Some of us may still be recuperating from our St. Patrick's Day hangover (literally) but what better way to follow up copious drinking with equally enthusiastic eating?

Enter St. Joseph's Day (March 19).

For those who don't know (that would include me up until a day ago), St. Joseph is the saint that brought rain to the parched lands of Sicily in the Middle Ages, preventing the drought from turning into a famine. Sicilians were so grateful that they cooked up loads of delicious foods in honor of God and their patron saint. It was customary for the wealthier families to cook the feast and invite their entire neighborhoods to partake.

One of the traditional fares includes fava beans--yes, as in the fava beans Hannibal Lecter ate with the liver and Chianti--because it was the only crop that didn't fail in the drought. Another fare is zeppoli: a deep-fried pastry ball filled with cannoli cream, custard, jelly, fruits, honey, or even anchovy. For all our cooking-inclined goddesses, here is a recipe from Dining Chicago. For those of us in the Chicago area, Bennison's Bakery is offering St. Joseph's bread and zeppoli until March 19.

AG Tip: Check to see if the Italian restaurants in your city are doing something special to commemorate the day. I sent my parents to an Italian restaurant owned and operated by a Sicilian family. They loved it and the wife even offered to make them zeppoli from scratch!

Mangia bene!

Often times, one of the hardest parts of living abroad is cooking - you can't find the ingredients you normally use and you don't know what the other half are anyway.
One of the hardest parts of living in your home country is you can't find those meals you grew to love while you were away.

For this conundrum, we would like to offer our AGTravelers this handy solution:



Personal Trainer: Cooking is a game for your Nintendo DS (if you don't have one already, we have to wonder how you've made it through those 12 hour bus rides...).
From shopping to serving, PTC walks you through all the steps needed to create delicious dishes from around the world. It even has built in timers and videos to show you how exactly what it means to 'finely chop garlic' (for those of us who are cooking impaired). It also allows you say "Continue!" or "Repeat!" rather than getting your greasy, garlic covered hands on your sweet DS. However, it's a bit sensitive and often interprets your chopping as a command.

Whether you're trying to make something other than curry while you're living in Japan (you'll have to bring a dictionary to go shopping, though, sorry...) or you're just missing the cuisine of France, this is a great travel tool to have.