How to warm up this Autumn with heavenly leek and potato soup!

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How to warm up this Autumn with heavenly leek and potato soup!

How to warm up this Autumn with heavenly leek and potato soup!

Happy September to you all!

As you may have read elsewhere on the blog. This is the week where myself, Jasmine of Questadolcevita and Kelly of Italianatheart host an Italophile linkup called #Dolcevitabloggers. Every month we encourage people to write on a different topic and in September we're sharing our 'Favourite Italian Recipes'. 

I decided on a quick creamy Gorgonzola pasta recipe for mine. To my delight some of the wonderful Italy loving community have contributed recipes of their own!

Here we have a super, comforting leek and potato soup shared with us by Mary.

Mary is from Chicago and now lives in Italy, in the Province of Ascoli Piceno. This dish is a huge hit in her house and we can’t wait to try it!

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How to nurture happy bilingual babies, minus the anxiety

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How to nurture happy bilingual babies, minus the anxiety

How to nurture happy bilingual babies, minus the anxiety

Bilingual Children - Week #19

Welcome back to Mammaprada! I feel like we are starting afresh with the new school term. 

I hope you all had a lovely Summer and had some time with friends and family either at home or abroad. What did you get up to? Tell me below in the comments!

Thank you to everyone who is a regular reader of Mammaprada. It's great to have you back again and there is A LOT coming over the next few months. I will have both of my children in school finally! So my capacity has increased and all the little projects I've been dying to get off the ground I am hoping will come to fruition! 

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Les Petits Tigres! French classes for children

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Les Petits Tigres! French classes for children

Les Petits Tigres! French classes for children

Bilingual Children - Week #18

Guest post by Jackie Colchester

This week on our 'Bilingual children' series, I'm delighted to welcome Jackie Colchester, founder of the brilliant Les Petits Tigres!

A wonderful company offering French language classes for children. Jackie is passionate in her quest to help us all learn through music, song, her creative props and Monsieur Le Tigre! 

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Italian culture shock (#Dolcevitabloggers)

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Italian culture shock (#Dolcevitabloggers)

Italian culture shock (#Dolcevitabloggers)

This month for the #Dolcevitabloggers link up we're writing about our experience of 'Culture shock' in Italy. 

You may think that being married to an Italian is plain sailing and you just gaze into each others eyes while your partner gesticulates, talks loudly and cooks you heaps of pasta.

The pasta part is quite true! However there have been many times over the years when I have wondered if I could have taken an easier route. 

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Homemade Pizza recipe

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Homemade Pizza recipe

Homemade Pizza recipe - Guest post by Kirsty of Winnette

Homemade pizza is one of our favourite dinners in our house. The best thing about it is that it is completely personalisable to your own tastes. You want all the cheese? Then go ahead. Only one person likes mushrooms? No problem. Need to keep it vegan? I've got you covered. Not only that, but the kids can get involved with this recipe from start to finish. It is an all round great family dinner.

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The Bittersweet Life; a perfect podcast on life in Italy

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The Bittersweet Life; a perfect podcast on life in Italy

The Bittersweet Life; a perfect podcast on life in Italy

If you love a podcast or need a reason to start listening in, this is your chance!

The Bittersweet Life is a podcast run by two expats, writer Tiffany Parks and radio producer Katy Sewell. It's based on their unique experiences of life in Rome. The wonder and yet sometimes the bittersweet aspects of life abroad.

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10 Unusual Gelato Flavours to Try This Summer

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10 Unusual Gelato Flavours to Try This Summer

10 unusual gelato flavours to try this Summer

We all think about ice cream as soon as the sun arrives. It seems to be a food whose popularity crosses all age groups!

Gelato is the Italian word for homemade ice cream with whole milk and sugar. The main differences between ice cream and gelato is that gelato doesn't include as much cream. Sometimes egg yolks are included but often not. It's usually lower in fat because it has less of these two ingredients and is softer due to being churned slowly. This means less air getting into the mixture, it becomes more dense. It isn't stored at such a low temperature as ice cream so there are no ice crystals. Enjoy our unique gelato flavours here.

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Family Friendly Vacation Ideas The Whole Family Will Love In The US

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Family Friendly Vacation Ideas The Whole Family Will Love In The US

Family Friendly Vacation Ideas The Whole Family Will Love In The US

Family vacations are a great way to spend some quality time with the family and often it is the only opportunity you get to spend a decent amount of uninterrupted time with them. So you want to make it count, right? The truth is, the family vacation can often be a highly debated topic as I guarantee everyone will have different ideas of what to do. So I thought I would share a few of my own with some destination suggestions thrown in for good measure.

