Picture an Italian American family… Where are they gathered?  Are they around the table with a pot of coffee?  Or are they in the kitchen preparing a Sunday meal?  Perhaps they are in the basement pressing grapes or jarring tomatoes?  For most of us, scenes of the famiglia are also scenes of the home.  You’ve got to wonder… what is it exactly that makes a house an Italian American home, and what do these shared domestic traditions tell us about our community, our culture, and ourselves?

For Italian American Podcast co-host Dolores Alfieri-Taranto, those types of questions are at the heart of the second season of her new hit podcast “Bella Figura- The Tradition of Living Beautifully.” So in this week’s episode, we’re all joining in the conversation, and eschewing the fashionable concept of “Green Building Certification” in favor of a designation a little closer to home, and asking what it takes for a home to qualify as Red-White-and-Green Certified?