We felt so worldly when we ate Grandma’s lo mein with chopsticks.

Grandma saved time by assembling the pasta shells the night before she baked them.

Hot weather in the country meant lighter foods that were still hearty, like this pasta dish.

For busy days when she didn’t have time to clean up a lot of pans, Grandma made this one-dish supper.

‘This pasta is red, white and green, the colors of the Italian flag,’ Grandma’s sister used to say.

In Grandpa’s family’s hometown in the old country, this was called ‘pasta fazool’ in the local dialect.

Grandma could take a handful of herbs, a little garlic and cheese and make the most delicious pasta sauce.

Grandma Esposito’s idea of comfort food was fettuccine with bacon, cream and eggs.

Lasagna made in Grandma’s newfangled slow cooker was as good as the old-fashioned way.

‘You could cook for hours and not prepare something as tasty as this quick dish,’ Grandma used to say.