Italian Shops: My Childhood Memories

by | Aug 26, 2012 | Youth & Vitality

Someone today reminded me about Italians and their love affair with food! It’s almost a given for most Italian families. I’ve heard of a few who didn’t have that growing up and I always felt sorry for them. For me, that was the best part of growing up in an Italian family. It’s hard to describe growing up in an Italian family to those not reared by Italians: The flying arms, the loud voices, the cries of Mangia, Mangia! The grandparents lived with us. They were part of the family and the shouts and cooking. We did have milk deliveries but we had Italian stores, like DeVitis and Sons, to buy our olive oils, vinegar, tomato paste, salamis, pepperoni, cheeses. The smells in those stores cannot be described. Walking through those doors, the smells made you take a big deep, deep breath, put a smile on your face and a song in your heart because you knew you were going to get some amazing things to take home and cook except for the pickles in the big barrel. You could pick out a pickle and eat it right there! read...