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Home for the Holidays

Dec 11, 2015

Lidia celebrates her native Italian holiday traditions, along with the traditions of six celebrity guests.

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Story Lidia Bastianich lidia celebrates america
Home for the Holidays

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Lidia invites six celebrity guests to her holiday table: Christopher Walken, award winning actor and childhood friend; Rita Moreno, award winning actress; Ann Curry, television journalist; model and television host Padma Lakshmi; celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson; and Carlo Ponti, Jr., conductor. 

Watch a preview for Lidia Celebrates America: Home for the Holidays, which premiered December, 2015, on PBS.

Lidia's handpicked celebrity guests are all united by their dream of making it in America. Viewers have privileged access to a celebration served up and prepared by Lidia and her guests, peppered with personal and moving stories celebrating America.

Our cameras retrace the steps to locations where our guests once prepared their most delicious family meals, the most memorable of which they share with the others gathered together at Lidia's table.

The Stories

Interspersed throughout the one-hour documentary, filmmakers follow several of our guests back to their native countries, both literally and figuratively, capturing unique and touching moments and recollections to weave into the film. Exploring their roots and remembering their holiday traditions, our celebrities share their fondest childhood memories, remember what they coveted most, and recount their favorite foods and flavors from home. Many of these recollections are brought back to life through food.

By juxtaposing the past and present, Lidia tells the story of her journey to America, and what it means to her to be here now. Her stories are interwoven with new recipes adapted from the old world, and shared along with deeply personal memories of her guests, who share their journeys to and in America, and their lives through hardship and triumph. 

They are tales of prosperity and celebration, of diversity, tradition, and melding cultures The deliciously diverse meal they share represents the melting pot of flavors that are all part of celebrating Christmas in New York.

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Support for this program provided by: