Entertaining Is My Love Language Your Guide To Parties

 Every home chef should have an entertaining guide, one that can help with every aspect of home party planning. Luckily there's a brand new book out that's a must have for home party throwers. It's perfect for gatherings large and small.

Dawna Pitts wrote Entertaining  Is My Love Language (Freisen Press 2023), a gem  of a book. It has everything , even how to prepare for a party .The book has an international vibe to it thanks to the author being born in Seoul , Korea . Her love of travel and international good food is evident.There are dishes with a nod to her Korean heritage along with dishes from France, Italy and  the Mediterranean. What I love is that she also includes the little things like the difference between  large and smaller forks and spoons, along with what plates are for each course. Another plus is that she includes water glasses which not even restuarants have these days.There are also how tos on writing the perfect place card - also important and what centerpieces to use for both large and small crowds. This section has excellent tips like try not to put out fragrant blooms . The aromas can interfere with guests' taste buds. She also has  tips on  house organization with telling readers how to have an uncluttered house and how to recycle everything  for a second use. However I think most hosts know how to look good for a party without her advice. That tidbit was just a bit condescending.

The recipes are interesting.They're grouped together so you can throw a party for any occassion . A summer birthday party can use her al fresco menu of mezze or hors d'oeuvres, grilled rack of lamb and an elegant overnight pavlova There's also tabbouleh and tzaki for extra dishes to this summery feast, reminiscent of Greece and the Middle East. Another fun, summery dinner is a salad buffet. Guests can choose from a variety of protein  like shrimp, turkey, and ham along with a a good array of veggies, cheese and bread. Ms Pitts puts an Asian twist on this with a bowl party. It's a salute to poke that Hawaiian classic full  of sushi grade fish like salmon and tuna and black seaweed or nori. The dessert for this is Yuja. jello ,a light gelatin made with citrussy Asian fruit yuja. Of course there are fun parties like  the sundae one with an array of ice creams, syrups and toppings. The breakfast get together is another neat idea with all the trimmings for a good hearty meal. There  are also inspiration tours tha include recipes. Ms. Pitts covers the globe with these, hopping from Viet Nam to France to Australia to name a few. The end of the book has interviews with party planners who give helpful advice.

All home chefs and party lovers should take a glance at  this book. Entertaining Is My Love Language is the definitive guide to anything party. Is it worth adding to your library? Possibly.

On The Rocks A Delicious Memoir

 Can a former postman make it as a top restauranteur? If you're Joseph Constanzo Junior , the answer is a a resounding YES! This culinary force fo nature took over an average Italian restaurant and turned it into one of Pitssburgh's premier dining spots.His recipe for that? Grit and personailty.

His story is in a new book On The Rocks (Koehler Books 2023) written in his voice by his eldest daughter Maria Costanzo Palmer and Ruthie Robbins, Ms Constanzo Palmer's English teacher and good friend. This is a story of personality and good food. It starts with Joe being offered Fusco's an Italian restaurant and favorite place of hos and his  wife Donna. Joe, ,disilluisioned  with his job at the USPS jumps on the chance to own an Italian restaurant and bar, despite it being in one of the worst areas of Puttsburgh, a gritty,  scary area known as McKee's Rocks (hence the book's title). The odds were against him. who would want to visit an eatery in on fo the worst parts of the Pittsburgh area? Thanks to his warm personality and amazing food - especially his fried zucchini - The Prima donna - named after Donna became the place to go. Celebrities from both the sports and movie world ate there, sampling his array of tasty pastas and meat dishes. Even Frank Sinatra ordered from him.  Joe was also ambitious , running and unfortunately losing the Allegheny County commissioner's position.He also had a rasio show, interviewing other  local restaurant ownersThere is a down side to this  - as Joe is investigated for tax fraud and does time in a West Virginia federal penitentiary , This means the end of the Prima Donna.It has to be sold and unfortunately the new owners jsut don't have the magic Joe was blessed with. after being released there is a stab at another eatery the Cafe Costanzo but it didn't do as well. 

I loved this book. Joe remnds me of many of the many affable men I've met over the years. He has a great heart ,a constantly giving one . Even was he was a mailman , he had time to play basketball with the inner city kids on hos route. He was a good friend and mentor to his restaurant staff and a sympathetic ear and companion to his prison mates. This is a rare kind of person who always sees the good in any situation, even in jail. I admire that attitude. Joe had also an admirable drive. One has to be in awe of how he pushed the locally famous Mike Kalina to give the Prima Donna a five fork rating along with doggedly pursuing the critic to come in and try the food. That actually was the start of a deep friendship, endling tragically when Mr. Kalina took his life in the early Nineties. The incindent was also in the book,  as Joe told of him selling space in Mr. Kalina's cookbook. What has to follow On The Rocks is a Prima Donna cookbook. Home chefs like myself want to make that fried zucchini (this book made me crave it and pasta) along with his famed salad dressing which he sold locally. There is a need for a cookbook featuring good old fashioned  Italian cooking and I think the Costanzo family should consider this.

