I fell in love with pasta after reading about an Italian witch. It was 1994, and Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola was hot on the Reading Rainbow circuit. My second-grade teacher invited a guest to read the story, and I listened intently, intrigued by the “grandma witch” with a magic pasta pot that accidentally flooded her town with spaghetti.

I don’t remember who our guest was—experiential learning and frequent visitors were normal in our magnet curriculum—but I remember how she passionately taught us to make spaghetti after the reading. We added butter and Parmesan cheese to our fresh noodles, and some risk-takers, like me, topped our bowls off with freshly cracked black peppercorns.