HUNGRY, HORNY, CHEAP?

    So I am sick and tired of hearing all the complaints, "there's nothing to do, there's no good guys (or girls) out there, its too expensive to do that." Cry me a river! First of all, on the right hand column of this blog I have listed the "Eating Schedule," all open invitation events, so now you can't say I don't invite you to anything. 

   And specifically for everyone who is bitching, I personally am letting you know about The First Brooklyn Meat-Up. Brought to you by FIPPS, Brooklyn Based and Brokelyn, it is dubbed the "the most hilarious singles party ever ... an evening of tongue and cheek fun designed to make you drop your... inhibitions." What had me at hello was they'll be "serving jello shots and $2 Busch beers from 7-8pm and then the Busch will be $3 for the rest of the night (wink, wink). SOLD! Plus there's all these fun prizes and a photo booth! Where is the meat? There will be grass-fed burgers being flipped by La Cense Burger Truck. All this $10 and if you bring a dude, FREE for you!

Details:

The First Brooklyn Meat-Up

When: Wednesday, Sept. 30th, 7-11pm

Where: The Belle House, 149 7th St, Brooklyn

Price: $10

BUY TIX NOW!

POCKET ESPRESSO FAILS

Rocco brought back these insane Pocket Espresso things for everyone from Sicily. Lots of them. You'd think he would try them out first. We both thought they were chocolates filled with espresso. It turned out they were McDonald's style barbecue sauce containers filled with espresso and chocolate. And as Rocco demonstrates you punch a hole in it with a little straw and suck the "espresso" out. Its such a mala figura to even call this espresso.

Rocco's reaction went something like [sip, sip], "ugh, what the %*&$ is this?, eh," [sip, sip], "minchia, ugh, what? its like ... ," [sip, sip], "Ooh, Jen try this. Ugh. Disgustante!"

Not the best sell. I took a tiny sip. It tasted like coffee flavored hershey's syrup, before you mix it with milk. Bad. Very bad. Nothing close to even a horrible espresso. Very artificial. You would think Ferrero would do better than this. What Italian's drink this stuff anyway? Rocco did credit it by say when you are driving it would probably give you a "zing." I'll pass. Pocket Espresso: You fail!

Brooklyn Edible Social Club: Part 1

     I write Part 1 because I hope there will be a Part 2, 3, 4...to infinity. This was truly an outstanding dining experience, through and through. I have not one complaint about anything and I am part Sicilian, complaining is a badge of honor, so that means a lot. My girl who writes the Underground Dining blog recommended the Brooklyn Edible Social Club, saying, " if you are going to try one Supper Club, this is the one to try." Once I saw the menu I was sold.

September 26th Menu

Amuse Bouche

Heirloom Tomato & Peach Salad
Sweet Basil, Peppermint, Chevre Cheese, Sherry Vinaigrette

Sweet Corn Veloute 
Hooligan Cheese, Pumpernickel Croutons, Wildflower Honey

Smoked Spanish Mackerel
Chickpea-Smoked Bacon-Tuscan Kale Casoulette, Aromatic Rice,
Fire-Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

Seared Moulard Duck Magret
Roasted Squash Tartine, Purslane Salad, Chipotle-Maple Jus

Matzuma Plum Pie
Ginger-Infused Hot Chocolate

Mignardises (One Girl Cookies, NY)
Coffee, Tea

    How can anyone pass up that menu? I came ready to roll up my sleeves, elbows on the table and get down.    

    A few other supper clubs I have been to really lack the warm welcome, which is such a crucial tone setter since a lot of people fly solo to these dinners. The moment I entered the chef greeted me so cordially. "My home is your home," he said. You can't get that treatment in any restaurant. And before I had time to take my coat off I had a delicious cocktail of apple cider spiked with rye whiskey and lemon in my hand and the makings of an excellent evening before me.

    It was the perfect amount of guests for a dinner party: about 12.Enough so it felt full but everyone got to chatting with everyone. It was a really fun and friendly crowd. 

