Feast Season

This is the time for church feast and city fesiivals. Yet can we enjoy ordering and eating favorite  these days?Is it safe to get a bag of zeppoli or funnel cakes in this Covid era? You can.Just be careful.

One the biggest, New York's San Gennaro is back on this weekend. THis is where food stalls line blocks of city streets All sorts of Southern Italian specialties are offered as they have been for over a century. Are they safe? How do you weave around the crowds and where do you eat? One solution is eating in the surrounding area, Little Italy and even Chinatown. You can easily get a plate of spaghetti or dim sum and go for a dessert at a less crowded dessert stand. You can also stick to one block and avoid any crowd. As far as finding a place to eat, there are small parks there as well as the original St Patrick's which has benches located in front of its stone fencesAs for the suburban festival, get what you want tp eat and head back to your car.There have utensils, along with wet naps and bottles of water. Some areas like The Deutch Club in Clark, New Jersey have a field that can be used for picnics during their Steuben Day festival.Many churches have this as well. Take advantage of it.

What do you eat at these festivals? The food is safe Many workers have to wear plastic gloves to handle food so you don't have to worry about catching anything.You can get a slice of pizza or a kabob without any worries. These are usually made fresh and haven't been handled a lot. The same applies to other festival foods. Workers are also required to wear masks and gloves so cooking and serving are safe. Some items come wrapped already like candy apples and  cotton candy. Italian feasts like the St. Joseph's in Lodi, New Jersey have a stand where bags of salted and dried chichi (chickpeas) and sugared hazelsnuts are sold. No one has touched them or breathed on them. This is the way to go as far as take home treats.Sodas and beers are also OK. Just ask for a straw for the sodas (Or you could bring your own drinks if you still have qualms)

It's festival season after a long two year drought of not having them. Enjoy the sights and sounds of them/ Relish the different flavors and tastes of festivals.