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For Find Out Friday - Is it Barbecue or Barbeque?

  Continuing our theme from the last edition of FOF, I have another food bloggers dilemma to put to rest.  Is it “barbecue” or “barbeque”? Depending on the name of the restaurant, that is the spelling I adhere to. It is the same strategy I implore with “doughnuts”.  But really what is the difference? My friends at grammar.com  made answering this question a snap.  Basically “barbecue” is both the word to define the gatherings we all aspire to attend around the Fourth of July as well as the method of cooking on a grill with a metal gate. It is also the only accepted spelling of this word in all English literature since the beginning of time.  They speculate that since the abbreviation “BBQ”  has a q in it, that spelling of “barbeque” became popular. However, it is still the less popular of either spelling and technically is incorrect.  Since my default setting is to always adhere to the restaurant’s name I am reviewing, I had to pause here to see how many times I have been to a “barbequ

For Find Out Friday - Is it Doughnut or Donut?

  Is it “doughnut” or “donut”? I know this seems like something I should have learned in the third grade but apparently my elementary school teachers failed me.  As a food blogger, I constantly seem to stumble upon this dilemma so I decided to learn the difference once and for all. I have allotted some time today in case I have a lot of blogs to update. Also I am about to post yet another blog about these circular, fried, and sometimes jelly filled delicious treats.         Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop   Apparently the reason I am confused in the first place it because of my British roots.  My ancestors were from Italy and Ireland, but as an American Revolutionary War buff, I have always felt I had a bit of British in my blood.  As I begun to research this spelling conundrum, the first result made perfect sense.  The word “doughnut” is the proper U.K. spelling; while “donut” is the Americanized version.  This reminds me of similar Americanisms such as colour versus col

For Find Out Friday - How Do You Milk An Almond?

Despite my affinity for cheese and other dairy products, occasionally (actually a few times a week) I like to go dairy-free.  During those times I rely heavily on my favorite brand of almond milk, as seen in the picture above.  Though I know there is no dairy in this product, I constantly wonder: “how does one milk an almond”? Logically I am aware that no actually “milking” is taking place.  I also know that almond milk can be made at home, although I have zero interest in attempting to make it despite my love of spending time in my kitchen. So, what is the actual process?  How long does it take?  When / where / who was the first to successful develop this product? When talking about this kind of “milk” what we are really talking about is plant juices that resemble and can be used in the same ways as dairy milk. Plant like juice has been described as milk since about 1200 A.D. The first mentions can be found in a Baghdadi cookbook in the thirteenth

For Find Out Friday - Why Does My Pizza Come with a Table?

Every Friday is like Groundhog Day  in my house. Thank God.  Meaning that I celebrate a weekly holiday that I created called #pizzaFriday.  Yes, I usually eat pizza every Friday and have long before I started sharing that tidbit on social media.  Pizza is my most favorite food and I can always get one to fit my mood. In recent years it seems that the world has also jumped on the pizza bandwagon and there are pizzas with literally any toppings you can dream up.  So every week, after making the agonizing decision about where to order or pick-up pizza from, my next greatest challenge is trying to squeeze all that deliciousness into the perfect photo.  But before I can attempt to capture the wonder that will be my meal, I have to remove the white plastic table like object stuck in the center of my pizza.  It annoys me every time.  When I was little I use to take them, wash them, and use them as actual tables in my Barbie’s house. I was always ver

For Find Out Friday - Why Are We Celebrating Christmas in July?

                                  I took t his picture was taken at the Four Seasons in NYC on December 28, 2019. July is ten days in and I have been hearing about or seeing Christmas type images or phrases since the end of June.  I have been wondering for a long time now; Why is there such a thing as “Christmas in July”?  There are actually two parts to my question, why if at all, and why not March, May, or August?  If we need to celebrate Christmas more than once a year (and I am not entirely opposed) than why again in July? If anything June makes the most sense to me because it’s the six month mark.  Through my research I found out a lot of information but no one seems to have a consensus on what the true answer is. Every story I have read seems to be plausible so I will share them all with you.  What we know for sure is that the phrase “Christmas in July” dates back to a French opera, “Werther” from 1892 that premiered in Chicago and NYC in 1894. Af

For Bagels Near the Verrazano Bridge: “Dyker Park Bagels”

Last June I completed my first extensive blog about Brooklyn and bagels .  It was by no means my first such blog, nor as you will see here, will it be my last.  Aside from pizza, bagels are one of my most favorite foods. They are so versatile.  You can eat them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You can have them with eggs, cold cuts, or even make pizza with them. You can have them on the sweeter side like cinnamon raisin or if you are like me and crave salt, then an everything bagel is for you.  There is really no wrong a bagel can do, EXCEPT when it is not crispy on the outside and chewy (but not doughy) on the inside. Just like my previous blog about the perfect first bite of pizza, the same is true about the first bite of a bagel.  Thankfully I live in Brooklyn, a town that is known for perfection when it comes to carbs. The bread found here continues to be a reason I get a warm welcome whenever I bring samples of these goodies to family and friends who l

For the Most Unassuming Pizza in DUMBO - “Ignazio’s”

Do you know what I love most about pizza? Well, besides the cheese, sauce, and dough? That perfect first bite.  You know what I am talking about. It makes a crunching sound when you bite into it as you also get a rush of a sweet zing of the marinara sauce and melty gooeyness of the cheese. Of course, despite that crunch, the slice is soft and pillow like in the center.  Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong!! That first bite tells you everything you need to know about how amazing or disappointing the pizza you are about to indulge in actually is.  That first perfect bite is something I dream about but in my search for the perfect pizzas don’t often come across. However, if you are smart enough you will visit Ignazio’s in Brooklyn and taste some of the best pizza that has ever crossed my lips.  I stumbled upon Ignazio’s by accident.  It was a swelteringly hot day in Brooklyn and I was driving around the downtown / Brooklyn Heights area