   After I'd emailed with Andres, he checked out my website and saw this portrait I took of this old lady in Union and it titled, "Self-Portrait" so he naturally thought that I was the old lady. I hope he wasn't too disappointed!  

    Let's talk about the food. Chef Andres personally served each plate and took the time to  emphatically explain each dish in his charming Brazilian accent. I had no idea what Amuse Bouche was when I first read the menu. After looking it up on Wiki its french for mouth amuser. Sexy. A Mackeral Tartar with Meyer Lemon. It was really a refreshing way to get my palate ready for the many course to come. 

   Next we had the Heirloom Tomato and Peach salad. That was a fresh flavor explosion. The basil and the mint were so great together and the cheese cut the sweetness of the dish perfectly. I am glad there was a heap of it. I practically licked my plate clean. 

   The next dish, a Sweet Corn Veloute, was so phenomenal that its difficult to write about without stopping to imagine the way it tasted in my mouth again. My lovely date, the esteemed Creme Fatale Bakestress, Ms. Melissa said, and I quote, "sex wishes it was this good." For real. Imagine: blue cheese plus a piece of honey comb plus crunchy croutons swimming in a warm sweet creamy pool of corn amazingness. Aaaaaaaah!!!! I need to take a cold shower. And how sweet is Andres, he specially cooked Melissa her own entirely vegetarian meal. 

   And it gets better. How? I stopped asking and just kept savoring. We were then served the fish. Mackeral over chick peas, bacon, kale and this really fragrant perfectly cooked rice. Gone in like thirty seconds. I felt like my dog and my sound effects were slightly inappropriate but I could not help myself. The fish was so fresh and cooked perfectly. So good.

   Onto the last dish before desserts, plural. Yes, plural. Duck. Sweet rare duck with a maple sauce on top and a baby squash tart on the side. The duck melted in my mouth. I had to sit back for a minute to rest from how good it all was. Everything was so amazing I felt delusional. It was like an exotic food dream, but it was for real. Okay, now finish that glorious duck. This was seriously one of the best meals I have ever had. And there was still desserts!

   First Andres served a ginger hot chocolate shot with a nice and tart plum pie. The hot chocolate was outstanding and should only be served in shot form, especially when its as creamy and as rich as can be. And I really enjoyed the pie, its sweet and sourness was a nice way to finish things off.

   Then things got a little out of hand. A gigantic tray of donuts was put on the table, with really great Italian coffee, done in the Italian stove top percolator, the only way in my opinion to make coffee. I made the coffee so sweet but so good and Melissa and I made a coffee dunk party out of it. I just felt so good at the end of the meal. Completely satisfied and still thinking about all the flavors that had romanced my palate. 

   This Supper Club is real deal. Don't be fooled by impostors. Go! Not only was the food outstanding but Andres is a true culinary artist; he adores food and you can literally taste his passion in every bite you take. 

FRIED BLACK RADISHES

    I got these Black Radishes at the Farmer's Market. I was overly excited when I saw them and when I am overly excited I tend to become delusional and I believed they were Black Turnips. I made a really good turnip soup a while back and wanted to make Black Turnip Soup. Doesn't that sound sexy? Well, if turnips can be sexy, and I think they can be, then Black Turnips are off the charts. But it turns out they were radishes and radishes are hard. Black Radish Soup sounds kind of crazy, especially since Sergio the CSA Farmer has been giving us really kick-ass peppery radishes that can wake you up better than black coffee. 

    After a week in the fridge and many recipe searches it turns out that no one has gotten too fancy with black radishes. A blog I follow, Chocolate and Zucchini, made Black Radish Chips in the oven. Since I have been on a deep frying bender, and everyone knows that ANYTHING fried is good, I sliced these suckers, tossed them in some hot olive oil (not extra virgin) and they turned this gorgeous brown color and their marvelous arrayed pattern came out. A little sea salt and these Deep Fried Black Radishes certainly made for some good grub. They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and had a really nice, I have to say, almost turnip flavor. I think turnips and radishes are kissing cousins, and black radishes are their illegitimate bastard children. Beautiful illegitimate bastard children. (Thats the name of my new band.)

