Blog Archives

Indian in Chicopee

7/26/2013

I am a big fan of Indian food. I have been very fortunate to have enjoyed many great Indian foods through the years thanks to our friends Nayyer and Masih. So when I was driving in the city of Chicopee last week, I happen to see a new restaurant had opened with a name that I recognized, I knew it would not be long until I was able to get back there. Well this week I had my chance and made a visit for lunch at the new Priya Indian Cuisine on Memorial Drive.

Helene and I got there about 2:15 in the afternoon. There were only a couple of people having lunch at that time. Priya is offering a lunch buffet for $9.99 which is quite reasonable, so we decided to start with the buffet, to find out how good the food really is. There was a nice selection of starters with chutneys, raitha and naan (soups, salads and sauces) and the staples such as tandoori and tikka chicken entrees. There is a good mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian items. Some of the foods at the buffet were a bit spicy but none were over the top. I’ve had some dinners in the past that caused me to make sure my water glass was always kept full. This was really a fabulous lunch buffet and every item was a different explosion of flavors for my taste buds.

The service was very good; the items on the buffet were attended to regularly, as was the water on our table. I asked the waiter how long the restaurant has been open and he stated that this is the third week. The waiter asked if we were going to try any of the desserts, but we passed on that. As a rule I never eat desert after lunch. I will have to come back for dinner and try a few other dishes and maybe a dessert. The regular dinner menu is huge and there are some entrees that look forward to trying in the future.

We have also eaten at the other big name and original Indian Restaurant in West Springfield. The food there is very good but the prices are very steep. If you're in the Chicopee area during lunch hours, I highly recommend stopping at Priya especially if you have never had the chance to try Indian Foods. There is no better way to learn what it’s all about. This restaurant is owned by the same folks who operate the original Priya which is in Rocky Hill Ct. Their web site for this restaurant is not yet up and running at 100 % the address on Google maps that is on the web site is not correct, the correct address is
Priya Indian Cuisine 460
Memorial Ave Chicopee Ma.

A Few Fun Freebies for this week

7/23/2013

I will try to feature a quick listing every Tuesday for some of the Fun Free events that will be held throughout New England. For this week we have a bunch that will put a smile on every face that attends. Good Diggin for the eyes and ears.

Lowell Folk Festival .........Friday-Sunday in Lowell Ma.
The Lowell Folk Festival is the largest Free Folk Festival in the country. They strive to present the very
finest traditional artists from across the country. Festival stages reverberate with the sounds of traditional music more often heard in homes, social clubs, dance halls, and annual celebrations. There will be an art& craft show featured as well.

Eddie Money Concert .........Friday Night at Hamden Ct
The American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter, is known for such hits as “Baby Hold On”, “Two Tickets to Paradise”, “Take Me Home Tonight”, “You've Really Got a Hold on Me” and “Think
I'm in Love”. The show will be on the Town Center Park. This will be the last concert at Meadowbrook for 2013 season and the town’s biggest show.

KC and the Sunshine Band ........ Saturday Night in New Haven Ct
This show will feature the Disco era favorite perform their favorite hits including, “Get Down Tonight,” “That's the Way (I like it)” and “Boogie Shoes.” On the Green in the heart of the Historic downtown.

Fallsfest 2013 ..................Saturday in South Hadley Ma
This show will feature concerts from multiple performers as well as artists, artisans and photographers, who will be displaying and selling their wares.

Music among the Memorials at Cedar Hill Cemetery .........Friday in Hartford Ct
Enjoy an evening of music at Cedar Hill’s featuring Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem. Surrounded by Cedar Hill’s stunning memorial grounds, the evening air will fill with a delightful mix of bluegrass, funk, gospel, blues, swing and folk-pop. Bring blankets and chairs for an evening to remember.

Jacobs Pillow Dance Inside/Out Performances .........Wednesday-Saturday in Stockbridge Ma
These are the free performances that happen every week from Wednesday through Saturday during the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival. The shows are performed outside, with a beautiful backdrop of the Berkshire Hills in the summer. When the weather is threatening the performance will move to an indoor studio with very limited seating.

