Author: Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle (Page 19 of 61)
Rose & Joe’s Italian Bakery, Astoria NY
REVIEW
We both grew up in the suburbs of New York City during the 1960s and have fond memories of the breads turned out from the ovens of our local Italian bakeries. These brawny Italian loaves were destined to be split and layered with cold cuts or loaded with meatballs and Italian sausage for heroes, or sliced vertically every inch or so and spread with garlic butter, then wrapped in foil and baked for ’60s-style garlic bread. Sometimes we’d just eat hunks torn from the loaf and smeared with margarine (or, rarely, butter), leaving the table blanketed with crumbs from the shattering crust. Continue reading
Friday October 16th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL LIQUEUR DAY!
Residents of Dallas, Texas will see for themselves if all the fuss is warranted when Shake Shack opens their first branch in the city in 2016. They’ll be moving into The Crescent retail complex in the New Urbanist neighborhood known as Uptown. The Shack currently has a presence in Texas with two stores in Austin. No word yet on the location-specific concretes, which always feature cookies, candies, cakes, and other sweet treats made by local food artisans, for the Big D.
Thursday October 15th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL MUSHROOM DAY!
They claim that a quarter of the rice eaten in the U.S. comes from Crowley, Louisiana. Who are “they”? Why Crowley, of course! We have neither reason nor desire to question the assertion. Crowley is in Louisiana so, to our ears, it has the ring of truth. Crowley is also host to the annual International Rice Festival (that’s International, mind you, not National!). Rice, an unsexy staple grain, seems an unlikely subject for celebration, which simply serves to piqué our interest in this fest all the more. The party begins this Thursday, October 15th and will run through Sunday, the 18th of October, 2015. Continue reading
Wednesday October 14th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL DESSERT DAY!
Rizzo’s Fine Pizza, Astoria NY
REVIEW
What exactly is Sicilian pizza? When we were kids in NY, we used to eat it all the time. Its defining characteristic, to us, was the thick, bready crust, sturdy enough to support every topping in the house (except anchovies). So when we heard about the oxymoronic-sounding thin-crusted Sicilian, we became curious: how is it possible? A little investigation turned up the fact that Sicilian pizza as made in the US is not like pizza in Sicily; it’s an Italian-American invention. There’s no reason Sicilian has to have a thick crust. But there are unique Sicilian characteristics beyond the rectangular dimensions. Continue reading
Tuesday October 13th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL YORKSHIRE PUDDING DAY!
Monday October 12th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL GUMBO DAY!
Clifton’s Cafeteria of LA Finally Open!
Actual waterfalls, a giant (fake) redwood, a big hunk o’ meteorite, and Jell-O — it’s all back in Los Angeles as Clifton’s Cafeteria finally made its long-awaited return! Andrew Meieran purchased the 80-year-old California landmark that had seen better days in 2010 and promptly closed it for renovations, which dragged on for so long we were skeptical Clifton’s would ever reopen. But the doors were flung open on October 1st and over 12,000 customers were served over the first four days. Check out this series of panoramic photos of the five-story restaurant on the LA Times website.
Sunday October 11th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL SAUSAGE PIZZA DAY!
Wednesday October 7th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL FRAPPE DAY!
Wednesday August 19th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL SOFT ICE CREAM DAY!
Watermelon Day, Rocky Ford CO, August 22nd 2015
G.W. Swink held the first Watermelon Day in Rocky Ford, CO in 1878. He had a particularly bountiful crop of watermelons that year, so he thought he would share the melons with his neighbors. Lately, 50,000 pounds of free watermelons are given away on Watermelon Day, at the famed Watermelon Pile. The Watermelon Pile will be preceded by the Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest. That morning, there’ll also be a watermelon carving contest. Continue reading
Tuesday August 18th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL ICE CREAM PIE DAY!
Wooden Heads Gourmet Pizza, Kingston ON Canada
REVIEW
We enjoyed the combination of prosciutto, rosemary, and roasted garlic, if not the crust.
Monday August 17th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL VANILLA CUSTARD DAY!
The Full Maine Lobster Experience
Sharon McDonnell, a travel writer for the Napa Valley Register, arrives in Maine for lobster and desires full immersion. So she digs into a lobster roll at Two Lights Lobster Shack just outside of Portland, heads out on a lobster boat with a newly licensed lobsterman who waited seven years for the right to trap the creatures in Maine’s cold waters, and endures a purification process before visiting a lobster processing facility. Along the way, she tells us what she learned about the life of these prized sea bugs. Read her story here.
Sunday August 16th 2015
HAPPY NATIONAL BRATWURST DAY!