BLT KAMA SUTRA

This is funny...

A NEW TAKE ON RADISHES

   Sergio, the CSA Farmer, gives us some spicy ass radishes. They have some serious tangy life in them, especially when eaten raw. I like it. But, while at the City Bakery, which is one of the BEST and most luxurious lunch buffets in all of New York City, I had Roasted Radishes with Celery. They were wonderful and really mild and crunchy. So when we got another bunch of radishes I decided to give it a try. 

   I sauteed some garlic and shallots in extra virgin olive oil with peperoncino, then added the celery and the shallots, salt and pepper. I cooked them for about 10 minutes altogether. The shallots got so sweet and caramelized. When I turned the heat off I added some chopped cilantro. It was a really nice crispy, mild and warm way to enjoy that bunch of radishes that always gets short changed as a side show in a tossed salad, while they really should be the main event.

THE SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY OF FRYING EGGPLANTS

   I recently was stranded in the country and the parental units had to come and pick me up. Well if thats not an excuse to fry some eggplant then I don't know what is. Sergio, the CSA farmer, gave us some gigantic eggplants this week. And if I have one special talent to save from the apocalypse it would be my frying technique. Eggplants are good for one thing, sopping up olive oil. How many times have I heard the lame complaint, "I hate the way eggplants soak up so much oil." Well what kind of oil are you using? I can put good extra virgin olive oil on anything and when its embedded in a spongy fat eggplant slice, it is fried heaven.

   The key to frying eggplant is first soaking the slices in salted water for an hour or so. Some people think it removes the bitterness but its really just osmosis in action: the movement of water from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration through a semi-permeable membrane, in this case sweet eggplant flesh. So the eggplant has lots of non-salty water in it. So when you put it into salty water, all that water in the eggplant wants to hook up with the salt on the outside so the water gets drawn out, making the eggplant perfect for frying. You know when water mixes with hot oil it can be a dangerous situation, so after I remove the eggplant slices from the salt water I get rid of the excess water by placing them on paper towels.

    Now its time to fry! You really should not fry in extra virgin olive oil because it has a low burning temperature but you don't want your eggplant to sop up canola or worse corn oil. Gross. So I create a blend of extra virgin olive oil with canola oil in order to raise the burning temperature of the extra virgin olive oil. Smoking oil is not good for the body. I do not use a thermometer when I fry. I heat it up, then when I feel like its right, I put in a little piece of bread or whatever I am frying in the oil and if it gets all bubbly and happy then its the right temperature. 

   You want to use at least an inch of oil because like I mentioned the eggplants just soak in the oil. When they get nice and golden on each side, remove from the oil, place on more paper towels, then (do not forget this step) salt them with sea salt while they are hot.

   So now you have all this fried eggplant, what do you do with it? Well philosophically speaking, the eggplants is the end, and the means to enjoying these oily beauties is either a nice red sauce or some good Italian Bread. 

   As my parents were driving up here I said, "Listen, I have some eggplant frying, we are going to need to figure out a sauce situation." Rocco arrived and was on it. His sauce is inspired by a tomato sauce he had in Tuscany but he made it Sicilian by adding basil. He fried some garlic in olive oil and added some peperoncino. Then he added some canned plum tomatoes and cut them up in the pan while they were cooking. He added some salt and pepper and after about 15 minutes added some fresh basil. It was done that fast and so delicious. 

   Mommy was like, "that sauce was so good." 

   Me: "how did he make that?" 

   "I don't know. I can't make sauce like that." 

   Its so simple, yet Rocco can really hook up a mean sauce in a hurry, like a magician while no one is looking. (And for the record, Mommy, who Rocco calls the "American Woman" makes a fresh tomato sauce that rivals Nonna's. Good thing Nonna has no internet access because what I just said was a major mala figura.) 

   And now its the moment we have all been waiting for. The marriage between the sweet fried eggplant and the delicious tomato sauce. The grated pecorino romano cheese is like the wedding band that bring the two flavors together in such delicious harmony for our bellies to enjoy. Good thing, Rocco has been complaining that his panza (It: stomach) is not fat enough.

