan humor stole the show, especially when it came to expressing opinions about her widowed daughter’s complicated love life.

Case in point —

Loretta (Cher): What?! He’s in Sicily!

Rose: No more he’s not.

Loretta: But he’s with his dying mother in Sicily!

Rose: She recovered.

Loretta: She was dying.

Rose: It was a miracle.

Loretta: A miracle!? This is modern times, there ain’t supposed to be miracles no more.

Rose: Well I guess it ain’t modern times in Sicily!

She earned an Academy Award for supporting actress, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination for the role.

“The fun part is that people pass me on the street and yell lines from my movies: For ‘Moonstruck’ they say, ‘Your life is going down the toilet.’ Or from ‘Dad,’ they say, ‘How much are those pork chops?’ They say, ‘Do you know who you are?’ It’s real funny,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1991.

The oft-quoted toilet line wasn’t in the script, but was improvised based on experiences with her own mother.

In addition to her brother, she is survived by her three children, Christina, Peter and Stefan Zorich; and four grandchildren.

We’ll miss you, Olympia — thank you for all of the talent, laughter and memories.

(Photo credit: Montclair Film)

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