The Highland Street Foundations Free Fun Fridays ......................6 events throughout Ma

Vermont Balloon Fest ..................Friday-Sunday in Shelburne Vt
Once again, the skies over Vermont will be filled with hot air balloons that will participate in the Hot Air Balloon and Craft Festival. This event welcomes visitors from all over New England and continues to focus on family entertainment and fun. There will be a Balloon Glow on Saturday evening as well.

Blackstone Valley Explorer River Tour ......................Sunday in Central Falls, RI
On the Blackstone River cruises you may see swan, herons, geese, ducks, turtles, hawks and beautiful
plants and trees! The tour guide explains the ecology of the river and surrounding wetlands interspersed with stories about the people and history of the region. Every your time on the river, you’re bound to see something cool !

Free Town Concerts for the week throughout New England........From Good Diggin

Shake your Booty

7/22/2013

This Saturday is the second concert of New Haven’s Ct FREE summer concert series will once again take place on the historic New Haven Green in the heart of downtown. This show will feature the Disco era favorite KC and the Sunshine Band and they are sure to get the audience grooving to those favorite hits including, “Get Down Tonight,” “That's the Way (I like it)” and “Boogie Shoes.” It’s hard to imagine a world without these songs that are now eternal and this concert will no doubt have multiple generations dancing to the sounds of disco that were sending a generation moving and grooving 40 years ago. Bring the family or friends down to the green for an unforgettable summer evening. This show might just be the largest concert on the green of any city or town in New England this year. ( Free Concerts ) You could also make a great day of it and spend some time in New Haven to explore many of the great sights, museums and restaurants that the city has to offer. Parking in New Haven can be challenging but there is a parking garage ( Park New Haven )that is offering $3 dollar coupons from their facebook page if you like them.

Jacob's Pillow Dance Inside/Out Performances

7/21/2013

The Inside/Out Performances at Jacobs Pillows Dance Festival are free performances that happen every week from Wednesday through Saturday during the Dance Festival. The performances for 2013 just got underway last week and is a very popular part of the Dance Festival. The shows are performed outside, with a beautiful backdrop of the Berkshire Hills in the summer. When the weather is threatening the performance will move to an indoor studio with very limited seating. Call the Box Office after 5pm the day of the performance to find out if it will be outdoors or indoors. Free passes for indoor performances are handed out beginning at 5:20pm.

A trip to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance should be on your list of what I did this summer. If you have never seen a Dance Performance then there is no better way to start than “Head for the Hills” and experience some of the many varieties of dance companies and styles from around the world that perform there every week.

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival is "the dance center of the nation" (The New York Times). The Pillow is home to America's longest-running dance festival, is a National Historic Landmark, and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. It is located in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts in the town of Stockbridge. Jacob's Pillow hosts more than 50 dance companies as well as 350 free and ticketed performances, talks, exhibits, films, classes, tours, and community events.

Free Fun Friday's week Four

7/18/2013

The Free Fun Fridays Summer Program continues again this week with another great line up. Free Fun Fridays is the annual summer program sponsored by The Highland Street Foundation which allows residents of Massachusetts accessibility to many of the most treasured cultural venues in the state free of charge. This week the Free Fun Friday Locations are.

JFK LIBRARY & MUSEUM……Boston
BUTTONWOOD PARK ZOO……New Bedford
DANFORTH ART……Framingham
HANCOCK SHAKER VILLAGE……Pittsfield
GARDEN IN THE WOODS……Framingham
REAGLE MUSIC THEATRE……Waltham

The Regal Music Theatre will have one evening performance (7:30 p.m.) of Fiddler on the Roof. This venue has a 1,082-seat capacity no reservations accepted. Tickets will be distributed the day of the performance at the theatre, on a first-come first-serve basis beginning at 8:00am. The theatre is located at Waltham High School, 617 Lexington Street, Waltham. Unfortunately, children under 5 are not permitted in the theatre. Doors will open at 7:00pm.

Riverfest Fireworks Rescheduled

7/16/2013

The much anticipated Riverfest fireworks in Hartford Ct that were postponed due to an unprecedented July flood have been rescheduled for Thursday, July 18th at 9:30 pm. With such short notice and due to conflicting commitments, it is just not realistic to reassemble a new program for an event the size of Riverfest,” said Charlie Myers, Riverfront Director of Programs & Events. For this reason, this rescheduled Riverfest will be a FIREWORKS ONLY event. Riverfest’s Presenting Sponsor,
Travelers and Fireworks Sponsor, Mohegan Sun support the rescheduled date and are enthusiastic about sharing the fireworks with a large crowd of spectators.

