Nonna Elena's Box

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Please feel free to participate if you need a meal this Christmas season. We know the Family Table Collaborative -- they...
12/19/2022

Please feel free to participate if you need a meal this Christmas season. We know the Family Table Collaborative -- they are good people helping people on Cape Cod.

We are back from Italy, re- acclimated to the Cape, and ready to get back to work. Of course, we really were working whi...
06/09/2022

We are back from Italy, re- acclimated to the Cape, and ready to get back to work. Of course, we really were working while we were there, picking out foods and gifts for future boxes.

The June box is now ready (we were waiting for a shipment to arrive from Siena). Included in this box are two new pieces for your kitchen from il Pellicano:

Individually hand-painted, one of a kind, lemon reamers and sugar scoops. I needed both of these adorable items for my kitchen (yes, I actually use the items that Elisabetta creates -- no china closet for me!) and thought that if I needed them, then you may also.

Also in this box…It’s grill time!

My go-to for the summer months is something called Seasonello, sea salt with a number of herbs: rosemary, garlic, sage and black pepper. I sprinkle it on almost everything on the grill, foods like chicken and potatoes and everything in between.

The ketchup from Mutti that we have is really not like the American stuff you normally find -- it is a little more vinegar-y and tomato-y, not sweet at all. Yes, if you’ve been with us since earlier in the year, you already know about my love affair with Mutti ketchup. I put it in the February box with a jar of horseradish sauce and I use it for cocktail sauce for shrimp and raw veggies all summer.

Speaking of antipasto (you were, right?) you’ll love these pitted Taggiasca Olives. They are a bit sweet and have a nice, mild olive flavor. Serve them alongside fried capers. Yes, I said fried capers. There is a small jar of capers packed in salt in your box. Rinse them, dry them and then fry them in olive oil! You’re welcome! Just to make sure you get the best taste experience when you fry them, I’ve also put a little tin of Partana olive oil in the box. If you already have olive oil open, take this with you when you bring a salad to the next pot luck picnic. Olive oil and vinegar are Italian, not Ranch!

Last, but certainly not least, a little something for Joanne: Italian wafer cookies. Sweets for my Sweet, and I’ll bet, yours, too!

We are always eager to hear your comments and suggestions and will answer any question you leave on any of our FB pages. Thanks for being part of Nonna Nation!

05/06/2022

One other thing....

In order to avoid the automatic charges for the May Box, I've paused the lot of you! (On the ship with quite a number of Brits!).

Not to worry, I'll get the next note out to you as soon as possible when we get back, and all will be properly resumed after that!

Want a bit of a sneak peek? Coffee cups in the June box from our favorite ceramic maker, Elisabetta Ricci at il Pellicano in Siena.

More details later....stay tuned!

05/03/2022

If you are wondering why there is no announcement for the May Box, it's because we are in Italy! But, we are thinking about you. We had lunch today with Margherita Tomasello, the owner of the company who makes the Sicilian pasta that we love!! Fantastic new products coming up from Sicily! Stay tuned. In the meantime, head over to Nonna Tours to check it out.

What happens to leftover sauce, meatballs and sausage? Lasagna of course!
04/21/2022

What happens to leftover sauce, meatballs and sausage? Lasagna of course!

Getting ready for Kings Way Italian Night!
04/18/2022

Getting ready for Kings Way Italian Night!

Spring is here! In Italy you can tell that Spring has arrived by the foods that are offered. One of the first dishes tha...
04/08/2022

Spring is here! In Italy you can tell that Spring has arrived by the foods that are offered. One of the first dishes that I learned to make when I studied with my mentor, Fulvia Sessani, was Risi e Bisi, rice and peas.

Risi e Bisi is a kind of risotto, made with that wonderfully starchy, short-grain carnaroli rice, but it is different from other, traditional risotto in that it is much looser, more like soup than traditional risotto. The traditional Risi e Bisi is made with fennel seeds, and I have included some in the box, also. This rice is very special. We have been using it for a while now at home, and I like the taste very much.

You will find the recipe in There are Rules. If you don't have the cookbook yet, just let me know and I will include a copy of the recipe in your box.

Easter falls in April this year. I'm thinking that if you are going to be cooking you've already got your menu planned, but let me add a few things that would make anyone's menu complete. From Piemonte, more of those wonderful, very special Hazelnut Chocolate Cakes. A holiday dinner is not complete without the requisite nut bowl and cookie platter. And then, just because I like them, and they make me think Easter Basket, a bag of Confetti (Jordan Almonds) and a bar of Torrone.

Last month, I gave you pasta from Sicily, and this month, I want to continue with that same company. This time, it is a beautiful tea towel, cotton, with a kind of waffle weave. I hope you n like it as much as I do.

Also new to us this month is the Acacia honey we imported from Arezzo (in Tuscany). If you haven’t ever had Acacia honey, you are in for a real treat: it is mildly sweet, with a bit of a vanilla flavor. It has a high fructose content, so it will remain liquid for quite a while. I love the package, too! It comes in a drip proof squeeze bottle that makes it easy to use.