APPLE CIDER DONUTS

     Fall is definitely my favorite season. The brisk air is nice and that fall foliage is super perdy, but what makes fall so delicious is Apple Cider Donuts!!! I had just bought an Apply Crisp and a bag of Apple Cider Donuts from Ritter's Cider Mill while taking a weekend trip with Charlie the Catahoula to the Pocono Mountains of PA. 

     Then the car broke down while I was at the dog run. Elaine, a lovely lady, drove me home. Picture this, Elaine and me, in her red mini cooper with the crazy Catahoula plus two 5 month old Labrador Puppies wrestling in the back. It was a tight and wild fit. For being my saviour Elaine got to take home that Apple Crisp, but I was left with nothing to eat but ALL of those Apple Cider Donuts. I am not complaining. They were a perfect breakfast and lunch until Rocco and Mommy came from Queens and picked me up. We picked up more on the way home, 18 in total, so apologies to all my friends who I am pushing the donuts on. Its just that if you don't help me, I WILL eat them all. They are so good. 

     Does anyone have any Apple Cider Donut recipes? I am a frying Queen and know I can handle this. Although it might be danger to know how.

ALL MY SINGLE LADIES - UNDERGROUND DINING!

   Skip my blabbing and check out this chica's fantastic blog called Underground Dining where she shouts out Supper Clubs all around the city. Okay now for my blabbing...

   All I hear are my girls complaining about just how hard it is to find a man. Well, you can do what I do and just make one up in your brain, or you can start looking in the right places. I have said this many times, meeting men in bars is not a good move. First of all, there is no common ground. Great so you are both wasted; thats a good way to start things off. Much respect to those who found the love of their life in a bar but most people I talk to are not happy with the quality of meat they find there. 

   I am 100% supportive of online dating, especially since everyone I know is a major workaholic, but I think flesh is important and thats why a lot of these cyber-flings can be so hit or miss. Your molecules need to do sexy dancing in person without you knowing it, to see if you have chemistry. Because if you don't have chemistry just throw the whole thing out the window. 

   So where to search? Work is sometimes a hit, but it can also be awkward if things don't work out. When I was not single I was always like "THANK GOD I am not single!" because at the fashion company where I work, there are a lots of available men, they are just not interested in available women if you get my drift, even though they are so gorgeous, well dressed and some of the most wonderful people I know. Thats the cruel joke of the gay man.

    Church is also a great meeting place. Same beliefs and same ideals. But who goes to church?

Plus, when you want to do unwholesome things, again, it can get awkward.

    So I always ask my friends, what do you like to do? Like to gamble? Go to a poker night. Like to read? Book Club? Like to play sports? Co-Ed Dodgeball. You will always shine when you are doing what you love and it will show. 

    Ya'll know what I like to do: EAT! and I need a man who can keep up. And most people generally enjoy eating since its a basic function that keeps them alive so its hard to go wrong here.

   So Restaurants? No! You cannot pick up in a restaurant. When you go to a restaurant its you and whomever you are with. Its so closed off.

   Enter the age of awesome Supper Clubs!!! I go to Supper Clubs because I love to eat and its such a great way to meet so many nice people, not just jump-offs, but thats what we're talking about here. I brought one of my home girls, (like we went-to-6th-grade-together-home-girls) to this BLT party a few posts ago, and she was like damn, there are some cute guys here. And you don't just have to look at them. Its so easy to chat it up at Supper Clubs, "Excuse me, but did I just drop that big slab of bacon on the floor?" 

   Supper Clubs are a fun and easy environment to just talk and have fun, not just with guys, I have also met a lot of nice girlfriends at Supper Clubs, too. And when you are at ease and making your brain happy with food, you are open and in a good place to meet someone nice. And if you don't well at least you ate forty pieces of bacon and don't have a rotten hangover. Wait, there is a lot of drinking that can go on at Supper Clubs, which can be fun, too! 