National Hot Dog Month

7/16/2013

The fourth of July has come and gone yet for another year. There were plenty of cook outs and get together that featured among many things the Hot Dog. Well there is one thing that continues this month and that is the celebration of National Hot Dog Month.

Although the hot dog is pretty close to the bottom of the gourmet scale, only the ultimate food snob would say they don't get a twinge of pleasure once in awhile from indulging in a frank. I am one that considers a good hot dog a classic amongst comfort foods. It is one of the essentials that must be consumed when you’re at the ballpark. There's something magical about the hot dog, we learn to love them when we're little kids, and never become immune to their charms.

A hot dog is made with pork or beef or both. I prefer pork, although all-beef hot dogs are often more expensively made. The meat is ground finely with curing ingredients and the key to flavor is the spice mixture that is added. Some hot dogs are covered with a natural casing; those are usually among the best.

Hot dogs have come a long way in their evolution and there are Dog Houses in every major Metropolitan area of the country. During hot dog season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), 818 hotdogs are eaten every second. And on the Fourth of July Americans devour approximately 150 million hot dogs; that's enough to stretch from coast to coast five times, but for the month of July, Americans scarf down more than 2.3 billion hot dogs, equaling roughly seven hot dogs per person this month.

These days you’ll find bacon-wrapped fried hot dogs, chicken, turkey and even veggie dogs. When it comes down to toppings, a hot dog will work with them all which is why there are so many regional variations. From Michigan dogs to Chicago dogs to our East Coast Coney Island. Cities really do take their hot dogs seriously.

The grilling for the summer is not yet over, but during the month of July (Aug…Sept…ect ) make sure you stop at one of your favorite Dog Houses and order a few with the special toppings that you won’t be serving from your grill.

The Comeback is Close for Some

7/13/2013

By now all the Junk food Junkies are counting down, with two days left until the stores will again have Twinkies available. The shelves ran dry last November when the Hostess Company closed its doors for good and sent the employees home. No more of the goodies that we all grew up with would be available ever again. Twinkies, Cupcakes, HoHos, Donettes, Ding Dongs, Zingers, Fruit Pies, Ring
Dings, Yodels, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, and Drake's Coffee Cake, Snowballs, Suzy Qs and all the different type of Breads. There were some people that went into shock. But most of us were really bummed out. With as many products that just disappeared and were no longer available, we all lost something that made us smile.

Then there were the entrepreneurial Ebay sellers that took the opportunity to tap into buyers of the Hostess panic. There were boxes that would normally sell for $4.99 that were now going for $50 each. Those sellers did prove that even in these hard economic times PT Barnum was correct when he said, there is a sucker born every minute.

The Hostess Empire has now been chopped up and sold off in pieces. As of today there have been no
announcements made as to when these new corporate owners will resume production of these old Hostess products. Those other divisions of Hostess were,

Drake’s snack cake whose products include, Ring Dings, Yodels, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, and Drake's Coffee Cake brand and certain related assets were acquired by the McKee Foods Corporation.

Beefsteak bread brand which is the only rye bread that Helene would purchase for our house was acquired by the Grupo Bimbo Corporation of Mexico.

Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Merita, Home Pride and Butternut Bread brands just this week received regulatory approval from the Feds to be purchased by Flowers Foods.

Now back to those that will be waiting for the truck to arrive on Monday to get your sweet treats. I wish you all a happy day as I can relate to it. When Beefsteak Rye ever gets back on the shelves you will find me in that line.

B.T.'s Smokehouse Southern Style BBQ

7/11/2013

Helene and I were on a road trip and just happened to drive by when the smell of BBQ that was in the air got our attention. We pulled into the parking lot and the smoky flavor that greeted us put a smile on our faces. We had reached BT’s Smokehouse located on Rt. 20 in Sturbridge Ma. The place looks small from the outside but has a seating capacity of at least 40 people inside and a couple of large picnic tables outside on the main street.

