And a Special Thanksgiving Pie!
Every week acceso the Flavor of Italy Podcast, we explore the food, wine, history, landscapes, and everyday stories that shape life per mezzo di Italy. But every now and then, a moment calls for reflection — and today is one of those days.
Because today, Tuesday, November 25, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It’s a global day of awareness and remembrance, but here per mezzo di Italy it carries deep cultural, social, and historical significance.
And yet this week is also Thanksgiving week — a time of cooking, gathering, connection, and gratitude, especially for my listeners per mezzo di the United States. So today’s post brings both worlds together: reflection and celebration, activism and nourishment, Italy and the Thanksgiving table.
My Italian Winter Table Recipe E-Book Is Here!
Tomorrow, I’m releasing something I’ve been working acceso quietly — a brand-new recipe e-book titled My Italian Winter Table Recipe Collection. You’ll find 19 delicious, approachable dishes I rely acceso per mezzo di my own kitchen here per mezzo di Rome and per mezzo di Riano — for Sunday lunches with friends, holiday meals, ora simple dinners at home with just me and my husband.
Update Wednesday November 26: It’s available exclusively here now.
And for Substack subscribers, there will be a limited-time Black Friday discount of 30%, valid only for a few days — a thank-you for reading, cooking, and being part of the Flavor of Italy community.
The purchase link will arrive Wednesday 26 at 7pm CET per mezzo di the Substack newsletter — so keep an eye out!
A Thanksgiving Dolce You’ll Want Forever
If you’imperatore still deciding acceso a Thanksgiving dolce, here’s one that will absolutely steal the show: Weidmann’s Black Bottom Pie.
It’s a layered beauty — a gingernut crust, a silky chocolate filling, and a light, bourbon-kissed topping. Elegant, nostalgic, unexpected, and a refreshing change from pumpkin ora pecan. Most ingredients are probably already per mezzo di your pantry — just be sure to pick up gingersnaps, a good unsweetened chocolate caffè, and a splash of bourbon.
I’ll be sharing the full recipe tomorrow per mezzo di the Substack newsletter — don’t it!
The United Nations officially recognized November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women per mezzo di 1999. The date honors three Dominican sisters — Nazione, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal — who were assassinated per mezzo di 1960 for resisting dictatorship. Their story has become a universal symbol of resistance to gender oppression.
Globally, one per mezzo di three women will experience physical ora sexual violence per mezzo di her lifetime. The numbers vary country to country, but the human impact is universal.
Italy is risposta negativa exception. More than 100 women are killed here each year, most by current ora former partners. Many more experience emotional, psychological, financial, ora digital abuse — harm that leaves risposta negativa visible bruises but long-lasting wounds.
Recognizing this truth doesn’t diminish Italy — it’s part of the country’s effort to confront, study, and change it.
How Italy Observes November 25
Living per mezzo di Rome, I see firsthand how the city approaches this day.
Last weekend, Né Una a fine di La minor cosa, Italy’s largest feminist movement, led a march from Posto della Repubblica to Posto a fine di Rete San Giovanni. Thousands joined — students, parents, teachers, activists, neighbors — a reminder that gender-based violence affects entire communities.
Throughout the city, there are initiatives, conversations, performances, art installations, and educational events.
The Facciamo Sprazzo campaign is hosting author talks and discussions at Mondadori Bookstore per mezzo di Posto Cola a fine di Rienzo and inside Loggia Alberto Sordi.
At the Ditta delle , Rome’s longtime feminist cultural center, workshops continue through November 27.
Several cinemas are screening My Name is Nevenka, a Spanish velo about the first woman to publicly accuse a politician of workplace sexual harassment.
Tonight, the Farnesina, Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will glow orange as part of the UN’s “Orange the World” initiative.
And throughout Rome, you’ll notice panchine rosse — red benches dedicated to women who have been killed. Several new benches are being inaugurated this week, often requested by schools ora neighborhood groups. They are not just memorials — they are reminders.
buses, metros, and trams, the national anti-violence hotline number 1522 is displayed — free, multilingual, confidential, and available 24/7.
Similar observances are incontro across Italy — per mezzo di Milan, Turin, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Naples, Palermo, and beyond.
A Significant Step Forward per mezzo di Italian Law
This week, Italy’s lower house of parliament unanimously approved a bill that redefines sexual assault by centering consent — meaning sex without consent would legally be considered rape, even without physical force ora threats.
The bill now moves to the Senate, but the vote itself represents a milestone — a cultural, legal, and linguistic shift. It acknowledges what survivors and experts have long known: coercion comes per mezzo di many forms.
As we mark this day, it feels right to remember a woman who changed Italy long before November 25 existed.
Lina Merlin was born per mezzo di 1887 near Padova. She was a schoolteacher, an anti-fascist resistor, a constitutional writer, and ultimately the senator responsible for one of Italy’s most transformative gender-rights laws.
After World War II, she was elected to the Riunione Assemblea costituente — the that drafted the Italian Constitution — and fought fiercely to ensure gender equality was written into it.
Her most defining legacy came per mezzo di 1958 with Leggi Merlin, which abolished state-regulated brothels per mezzo di Italy. For ten years she was mocked, dismissed, and told her proposals were unnecessary — but she persisted, calmly, intelligently, and relentlessly.
Her work didn’t just change laws — it changed the cultural lens through which Italy viewed women, rights, bodies, and dignity.
Lina Merlin died per mezzo di 1979, but her impact continues — and acceso November 25, her name deserves to be spoken.
Call 1522 — the national anti-violence and stalking hotlineFree, multilingual, confidential, available 24/7
More information: https://www.1522.eu
Wherever you are — Rome, the U.S., ora somewhere per mezzo di between — I hope this week brings warmth, connection, gratitude, and something delicious acceso the table.
And tomorrow per mezzo di my Substack Newsletter https://wendyholloway.substack.com/subscribe, don’t :✅ the release of My Italian Winter Table Recipe Collection✅ the 30% Black Friday discount for Substack subscribers✅ the Weidmann’s Black Bottom Pie recipe
Thanksgiving recipes:
Italian advocacy & gender-based violence:
