Walden Farms is Foxy!

If only everything we eat could be this good for you...lol!

So you’ve committed yourself to the low-carb life and you want to add more salads to your new lifestyle, right? I mean, Summer is around the corner and we want to look and feel extra foxy!   But there’s just one problem — most of the salad dressings are chock full of extra sugar, salt, and other junk you just don’t need, especially the “low-fat” versions. I love sharing cool things I find, especially food.  I found a salad dressing that does not contain any calories, fat, carbs, sugar, or cholesterol in it. It’s called Walden Farms and they come in 17 different variety of flavors for you to enjoy and savor. I picked up Honey Mustard and Balsamic.  Both very tasty, you can find them at Stop and Shop or online. Check out their dessert line too!

C'mon everybody! get your Roller Skates today....

 Starry & BB got their Roller Skates...

You just don't see kids roller skating anymore. When I was a kid, I would roller skate with one skate, sharing another with a friend. I have never been an athletic gal, so one skate did me just fine. Navigating from one end to the other end of the block without hitting any cracks in the cement was a challenge. I recall visiting the local skating rink, I must have been 7 or 8. I went a few times in Brooklyn, and a few more while visiting family in Massena, NY. It was such a free feeling, gliding by while Madonna, Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield, and Joan Jett would blare out of  the DJ booth. 

You can rent skates, or bring your own like Starry did. 

Starr had a wonderful time today at United Skates, in Seaford. A friend from school had a birthday party. It was a lot of fun. My sister, Lisa even decided to take a ride around the rink. This place is great to take the kids on a rainy day. A pleasant change from video games and the internet. For less than 10 bucks you can skate for two hours. The rink is not over crowded. The kids skate in one direction, and the staff regulates to insure safety. I recommend United Skates for a fun day for the kids, and adults alike. 

                                                             

Classic. 

American Jazz History in Corona- The Louis Armstrong House

Ms. Selma, Louis and Lucille Armstrong's friend and neighbor.

Louis Armstrong—the world’s most famous jazz musician—was an international celebrity who could have lived anywhere. Yet in 1943, he and his wife, Lucille, settled in a modest house in Corona, Queens, where they lived for the remainder of their lives. No one has lived in the house since the Armstrongs, and the house and its furnishings remain very much as they were during Louis and Lucille’s lifetime. Starr and I went to 34-56 107th st in Corona to check out the Louis Armstrong House Museum. It is open to the public, offering guided tours of Louis’s longtime home. Admission is 8 dollars for adults and 6 dollars for students and seniors. Parking is convenient since the home is located on a residential street. On the tour, audio clips from Louis’s homemade recordings are played, and visitors hear Louis practicing his trumpet, enjoying a meal, or talking with his friends.  One of my favorite parts of the tour is when the guide spoke of Armstrongs' friendship with entertainer Tony Bennett, describing back yard summer parties where they would sing and encourage neighborhood kids to take part.

Tour information and ticket center.

     This house is a real piece of American Musical History. If you are looking for a quiet kinda day, where you will learn some cool stuff and perhaps meet a few people that could tell you a thing or two about Jazz music first hand, Check out the Louis Armstrong House.     Ms. Selma was Lucille and Louis' close friend and neighbor, she lived on the block before Louis Armstrong moved there. Starr and I were lucky enough to have a chat with her. She told us that the Armstongs were the kindest, giving neighbors anyone could wish for. Louis would come home from being on tour, play his trumpet on the stoop, buy all the kids on the block ice cream, and laugh at just about everything, he always had a smile. 

Another affordable day of learning and fun in NYC!

Doin' our thing in Queens... next stop 5Pointz

Starr with one of the many friendly Graffiti Artists @ 5Pointz.

Sun is shinnin', birds are chirpin' and aerosol paint cans are paintin' at 5Pointz, an Aerosol Art Center. This unique outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City, New York is considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building. The name 5Pointz signifies the five boroughs coming together as one, as a result of its reputation as an epicenter of the graffiti scene, the industrial complex has actually united aerosol artists from across the world. 

View of 5Pointz from Crane St. 

Every wall , corner , and crevice is covered in beautiful graffiti!

 Legendary writers from Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and all over the United States have painted on the building walls. 5Pointz gallery curator, Jonathan Cohen, a.k.a Meres, plans to convert the five-story, block-long industrial complex at Jackson Avenue and Davis Street into a graffiti museum. He is currently seeking a 501(c)3 certification for 5Pointz to confer tax-exempt status and allow tax-deductible donations .In addition, he plans to open a school for aspiring aerosol artists, complete with a formalized curriculum that imparts lessons in teamwork, art history, and entrepreneurship in addition to technique.

Starr checking out all of the very vibrant art work.

This place is larger than life. There is so much to look at that your eyes don't know where to focus first! Parking is a breeze, there is a parking lot right in back of the building. There are lots of young people appreciating the art. You can sit back and watch the very friendly graffiti artists at work. 5pointz is located off of Van dam  at the corner of Jackson Ave. and Crane St. Less than a half hour from Central Long Island, and just a subway ride from any of the five boroughs. The best part is that it's free! 

