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Lo Spiedo Bresciano: The Brescian Spit
Spit-roasted game birds is Brescia's signature dish, and rightly so. They're very good, and bring joy to the table.

Roasting the Bird: Around About and Around the World
A well roasted bird is synonemous with Christmas Dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, and many other holidays and festive occasions. Here's a collection of recipes for roasted birds from around About.

Favorite Italian Easter Recipes
Natale con i tuoi, la Pasqua con chi vuoi -- "Christmas at home and Easter with whomever you wish"is an old Italian saying. However, people have a way of returning to the hearth, and Easter is an occasion for far-flung families to reunite around a well-set table, renewing the bonds that tie. Traditions vary greatly from place to place, and here are some of my favorite Italian Easter recipes.

Lenten Recipes
Lent is the 40 days before Easter, and is designated by the Catholic Church as a period of spiritual renewal, a time to prepare to celebrate Christ's resurrection. Contrary to popular opinion it's not a time of penance, but the Church does ask that people avoid meats out of respect for Jesus's sacrifice on the Cross, and to share the hardships of the poor. This is not to say one must go hungry; fish are allowed, as are vegetables and eggs, and there are many options to choose from.

Italian Christmas Cakes, Cookies, and Treats
Almost every town in Italy has some sort of Christmas cake, cookie, or pie. Here's a quick rundown of some of the best known, in order (roughly) of popularity. After all, all Christmas sweets are treats.

Panettone and Pandoro: Stuffing the Cake
Italy has many Christmas sweets. Most are regional -- you'll get struffoli (fritters dipped in a honey syrup, decorated with spangles, and arranged in a wreath) in Naples, Panforte (a medieval fruitcake made with honey) in Siena, and caggionetti (fried ravioli stuffed with chestnuts, chocolate, and other delights) in the Abruzzo -- but Pandoro and Panettone, the Christmas cakes of Verona and Milano, have become universal.

Ossa Dei Morti, The Bones of the Dead
Italians have only recently begun to celebrate Halloween. However, the Italian Memorial day is November 2, and almost every region has some sort of sweet to celebrate it.

Easter's Around the Corner...
Easter is one of the most important Italian holidays, and has many traditions associated with it. Some suggestions.

Dolci della tradizione natalizia Napoletana
Angie examines Neapolitan Christmas traditions and provides several recipes, including struffoli susamielli, and roccocò. In Italian.

Christmas Suggestions from Initaly Online
In Italy Online was one of the first sites dedicated to Italy, and continues to be one of the best, with all sorts of invaluable suggestions. A must if you're planning a trip, and great for armchair travel too.

Recovering from San Silvestro
Avoiding (or lessening) the pain if you overdo it on New Year's Eve.

San Giuseppe
Saint Joseph, the man who broke a Sicilian drout, thus gaining the people's unswerving devotion, is celebrated on March 19.

Zeppole
Neapolitan fritters for San Giuseppe!

San Valentino!
Tasty ways to celebrate il Santo degli inamorati, and tasting notes for the 1995 vintage of Montevertine, one of Tuscany's great wineries.

Donna Pilato's Valentine's Day Dinner
Quite romantic!

Dolcezze per Carnevale
Fritters, cenci (frappe, bugie etc) and other delights to gladden the heart in the depths of Winter. And Lasagna too!

Erica De Mane's Christmas Dinner
It's time to think holiday meals again... Erica's menu almost makes me wish I was in New York to enjoy it.

La cucina delle tradizioni
Neapolitan delights for San Giuseppe, which is also father's day in Italy. Fascinating, with much background. In Italian.

Buona Pasqua!
Roman Easter recipes.

La Pasqua Napoletana
Rich, sumptuous dishes to celebrate Easter.

Felice Pesah!
Passover recipes from Italy.

Torta Pasqualina alla Ligure
A rich savory Easter pie made with a dozen eggs.

Italian Charoset
Another Italian version of the sweet that symbolizes the mortar the Jewish slaves were forced to make in Ancient Egypt, with apples, dates, oranges, pinoli, cinnamon and more.

Italian Anise Easter Bread
Makes a lot, so you can bring loaves as gifts.

Italian Easter in the North Beach
How the Holiday's celebrated in the Italian communities of the San Francisco area (USA).

Pat Dee's Easter Ham Pie
This recipe is the original ham pie made by my father each year at Easter and Christmas," she writes, adding that her mother made it before he did. Extraordinarily rich, and looks very nice. From the Artisan.

A Roman Passover
How the holiday is celebrated in one of Europe's oldest Jewish neighborhoods, with notes on dishes and a list of Rome's best Jewish restaurants.

Torta Pasqualina Toscana
An artichoke and greens-based savory pie from Lorenza de'Medici. From the Artisan.

Torta Pasqualina Ligure
A glorious, eggy, cheesy savory pie from Lorenza De Medici, annotated by the folks at the Artisan

La Vigilia di Yom Kippur
An Italian meal for the Day of Attonement.

La Vigilia Napoletana
Recipes for a Neapolitan-style fish-based Christmas Eve dinner.

Hanukkah e le Leggi della Razza
Recipes for Hanukkah, and thoughts on one of the darkest episodes in Italian history.

Baccalà Natalizio
Baccalà natalizio. A tasty Baccala salad for Christmas eve, from la Lama Family Secrets. Also a recipe for smelt.

Pandoro
Verona's sweet Golden Bread, from La Lama Family Secrets. A nice, detailed recipe with info on procuring pans and such too.

Good Morning America's Panettone Recipe
Detailed and involved, but looks nice -- follows the traditional steps and will take several hours to make.

Panettone
A simple recipe from Diana Rattray, About.Com's Southern Cuisine Guide, which is quite similar to one from Weight Watcher's. Well phrased instructions.

Tuscan Holiday Cakes
A pair of recipes, Panforte and a fruit and nut cake, from Cassandra Vivian.