Connecticut Originals
What: Nan’s Original Recipes, a new line of organic, seed oil-free dressings
Visit: nansfoods.com for online orders. Also sold at: Stone Acres Farm in Stonington, Four Mile River Farm in Old Lyme
By Kristina Dorsey Day Features Editor
When Nan Cartwright was invited to dinner parties, she would bring her homemade salad dressing — which was inevitably a big hit. Folks would ask her for her recipe, and while she would leave a bottle of the dressing, she wouldn’t give up the recipe.
Nan’s recipes remained a tightly held secret, except to her family. Now, two of her children and one of her granddaughters have used the late matriarch’s recipes to create Nan’s Original Recipes, a new line of organic, seed oil-free dressings.
The brand is the work of Nan’s daughter Eve, who lives in Chatham, Mass.; Nan's son David, who lives in Fairfield; and David's daughter Corinne, who grew up in Old Lyme and now resides in Mystic.
The idea for the product line was sparked when David’s family was vacationing with Eve’s in Chatham. David said he had woken up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep — and he found himself thinking about his mother’s salad dressings. Eve recalled David saying, “Why don’t we bottle this stuff?”
It might have remained a fun idea that was never acted on, except David, Eve and Corinne have backgrounds that seem custom-made for turning it into reality, and they each brought their own talents to the project…
David has a strong business background and owned the Central Auto Group in Plainfield for almost 30 years before retiring.
Corinne has worked in marketing, most notably helping build the cannabis industry in Massachusetts during the first few years that recreational sales were legal. “I will say salad dressing is easier to market and advertise without all that red tape,” she said.
And Eve has been in the executive search field for 45 years, including running her own business for about 25 of those; her recruiting efforts were concentrated in health care, intellectual property and marketing research.
Eve said of launching Nan’s Original Recipes: “Corinne was making some transitions in her life. I was going to retire from my job, and one thing led to another.”
Nan’s Original Recipes now features Lala Garlic Vinaigrette, the longtime centerpiece of Nan’s dinner table, as well as Harbor Maple Dijon Vinaigrette and Sweet Sea Salt Vinaigrette. All are from Nan’s recipes, some of which she passed down to her family during her life and some of which Eve found when going through Nan’s things after her passing.
Eve and David grew up in Easton and Fairfield, so they wanted to have this line of their mother’s dressings be a Connecticut-based business since this is where it all started in the 1970s, Eve said.
Nan’s dressings are made at a factory in Waterbury, but the Cartwrights were actually in the kitchen figuring out the details. Eve and her daughter led the charge, and then everyone tried the formulations together and gave notes. The final blueprint was sent to their co-packer.
One of the big focuses of the product line is using organic items. Corinne said they have made sure the products boast whole food ingredients. The Cartwrights want people to look at the dressings’ labels and know exactly what they’re reading; there are no gums or preservatives or anything artificial. Corinne said that leads to a higher price — a 10-ounce bottle is $14.99 — but also a higher standard…