Your Summer Comforts

 We all have them - summer foods that make us feel good. It could be charred hot dogs straight from the grill plopped on a buttered roll. It could be a host of Boardwalk(this is Jersey after all) treats from taffy to cotton candy to candy apples. It could be s'mores or just a gelato from a neighborhood shop.

Mine relies on the garden. pomodori e uovi or Piedmontese tomatoes and eggs.To me there is nothing better than this - the marriage of eggs and ripe tomatoes, enhanced by freshly minced garlic.it has to be eaten with a big hunk of Italian bread, just to stop up those tomato juices.

What is yours? fried butter from your state's fair? Family burger recipe? Or just a salad with the bounty from your garden. Let us know

Happy Fourth

Have a food filled and fun filled Fourth. Enjoy those burgers and dogs, along with the best of America's regional treats. Remember that immigrants brought us their best dishes.
Enjoy lobster cooked on a Maine beach, corn at an Iowa State Fair, Boardwalk goodies at our New Jersey beaches. Share with others who are new to our country.
Enjoy everything the USA  has to give  We are lucky that we have an abundance of food  - and a wide variety too.
America is amazing place - let's keep it that way,

Easing Into Good Eating

Summer is widning down and with it some bad eating habits. Let's face it, all of us are guilty of either over indulging on goodies or just eating fast foods because we were too lazy to cook in hot weather. However with cooler weather comes better eating habits.With fall and schools comes nutrition.

Even though summer does provide us with a bounty of good , nutritious fruit and vegetables, we have a tendnecy to eat junk. Let's face it who can resist Boardwalk cotton candy and candy apples along with deep fried pickles and Oreos. We love drive in fare and drive through meals.A transition can be made even during a late August vacation. Pack fun fruits that are great nibbles . Think cherries and blueberries. Some blackberry bushes are still producing . Arrange a berry picking outing and then make a tasty dessert using them and honey.If the weather is still boiling and you;re all craving ice cream, think ice instead. It's less calorie and non dairy which means it's healthier for you

 You can start reforming meal time now as well. Try bringing salads instead of the usual fried fare when you're at the beach or on trips. Make them just as fun as a burger or dog by adding garbanzo beans, olives and/or croutons. Also try having a lunch of just crudites and a fun low cal dip such as ranch or a simple vinaigrette. Dinner can be just as healthy. Chop up egg plants, tomatoes and onions for a healthy and tasty ratatouille. Serve with toasted pita instead of the usual French or Italian bread. Consider a simple grilling of chicken with lemon and olive oil or rubbed with healthy spices such as turmeric. Even just a plain steak with a baked potato is a light meal if you don;t add sauce to the steak and a ton of butter and sour cream to the potato.Finish with fresh fruit or a berry parfait made with Cool Whip.

Easing into a healthier diet for the fall is easy. It just means getting away from those fun but bad for your foods and returning to good foods. It doesn't take much but a sublte change every day.

Boardwalk Treats

Any New Jersey kid will tell you boardwalk food rules. Not matter where you go on the Garden State Coast Thea's some kind of seaside amusement area that has a large variety of fun foods ,. You can get sausage an dpeppers, fried Oreos and boardwalk staples cotton candy and candy apples. It a fun way to end a day at the beach.

I recently reconnected with boardwalk food at Keansburg Amusement Park. Technically the place isn't really a boardwalk and it's not on our state's oceanside.It's on the Raritan Bay with amazing views of Manhattan Brooklyn and Staten Island. However the park has the some kind of fun, (and somewhat seedy) allure of any of our other boardwalk like Seaside Heights or Wildwood. The food is relatively the same. A lot of Italians have had business since the boardwalk's early days in Altantic City so there's always pizza and calzones. Seafood also always predominates and almost every Jersey boardwalk has a raw bar where diners can also chow down on fresh fried fish and chips as well as crab legs, and raw oysters. These and other fast food places sell beer too, a boardwalk staple.

Sweets play an important part in boardwalk cuisine, Zeppoli, those yummy fried Sicilian dough balls, had their own stand at Keansburg. I was tempted to buy a bag of the fresh made, freshly sugared treats however got waylaid by those classics: candy apples and cotton candy. No trip to any boardwalk would be complete without them. I had a Granny Smith that was perfectly enrobed in a crunchy candy coating and topped with fresh coconut. The cotton candy was typical sweet and sticky,but fun to inhale. Other treats were ice cream along with waffles Italian ices (both are staples) and fried anything. Most boardwalks also have a homemade candy booth where there's everything from homemade fudge to saltwater taffy,along with molasses pops and haystacks .

Boardwalk food is a summer treat that has to be experienced. Anything from pizza to fries , to ice cream or fudge is spend to a fun day at the beach. If you're in Jersey visit our boardwalks for some culinary treats.