Gino's Pizzeria

As a treat for myself after a good week in school I go to Gino's Pizzeria of North Bellmore to have slices of Sicilian Pizza or Meatballs and Spaghetti. They have a menu that has food that is out of this world and most of the reviews on the internet back up my claims. Whether you order a Meatball Hero, Pizza or anything else you should enjoy it. Besides having the usual types of pizza, Gino's has an extensive menu of traditional and heart healthy meals. Their menu has a symbol to tell you it a meal is considered healthy. Gino's food is prepared freshly and is well worth the visit. This Gino's is part of a chain including 4 others. I was pleasantly surprised one evening when I ate dinner at another Gino's and found the food equally as delicious ad the Gino's in North Bellmore.

                                  A picture of the North Bellmore Ginos and their Sicilian pizza.             

The pictures are by Kyle Karlin.

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Bio(food)fuel: Is it good or bad?

Many of us have been introduced to alternative fuels as well as  alternative sources of energy with the hopes of reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. Alternative sources of energy range from solar energy, windmills, watermills, nuclear energy, etc; while alternative fuels range from biodiesel/ biofuel, electricity, vegetable oil, etc. What we're concerned of now is the production of biofuels such as ethanol and whether or not such fuel production is ultimately great for our society or if our choice in producing biofuel will result in some sort of economical downfall.

To begin with, ethanol provides further purpose in crop production, so in turn a portion of crops and cropland is diverted from only focusing on human consumption but also on fuel production. This results in higher price which pushes the need for higher income. This, of course, will result in many more people suffering from hunger.

In short, I have this question for all those reading this entry: does global warming kill thousands and thousands of people worldwide or is it hunger that lends a hand in killing those who are financially unfortunate? We aim to go green but is it worth the loss of those whose only concern is trying to find food and water on a daily basis? Now I don't mean to say that we shouldn't appreciate the benefits of biofuel but we should at least take into consideration the moderation we need in order to produce fuel without significantly and negatively affecting the economy.

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Posted in: Biofuel,Ken

Uniformed Grinding

I will be extending the information regarding the art of coffee in the technique of grinding. This technique, to put it bluntly, is not for those who are not willing to invest a good amount of money for a great cup of coffee. Why? The usual, homestyle method of grinding uses a multiple purpose grinder that utilizes blades. As the blades rotate, the coffee beans are cut apart. But this results in uneven grinding with large to fine particles. Furthermore, the longer the grinding process takes, the more heat that's generated which may result in burned beans. 

As an alternative, we have burr grinders. Instead of blades, beans are crushed by a wheel against a nonmoving surface. The spacing and position dictates how the beans are crushed which leads to a much more controlled grinding process with much less heat generated. Furthermore, there are two different types of burr grinders. One utilizes a wheel and is the less expensive of the two. The wheel burr grinder spins at a fast rate which sometimes result in a mess. Conical burr grinders tend to clog less, spin at a moderate speed, and produce less mess -- this is optimal for oily beans. 

Either way, you will be expected to pay from $100+ for a quality burr grinder.

Photo provided by Michellocafe.nazwa.pl

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Posted in: Coffee,Food,Ken

Boston: Cafeteria Capers

For some kids, school lunch is as part of the day as having leaf on a tree. City schools for the most part (at least here in New York) are required to serve school lunches. Sure they might not be the most edible thing you've ever seen on the end of your fork, but it kept you going throughout the day (unless you skipped lunched in lieu of "other activities"). If you go to a Boston city school, you might want to follow this practice. Recently, it has been discovered that some of Boston's city schools have been serving something that many would find repulsive: expired food. Many items were found to be either past the expiration date or the best-if-used-by date.

Imagine your kid or a little kid you know going to school, then during lunch are forced to unwittingly drink a spoiled carton of milk. Then they have to miss class due to being ill either immediately afterward or the next day. Not to mention these expired items could potentially seriously endanger their lives. Boston, please clean your fridge.

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Posted in: Food,Herb,School Lunch

Eat This Not That

I recently picked up a copy of "Eat This Not That", a series of nutrition books by David Zinczenko, editor of Men's Health magazine. There a several books in this series. The copy I looked through was mainly for those interested in buying the healthier versions of common prepared foods. For instance, I liked Rice A Roni but found out that between the sodium and transfat levels I could cut them by substituting Lipton Knorr's rice sides versions. This seemed to be an easy trade and as I found out, a delicious one too. This book was held my attention and even though I didn't expect to look at it for a long time, I pretty much read the whole thing. I recommend this series. Making substitutions for food seems an thing to do and I'm willing to try.

                                                         Photo of book by Kyle Karlin

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Posted in: Dinner,Food,Guides,Kyle

Beware of the Bottle Return Law

I return bottles religiously. My mother thinks I'm a tad obsessive but it usually puts an extra  few dollars in my wallet that have come in handy. Unfortunately while cleaning up my room last week I found several old scrips that I never cashed in. I mentally totalled them up and they came to a good chunk of change. That was enough to try to cash them in.

I went to the supermarket the scrips came from and was told they would only cash $12.00 per day. Okay, I cashed the first amount in. When I went back the next day I was now told that the scrips had to less than 24 hours old and in addition to the $12.00. The store did make an exception and cashed the scrips in. On a whim, my mother took $12.00 of slips in a few days later and came back with the money and nothing was said to her. I tried again the next day after that and the same garbage was said to me. My mother again took them in a few days later and again had no problems. What is with this store? Nothing like consistency.

                  Photograph of water bottles on my parents kitchen table- Photograph by Kyle Karlin
 

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Posted in: Food,Kyle,Laws,News

Friday night dinner

We used to go to dinner at the drop of a hat, especially at the end of a workweek. It took a job crisis to make my parents rethink their priorities and start to make meals at home more frequently. But, there does come a time when going out to eat is a necessity. That was last Friday.

My Dad loves Houlihan's and we had no hesitation to go there. The food is good, prices reasonable and usually we take food home to have another lunch or dinner. It was also the day after St. Patrick's Day and we predicted that since the place was probably hopping the night before, it would be empty that day. We were correct. Anyway, we got there and saw the manager we came to know when we went there on a more frequent basis. He came over to our table and said that he would like to pay for appetizers for the family. I was totally amazed and took him up on the offer. For three of us it saved us a tidy sum of money but I was very appeciative of his offer. It made going out to dinner that much sweeter.

                             Food from Houlihan's on my kitchen table- Photograph by Kyle Karlin

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Posted in: Dinner,Food,Kyle