Pasta with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Parsley or Aglio e Olio As a young chap, I lived with my grandparents in the typical “Everyone Loves Raymond” environment; that is to say, my parents lived on the second floor apartment of a two family home while my grandparents occupied the first floor apartment.  On most Saturday afternoons I would wander down […]

The New York Times ran a front page article this morning with the title, “Monkeys Think, Move Artifical Arm as Own.” and my first thought was how are we defining “think?”  For example, there are certain bees that engage in very organized flight patterns that convey, “danger”, “food”, etc. to other bees, but the academic community hasn’t come out and declared that bees have language!  The […]

The 2006 World Cup is a bit stale at this point, but I can’t help but get excited when I see video collages of the Italian national team.  For example, see the following clip (especially minute 1:42 where the Italian announcer Fabio Caressa begins to scream in total joy, “Beppe, or Joe, we are going to Berlin, we are going to Berlin <meaning the Final […]

Are you looking for the perfect summer salad, but with an added protein punch?  If so, give the following salad a try: 1 can of black beans (dried beans offer better value and quality, but they do require prep work)  Half a bag of frozen organic white corn 1 finely diced red onion 1 bunch of fresh cilantro finely diced […]

Memorial Day has come and gone but I already have fond memories of this year’s BBQ Ribs!  It all starts with the ribs: A full rack of pork, baby back, ribs with the membrane (or tough outer skin) removed. As soon as you’ve prepped the meat prepare the following dry rub: 1 tbsp. paprika 1 tbsp. brown sugar 1 tbsp. crushed […]

The 2008 French Open kicked off at Roland Garros this past weekend.  Roland Garros is actually the name of the tennis center where the Open is held; more specifically, Roland Garros was a French aviator and WWI hero. The French Open is played on red clay versus the Decoturf surface at the US Open in Flushing, Queens.  Red clay surfaces are […]

I can’t say enough about Mary Palmer’s excellent cookbook, “Cucina Di Calabria” which, in an elegant manner, documents the many simple dishes of the most southern province of Italy (at least on the mainland).  Palmer’s recipes, like all Italian cookbooks published for a US audience, are a bit more on the “Italian-American” side, but she does hold true to many longstanding Calabrian […]

The Jackson Hole Diner opened its doors (New York City) in 1972; more recently the diner opened a New Jersey location in Englewood.  The diner is famous for its 7 oz burgers, but I’m personally drawn to their “Bronco” Chicken sandwich with melted blue cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomato.  The sandwich roll is toasted and buttered, but I think the real […]

There are certain things that, in my humble view, can’t really be improved (given the current state of the art) here are three examples in three categories (Automobile, Music, and Food) The 2008 Honda Accord I can’t remember which Auto publication used the following phrase but the newly redesigned Accord was described as the, “perfect people mover.”  The Accord has a wonderful […]

The American Idol finale took place last night and for the most part the show featured slightly washed up singers (attempting to mimic Freddie Mercury) and “Brady Bunch” like numbers by the 12 finalists.  The highlight of the show was Gladys Knight, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Junior performing the song, “Midnight Train to Georgia:”   For a critical look at American […]