   And there are so many great Supper Clubs, hidden gems all around the city, you just need to know where to look. Basically I am shouting out my friend's new awesome blog called Underground Dining. I met her at a Supper Club and this girl is the Queen of Supper Clubs. Like an expert, she knows every Supper Club out there and has been to so many and can tell you what rock and what sucks. And she's really funny, witty and brutally honest, which I admire. This weekend, on her recommendation, I am going to the Brooklyn Edible Social Club, which she says, "if you have to go to just one, go to this one." And yesterday she posted something about a Lamb Takedown coming up! Check her blog out; it will keep you in the know on where to score some good food and maybe something else... 

BACON JAM

Has anyone ever had this? I found this on this cool blog called the Homesick Texan...

NOT YOUR TYPICAL SPICE CABINET...

    Why its a good idea to remember to close the cabinet doors ... Can you see that monkey in there? "Bean" is the devil reincarnated in the form of a really cute black jaguar house cat. His favorite activities include attacking my 20lb tuxedo cat "C" like he's a 10 ton water buffalo, drinking out of the toilet bowl, climbing on top of doors, playing fetch with twist ties, being too cute for his own good and smacking me in the face, claws out, when I am trying to give him kisses. Don't worry, while I most likely will be a crazy cat lady some day I will not expose you to those tendencies on this blog, but he was in the spice cabinet, so it is food related...

ONE FULL DAY

     Saturday night was the BLT party, and I ate over 20 pieces of bacon. Somehow I didn't need a triple bypass the next day, but you think I would give the digestive system a rest. But, Sunday ended up being the fullest day ever. Not just with food and drink but with lots of fun and strenuous activity. I started off the day with brunch with a friend at Egg in Williamsburg. I'd been wanting to try this place for a while but there is always a sick line for brunch. We met there early and were seated right away. I biked from Queens and my legs were dying within the first 5 minutes. It was probably all the bacon lard settling into my thighs.

    I think the waitress thought I was mentally retarded. I was trying to be conservative after all the bacon fat I had consumed, "just some fruit and a side of ... ham, please. Oh and hash browns?" But then I saw this amazing platter pass by and I needed to change my order to, "what is that guy having? Yeah can I have that instead?" The waitress was so unnecessarily nice about it. Like if she called me an idiot I would have deserved it. But she was a sweetie puff. So I got the craziest thing to eat after a night of 45 BLTs, Egg Rothko, and it was so excellent. It was a giant piece of brioche with the egg in the middle, smothered in cheese. Oh and bacon on the side.

    Can we get some eggs with those boobs? My girl got some scrambled eggs and maybe the best hash browns I have ever had in me entire life. It was like a hash brown ball, perfectly seasoned, crispy on the outside and warm and soft and delicious on the inside. Why did I send my order back?!?!

   After brunch it was time for Oysters on the Hudson. Yes, more Oysters, its that guy Henry Hundson's like 4000th Birthday or something. So we rode our bikes ALL the way to West 44th St. and the water from Brooklyn for some stellar Oysters and what else? Beer. 

    It was phenomenal weather to drink some beers and watch all the cool sailboats and ships go by. They had some crazy beer tasting going but the line was offensive so we just ate more oysters.

   A walk on the highline was followed by a pit stop at Hogs and Heifers where I met the man of my dreams. Why do I often times find myself saying, "Would you mind while I go and hit on that old man over there?"

   Isn't it time for more food? So we headed to the Chelsea Market to pick up a few things for dinner and then rode ALL the way back to Mid. Vill. Whoah was I going to die, but dinner needed to get served. We made a creamy mushroom sauce of chanterelles and oyster mushrooms, plus one good luck purple mushroom (can't remember what it was called) on top of fresh made fettucini pasta. The only thing that was missing was some fresh parsley and we got fresh parsley from the CSA this week!

 Oh well, with some wine and Greek Raki and honey as our digestif, it was a delicious way to top off one full day.

