Cooking with Mamma C

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About Me

photo of Andrea

Hi, I’m Andrea (AHN-drea), otherwise known as Mamma C. I’m so glad you’re here!

I live in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio and have a son and a daughter in their ’20s. My hubby is a wine-making architect.

Our Italian last name is so long, our kids’ friends started calling me “Mamma C.” I love it!

I’m Italian and Hungarian

My mom is from Naples, Italy, and my in-laws are from Calabria. My father was born in America, and his parents were from Hungary.

I’ve always identified as Italian though, because when your mom is from Italy, it becomes the dominant nationality! But I love the fact that I also have Hungarian roots, and that my grandfather was Jewish.

Nonna

My Beloved Nonna

A Heritage of Fabulous Food

My Italian grandmother, Nonna, lived with us on and off during my childhood. Her cooking was incredible – simple, but delicious.

My mom and aunts learned from her, so the bar was set very high. I knew as soon as I left home that I’d better learn how to cook too if I wanted to enjoy my food as much as theirs.

Now, after nearly three decades of experience, I’m happy to report I can really throw it down in the kitchen too! I hope I’ve made Nonna proud.

Before I was a Food Blogger

I’m a former journalist and editor who left the field years ago to join the nonprofit sector. I worked in fundraising for the majority of my career, raising tens of millions of dollars for charitable causes. I often handled communications and marketing too.

I became interested in leadership and got my Master’s in Positive Organization Development & Change. I’m a big believer in sending positive vibes into the world!

About Cooking with Mamma C

I launched Cooking with Mamma C on June 1, 2014.  I share family-tested recipes from my Italian-American kitchen.

That means you’ll find:

Cooking with Mamma C Recipes Have Appeared on:

BuzzFeed, Huffington Post Canada, MSN, Country Living, Reader’s Digest UK, Greatist, Parade and Food Fanatic.        

I test every recipe until it’s fabulous, and we eat everything you see on the blog. It’s my pleasure to share family recipes and my own creations with all of you.

Enjoy!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I am of the school of “Use it up; wear it out. Make it do or do without.” I typed in “recipe leftover spaghetti” and came up with your “Leftover Spaghetti Frittata”. I used the spaghetti (sauce and all) left from our meal at the Olive Garden. There wasn’t enough spaghetti to use with 6 eggs. Since it required 6 eggs for 6 servings, I did the math and used 2 eggs for 2 servings. We have a new stove that cooks hotter and faster than our old one so the frittata was ready to turn after cooking for 13 mins on level 2 on the burner. Parts of it were already very dark but that was probably the result of the tomatoes in the sauce. (It did not taste burned.) We were surprised that we were able to flip it over as easily as we were but your instruction was good. On the second side, it was ready to serve after 7 minutes. I kept saying, “It would really help if I knew what I was doing,” but it turned out so well that my husband loved it! He said, “You have a winner!”

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    • Hi Jimmy – Roasted peppers would be “peperoni arrostiti.” Roasted peppers sauteed with olive oil and garlic would be “peperoni arrostiti in padella.”

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  5. Love your recipes, I was born in italy and your recipes are spot on. The “simpleness” of the recipes is perfect. Can’t wait to try some of the ones I don’t know about. Keep up the awesome foods 🙂

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    • Hi Maria – This is the highest compliment I could receive! I test my recipes over and over until they’re worthy of being published. I hope you do try more of them!

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  7. Delighted you took up the challenge! I can see I’m going to have fun here, so I’m also pleased I stumbled on your blog. More, please, with a little whipped cream on top, if you have it. 😉
    Cheers,
    Kathryn

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  8. It’s lovely to meet you and read about your wonderful background! Super thrilled to have found your blog. Bloggers supporting bloggers is so awesome. And when the family supports that, it’s even better! Food is wonderful and well, necessary! Looking forward to learning about great recipes through you! Best wishes to you. Koko:)

    Reply

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