Exploring Italy

By Map of Italy-it.svg: F l a n k e r 
(File:Map of Italy-it-2.svg) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

This month we have chosen to explore Italy. Hazel really enjoys exploring a country each month. We explore by reading books about the country and stories from the country, listening to music from the country, cooking and trying food from the country and making crafts. I chose Italy this month since we are going on our own and Steve is Italian. I figured it would be fun for Hazel to learn more about where half her ancestors come from plus Steve and his mother tell her a bit about Italy and Italian all the time. We started with some books from the library about Italy.

We also looked at some of the longer books about Italy like the following.

Then we looked at some recipes. Now I will admit since my mother-in-law is Italian and learned to cook from her mother, she makes amazing gravy (sauce) and meatballs. Hazel has cooked both with her, so I was not going to attempt those. We ended up not really cooking from scratch due to time constraints this month. We bought some fresh cheese stuffed rigatoni and marinara sauce. A new favorite in my household.

We also bought some cannolis. Hazel and I ended up pulling off most of the chocolate chips since they were strong and too many.

Then we followed a recipe to make a Margherita pizza, but we bought pre-made pizza dough.

Hazel did help make the pizza.

Of course the truth is we eat a lot of Italian food, so this is nothing all that new to us. We enjoyed reading some stories from Italy.

The fun part of looking at Italy is its history, architecture and people. There are so many different directions to go in. Here are some people to explore in the math, arts and science fields. Earlier this month we shared about Fibonacci in our Multicultural Mathematics Series.

Then of course there are the composers and types of music. Opera should be explored as part of an Italian adventure. Here are some books we found at the library.

Then there are the explorers and a few other people to explore. Italy has so many ways to explore and learn. This is just a beginning.

We are going to continue with Italy and then move on to Switzerland. I hope you will join us!!

Have you explored Italy? Please feel free to link up any posts about Italy, Italian, food, crafts, books, etc.