Moscadello and Cantucci: Milk and Cookies for Grownups

You’ve seen kids wearing shirts that boast, “My grandma went to Italy and all she bought me was this lousy T-shirt.”  I’m not that grandma.  I want the people I’m abandoning to look forward to my absences, and to welcome me home with open arms. Finding gifts for my family has become part of the adventure - things with a touch of the exotic to help them feel a little closer to what I saw and smelled and did on my travels.  I’ve made plenty of mistakes when searching for the “perfect” gift.  This is the story of how I left home alone, meandered to Tuscany for a travel-writing class, and searched for presents that should make each recipient look forward to my next escape as much as I do.