I was lucky enough to travel to Italy three times within the last 18 months, visiting \u2014 and eating my way through \u2014 Genoa, Naples, Florence, Rome, and the Piedmont region. I brought back tomato paste, dried pasta, and jars of jam because, hello, Italy is one of my favorite food places on the planet. The prospect of recreating these meals at home wasn\u2019t something I could pass up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Imagine my surprise when I discovered a lot<\/em> of the same items I hauled through the airport (and customs) at Marshalls. I expect to find staples, like olive oil and panettone, on the shelves there. At this point, those items can be found in almost any U.S. town\u2019s specialty grocer. I was shocked, though, by the depth of items stocked in the Home Decor section, somewhere between scented candles reminiscent of a recent vacation<\/a> and stacks of baking tins<\/a>. The packaging is often in Italian and \u201cmade in Italy\u201d appears prominently.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019m not sure when I\u2019ll travel to Italy next, so in the meantime, these are the products I\u2019m stocking in my Wisconsin kitchen. Some were even discounted from their original price and on clearance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n