Many cities in Italy have grand Easter celebrations. While the days leading up to Easter are solemn, Easter and La Pasquetta, the day after Easter, are filled with excitement. In Florence, Easter is celebrated with the Scoppio del Carro, expolsion of the cart. The wagon that is at least 2 stories high, is wheeled through the streets to the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. Once there, a dove-shaped rocket is sent into the wagon igniting a spectacular firework show. Afterwards, there's a parade through the historic section of Florence.
There's a saying in Italy, “Natale con i tuoi, pasqua con chi vuoi” (Christmas with family, Easter with who you want). La Pasquetta or Little Easter, is a nation holiday in Italy. Italians enjoy the day off visiting friends and enjoying a picnic of leftovers from Easter along with salami, cheese and perhaps some homemade wine. Some may travel to the sea, to enjoy the sunshine and the barely warm water. Entire cities come together for free concerts, outdoor luncheons and egg rolling games. The city of Panciale in Umbria has a different sort of rolling contest. They roll cheese wheels!
Easter and Passover Food
It's Passover and Easter soon and many are thinking about what to make. Easter bread, spinach pies- with alici, without or with olives, meat pies and wheat pies! Do you have lamb or spiral ham? Or both? Are you busy making brisket, matzo ball soup and macaroons? Do you serve gefilte fish - I hope with lots of horseradish! That's the only way I can get it down! I just saw a recipe for matzoh lasagna?! Here's a twist on the traditional haroset -Haroset all'italiana, a paste-like mixture of ground dates, oranges, raisins and figs. We're having a combination of our favorites this week. I'd love to make some carciofi alla romana but it's so much work! Here's our recipe for our Easter bread.
International women's day is celebrated around the world to show solidarity and recognize the importance of women in society. The day was born out of political and social awareness for women. In 1945, the Union of Italian Women set aside March 8th to celebrate womanhood. In Italy, bouquets of mimosa are given to mothers, sisters, daughters, wives and friends to show appreciation and respect. Many museums are free for women and aim to highlight works by women.
I just finished reading a very interesting short article about Dr. Maria Montessori, the founder of the Montessori schools, on Italian Sons and Daughters of America's website. Not only was she a "highly respected educator and an activist for women’s rights and peace, she also is the only Italian woman with the honor to appear on an Italian banknote."
TorroneCandy is a family-run and operated business started by Anthony Andriola. As a young boy, he frequently attended Italian feasts in New Jersey and New York with his family, and mesmerized by the sounds and smells that surrounded him year after year, dreamed of one day owning his own stand.
In the 1970s, he decided to start Anne Marie's Concessions, named after his daughter, and began to sell seafood and eventually sausages at local Italian feasts in New Jersey. "Tony Sausage," as he was affectionately referred to, changed to "Tony Torrone" in 1988, when he purchased his first torrone stand.
At that time, there were only a few remaining torrone sellers, and they sold one or two brands at the most. While visiting Anne Marie in southern Italy, where she was studying abroad, Tony spotted a road sign advertising a torrone factory. He followed the signs up a steep, winding road to the G.M.F. Oliviero Torrone Factory in the town of Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo. After a meeting with the owner, Fillipo, and his friendly employees, Tony made the decision to start selling Oliviero torrone the following summer.
Anne Marie's Concessions morphed into TorroneCandy when, in 2006, we opened our online marketplace to provide our loyal customers with the delicious torrone, biscotti, chocolates, and panettone they craved all year long.
Our family values our customers' loyal patronage, and we look forward to serving them online or meeting them at the next festa. TorroneCandy is now run by Anne Marie, her husband, Jason, and their young helpers, Isabella and Lucia, as well as other family members and friends. You can still find Tony and long-time and absolutely essential employee, Roddy, running the torrone stand at Italian summer festivals throughout the Northeast!
Small businesses survive because of thoughtful customers like you who value customer service and take an extra step in supporting businesses like ours.
Celebrate Valentine's Italian Style with unique treats from Italy! See our favorite picks here! And enjoy FREE SHIPPING on orders $59 or more! Use code VDAY19. Ends 2/9/19.
