I hadn’t really thought much about Iceland as a vacation destination. I’d heard it was a country that cared about the environment, which I love, and that it’s a very hip place to visit. Carolyn’s son, Riley really wanted to see it and Carolyn and her family invited me on their trip, so I thought…, sure, why not? I hope they can stand me for a whole week.…
I know. You’re thinking, Dear God Fran, we’ve been waiting all this time for you to stop talking about your dang book and get back to talking about great food — and this is what you come up with? Granola? REALLY? Yes, really. And stop mocking me. (I also have an amazing Snickerdoodle recipe I’ll share soon so don’t freak out!) Granola, done right makes plain Greek yogurt…
I’ve made you wait long enough! My book, Come on Down, A Little Story About My Italian Mom’s Big Dream is coming out as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook as of February 24, 2026! And (drum roll please) you can win an autographed copy, which could be worth up to a whole 50 cents someday! Seriously though, all you have to do is post on Facebook, Instagram, Linked…
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…
When you move to a new area it takes a while to discover all the hidden gems. Living in Harmony, PA was easy because it only had about seven businesses. Pittsburgh is a little more daunting, but my nephew, Matt recommended a little area called Millvale. It’s one of those formerly beaten up Pittsburgh towns that looks a little gritty, but is resurrecting itself, one small business at…
As the child of Italian immigrants, I learned to cook, sew, garden, swear colorfully in Italian, forage for food, and keep pushing ahead. One thing I did not learn was to swim. My father said he learned to swim in the Ohio River in the 1920s, so he saw no need to spend money on swim lessons. My mom couldn’t swim a stroke, so she didn’t think they…
Here are my twelve, hard-learned truths about pie crusts. …
I try to be deep, honest I do. I do my best to read classics and ponder life because I aspire to write deep, philosophical blogs. In fact, I’m currently reading Dante’s Inferno — who knew hell could be so icky? But because of the ADHD I keep denying I have, my brain prefers to escape the circles of hell and fixate on something I enjoy more, like…
A few nights ago I was doing my bedtime ritual of piling pillows around me just the way I like them. I got all nice and cozy, then reached up and turned off my bedside lamp. I waited for sleep to knock me out, which for a Tunno takes about seven seconds. As I lay in the darkness of my bedroom I saw something I hadn’t seen in…
You probably think I died in my sleep since it’s been three weeks since my last blog post, but big things have been happening. This was foretold in fortune cookies, which usually say things like: “You will prosper in the field of invention,” but were right on this time.…