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Mine were from Cattolica Euraclea but sailed out of Palermo in 1908-ish.

My sister and I look like twins but more like an old instant picture type where you peel apart the picture from the top part and they are exact opposites colorwise. She got the olive complexion and the gorgeous thick hair the color of a Hershey bar. I have blonde hair and green eyes- no one in the past 3 generations had this so I was a puzzlement to everyone. Oh, and we are ‘Italian twins’- we are the same age for a month every year!

I absolutely love to cook. (If I am more than ten feet from the kitchen or bedroom, call me a runaway!) I studied in Florence in college and took some cooking classes there before it was cool to do so. I am a purist and it is hard for me to choke down ‘Italian’ food unless it is my cooking or a relative’s. When I cook for friends, I usually have to fend off their ‘Emeril Lagasse wannabee’ husband who thinks they can throw balsamic vinegar into anything. Keyword ‘throw’- with the ‘bam’ and all. What the h is that about?! I have to make it very clear that the only thing they are allowed to do in the kitchen when I am cooking is to keep my wine glass filled.