Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: Dec 11, 2011

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Italy on a Plate! This week we have many many Italian Christmas sweet recipes for you. I've also added a new category for the next two weeks, not necessarily food related, it's called Christmas in Italy. I'm sharing links from around the web about different holiday events throughout the boot. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful whether you're traveling in Italy this Christmas or planning a trip for next Christmas. In the next two weeks, I will have more Christmas treats for you. A few guests bloggers straight from Italy will be stopping by and sharing Christmas from their part of the Bel Paese. Buon Natale & Buon Appetito!

My Choice for This Week's Top 10 Italian Food Recipes:

Mushroom and Fig Risotto - Italicious

Tomato Cardoons Recipe - Gobbi Rifatti - Experience Tuscany

Tozzetti - Italian holiday treats and family traditions - Due Spaghetti

Dicembre Dolce & Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Meringues - Domenica Cooks

Pandolce Genovese - Genovese Christmas Bread - Cake Duchess

White Christmas Meringues - Jul's Kitchen

Sicilian Spiced fig-Nut Cookies (Cuccidati or Buccellati) - Z Tasty Life

Hazelnut Mezzaluna - Italian Food Forever

Biscotti Natale - Beyond the Pasta

Pitelli: Christmas Fruit Mince Tarts from Southern Italy - The Authentic Vincotto

Eating Italy:

Christmas and New Year's Eve Restaurants in Rome - Tavole Romane

Terra Madre Day - Bella Baita Views

New Openings on Via dei Serpenti in Rome - Parla Food

The Magic of Brunelli's Brunello and Tasting Notes - DoBianchi

Old Style Italian Bread and the Old Style Food Festival in Milan - Itali Anna

Christmas in Italy:

Immaculate Bridge - A nice lesson on Italian ways of speaking and ideas for spending a holiday weekend in Tuscany - Experience Tuscany

10 Ways to Enjoy Festive Milan - The Guardian UK

10 Things to Do This Christmas in Rome - Revealed Rome

Naples Christmas Alley - Via San Gregorio Armeno - Napoli Unplugged

Slideshow: Christmas Lights in Rome - Young in Rome

81 Top Christmas Markets, Food and Music Events in Tuscany - Around Tuscany

Gubbio's Guinness Record Lights the Mountain - Anne's Italy

Best Cribs and Nativities In and Around Rome - Buzz in Rome

Luminaria - Christmas lights on Via del Corso in Rome - Rome Every Day

Upcoming Food & Wine Festivals in Italy:

Giornate Gastronomiche Sorrentine 2011 - December 1 to 20 - Sorrento "Gastronomic Days" celebrates the food of the area

Festa del Torrone e del Croccantino - December 7 to 11 and 15 to 18 - San Marco dei Cavoti in the Campania region is in its 11th year of celebrating candies associated with Christmas

Showcolate - December 8 to 11 - Napoli - Chocolate Festival

Christmas Markets and Events in Italy

Cioccolentino 2012 - February 10 to 14, 2012 - Terni - Chocolate festival and more in the Umbrian town half way between Rome and Perugia

Fiera del Cioccolato Artigianale - February 10 to 19, 2012 - Florence - Artisanl chocolate festival

Carnevale di Venezia -February 11 to 21, 2012 - Venice - Not really a food and wine festival, but it is a festival, one where the entire floating city becomes a stage, that one should attend at least once in a life time.

Cioccola-To - March 2 to 11, 2012 - Turin - Italian chocolates & more, with a focus on the chocolatiers of Turin, fill the Piazza Vittorio Veneto.

VinItaly - March 25 to 28, 2012 - Verona - Italy's largest wine exposition

Events in Tuscany - Site listing many events throughout Tuscany, and not only food and wine

Events in the Langhe area of Piedmont - Site from the Alba Tourist office listing many festivals, mostly wine & food, happening in the Langhe area of Piedmont