We decided to split the three meat combo plate for $20 dollars. It comes with your choice of three meats, two sides and a nice size piece of corn bread. We also ordered two extra sides for a dollar each. The brisket is as good as you can get. The bark is very crispy and has a rich smoke flavor. The rub which is the heart of the bark has a great flavor. The brisket was very moist and flavorful. The Pulled Pork is just as good as the Brisket with a moist inside and a nice bark exterior. The Pulled Chicken which is also smoked was overpowered by the rub. The Cole Slaw and Cucumber salad were very fresh and had a strong vinegar flavor which gives it the southern style tartness that we enjoyed rather than just a plain old creamy style. The Hand Cut Fries were way to salty for our liking but the Potato salad was pretty good. The condiments area offers five BBQ dipping sauces that went from sweet, mild, mustard and fire hot. It also included (pickled onions, pickled carrots, hot peppers and Hellish relish)

There are a bunch of other goodies that are on the menu that we did not try but will definitely go back for again Like The Ribs, Brisket Rueben Sandwich, Wings, Beer Battered Onion Rings Made with Pabst Blue Ribbon, Burritos’ Mac and Cheese and on and on.

Free Fun Fridays Week Three

7/9/2013

The Highland Street Foundation is again funding the 5th Annual Free Fun Fridays State-wide Summer Program. This program offers Free Admission to 60 Museums and Cultural Venues throughout Massachusetts. Whether you live in Boston or the Berkshires, Worcester or Cape Cod, the North Shore or the South Coast, you can take advantage of this free program. Free Fun Fridays is the annual summer program that opens doors at no cost to visitors to many of the most treasured cultural venues in Massachusetts. Beginning June 28th through August 30th, six cultural venues will be open free-of-charge every
Friday for 10 weeks this summer. The Highland Street Foundation provides grants to participating venues to cover the cost of opening their doors for free. Free Fun Fridays is making the arts accessible to all residents of Massachusetts. This week the Free Fun Friday Locations are.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS......Boston

LARZ ANDERSON AUTO MUSEUM ......Brookline

CAPE COD CHILDREN’S MUSEUM......Mashpee

PILGRIM HALL MUSEUM......Plymouth

MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ICONS......Clinton

JACOB’S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL......Becket
Activities begin at 4pm with an opportunity for families to explore movement together in new ways at the Dance Games and Activities Kids Corner. Tours of the Pillow's National Historic Landmark Site take place between 4 and 6pm. At 5pm audiences are invited to attend a PillowTalk with Elizabeth Kendal who will be discussing her discoveries about the little known early
chapters in the life of influential ballet choreographer George Balanchine. At 6:15 the wildly popular outdoor performance series Inside/Out will feature Ramya Ramnarayan, an award winning Bharatanatyam choreographer (a form of
classical Indian dance). The performance will be followed by an Audience Question and Answer Session. The Pillow grounds are open to the public throughout the evening for picnicking. Guests are encouraged to enjoy the many gardens or take a walk along the wetlands trail.

Nardelli's in Naugatuck

7/1/2013

Back in the early 80’s I would go to Naugatuck Ct every Wednesday to deliver dairy products at the local supermarket. There is one thing that was a constant back in those days, I would deliver Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese, Yogurts and all sorts of dairy products, and when I was done it was time to have lunch at Nardelli’s. Well I was in the neighborhood last week driving up Rt 8 so like a moth to a flame I was pulled off the Highway and across the river to stop at the old Maple street store.

Their Italian Combo grinders are still phenomenal; there is a ton of fresh sliced deli meat and cheese on fresh delicious Italian bread. It’s made with Genoa Salami, Prosciuttini, and Cappicola and with the works includes romaine lettuce, fresh sliced tomatoes and a mix of vegetables which are diced bell pepper, cucumbers, onions and black olives in a light oil-vinegar marinade. The roll is perfect, not too dense on the inside, They will ask you if you want mayo with it, it’s a Connecticut thing that works. The grinder is simply delicious. Make no mistakes about this, these things are huge and if there are two of you stopping by you can split one, if you are solo then order the half grinder or be prepared to have leftovers. The deli display is quite impressive with some really nice pasta salads as well.

Nardelli’s has been voted the Best Grinder in the state for a bunch of years by CT Magazine. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I know the Italian Combo grinders are still real good and worth the stop. With all that said: there is one more thing I'm sure of...In Western Mass and Ct we don't call them hoagies, heroes, or subs...it's a grinder.