by Patricia Bellomo | Mar 19, 2014 | Mob Blog
Feast of St. Joseph
Mob Blog: The Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 2014
La Fiesta di San Giuseppe, the Feast of St. Joseph, is celebrated today. This is a day Italians celebrate, in much the same way as the Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, although we’ll supplant the green with a little vino. And pastry. And prayer, of course.
St. Joseph is the patron saint of Sicily, and the Feast of St. Joseph is celebrated to honor the spouse of the Virgin Mary. It’s a day to be thankful for what you have and to help those who are needy—a day to feed the hungry.
It’s customary to wear red on the Feast of St. Joseph. Fish-shaped bread and cross-buns are also part of St. Joseph’s celebrations, as is the Fava Bean. This little bean is credited with saving the lives of Sicilians during the famines of the middle-ages and has come to symbolize the festa. It’s considered good fortune to eat the bean on St. Joseph’s Day, as well as to receive a “lucky” bean.
Altars are erected in gratitude of St. Joseph’s bounty, displaying statues of St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother, along with candles and flowers and traditional Sicilian wine and pastry, most notably zeppole, which are fried puffed shells filled with ricotta or custard or Italian cream, and fig stuffed cookies called cuccidati.
It’s advisable to attend Mass before the feast.
The best place to celebrate the Feast of St. Joseph—apart from traveling to Sicily—is in New Orleans. The Italian Amercian Marching Club does an annual parade on the Saturday before the Feast of St. Joseph, with a prime French Quarter route. Incidentally, New Orleans was a destination for late nineteenth and early twentieth century Sicilian immigrants. Sicilian’s settled in the French Quarter even before the mass immigrations began at Ellis Island, giving New Orleans a heritage that is rich in Italian culture.
It’s no coincidence that the main character in my “Louie Morelli” series is from New Orleans. The city is also the setting for my novel, Louie Morelli’s Mistress.
Patricia Bellomo is the author of the crime and mob thriller books Louie Morelli’s Mistress, Stella di Mare, and Louie Morelli’s Daughter. Books available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and on all e-readers.
by Patricia Bellomo | Mar 11, 2014 | Mob Blog
Mob Blog: The Player, March11, 2014
Mob Blog: The Player, March 11, 2014
[dcs_p]A few years back when my oldest son, Tony, got married, he proudly announced that he was going to remain faithful to his wife. Tells me he’s not going to be a player like his old man. Yeah okay, I said. Tony was always his mother’s favorite, and she might have influenced him, but after seven years, two kids, and a wife who can barely zip up her blue jeans, he’s suddenly a player.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Before we go any further with this, let me just say that Tony is a great son. A man couldn’t ask for better, but sometimes I wonder if he’s my kid. I mean, he’s got it all–looks, money, personality. He could really be a player–get any girl he wants. But what does he do? He gets involved with a Craigslist escort–paying for it when he could get better for free. When I asked him to explain his reasoning, he said he didn’t want a “personal involvement”. Well, he got one alright. A couple weeks after playing hanky panky with the hooker, he gets a FedEx at the office. You guessed it: A dozen compromising photos along with a request for ten thousand dollars.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Too embarrassed to come to me, Tony goes to Victor. He says, “You know I have to go to your old man with this.”[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Tony does know, and he’s not happy about it. But I’m the one who has to hire someone to track down this girl and her loser boyfriend, and then, after determining that it is a low-level operation, I send Victor and one of my old NOPD contacts to pay a little house call. They put an end to the blackmailing business, but their services cost more than ten grand. A sheepish Tony offers to pay, and I give him a hug and say, “Forget about it. What are fathers for?”[/dcs_p][dcs_p] Patricia Bellomo is the author of the “Louie Morelli” series. Her books include Louie Morelli’s Mistress, Stella di Mare, and Louie Morelli’s Daughter. Books available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and on all e-readers. The Player is written in the voice of her main character, Louie Morelli.
by Patricia Bellomo | Feb 7, 2014 | Mob Blog
Fort Lauderdale
[dcs_p]Mob Blog: Languishing on Las Olas, February 7, 2014[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]I’m on Las Olas Boulevard. I had a closing at Wells Fargo at nine this morning. It’s now past noon, and I’m still here. But I’m not at the bank. The closing went off beautifully, thank you, and I’m a bit richer for selling a piece of prime Fort Lauderdale real estate.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
So why am I languishing on Las Olas?[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
It’s because I made the mistake of mentioning to my daughter that I was driving down for the closing. This was last night, at the dinner table. Right away Stella perked up, and said, “Daddy, let me go with you. I haven’t been to Las Olas in forever.”[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Hmm. I had planned to call on a lady friend today. She’s a great gal, but not exactly the type I would introduce to my baby. So my plans got reshuffled, and now I’m sitting in the cool shade beneath the overhang of the historic Riverside Hotel nursing a glass of grapefruit juice while Stella winds her way in and out of the boutiques and galleries that dominate this stretch of downtown.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Las Olas is hip and happening, transformed from the sleepy backwater street that used to cater to locals and aging snowbirds. Midday on a Friday in February the tourists are plentiful. It’s a perfect day, a little warm for this time of year, but I don’t mind.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Stella struts towards me. She doesn’t look anything like the tourists she’s bumping elbows with. She’s a head turner, wearing a cream-colored designer dress with red, high-heeled sandals. I can’t help thinking that she looks like an Italian fashion model.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Stella’s carrying a few bags. Nothing serious—I’ve seen worse. She gives me a big smile and says, “Daddy, look what I bought you,” showing me a blue, floral print tie she picked up for me at Maus and Hoffman’s.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Traffic on Las Olas is becoming congested, with cars parked parallel on both sides of the street. I want to go to Pan’e Dolci for gelato, but Stella has other things on her mind. “Daddy, come and look at this painting I want to buy,” she says.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Patricia Bellomo is the author of the crime and mob thriller books Louie Morelli’s Mistress, Stella di Mare, and Louie Morelli’s Daughter. Languishing on Las Olas was written in the voice of her main character, Louie Morelli.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Books available in print and digital from Amazon.com. All e-reader formats.
