Hey there! My name is Crystal and I am Nouna. In Greek “Nouna” means Godmother, and I am a Godmother to three beautiful girls. I am also an aunt - or “Thea” - to my nephew Mikey. And I’m a dog mom to my four year old Goldendoodle Charlie.

Here’s our family code: My “Yiayia” Exacousti, my mother’s mother, always told my Mom that because my Dad was a big guy, standing six feet tall, my mother must always have a large tray or big pot of something on the stove to make him happy. Not many days go by that she isn’t cooking or preparing some delicious dish in her kitchen. The funny part is, my Mom continues to tell me those same words of wisdom to this day.

My maternal grandfather immigrated from Tripoli in the Peloponnese region of Greece, and started working in America as a fruit peddler. By the turn of the 20th century, he owned three diners. A Greek-American immigrant and philanthropist, my grandfather (“Papou”) Theodore was a man of great integrity and perseverance. Although I never had the chance to meet him, his life story and his many successes have been memorialized in photographs and stories, and he has even been recognized in the American Diner Museum, and Worcester Historical Museum - Diners. This photograph of my Papou’s diners “United Diners” also hang in the Quincy Public Library and dates back to February 1932 when it was built by Worcester Lunch Car and given #692, and delivered from Worcester to Quincy, MA.

Papou Theodore had a friend, Constantine, who was a farmer possibly also a fruit and vegetable peddler before supermarkets existed. They worked together to help each other succeed and more importantly survive. On weekends, Papou would travel from Wollaston, a South Shore suburb of Boston, to where Constantine lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts, to see Constantine. Although not biologically related, the love that Theodore and Constantine had for one another has endured throughout several generations.

My mother, Georgia, met my father at a party. Only after the party did Mom learn that his real name was Emmanuel (she had called him John!), and that he raised vegetables and Yorkshire pigs, and boarded horses on his family farm in Peabody, Massachusetts. That farm was purchased by my paternal grandfather, “Papou” Nicholas, and his brothers. My father and aunt ran “Twin Pines Farm” for years, and now my brother and I continue to do that work together.

My Papou Nicholas (my paternal grandfather) was one of five children, not all of them immigrated to America, but one brother was left behind on the island of Samos, Greece. With him, my Papou Nicholas helped create a bakery on this large Grecian island. The bakery closed only a few years ago, and had been handed down to my cousins. I’ll always remember from my travels there as a young child that they made the best almond macaroons on the island. My fraternal Great Great Great Grandfather was an expert pastry & chocolatier. He had entered a pastry competition in Paris, France, and won a prize for his sweets & chocolate specialties.

Throughout the years, my Yiayia, and mom have taught me how to carry on making the recipes of my Greek ancestors, I now am continuing to teach my nephew, Mikey who has totally embraced cooking, and continues to ask my mom and I what else can we make while watching and learning recipes with his Yiayia only from the best on Sunday afternoon cooking shows.

My uncle Kosta, as I’ve always known him and have referred to him as uncle Charlie from a little kid, and my mom’s middle sibling, even owned and operated his own restaurant that was known as the Colonial 1600 and was located in Quincy Square for many decades, and where I used to visit with my mom and dad many, many times throughout my childhood.

My Papou Nicholas along with my father, ran our family farm of not only harvesting fruits and vegetables, but also raising and slaughtering pigs, and boarding horses in order to provide for the family.

My first christened goddaughter, Maddie, has developed an absolute desire for her favorite dish of Spanakopita and her favorite dessert is Loukoumades. Who doesn’t love a sweet honey puff or Greek donut? Right?! My second goddaughter, Kristy, and my third goddaughter and niece, Lia love to make many of the recipes that I have taught them when they come to visit. And now they’re continuing to learn to make these recipes, too.

So “Cooking with Nouna” only seemed fitting to bring the family story to full circle since food, food businesses, farming, bakeries, recipes and memories have been built over several generations and throughout some of the first immigration stories of these great United States.