On The Rocks  tells of Joe Costanzo Jr's dream coming true. He turned a little Italian restaurant into one of western Pennsylvania award winning power houses. It's a fascinating story. 

Not SO Local Hawaiian food

 What is Hawaiian food? it's not exactly local or indigenous. Think of it as an amalgam of various cuisines from far away Europe, Polynesia and Asia. It makes for interesting and delicious flavors.

Bon Appetit contributor and new one to the New York Times Food section, Elyse Inamine wrote about Hawaiian food in yesterday's section. Hawaiian food ia marriage of different cuisines from around the world. It first started between the Tenth and Twelth centuries  when Polynesians settled on the unihabited Hawaiian Islands.They brought taro, sugar cane and pigs, recognizable in today's cuisine. They created such isand standards as poke made with reef fish and kalua pig roasted un an underground oven. Yet the arrival of  British and American colonizers  dismantled the Hawaiian kingdom, supressed its 'c ulture and eventually attracted an influx of immigrants to work on plantations. The term locall is releatively recent , coming from a trial in which a white woman, Thalia Massie, a white woman living in Manoa, a Honolulu suburb falsely accused five mixed and mostly Asian men of rape.It started as a term of abuse but eventually was embraced by the locals. Now it also refers to the dishes which have a long hisoty of being fusion.

Yet what is Hawaiian cuisine? Islanders will tell you it's family recipes that have been passed down for generations. every family has their own versionTrue Hawaiian recipes are hard to come by. Nurse practioner and food blogger Relle Lum is trying to find them. As she states when the foreigners came everything Hawaiian was banned, even the hula. It's important to keep up whatever tradition that are left. She showcases such classics as squid luau with  stewed taro leaves as well as mochiko chicken which is a  blend of Japanese karaage and Southern fried chicken. There is also musubi  which is basically Spam sus    hi, with the meat placed on a bed of rice and wrapped in nori or black seaweed. Cooks on the island see a fusion of all the cuisines. At Tiffany's a popular restaurant, chef Sheldon Simeon has playful takes on local food. He infuses traditionaloxtail soup with the flavor of pho,, adding cinnamon , clove and burned ginger to teh broth. His fried chicken is steamed then fried , then sprinkled with  apowder flavored like sinigang  the sour Filipino pork stew. Other influences are Spanish , Filipino Korean and Japanese. So long asi t's ono, or delicious.

Hawaiian cuisine is everything. It's a historic , multi cultural mix.It's a palyful take on foods but also a devotion to all t hings Hawaiian.

An Ice Cream's Semi Sweet Story

 Ample Hills Ice Cream is a comeback brand. This Brooklyn based frozen dessert has had more spins and turns than a swirled cone. It was successful . Then it wasn;'t, Then it was. then another low point. Now' it's coming back, stronger and better than before.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this remarkable company in today's New York Times Food section. The company was first started by Brooklyn couple Jackie Cuscuna and her husband Brian Smith. The original idea came about when the couple moved from their careers, she as a teacher and he as a B movie screenwriter. He was also an ice cream hobbyist with a dream. Mr. Smith hand cranked their product and made up the business as they went along. They finally opened a brick and mortar store in Prospect Parjust before Memorial Day in 2011. he had to close the sotre for a week after, being overcome with exhaustion and elation. Their ice cream Ample Hills , taken from another Brooklynite Walt Whitman's poem, the famed Crossing Brooklyn Ferry was becoming Brooklyn's destination ice cream parlor. Customers fell in love with such flavors as  Snap Mallow Pop and Cherry Cola. It even caught Oprah's attention thanks to her friend  Bob Iger,disney chief executive. He even enlisted the couple to make Marvel and Star war themed ice creams for their theme parks.

Anyone would think that their success would last. It didn't . The smiths failed.The costs of their expansions in 2020 swamped their revenues and in March 2020 the company had to be sold.Mr. Smith  was heartbroken. Ten years of his life had been devoted to creating new flavors and making good and unusual ice cream. The couple declared personal bakruptcy and had to move to a smaller apartment. They worried what they'd do next. They enrolled in a pivot workshop held by the North Brooklyn chamber of Commerce which led them to whuskey wednesdays, a regular networking event held by Norm Brodsky. Mr. Brodsky was a high profile entrepreneur who could sympathize with th esmiths. His courier business created in 1979 went boom then bust in the 1986 stock market crash. Armed with new cash the couple (who also were the subject of a Harvard business course entitiled entrepreneurial failure) opened up the social in 2021.It's lack ofcustomers provided its a second bankruptcy  thanks to opening it at the end of the pandemic.That they ae coming back in Manhattan and Brooklyn with new flavors lik e Morning In Paris that has ground croissant in it and bananpudding which has the ingredients of banana pudding.They want stores and parlors where people cna enjoy their ice cream and they can talk to their customers.

Ample Hills will be back, Loyal customers will return. It's due for a comeback and this time it will be stronger than ever.

Pastina Caci E Pepe

what do you do with leftover pastina?There's a lot you cna do but a tasty variation is caci e pepe.  This is usally made with spaghetti but it can be made with any kind of pasta, from the smallest to the largest.

