Struffoli are a delicious Italian treat that we used to enjoy as kids. I wrote this tiny piece back in 2001 for a national food magazine. They paid me for it, but never ran it. No idea why. No explanation why. Freelance journalism is known for this sort of fickle behavior. Editors love things, then hate them. This article was deliberately short, intended for the magazine’s front-of-the-book section. It was supposed to run with a recipe that I provided. The article has never seen the light of day—until now…

Among my parents’ personal effects, my brother found the photo I’m sharing today. It depicts me and my first-grade classmate, Michelle, putting on a play in our classroom.

Of all the essays I wrote in elementary school, the one that sticks in my memory is one in which I hilariously describe myself as “puppet crazy”!

How crazy was I? Well, let’s see…

I wrote this essay back in 2003 or so, when I had just gotten engaged and was living abroad in Italy for a month. (Later changed to a year.) This essay has never seen the light of day until now…