December 6, 2020
You don’t need to have Italian ancestors to appreciate the otherwordly power of the incomparable pizzelle cookie, but it helps. In 2014 I made an infographic for Creators Syndicate as part of their Yuletide Entertaining Special Section for newspapers. Creators gives me pretty free reign in choosing my topics, so like most writers I tapped into what I knew. What I knew was that cranking out peerless homemade pizzelles—the best ones have just the right “snap” to them without crumbling—was the true calling of my dear mother Carm. A little research was in order to make the infographic complete.

 

Our family hails from Italy’s Abruzzo region, so it was nice to see that area mentioned.

The infographic presents the facts, but the photo of my mother shows the heart. Facts are easily found with Google. The love Mom put into her cookies? Well, ya had to be there.
Mom got called to Heaven’s kitchen just before Christmas 2017. But watching her doing what she loved was already Heaven right here on Earth.