Food Events Go Bye Bye

Well, the food events are starting to quiet down for the year, and there aren't really any this weekend (where food is the main attraction). But there are a few good ones left, here and there, and the staff here at Long Island Food Blog will be sure to give everyone plenty of notice of the dates.

Kitchen Nightmares

Talk about a local food-blogging event! Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares premiered last night and featured little, old Babylon, New York. I had been meaning to watch the show (I didn't even know about the Babylon restaurant), but was flipping back and forth between reruns of Survivorman and Ghost Hunters. Damn. I just happened to catch the last 10 or so minutes. Hopefully it comes on again, soon.

I was a big fan of the first season of Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America a few years ago--before Hell's Kitchen even came about. But have since lost interest. I'm not happy that it will be up against the new Ghost Hunters, which start next Wednesday.

Anyway, I've never heard of Peter's. The guy running it seems like a total jackass. He supposedly had a change of attitude at the end. I hope it stuck.

Well, I've known a few who are dicks...

Fun food fact: was watching an old episode of Good Eats about avocados. Alton Brown explained that the word "avocado" was the closest the Spanish conquerors could come to pronouncing the Aztec word for the fruit, which was "āhuacatl." Avocado (which dictionary.com says is an alternative spelling of "abogado") means "lawyer" in Spanish--or used to mean "lawyer."

But "āhuacatl" didn't mean "lawyer" to the Aztecs. It meant "testicle." So, as I said above...

Please no comments about obvious jokes. I won't stand for them!

Harvest and Seafood Festival

This weekend's featured food event: actually, it's the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. But, since this is Long Island, we'll have to find something else.

And that is: the Harvest and Seafood Festival. September 15-16. Captree State Park in Babylon.

Italian Ices

I had been meaning to post on this before the end of summer (before Labor Day). But, well, I'm lazy...

One of the great features of Long Island are all the Italian Ice places around. I'm from Indiana, and we didn't have sh*t. Some of them are less than great, however, and have chewy, little bits of zest in the ices. Yuck. At least a lot of the places have young, hottie girls working there.

In any event, the best is the one by Hoi Ming in West Sayville (which is 469 Montauk Hwy). I think it's called the "Ice House." Anyway, it's right next to the chinese restaurant.

Most Italian ices have those big, gritty chunks of ice. But the ices here are much smoother, almost creamy. They say the faster you freeze ice cream, the more creamy it is because the crystals are smaller. Maybe these crazy bastards do something similar. The only down-side: a local resident advises the place is open for business only irregularly these days (post Labor Day).

More Greek Crap

This weekend's featured food event: Greek Festival at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Hicksville. Today through Sunday. For an old description, click here.

Highlight: you get to kill your own pig, as pictured above. (This statement may not be accurate.)