At Fran's Table

Family Traditions• Holidays• Random Thoughts

Show Up During the Holidays, It Means More Than You Think

December 27, 2025

Now that I’m older I spend a fair amount of time reflecting during the holidays. This is an irritating habit old people have because we’re never sure how many holidays we have left. So, in an attempt to appear deep and philosophical we look back, then bore younger people with our reflections. This year my family gathered at Bernie and Donna’s house for Christmas dinner and later we…

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Come on Down! is Heeeeere!

December 17, 2025

The wait is over! If you’ve put off buying gifts because everything at the mall costs eight billion dollars, here’s your chance to make up for it. Come On Down! A Little Story About My Italian Mom’s Big Dream, is now out as an audiobook and available to order! (The paperback and ebook should be out in January – sorry to make you wait book lovers.) Ordering is…

Books to Check Out!• My Books

Come on Down! Now Available for Pre-Order!

December 5, 2025

Oh man, you knew this day was coming…the day when I won’t shut up about my audiobook coming out. I just found out you can pre-order the audiobook version of Come On Down! A Little Story About My Italian Mom’s Big Dream right now! I am told it should be available to download by December 17th. Order as many as you want. Really, go right ahead! (If you…

Family Traditions• Holidays• Poultry

Skunked again!

November 30, 2025

Verb Past tense: skunked; past participle: skunked 1. Informal•North American English Defeat (someone) overwhelmingly in a game or contest, especially by preventing them from scoring at all. Yes, that’s what happened to me in the upteenth Annual Cutthroat Tunno Pumpkin Pie Contest. I didn’t even place and I was convinced that Penzey’s Pumpkin Pie Spice was going to get me there. I even put my mom’s giant ceramic baby Jesus on the table…

Baking• Cookies• Holidays

Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This

November 21, 2025

Some days include a wrong turn down a one-way street, a GPS system that decided to take me on a tour of the area around the place I was headed to instead of directly there, a spilled latte that hit both my computer and my phone, and a general feeling of crappiness. As the Shirelles sang, “Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This.” That was my day on…

Family Traditions• Holidays• Random Thoughts

November is so Sneaky!

November 10, 2025

How the hell does November creep up on me so fast (every year) and whirl me into the holidays when I still haven’t even taken down my Halloween decorations? Add to that the embarrassment of realizing that I NEVER EVEN POSTED the winners of last year’s Annual Cutthroat Tunno Pumpkin Pie Competition! I am so sorry Nate, Alessandro and Muiriel! You deserve better. It truly wasn’t sour grapes,…

Baking• Cookies• Italian cookies

Celebrate Italian American Heritage Month With SUPER Hazelnut Nutella Biscotti!

October 3, 2025

I’ve been in the mood to bake lately. Like the bears featured in Fat Bear Week, I’m like Chunk, the winner. I don’t weigh 1200 pounds yet, but it may not be far off if I keep this up. Or maybe it’s because it’s Italian American Heritage month and, like my mother, I’m all about the food. I can’t help it, I just want to cook and eat…

Great Memories• Random Thoughts

Inspiring Dreams: My Mom’s Journey on The Price is Right

September 23, 2025

Holy smokes, my essay about my mom just went up on the Huffington Post! The link to it is in the highlighted words, just click on them: They’re calling it, “My Mom Dreamed of Getting on The Price is Right, I Never Imagined What Would Happen When She Did.” They may try another name for it too, which I will post if the name changes. I am thrilled…

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Audiobook Recording? Check!

September 9, 2025

Well, I’ve gone and done it now. I just recorded the audiobook for “Come On Down! A Little Story About My Italian Mom’s Big Dream.” Lucent Audio, run by my friend, Jeff Guillot is producing it! This brings me one step closer to getting the book published, at least in audiobook form, which I think/hope will be a fun listen for you. I just spent two days recording…

Older Posts

	Fran Tunno on Show Up During the Holidays, I…
	Petrea Burchard on Show Up During the Holidays, I…
	Fran Tunno on Skunked again!
	Fran Tunno on Skunked again!
	Bruce Barker on Skunked again!

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