Month: August 2020

People are Cooking Through Covid Pandameic – And Buying New Cookbooks

SUNDAY SAUCE 
 
WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK
 
PEOPLE LOVE SUNDAY SAUCE
 
by DANIEL BELLINO ZWICKE
 
“WHO DOESN’T LOVE ITALIAN” ?
 
IT’S EVERYONE’S FAVORITE
 
And with TASTY EASY to FOLLOW RECIPES
 
SUNDAY SAUCE has been FLYING OFF The SHELVES
AMAZON.com
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The coronavirus pandemic has us stuck at home and looking for a way to cope.
For many people, it’s cooking.
“I think there is a silver lining to be found in all of this, and it might be found in the kitchen,” said Stacy Deasy, an American living in Wicklow, Ireland.
The proof is all over social media, with mouthwatering dishes being posted to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with hashtags such as #coronaviruscooking.
Deasy recently posted a picture of her chicken and dumplings to the NYT Cooking Community group that she’s a part of on Facebook.
“Food is comforting. Food is energy. Food can be healing. Those are important things right now more than ever,” she said.
Los Angeles resident Erik Dahlgren has had to work from home during the pandemic. But armed with a 25-pound bag of flour, he’s been experimenting with bread-making. He recently put a photo of freshly baked sourdough to his Instagram account.
“I need something to keep me busy, and baking always gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride,” he said. “Those are the kinds of things I need to get me through these lonely times we are all experiencing.”
Brenda McNicol had to cancel her 60th birthday party because of social-distancing measures in Edmonton, Alberta. But she still baked a cake for a virtual cocktail party, which she hosted on a video-conferencing app.
“I think food can serve as a vessel to bring people together, even when we can’t actually be around each other,” said Steve Roybal of Santa Rosa, California.
 
 
BOOKS by BESTSELLING COOKBOOK AUTHOR DANIEL BELLINO
 
Are FLYING OFF THE at MACARI VINEYARDS
 
And on-line at AMAZON.com
 
 
SUNDAY SAUCE  – “When Italian-Americans Cook”
 
A lot of people are really taking to cooking (1st time or whatever) since this horrible Pandemic started. Everyone has to eat, so why not cook fresh, tasty food, on your own, that you don’t have to worry about who touched it or what not, “Keep Safe.”
Anyway, everyone #Loves #ItalianFood and many people #LOVE my book SUNDAY SAUCE that is not only filled with Recipes for the best and most beloved Italian Dishes, I have written delightful little stories (true – non fiction) to go along with the recipes. I’ve been a Chef for more that 30 years, and I have written recipes that are easy to follow and execute. Many people have just gotten into cooking for the first time as a result of the current situation in America and all around the World. And others who had already known how to cook, are looking for new recipes and want to improve their culinary skills and increase the size of their repertoire. As a result, cookbook sales are booming. As for myself, my sales have increased over the same time period last year, but enough about all that.
All you need to know is that Sunday Sauce, and some of my other books like GOT ANY KAHLUA? aka The Big Lebowski  Cookbook are quite delightful, if I must say so myself; Great RECIPES and wonderful little antidotes and stories of the food and people within.
 
Thank You All,
Have a Wonderful Day, and Be Safe,
Daniel 
PS … “Always Mangia Bene!”
 
Basta
 
 
 
 
If You Love Food
 
And you LOVE The BIG LEBOWSKI ?
 
YOU’RE GONNA LOVE “GOT ANY KAHLUA” ?
 
aka The BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK
 
It’s Got GREAT RECIPES and STORIES of The DUDE
 
AVAILABLE on AMAZON.com 
 
“ABIDE in IT” 
 
SUNDAY SAUCE
 
MOST BELOVED ITALIAN RECIPES
AMAZON.com
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The Hemingway Burger – Hamburger Recipe

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“PAPA HEMINGWAY”
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Hemingway with Marlene Dietrich
 
 
 
Ernest Hemingway was a man, larger than life. He was the original foodie, eloquently writing about his 1920’s Parisian culinary experiences in “A Movable Feast,”  He wrote of Brasserie Lipp, Cafe Select, and various Parisian Bistros and Cafes, and of eating Oyters, Cervalas, Bresse Chicken, and other culinary delights. When at home in Key West or at his home the
Finca Vigia, Havana, Cuba, besides eating plenty of fish that he caught with his fishing boat “Pilar, ” always deep down the American Boy, Hemingway loved a good old fashion American Hamburger, every now and then. Yes Ernest Hemingway loved Burgers, and in a very specific way, with his own recipe he developed, and wanted it made just this way. Luckily he documented it, wrote down the recipes with his very precise instructions for all the world to see. So, if you are a fan of one of America’s greatest writers, Nobel Prize Winner, “A Man’s Man,”  besides trying a Hemingway Daiquiri and Cuban Mojito, you just gotta make yourself Hemingway’s Hamburger. The recipe follows.
 
