Hi, I'm Jules Pilla , author of the book, "Cooking up Italian Memories". I was born in the heart of an Italian neighborhood in South Philly. I grew up just 2 blocks away from the famous Italian Market. You know, the street that Sylvester Stallone ran down in the Rocky movie. My grandparents on my mother's side immigrated from Italy in the early 1900's. Poor immigrants from Italy, they had to learn to speak the English language in their thirties. They were parents of eight children. Two of these children were my aunt and my mother. They were my teachers, my mentors and the keepers of the family recipes. They taught me how to cook and we used recipes that were passed down from my grand mother. When I put together the book I made sure that the directions were easy to understand and easy to follow. I want you to use these recipes and enjoy them with your family and friends. The photo that you are looking at is my mom, my dad, my aunt and my grandmother.