Panelle and Cannoli make for a Good Friday.

Panelle Special, Tastiest 6 Bucks you are gonna spend at Gino's

So if you don't know, you are about to find out. On this Good Friday, I found my way to Brooklyn's 18th ave to enjoy some of my favorite Sicilian treats. Traditionally, Good Friday is a day that Catholics all over the world refrain from eating meat for religious reasons. So driving down 18th ave is a the perfect place to pick up some delicious vegetarian Italian fare, that would be absolutely, without a doubt, IMPOSSIBLE to find anywhere else but my favorite borough, Brooklyn. Gino's Focceria  on 72nd st and 18th ave, is the place to be. Ever try a Panelle Special? Panelle is a chick pea fritter made of fried chick pea flour batter, on a soft Brooklyn roll smothered in fresh oozing ricotta. They have the all kinds of fish salads, cold salads, rice balls, and potato croquets. The smell of the oil frying my food brings me back to when I was a kid. 

I don't need fancy, Gino's is perfect!

Maybe you are looking for a sweety treat? One block down, at the corner of 71st and 18th ave is the Mecca of all Italian Bakeries, Villabate Alba. When I walk in I get so distracted by all the delicious choices, I have to regroup..lol! I never tasted a fresher Sfogliatelli, a classic Italian pastry with ricotta filling and a cake-like consistency in a crunchy shell in my life. The cannoli is the creamiest. Everything is always consistently fresh. Everything I have ever gotten from this Bakery is delicious.

Pastry @ Villabate Alba

I Just Can't Get Enough!

Ask for Organic Skim Milk to make this Green Tea Frap a healthy choice!

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is contained in this plastic Starbucks cup. Green Tea Frappucinos. I am not a coffee drinker, I actually think coffee is gross, but that's another blog topic...lol  Green Tea is such a delicious flavor. I described it as a little vanilla, plum and cherry flavors. I recall when Starbucks would carry melon flavored syrup. That stuff was the perfect touch to a slushy, whippy creamy Green Tea Frappucino. I always order it without the whip cream topping, I like to taste the Green Tea straight up. People often wonder what makes this drink so green? It's something called Green Tea Matcha Powder.

Green Tea Matcha Powder

Matcha is premium green tea powder from Japan used for drinking as tea or as an ingredient in recipes.  While other green teas are grown throughout the world, matcha is unique to Japan.  It is the heart of the Japanese way of tea and has been celebrated in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony for hundreds of years. I purchase mine online at Gayot. You can also find Matcha powder at The Asian Market located on Portion rd in Ronkonkoma. Matcha can also be used to flavor ice cream, cupcakes, and puddings. I also use it when making Bubble Tea.

Starbucks also makes a very refreshing Iced Green Tea. Next time you are in the mood for something unique and sweet..try a Starbucks Green Tea Frap!

Pickles, Doughnuts, and Bialys...Oh MY!

The many delicious varieties of gourmet doughnuts @ the Plant!

You will never look at Grand street the same again! It's one stop shopping and what you are going to pick up is like nothing you ever had before! I am not a doughnut girl. Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme...Blah! Until I visited the Doughnut Plant @ 379 Grand Street. Wow! This place is like a closet, serving freshly made doughnuts out of the back as they are ready makes for an unbelievable doughnut experience.  With flavors like Creme Brule, Pistachio, Tres Leche, and Peanut Butter and Blackberry Jelly...these are not your fast food chain doughnuts. The Raspberry Creme doughnut is glazed with homemade fresh crushed raspberries!

Doughnuts not your thing, no fear. Check out Kossars Bialys. Located @ 367 Grand St., you will find the dough-e-est, fluffiest bagels you ever had. Crunchy on the outside. Just the way I like a bagel. The bialys are full of onions. So good! Originally baked in Bialystok, Poland, the bialy was carried to New York City by Jewish immigrants. The oldest bialy factory in the United States is Kossar's. 

How to enjoy a Kossar's Bialy

1 bialy
Butter or cream cheese

Baking the bialy a little bit extra at home just before serving, to get them to the desired degree of brown. Do not slice bialy, bagel-style. Spread a fresh, hot bialy with either butter or cream cheese, either on the bottom or over the top of the roll. If underneath, take care not to shake loose the onions and, if there are some, poppy seeds. If spreading butter or cheese over the top, stuff a little extra spread into the well to form an especially luscious mouthful.

Not into Carbs? Doughnuts, Bagels, Bialys not your thing? Ok, right around the corner @ 49 Essex Street are the The Pickle Guys. With fresh pickled good made daily, you are sure to find a garlicky, vinegary slice of pickley fun! 

They have everything, Gardinera Salad, Hot and Sweet Peppers, Olives, and all types of crispy freshly made pickles.