BRING YOUR OWN BACON

    So how can a bacon lover EVER turn down a BLT party? What?!?! NEVER! Winnie the genius behind Choice Cuts is the brains behind an annual Bring Your Own BACON, BEER AND BREAD Party. All I can say is as far as supper clubs go - Genius Squared! Remember way back when, I attended the HAPA Duck Dinner there, then a Dinner and Movie and now this! Can it get any better?     I arrived with two of my favoritest people in the world, Pate and Nicole and we had a blast, which started when I borrowed Mommy's stick car to drive the crew from Queens to Fort Greene and almost blinded poor Nicole with my jerky driving skills while she was applying mascara. The party was already in full swing when Pate got into the car. I don't know if everyone was giggling from hysteria or fear at my driving but they had to remind me of every stop sign. Got it guys! Pate approved of my driving only at one point when I stalled while a guy was passing in front of the car who Pate thought was "hot!"
    Since I'd been to Winnie's amazing loft before I knew the drill: after the strenuous 4 flights up, shoes off, and then it hit us: wafts of bacon breeze. What a way to welcome guests. Everyone was in a great mood in anticipation of their BLTs. Thats plural, it wasn't a just one BLT kind of night. I mean really, if I had to chose one sandwich to make it out of the apocalypse it would be the BLT. There is nothing wrong with this perfect sandwich. But Winnie took it to an entirely different level, it blew my mind. 

     The fun part was the do it yourself assembly table, where everyone stood around sampling bacon and chit chatting. 

     Not only were there over 20 types of bacon coming out the oven over the entire night to chose from, there were nine hundred types of bread, heaps and heaps of delicious crispy lettuce, mounds of too gorgeous to eat heirloom looking tomatoes, plus 4 different types of mayo! Good thing I had over 4 sandwiches so I could individually try each one. 

     There was a basil mayo, a roasted garlic mayo, an anchovy mayo, plus a plain homemade mayo that was a home run. My favorite was the basil mayo. WOW! Oh and there was a tomato chutney that was such a good thing to smear on, plus some radishes to freshen everything up.

    That's Amy. She works for Tom Cat Bakery and hooked up a lot of the bread. Plus, she took the pretty pictures on the website. I am sure you have seen their delivery trucks around the city with the big boy tuxedo cat logo, just like my dear little Calogero.

Yeah, thats bacon popcorn! It was a nice in between bacon snack.

    A lot of people say pizza is like sex, but I disagree, bacon is like sex. Bacon at any level is still good. I can't really remember ever having bad bacon. (I have had bad pizza, though.) 

   But before the BLT party I didn't know bacon could come in such variety! This was like a crazy bacon orgy. You could not choose just one because they were all so beautiful and tempting so a little here a little there and everyone was happy. What one lacked in saltiness, another made up for in crispiness. A little chewy, but very smokey. A little fatty, but nice and thick. It was all good, just shovel it in. I kid you not I easily ate over twenty pieces of bacon that evening.
    After a while, the bread was kind of getting in the way of the bacon marathon; too filling and we needed more room, so Pate, the asian that he is, invented the Thai bacon wrap.

    Oh yes! A little lettuce, some mayo, tomato and don't forget the best part and we were easily pushing thirty strips.
    I know, all this bacon talk, did we drink anything? Yes we drank bacon!!! Don Lee, drink wizard made bacon infused cocktails with Maker's Mark. I was the designated loser that night but I gave one of those baby's a test drive. Very nice. I could easily have gotten tipsy very quickly sucking those sweet drinks down. It was a well made cocktail. Cheers to you Mr. Lee!

   And thanks again Winnie for another successful and wonderful party! I cannot wait for the next one!

KALE AND LEEK FRITTATA

    The frittata. The kale and leek frittata. So simple, but this one took so long. There are a few steps, one involving cooling the sauteed green before mixing with the eggs, the other remembering there is cheese in a frittata so you don't have to run out and buy some with the oven on waiting for that sweet frittata to start baking. 