Lastly, I've included a jar of hand cream -- the same custom formula that we sold at the shop. It is made with olive oil and has a lovely fragrance, and, after the long winter, I think you'll appreciate what it can do for your hands.

In this box you will find:

Acquerello Riso
Fennel
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
Torrone
Jordan almonds
Dish towel
Honey
Hand cream

So, it's decision time. If you want the April Box, go to NonnaElenasBox.com an you can order it. We will get it out to you asao!

If you want some of the things in this box, but not all of them, you can go to the website NonnaElenasBox.com and order individual items.

We are always eager to hear your comments and suggestions and will answer any question you leave on any of our FB pages. Thanks for being part of Nonna Nation!

One other thing: there will not be a box in May, since we will be in Italy from April 26 through May 19. If you’d like to see what we are up to, come follow us on Nonna Tours!

Beautiful 100% cotton towels made in Sicily - a must add to your spring kitchen - coming in our April box!
03/18/2022

Beautiful 100% cotton towels made in Sicily - a must add to your spring kitchen - coming in our April box!



If you have been paying attention, you know by now that we have new products from a vendor in Sicily. I was so excited t...
03/03/2022

If you have been paying attention, you know by now that we have new products from a vendor in Sicily. I was so excited to see the pasta, etc that I decided to scrap my already-planned March box and do the whole thing from Sicily.

Sicilia Naturalmente means Sicily, of course! and describes my feelings about our March box. The other day I made a dish of pasta for dinner using rigatoni and cauliflower with oil and garlic and pepperoncini. I hated it when we were kids and Ma made me eat it anyway. I’m older and wiser now, and Joanne and I are trying to be better about the amounts of meat that we eat. We went to the grocery last week and found cauliflower that was heavy, and bright white, and I couldn’t resist it. Normally I would roast it with carrots and onions and garlic, but this dish came to mind and I thought I would try it again. I’m so glad I did!

In case you’re not a fan of cauliflower, I’m sending you a jar of Sugo alla Norma. We had this all over Sicily with our rigatoni! Alla Norma is a tomato sauce with fried melanzane (eggplant). Sooo good. It hails from Catania, and was named after the Bellini opera “Norma.” You could call it “George” for all I care – melanzane is one of my favorite veggies, and I could eat it every week!

I’m so happy with this pasta, that I’ve added another: fusilli. The little corkscrew shapes are perfect to carry a pesto, but not just any pesto. This one is Sicilian – made pretty much like Ligurian pesto, except that it has almonds and pistachios in it.

Speaking of Catania, every time we are in Sicily, we head for the fish market in Catania. It is open every day and the fish from that area is amazing! I will never forget watching the fishmonger (fish butcher?) filet a fresh tuna, he cut the head off and sat it on the table in front of him! It was funny at the time, and it looked as if the head was watching him cut up the rest of its body. At any rate, in the box this month are a can of Flott tuna and a tube of anchovy paste. I love Flott tuna, packed in olive oil; it is first quality yellowfin. The anchovy paste is what I use to create a little umami in my sauces. A little sq**rt of paste (yes it comes in a tube) in an aglio, olio sauce (garlic and olive oil) makes a tremendous difference in the flavor, and very few people will realize that there’s anything fishy going on there!

The one holdover from the March box that I scrapped is the Partana extra virgin olive oil. I’ve had a few phone calls from folks asking if I were going to put it in another box soon, or did they have to just flat out order it separately. So, it’s in here. And to make sure you realize that I haven’t abandoned my Sicilian theme, the Asaro Family produces this oil in the town of Partana, Sicily in the province of Trapani. We will visit the frantoio in September during the second week of our Sicilian tour. I can’t wait!!!

The last item is fittingly, the finale to meals all over Italy. We had these after dinner one night the first week we were in Sicily a few years ago, and when I found them, I bought a “few” bags. They are called Glitterati and they are tiny little hard candies with flavors like Amaretto, Limoncello and Sicilian Orange.

That’s it! To summarize:

2 pastas (rigatoni and fusilli)
2 sauces (alla Norma and pesto)
2 fish (tuna and anchovy paste)
1 tin of Partana Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bag of Glitterati

Now, I know that there will be a couple of you who may not want the tuna or the anchovy paste, no matter how much I tell you that I love them and use them ALL THE TIME! So, just this month, if you give me a call, I’ll substitute something else for just those items.

We are always eager to hear your comments and suggestions and will answer any question you leave on any of our FB pages. Thanks for being part of Nonna Nation!

Go to NonnaElenasBox.com to order this month's Box.

Sicilia naturalmente is a woman-owned company in the Palermo region of Sicily. It is the successor to a 100 year old pas...
02/24/2022

Sicilia naturalmente is a woman-owned company in the Palermo region of Sicily. It is the successor to a 100 year old pasta company.

Her pasta is amaaaaaazing! Look for it on our web site!

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32 West Woods �
Yarmouth, MA
02675

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