Saturday, December 17, 10:00 am
Members $50, guests $60

’Fess up. You harbor an Italian vacation fantasy wherein you rent a villa, wander through markets, cook wonderful rustic meals, enjoy them with good company and plenty of wine, and start over the next day, right? Don’t be embarrassed that it’s a little heavy on the romance. For most Americans, the Italian culinary mystique stems from the notion that in Italy food is celebrated daily. And if that’s true any day of the year, the festivities only escalate during the holidays, when everyday biscotti gives way to lofty panettone, and six different seafood dishes just aren’t enough.

But before you ditch your local holiday plans and head for that villa, take heed: Michele Scicolone, who penned Italian Holiday Cooking, will be offering an Italian Holiday Workshop at the Beard House. Scicolone was honeymooning in Italy when her own love affair with the country began. Driven by her passion for the food in particular, she parlayed a career as a fledgling food editor into that of an expert on Italian cuisine. Scicolone has contributed to Gourmet, Wine Spectator, and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications, taught at De Gustibus, Sur La Table, and the Institute of Culinary Education, and has lectured at the Smithsonian Institute.

Scicolone is also a prolific cookbook author; she whet appetites with The Antipasto Table and shared sweets in La Dolce Vita. She wrote A Fresh Taste of Italy and Savoring Italy, and co-authored Pizza—Anyway You Slice It! with husband (and I Trulli wine director) Charles Scicolone, and The Sopranos Family Cookbook with Allen Rucker. Mario Batali called Scicolone’s 1,000 Italian Recipes “the best all-encompassing Italian cookbook to hit the shelves in years.” Batali wasn’t the only one who thought so—the book garnered Scicolone’s second Beard Award nomination. And she shows no signs of slowing down; Mastering Pasta, Noodles & Dumplings was just released in October and The Sopranos Family Entertaining is due out in February.