Looking for a gift for someone who loves Italy? Check out one of the following:

Italian food baskets are the perfect Christmas gift for the members of your family who enjoy a love affair with Italy and Italian food

If your friends and family are anything like mine they love to eat and they love to get gifts they will actually use. I long ago gave up trying to guess what everyone wanted as a gift and started putting together baskets for friends and family. I put together baskets that I know they will enjoy and since most people enjoy all things Italian an Italian food basket makes the perfect gift.

I will include unique pastas, sauces, olive oil, breadsticks, biscotti and if they are wine drinkers a nice bottle of wine. Occasionally I will include an Italian cookbook. I try to find a nice basket or a straw carry all bag to put it all in. I either tie a big red bow on the top or wrap it in the cellophane bags you find in crafts stores that can be shrink wrapped. Living in a large city I have access to all of these things and more.

A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany: Exploring and Eating off the Beaten Track is a gem of a book. Author Beth Elon takes readers through the few parts of Tuscany that have not yet been discovered by the thousands (or is it millions?) of tourists that visit Italy every year. The reader will be transported into the kitchens of more than 50 restaurants where cooks reveal their recipes.

The book is divided into sections organized by the different regions of Tuscany; with some jaunts into what I believe is Liguria. The regional sections begin with explanations of what makes Tuscan cooking so unique. You'll read about a bean so beloved by a village that it's been elevated to cult status-but that is totally unheard of a few kilometers down the road and the endless array of vegetable tarts found only in Lunigiana and Garfagnana.

Ms Elon has organized ten itineraries that include stops at gourmet shops, food festivals, greenmarkets, and private kitchens. She includes recipes and descriptions of different regions, along the way pointing out overlooked art, architecture, historic sites, churches and museums.

A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany: Exploring and Eating off the Beaten Track is a gem of a book. Author Beth Elon takes readers through the few parts of Tuscany that have not yet been discovered by the thousands (or is it millions?) of tourists that visit Italy every year. The reader will be transported into the kitchens of more than 50 restaurants where cooks reveal their recipes.

The book is divided into sections organized by the different regions of Tuscany; with some jaunts into what I believe is Liguria. The regional sections begin with explanations of what makes Tuscan cooking so unique. You'll read about a bean so beloved by a village that it's been elevated to cult status-but that is totally unheard of a few kilometers down the road and the endless array of vegetable tarts found only in Lunigiana and Garfagnana.

Ms Elon has organized ten itineraries that include stops at gourmet shops, food festivals, greenmarkets, and private kitchens. She includes recipes and descriptions of different regions, along the way pointing out overlooked art, architecture, historic sites, churches and museums.

Knowing a few basic Italian words and phrases will make your trip to Italy even more enjoyable. Going to a country where your native language is not the primary language can be intimidating and a little bit scary. Even the most experienced travelers can get a little panicky knowing they will not be hearing their language spoken for the next week or two. Not to worry, there are a number of easy things you can do to make sure you are understood in a foreign country, speaking louder is not one of them.

I use Rick Steves Italian Phrase book when I travel to Italy. I speak a little Italian and find Rick Steves Italian Phrase Book very helpful. However, I speak even less French and Spanish and find his phrase books even more useful when I visit those countries. In France and Spain I do a lot of pointing to words in my phrase book.

To get you started here are 10 basic Italian words and phrases: