Bike MS New York City 2019

Bike MS NYC 2019

Bike MS New York City 2019

I’ve been doing the Multiple Sclerosis ( #BikeMS ) charity bike ride every year since 1999. They have a few different routes you can take – 2 of them go from the starting line on 48th Street and the West Side Highway through the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey but my favorite starts at the same place and goes around the 30-mile border of Manhattan island.
Bike MS NYC 2019It’s still dark when we start to lineup. They serve a breakfast of protein bars, bananas and water. I have coffee at home. The sky is just starting to brighten when we take off downtown toward  Battery Park. NYPD keeps all the roads closed so it’s just you and about a 1000 other cyclists.

After we make the turn at the southern tip of Manhattan the sun is coming up over the East River. Bike MS NYC 2019Then it’s straight up the FDR and Harlem River Drives to a rest stop at Inwood Hill Park at the northern tip of Manhattan.

Inwood Hill is a great location – including bike repair, porta-sans, water, protein bars and apples. I usually make a stop about a mile before at the Jimbo’s Hamburger Palace on 207th Street for a ham and egg sandwich and coffee to go.Bike MS NYC 2019

Bike MS NYC 2019

Bike MS NYC 2019

Bike MS NYC 2019


From Inwood Hill it’s a little over 10 miles to the finish on Pier 92-94 with it’s beer garden and hamburgers.Bike MS NYC 2019

Bike MS NYC 2019

Bike MS NYC 2019

You can make donations here.

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Red Pesto Pasta

Red Pesto Pasta

This is adapted from a recipe in Bon Appétit.

Red Pesto Pasta.

Ingredients:
  • 6 anchovies
  • 3 smashed garlic cloves
  • ¾ cup olive oil
  • ½ cup raw walnuts
  • 1 – 6 oz. can tomato paste
  • ½ red bell pepper, sliced *
  • 3 oz. Parmigiana cheese
  • 2 oz. fresh lemon juice
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 2 tbsps. butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 lb. small pasta (ziti, penne, gemelli, etc.)
* If you like it spicy use red serranoes instead of a bell pepper.
Put a pot of salted water on the stove for the pasta. By the time the water boils and the pasta is cooked, the sauce will be ready.
Cook the anchovies, garlic, and walnuts in the oil until the garlic starts to color. Add the tomato paste and the sliced pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.Red Pesto Pasta.

Let the mixture cool for a few minutes and scrape it into a food processor or blender. Add the cheese, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until smooth and pour the mixture into a heated serving bowl and add the butter.
When it’s done, add the pasta and ½ cup of the pasta cooking water to the bowl, more water if the sauce is too dry. Serve Red Pesto Pasta with Parmigiana cheese.Red Pesto Pasta.

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Hollywood Grill

Hollywood Grill

One of the things we like about Hollywood Beach is the choice of restaurants within walking distance of our hotel. There’s Mexican, Turkish, Greek, Peruvian, etc. in addition to good Italian restaurants, and American seafood.
We recently noticed the Hollywood Grill, which serves Armenian food. Not being too familiar with the menu the first time there, we ordered things we knew, like  shishkababs, and salad.

Hollywood Grill
Hollywood Grill

Everything we ordered was good but as we ate, we noticed that the tables around us were covered with platters of unfamiliar things that looked delicious.
Hollywood Grill
Hollywood Grill

We went back the next night and told our waitress, Aisha, that we wanted to be adventurous and order some authentic Armenian dishes. She helped us order and explained how each dish was to be eaten.
Hollywood Grill

Aisha is from Uzbekistan


Hollywood Grill

The recipes were all traditional and from the Caucasus – Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Over the course of our next 3 meals there, we had Georgian wine and Armenian beer, hot borscht, kharcho (lamb and rice soup) and hummus. We had a communally served platter of soft cheese that we rolled up in a bread something like thin pita with radishes, tomato and hot peppers, dolma (stuffed grape leave) that looked Greek but weren’t, broth filled dumplings, mussels, and something Aisha called Armenian pizza. All this with a view of palm trees and the ocean.Hollywood Grill

Too full for dessert but the coffee was perfect.

After 4 visits, we didn’t even get through half the menu. We told Tara, the manager, that if they opened a branch in New York, we’d be regulars.

Hollywood Grill

Tara

Hollywood Grill

Chef


Hollywood GrillHollywood Grill

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Coffee in Naples

 

Viva ‘a tazzulella: Naples and her love story with coffee and tradition

by FRANCESCA BEZZONE,  JUL 16, 2019
Coffee in Naples
The relationship between caffé and the city of Naples can only be called love. La tazzulella di caffé is the way Neapolitans welcome the day, recharge throughout  it and show friends they enjoy their company. It is the occasion to socialize, share opinions and discuss about the latest news and gossip.
La relazione tra il caffè e la città di Napoli non può che essere d’amore. La tazzulella di caffé è il modo in cui i napoletani accolgono il nuovo giorno, si ricaricano e mostrano agli amici che amano la loro compagnia. E’ l’occasione per socializzare, condividere opinioni e parlare delle ultime notizie e fare pettegolezzi. 

Coffee in Naples

Read the whole article here.

Coffee in Naples

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The West 97th Street GreenMarket

West 97th Street Greenmarket

West 97th Street Greenmarket

There are greenmarkets all over New York City and mine is the West 97th Street Greenmarket. You can get baked goods, meat, seafood, eggs, honey, seasonal produce and more throughout the year and it’s all local.

West 97th Street Greenmarket

From flowers to seafood.

West 97th Street Greenmarket
One morning’s shopping – semolina bread, corn, peaches, apple pie, mako steaks, blow fish, and black fish filets.

West 97th Street Greenmarket

West 97th Street Greenmarket


From their website:
Greenmarket was founded in 1976 with a two-fold mission: to promote regional agriculture by providing small family farms the opportunity to sell their locally grown products directly to consumers, and to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to the freshest, most nutritious locally grown food the region has to offer. . .

West 97th Street Greenmarket

West 97th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenue

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