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Sicilian slices at Manne's Bakery in Revere, and battered fish bites at Jasper White's Summer ShackFood cravings can be triggered by stress, hormones, and sometimes childhood memories. Reminiscing about lunch lines and lunch ladies might even spark a hankering for those distinctive, lukewarm pizza slices we thought we loved. Thankfully as adults, we can satisfy our nostalgic needs in places other than a school cafeteria. At Manne’s Bakery in Revere, their chewy, cheesy, Sicilian-style pizza slices are the most popular thing on the menu. A far cry from the frozen, square variety once served up in schools. Jasper White’s Summer...

When thinking of Sicily, it's easy to imagine white sandy beaches, timeless architecture and a host of delicacies like arancini, caponata and cannoli. But panettone would not be among the first things to come to mind. The popular Christmas cake is traditionally baked in the north of Italy, particularly in the city of Milan, where it was invented. That's almost 1,000 miles — the length of the whole country — from Palermo, Sicily's main city. But not far from Palermo, Nicola Fiasconaro is upending panettone tradition — and exporting his upstart creation all over the world. It all started in...

A graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has apologized and resigned from their teaching job and worker’s union leadership position after years of embracing “lies” about their racial identity. CV Vitolo-Haddad, who uses the non-binary pronouns “they” and “them,” admitted that they are actually Southern Italian and Sicilian — not black or Latino, which are both labels they accepted when peers allegedly assumed they were a person of color. “When asked if I identify as black, my answer should have always been ‘No,’ ” Vitolo-Haddad wrote Sept. 8 in the second of two confessions on Medium. “There were three separate...

Mafia boss Pasquale (Pat) Musitano, who struggled to push his Hamilton-based mob family to greater underworld power, was shot dead Friday in a parking lot four kilometres from where he will likely be buried alongside his kin. Musitano, 53, knew he was the target of determined enemies. A year ago, he was shot in a similar way, in a parking lot beside his hulking, armour-plated SUV. He was pierced by four bullets, then, including his head, but while people wondered if he was paralyzed or brain damaged, he was actually sitting up in a chair complaining of the hospital’s food...

"Torrone qui, ottenere il vostro mandorle e miele caramelle fresca fatta qui!” It’s a phrase I often heard at the Capo Market in Palermo, Sicily. “Torrone here, get your fresh-made almond and honey candy here!" Ahhh … Simple, rectangular, nougat candy prepared with almonds, egg whites, cane sugar and honey, the official candy of Sicily and very popular during the holidays. I remember a few years back, when touring Sicily with our Slow Food Kansas City convivium, stopping in the small town of Erice and visiting the famous candy and pastry home of Maria Grammatico, where I enjoyed perhaps some...

Sicily may be part of Italy, but so much of its history, culture, and cuisine are entirely unique from the rest of the country. Treat yourself with a visit to Sicily and your taste buds will be thanking you for the Mediterranean-Adriatic flavor combination found nowhere else in the world. Arancine Translating literally to 'little orange,' arancine are a culinary win all around. They're none too complicated, simply rice balls coated in breadcrumbs and fried, sometimes with a little butter or bolognese thrown into the mix. Heat one of these babies up and bada bing bada boom, you've got yourself...

The son of a New York mob boss has given Islamic State a stark warning, saying if they are planning any attacks in New York, they will have to contend with the Sicilian mafia. The notorious crime syndicate say they want to do their bit to protect locals. Giovanni Gambino, the son of a key figure in the Gambino mob organization, says the mafia is in a much better position than security bodies, such as the FBI or Homeland Security, to give New Yorkers the protection they need. “They often act too late, or fail to see a complete picture...

PALERMO, Sicily (Reuters) – A Sicilian builder transferred from prison to house arrest tried to get himself locked up again to escape arguments with his wife at home, Italian media reported Thursday. ... Police charged him with violating the conditions of his sentence and made him go home and patch things up with his wife.

'First' Sicilian woman gets faceShe lived 14, 000 yrs ago in a cave near Messina PALERMO (ANSA) - The face of a late Stone Age woman who lived in Sicily has been reconstructed by a sculptor working with anthropologists at Palermo University. The skeleton of the woman, who lived 14,000 years ago, was discovered in a cave near Messina in 1937, along with the incomplete skeletons of six other humans, presumably her family. The face was reproduced using reconstruction techniques that calculate the appearance of features from the form of the cranium. The same techniques have been used recently to...

CANNETO DI CARONIA, Sicily (Reuters) - The gate at the entrance to this tiny Sicilian village has come off its hinges and swings in the wind as cats wander into homes abandoned after a series of mystery fires. Reuters Photo   A series of spontaneous fires started in mid-January in the town of Canneto di Caronia in about 20 houses. After a brief respite last month, the almost daily fires have flared up again -- even though electricity to the village was cut off. An endless flow of scientists, engineers, police and even a few self-styled "ghostbusters" have descended on...