The TorroneCandy family would like to thank you for your support. We know you have a choice of where to purchase your torrone and holiday specialties and we appreciate your support of a small family business. We strive to provide a variety of items as well as personal customer service and hope that we are successful in bringing a little bit of Italy to you and your family.
Want to learn more our history, check out the About Uspage.
Have an item that you would like us to carry or a questions, contact us.
Just a reminder that many of our items are seasonal. If the item that you desire is out of stock, just enter your email address on the product page, under notify me and we'll contact you when the item is back in stock.
And remember to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on new product offerings!
We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that the start to the new year has been a happy one!
Thank you to all of our returning customers and a warm welcome to our new friends! Thank you for allowing us to continue to offer you the Italian products that help keep the tradition of torrone alive!
If your supply of torrone, panforte or panettone is long gone, we have a lot of items on sale to restock for the winter!
The cantuccini and panforte are here! The Sapori ricciarelli will be here around 12/12.
Antica Update
Antica is here!
Fiore di Puglia Taralli Update
It's here!
Did you order the torrone for the holidays yet?
Whether your family enjoys the "little blue boxes" or the boxes "with the pictures on them", keep the tradition of giving torrrone at the holidays alive!
There are so many brands of torrone out there. Each a little different. Try a new brand this year!
We should have them very soon! They have been released from customs and we are awaiting them at our warehouse. Sign up on the product page to be notified when they come in.
I love when new products from small Italian companies arrive. This year we're offering a wide selection of new, delicious products from all over Italy. One product I'm very interested in tasting is a fig syrup from Calabria. My kids think we should have it on top of ice cream but I'm more of a cheese person, so I'll be drizzling it over some cheese for a quick Thanksgiving appetizer.
I know many of you are waiting for certain brands to arrive: Sorelle, Antica, Sapori, Fiasconaro, Cova, Loison...They are on their way. We hope to have them very soon!
Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Whether you're hosting or heading over the river and through the woods, we have the perfect Italian treats to accompany your pies! Check out ourThanksgiving favorites and celebrate Thanksgiving the Italian Way!
While not all of our new items have arrived we do have some very special products ready to be enjoyed. Pictured here is a new offering from Leone. If you like Martini Rosso Vermouth, you'll love these new pastiglie!
Amaretti di Chiostro! Crunchy amaretti wrapped in colorful paper. This year we also have soft chocolate amaretti!
Waiting for other favorites? Sorelle Nurzia, Antica, Amaretti, Sapori and more will soon be here. If you're looking for a certain item, sign up on the product's page to be notified when it comes in.
The leaves are changing, we're wearing fall jackets and it even frosted near us in Vermont the other day! I know what that means - the feast season is almost over and the holidays items will start arriving soon!!
I hope that some of you had a chance to visit a feast this summer - whether it was one where we had a chance to say ciao or one on the other side of the country! I think there is even an Italian feast in Hawaii. Perhaps we should ship the torrone stand there?
There is one more feast and it's a great one! The feast of St. Gerard Maiella at St. Lucy's Church in Newark, NJ. It's been going on for 119 years! You'll find zeppole, sausage, torroncini, blocks of hard torrone, andrite, mostaccioli, ceci e fava, music, the procession and more! Hope you can bring your family there this weekend and continue the tradition! If you need info on the feast you can find it on St. Lucy's site.
Vital Nougat from Belgium is here! Have you tried this yet? There's a few new flavors coming in but we'll have the orange nougat that is so popular as well!
Some new items have also arrived. Have you ever tried salty licorice?! Well we have some from Sweden and it's truly unique. We also have Anthon Berg nougat and marzipan from Denmark and Storz Nougat.
What else is on the horizon? Well, we heard from you that Bauli and Balocco panettone had been missed the last couple of years so we're bringing it back. Not to worry, we'll still have G. Cova! We'll also have some from Bonifanti!
Antica Piemontese, Strega, Flamigni and Fiasconaro torrone will make a come back as well.
Taralli from Puglia and marzipan from Fratelli Motta!
All these products and more should be here by November!!
Check back often to see new arrivals or sign up on a product page to be notified when it arrives. Better yet, sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and/or twitter!