by Patricia Bellomo | Dec 11, 2013 | Mob Blog
[dcs_p]Mob Blog: Breakfast With The Bookmaker, December 11, 2013[/dcs_p][dcs_p]_
In Louie’s words …[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
News Café, in South Beach. We’re sitting curbside with Victor’s bookmaker, a character if there ever was one. Victor’s bookmaker is pushing eighty. He’s an old time book, with a mane of shaggy gray hair and bright blue eyes. His skin’s a little weathered—this is South Florida, but other than the skin damage, Victor’s bookmaker doesn’t look his age.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Victor’s into his book for thirty gee’s, slipping an envelope to him beneath the table. Victor’s the loser, so the tradition is the bookmaker buys, even if it is just bacon and eggs. And bread pudding with vanilla sauce, which is what Victor always gets when we come here.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
It’s a mild day, with a low bank of scudding clouds blowing in from the Atlantic. It’s December in Miami, and we’ve got the usual bimbo mix on the sidewalks clashing with suntanned coeds and middle-aged Germans. There’s a lot of eye candy, and we’re all looking, even the bookmaker.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
He tells us women have been his downfall. Being that he’s on his fifth wife, and she’s forty years younger than him, I’d have to agree. “At my age, I’m still paying child support,” the bookmaker says. “Imagine that. I’ll never be able to retire.”[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
“Well, you’re doing pretty good this year.” Victor says. “Another week like last week, and I’ll be able to retire you.”[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
The bookmaker laughs. “Believe it or not, I had more winners than losers last week. The lines Vegas puts out are garbage nowadays. I miss the old days.” He sighs, thinking back to a time when being a sports book was easy. “I used to write three million on a weekend back then, and nobody bothered you. Now you’ve got cowboy cops busting ten dollar bettors.”[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
If you enjoyed Breakfast with the Bookmaker, you may consider reading one of Patricia Bellomo’s mob thrillers. Books include, Louie Morelli’s Mistress, Stella di Mare, and Louie Morelli’s Daughter.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Breakfast with the Bookmaker was written in the voice of Patricia’s main character, savvy mobster, Louie Morelli.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
All books available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and in all e-reader formats. Also available on AmazonUK and AmazonEU.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
by Patricia Bellomo | Oct 10, 2013 | Mob Blog
[dcs_p]Mob Blog: Miami Beach Mobsters, October 10, 2013[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p] In Louie Morelli’s words … [/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Did I say the Russian’s make me nervous? They’re unpredictable, these new Miami Beach mobsters, with their expensive Cristal and low priced prostitutes. Unfortunately, the way business is today, I’m obliged to meet with them every now and then.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
My venue of choice is my own nightclub, Franco’s, which is a Miami Beach favorite, even for Miami’s new Russian mobsters. I meet a couple of them up in the VIP lounge, where Franco pours the Cristal and Victor offers Montecristo’s.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
It’s a civilized meet, and I’m not expecting trouble, but the Russian’s like to show their muscle. I think they’re amused that I’m so low key, but then, they’re in a much more dangerous line of work than I am, dealing with Middle Eastern fanatics and South American sociopaths. Being a patriot, I object to some of their practices, but then, what they do is their business. As long as it doesn’t encroach on mine. But, occasionally, these foreign-born Miami Beach mobsters come to me for a deal or a favor. And sometimes, like today, it’s me who is looking for information.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Fortunately, the information is provided without a price, as a gesture of goodwill. I graciously accept. After all, it wouldn’t do to offend my unsavory friends. So I let Franco pour the Cristal, and then he brings in the working girls, and the Russians are happy. [/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Patricia Bellomo is the author of the crime and mob thriller books, Louie Morelli’s Mistress, Stella di Mare, and Louie Morelli’s Daughter. Miami Beach Mobsters was written in the voice of her main character, Louie Morelli.[/dcs_p][dcs_p]
Books available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Amazon.UK & Amazon.EU. Books are also available in digital formats.
![Mob Blog: Breakfast With The Bookmaker, December 11, 2013[/dcs_p][dcs_p]_](https://patriciabellomo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/money.jpg){kind=link}