food & drink – Signora Sheila

My Abruzzo Town: Scerni

Quiet hillside village with red-tiled roofs, a stone church tower, and green fields overlooking distant rolling countryside beneath a blue sky.

Scerni is a quiet, peaceful town of 3,000 people nestled along the crest of a gentle hill. It sits in the hilly countryside of the Chieti province. Located 276 meters above sea level, Scerni boasts an inviting, fairly mild climate. Summers are hot and dry, with average highs between 83-87°F (28-30°C), and overnight lows aroundContinueContinue reading “My Abruzzo Town: Scerni”

Italy’s Wild Abruzzo

Mist-shrouded mountain peaks in Abruzzo rise behind dark silhouetted shrubs and tall grasses, creating a tranquil, moody wilderness landscape.

We live in Abruzzo, a little-known region that was once a single region with Molise. Abruzzo is located east of Lazio and Rome. It is bordered by Molise to the south, the Adriatic Sea to the east, and the Marche region to the north. This mountainous region contains two of the highest peaks in theContinueContinue reading “Italy’s Wild Abruzzo”

Italy’s Autumn Harvest

Green harvesting net beneath an olive tree, scattered black olives and leaves, with sunlight filtering through a quiet olive grove in autumn.

Autumn in Italy! It’s the season for harvesting the olives and we can do it right in our own garden! Ah, autumn in Italy! Olives fall from trees, grapes ripen on the vines, and chestnuts roast on open fires! My hubby harvests our olives the traditional way. He picks them by hand, one by one.ContinueContinue reading “Italy’s Autumn Harvest”

The April Fools’ Spaghetti Hoax (Video)

Young woman in a blue shirt carefully gathers hanging plant pods from a tree, placing them into a woven basket outdoors in warm sunlight.

The Italian name for April Fool’s Day is Pesce d’Aprile, or April Fool’s Fish. It comes from the children’s custom of sticking a paper fish on the back of a classmate. Since that child is the only one who does not know about the fish, he or she becomes the April Fool or the fish.ContinueContinue reading “The April Fools’ Spaghetti Hoax (Video)”

The Italian Carnival: A Venetian Tradition

Two ornate Venetian carnival masks—blue-and-white and pink with a red feather—rest on colorful confetti beside musical notes, creating a festive mood.

It’s Carnival, or Mardi Gras, week in Italy. And our little town, like many others, holds a traditional parade and a masked street party every year. But no Italian carnival celebration in Italy is more famous than that of Venice. The word carnival literally means to say goodbye to the flesh. The celebration is aContinueContinue reading “The Italian Carnival: A Venetian Tradition”

My Hard Times Cookbooks

An open cookbook rests on a dark counter beside green onions, garlic, herbs, and a rolling pin in a creative kitchens scene.

Before we left for the mission field, we had to downsize our belongings. But I decided to bring along three essential books. A medical book and what I call my hard times cookbooks. These cookbooks, especially during our first few years here, were lifesavers for me! Reading recipes in Italian was beyond me until IContinueContinue reading “My Hard Times Cookbooks”