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Your Family, The Big Apple, And You: A Quick Travel Guide

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Your Family, The Big Apple, And You: A Quick Travel Guide

Your Family, The Big Apple, And You: A Quick Travel Guide

Traveling to New York City with your family is going to be an experience for all of you. Going on new adventures and doing new, novel things together can really help you to strengthen your bond and create memories for the future.

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7 Language learning hacks for holidays

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7 Language learning hacks for holidays

7 Language learning hacks for holidays

Are you off on holiday soon and not sure who to keep up with your child' language learning? Or maybe you're around this Summer and would love to begin or continue the momentum you've created? 

If so I've gathered together 7 products which can be used at home or away without taking up too much space. 

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5 Ingredients for a 'Dolce Vita' (#Dolcevitabloggers)

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5 Ingredients for a 'Dolce Vita' (#Dolcevitabloggers)

5 Ingredients for a 'Dolce Vita' (#Dolcevitabloggers)

This month our #Dolcevitablogger topic is to describe our 'Dolce vita'. What does it mean for each of us?

While the famous film, Federico Fellini's 'La Dolce Vita' shows us a frivolous, carefree life with a dark undercurrent. My version of 'a sweet life' is something much simpler and more transparent. 

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#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - Your 'Dolce Vita'

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#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - Your 'Dolce Vita'

June: Hidden Gems

For the June #DolceVitaBloggers link up topic, we’re asking you to spill the beans on your favorite Italian hidden gem! Your hidden gem could be anything that you think is too good to be kept secret any longer, such as a town, a beach, a restaurant, a shop, an Italian wine, a made in Italy product, a recipe or dish….the options are endless! Give your Italian hidden gem the love and attention it deserves. Shout it from the rooftops!

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Top 5 tips for expats - Guest Post by Emma of Wanderlust and Wet Wipes

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Top 5 tips for expats - Guest Post by Emma of Wanderlust and Wet Wipes

Top 5 tips for expats - Guest Post by Emma of Wanderlust and Wet Wipes

This week I'm delighted to welcome Emma from the superb travel blog Wanderlust and Wet Wipes! Emma has traveled more and further than most of us and is now an expat in Doha. We're delighted to have her on Mammaprada this week and I hope you enjoy her tips... there isn't much she doesn't know on this subject! 

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How to help a premature baby? Buy an Octopus!

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How to help a premature baby? Buy an Octopus!

How to help a premature baby? Buy an Octopus!

Today I wanted to draw your attention to a wonderful project which is helping comfort premature babies whilst they are still in hospital. As the mum of a preemie I wish my son had one of these as I hated leaving him each night. 

Marta, a friend of mine set this up herself to help a friend who had a premature baby. The initiative is growing and needs a bit of assistance to keep offering this vital service to bambini! Have a read about why an Octopus is such a little life saver! 

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Reasons To Visit Lake Charles, Louisiana

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Reasons To Visit Lake Charles, Louisiana

Reasons To Visit Lake Charles, Louisiana

If you are currently in the process of planning your next holiday or you are simply fantasizing about where you should visit next, one place that is certainly worth considering is Louisiana. Lake Charles in Louisiana, in particular, is a stunning spot. Read on to discover some of the different reasons why you should take a trip to this part of the world

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Which is the most beautiful Italian lake of them all?

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Which is the most beautiful Italian lake of them all?

I wish it was that simple to look in a magic mirror and be told which Italian lake is the most stunning and should be your next holiday destination!

I've been to many of the Northern Italian lakes. Como, Garda, Trasimeno, Lugano. They all have a certain beauty to them. Their own personality.

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Locanda Sant Anna: An Italian Hidden Gem (#Dolcevitabloggers)

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Locanda Sant Anna: An Italian Hidden Gem (#Dolcevitabloggers)

An Italian Hidden Gem (#Dolcevitabloggers)

There are some places you want to keep for yourself. But then you can't believe somewhere so wonderful exists and really want to share!

So I'm going to be sharing a restaurant and hotel. Except it's not just any hotel, to us anyway. As this hotel is where we ended up having our wedding reception. 

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Best place to stay on Lake Maggiore

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Best place to stay on Lake Maggiore

As most of you know by now, we are huge fans of the Italian lake region. We've been holidaying and visiting family around Lake Como for 12 years. We were married there, our babies were baptised there and we really feel like it's a home from home.

However recently we were persuaded by Jo of Bookings For You to consider a different lake for our next holiday. Lake Maggiore.

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