    So I sauteed some leeks and garlic in lard. Yes lard, its excellent for sauteeing greens. Then added some peperoncino and the kale. A little salt and pepper, until the kale is soft. Cool the kale. In a bowl beat eggs, cream or milk, pecorino romano cheese, salt and pepper. Add the kale to this. You have to eyeball this. You might be left with some extra kale. Or if you don't have enough it will be an eggy frittata, but thats okay. I start the cooking off on the stove top in Grandma's cast iron pan, then after a few minutes I pop it into a 350 degree preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes until the eggs are firm in the middle but not overly dry. 

    Enjoy with a nice piece of Italian Bread and maybe a fancy salad on the side with some orange wedges. Oh and beer? How did that get into brunch? Oh well, it was nice.

OYSTERS AND BEER AT JIMMY'S NO. 43

    God I'm glad I started loving oysters. All I can say is mmm salty slimy goodness. So apparently this guy Henry Hudson was named after this river or something and its like the 400th anniversary or something. All I heard was oysters and beer. 

   Oyster Night at Jimmy's No. 43 was to support Slow Food NYC with $4 plates of 3 Oysters and $5 Ommegang (those are Dutch) beers. We got a brochure from Sea Grant that explained shellfish aren't only good for your taste buds because (I am plagiarizing this is right from their brochure): as filter feeders they improve water quality and species diversity and shellfish aquaculture is sustainable and good for the environment. Read more here.

   I like Jimmy's No. 43, it was dark and underground with a warm feel and antlers everywhere. The good intentioned wait staff was not prepared for the oyster craziness, and they ran out of the fixins, cocktail sauce and lemons, but these Peconic Bay Oysters were good just like that.

   I tried a bacon wrapped oyster. What a waste. I might as well have just eaten bacon straight, not a problem, because I didn't taste any of that oyster inside.

   We got a really yummy soft goat cheese with apple and peach salsa and not enough delicious bread.

   And a mild radish salad. We get these insane radishes from Sergio the CSA farmer and these just were not up to par for me at least in the spicy department.

   For dessert, a warm bread salad, nice flavor but on the dry side, with cold creamy dipping sauce that needed to be warm in my opinion.

   We were there for oysters and beer and we got some delicious oysters and beer then went and got more beer. Good night.

MOZAREPPA - WTF!

    After a fun cyclones game, (I think they lost but they give out these crazy balloon bats everyone smacks together like maniacs) it was time to eat and on the boardwalk we spotted these strange things called mozzareppas. Its a mozarella cornmeal cake. I think I had enough GMOs for the day so I passed. Has anyone every had one of these suckers? They are probably delicious but not recognized by the body as actual food.

Rocco's Birthday...and his rap video

    Rocco has been a major cranky pants since he came home from Sicily. Why? I don't know. My mom would say he's just being a curmudgeon. So we figured we'd throw him a little party for his birthday in my new apartment in Mid. Vill, Queens, home of every major cemetary in the tri-state area. 

    It was a lot of fun, Mommy, my brothers, Nonna and Cousins Pino and Roseanne came. Pino actually starred in a rap video with Rocco. Oh you didn't know that Rocco is a famous rapper? Well watch this video. You will be very happy you did. HERE'S THE LINK IF ITS NOT SHOWING UP HERE...

As for Rocco's Birthday menu, Mommy cooked up a storm as usual. She made her famous:

breaded shrimp with parsley, 

chicken cutlets (no THE BEST CHICKEN CUTLETS), 

a string bean and potato salad with red onion and,

the most delicious sausage and potatoes I have had in a while and trust me my life is not short on sausage-eating. 

Some sweet Long Island Corn (pronounced in guidonics: Lawnk Eyelint)

I made bread salad, a regular green salad and for dessert I made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake but instead of those corn syrup red cherries I put some fresh blueberries on top. Nice.

    And Roseanne, who lives in the most Italian area of "the Other Brooklyn" a neighborhood called Bensonhurst (more on "The Other Brooklyn" in another post) brought this giant platter of Italian Cookies. 

    These darn cookies are insanely delicious, all almondy and now in my freezer for when I have impromptu guests. Right, it just ends up being me eating these sweet frozen angels when I get home late!