I had leftover pastaina from lunch. Dinner was going to be a hurried affair . What to do? Add a good blob of Melt plant butter and a good sprinkling of black pepper.

It was then adding two vegan cheeses on top for flavor.I used Vitalife 's mozzarella shreds and Parma vegan cheese.The dish was then cooked for twelve minutes in the microwave.  The end result was a fiery cheesey buttery spoonful of goodness.I linws this although I would add more pepper the next time around. Keep in mind you can do this with any plain leftover pasta. 

Caci and pepe is a nice change up from the usual pasta. Try it with any kind , from pastina to linguine for a different kind of dinner. It's a great way of using leftover pastina too.

African Influences On American Cooking

 Juneteenth is an impotant holiday,celebrated with foods that represent hope and resistance. Yet it's the cooking of the enslaved that really is the backbone of our country's cooking. american cuisine would not be the same without it.

Many think that Indigenous and European  cooking are the basis of Americna cooking. In some ways that's true. we have the Noth American tribes to thankfor the Three Sisters corns beadn and squash. european cooking brought different dishes and such ataples as bread, wine and  ale. Yet it was the enslaved that brought a variety of fruits and vegetables , incorporating them into the American diet. We have our summer treat watermelon coming over in the Trans Atlantic slave trade. Veggies we take for granted such as okra an d black eyed peas were also used in dishes brought over. These went from the slave gardens to the fancy tables of the country's then rich and powerful. They became part of many dishes that are deemed "American." Dishes using one of the most important West African imports rice came from Black chefs cooking for such men as Washington and Jefferson They enjoyed dishes  such as gumbo or gombo, a mix of diffrent meats and seafood poured over rice and jambalaya  - another flavorful stew based on jollof rice.

Most of our cooking methods also came from enslaved Africans. they brought with them fried foods and the method for doing such. without them we wouldn't have the Southern classic fried chicken, Steaming also came into play with foods being first wrapped in banana, plaintain or corn sheaths along with miraculous berry and cocoyam leaves), They were also big on adding fruit to pies instead of meat although most European countries did have some form of fruit pie.Spicing foods is also a West African influence recipes were given more flavor by the addition of peppers and certain herbs . Another major impact was the addition of mutrient rich greens into their and the plantation owners' diets. They gathered and cooked collards, kale and turnip tops , to be cooked in an another influential cooking method - the one pot meal.They were able to get good doses fo Vitamin C while cooking the greens in a tasty mix of  ham hocks and spices.

We celebrate Junettenth today. However we need to celebrate African cooking all year round. It is a main influence and should be honored.

Dad's Day Eat Out

 Usually it's the moms who eat out for their special day . Yet dads can too for Father's  Day and they can have a variety  of choices. hy put him behind the grill to cook when he could be taking it easy.

What restaurants appeal to any man? Usually ones that features a wide array of meat. One is Texas Roadhouse . These are all over the US can easily be found  in your neighborhood. The kids will love walking in and seeing the trays of honey rolls waiting to be baked. Each table receives a basket full of them along with a ramekin of Texas Roadhouse;s famed honey butter. Dad will love their famed  hand cut steaks. Treat him to a porterhouse T bone or filet mignon medallions that come with a choice of sauce and rice. Of course he deserves a dessert and Texas Roadhouse doesn't diappoint. They have a brownie sundae , cheese cake and classic apple pie. another fun dad place is BJ's Brewhouse.it's perfect for the beer loving man of the house; There is the in house brewed Mexican Cureveza that has a hint of lime and salt in it. Dad will love their Nutty Brewnette that has a healthy dose of hops in it. He can also try their hard lemonade that also has prickly pear and raspberry juice also in it.BJ's brewhouse has a wide array of dishes from pizzas to  pastas and a good choice of meat fish and chicken.

 New Jersey fathers would appreciate a lunch or dinner at Bahr's This famed restaurant  (which was featured in a Sopranos influenced Chevy commercial duing the Super Bowl) has very good seafood  dishes. treat dad to a full lobster meal complete with cole slaw. They also have an excellent Manhattan clam chowder and a filling shrimp cocktail. For a more New England vibe eat at their oudoor l obster shack, Moby's It's a fun hangout with great views of Sandy Hook and the Nevesink River. Inland papas can spend a long lunch at Red Lobster. The chain has recently updated their menu. Take advantage of their Crab Fest going on now. This is several dishes that have crab as the featured meat. Dad can go wild over crab legs and cheese over  fries or have them just with butter sauce. There's also  variations on the classic surf and turf meal that lets the diner pick out the beef cut they want. A plus about Red Lobster is that they offer family meals the enire clan can share. A family of shrimp lovers will go wild over one that has everything from shrimp scampi to shrimp and linguini with alfredo sauce. Also opt for their Bar Harbor obster bake which is kind of like a seafood paella served over linguine. It has mussels, fresh tomatoes, lobster tails, shrimp and bay scallops;

Let  the breadwinner relax in a good restaurant with good food. There's a wide array of excellent eateries out there dad can enjoy. Treat him to a tasty lunch or dinner.