😋12/28/25: Ending 🎊2025 with Gratitude (and a Fresh Weekly Meal Plan For You)...

Ciao Reader!

Ending 2025 with gratitude in my heart. Thank you for being here, cooking along, and supporting my little corner of classic Italian (and more!) recipes all year long. Wishing you a peaceful week and a beautiful year ahead 🤍, Elena. This week’s meal plan is fresh, cozy, and perfect for welcoming the New Year with good food and full hearts.

A few New Year's appetizers you should try: mini brie bites, sausage cream cheese dip, salami cup antipasto, and bacon-wrapped asparagus!

⭐️If you made a recipe, please leave a star rating and comment- it helps my online business :). Let's start with a recipe you loved this week...

I am so grateful to have come across your page! I made your ragú yesterday for my Christmas lasagna, and it was incredible. Everyone loved it. Thank you again, and I continue to make this every Sunday per la mia famiglia. Grazie! - DANIELLE - MAKE THIS RECIPE​

ELENA'S AMAZON STORE:

✨Your cooking inspiration for the week...

Monday: Nonna's Minestrone Soup​

Tuesday: Turkey Meatballs​

Wednesday: New Year's Eve Lentils​ It brings prosperity💰 and good luck!

Thursday: Filet Mignon 🎊

Friday: Cacio e Pepe Pasta​

Weekend: Cannoli Cake​

👩🏻‍🍳 My Top Pick This Week: Thousands are making these lemon ricotta cookies this holiday season, and I don't want you to miss out. Comments from recipe:

• These are absolutely amazing. We had a family cookie bake-off with 17 different cookies, and these were the top favorites! Most of the adults it was their #1!
• It’s been days since I made these for our family party, and I cannot stop thinking about them. I’m not even a big sweets lover. They are perfectly sweet, pillowy soft, slightly tart, perfection. MAKE THEM! And come back and tell me what you think!

📣DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know you can favorite recipes on my site so they’re saved to your own easy-to-find list every time you visit?

Here’s how it works:
Just click the 🔖 “Save” button on any recipe card. (You’ll need to be logged in—if you’re not, it will ask you to log in or sign up- this is FREE.)

Then, any time you click the little magnifying glass—either under the heart icon (on the right-hand side of your screen) or at the top of the page, you’ll see “My Favorites” right at the top of your search results.

It’s like your own little CucinabyElena recipe box, ready whenever you need it. 📖

It will look something like this after you start saving your recipes. You can also organize them! I hope you can use this feature.