 
 
The HEMINGWAY HAMBURGER RECIPE
 
Ingredients :
 
1 pound fresh Ground Beef
2 cloves Garlic, peeled and minced fine
2 Scallions, chopped 
1 heaping teaspoon India Relish (Heinz’s Sweet Relish)
2 tablespoons Capers, chopped
1 teaspoon Spice Islands Ground Sage
1/2 teaspoon Spice Islands Beau Monde Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Mei Yen Powder, or 1/2 teaspoon of ground Black Pepper
1 large Egg, beaten
1/4 cup dry White Wine
 
 
Break up the meat with a fork and scatter the garlic, onion and dry seasonings over it, then mix them into the meat with a fork or your fingers. Let the bowl of meat sit out of the icebox for ten or fifteen minutes while you set the table and make the salad. Add the relish, capers, everything else including wine and let the meat sit, quietly marinating, for another ten minutes if possible. 
 
Now make four fat, juicy patties with your hands. The patties should be an inch thick, and soft in texture but not runny. 
 
Have the oil in your frying-pan hot but not smoking when you drop in the patties and then turn the heat down and fry the burgers about four minutes. 
 
Take the pan off the burner and turn the heat high again. 
 
Flip the burgers over, put the pan back on the hot fire, then after one minute, turn the heat down again and cook another three minutes. 
 
Both sides of the burgers should be crispy brown and the middle pink and juicy.
 
Place Burgers on your favorite Hamburger Bun, and serve with mustard, salt, pepper, and ketchup on the side.
 
Enjoy !
 
 
 
 
 
 
A HEMINGWAY HAMBURGER
 
 
 
……..
 
NOTE : If you can’t find Beau Monde Spice, you will need to add a Pinch Each of all these ingredients : Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Nutmeg, and Allspice, and a 1/4 teaspoon of Old Bay Spice.
 
In French Beau Monde means “Beautiful World, ” and normally when used in a sentence in English, it refers to The Beautiful People. 
Mei Yen Powder consists of Salt, Sugar, and MSG.
As many people don’t like to use MSG as it causes headaches for many people, the MSG can be omitted. It really doesn’t matter if you sue Mei Yen powder, just make sure you put a 1/ teaspoon or a bit more of ground Black Pepper into your ground beef.
 
 
AMERICA’S FAVORITE RECIPES
 
How to COOK
 
BURGERS THE PERFECT STEAK
 
PRIZE WINNING CHILI
 
PORCHETTA
 
BLUE RIBBON MEATLOAF
 
SECRET RECIPE FRIED CHICKEN
 
And More …
AMAZON.com
Screenshot 2021-11-16 6.07.45 PM
PAPA HEMINGWAY
 

Sunday Sauce with Sinatra – Recipe

FRANK SINATRA


COME FLY WITH ME



SUNDAY SAUCE and SINATRA
 
It’s an old tradition in my family, that most Sunday the Bellino Family gathers together and we eat Sunday Sauce Italian Gravy. The whole family gets together and Grandma House, or Aunt Helen’s, but mostly at Aunt Fran’s House in Lodi, New Jersey. It’s a wonderful all day affair, starting with a little antipasto, followed by the star of the show, Sunday Sauce. Aunt Fran or Aunt Helen usually make the Sauce (Gravy), which is the most supreme dish of all. It’s a long simmered tomato sauce laden with special meat treats, that include: Sausages, Meatballs, and Braciole. We eat it with short maccheroni, usually rigatoni. “It’s the Best Thing ever,” we all just love it, and who wouldn’t, it’s so damn tasty, it is.
 
After the Sunday Sauce, it’s on to dessert and coffee, which is a 3 or 4 hour affair, as the grownups sit around the table drinking Espresso (with Anisette) and eating all the tasty desserts that’s made of a whole array of sweet treats, like: Aunt Fran’s Ricotta Cookies, Cannoli, Sfogliatelle, and whatever sweets that other visitors might bring. And there’s a whole lot of talking about this that and every other thing: sports, politics, gossip and what not, all as Frank Sinatra records play softly in the background. Always. Aunt Wanda loves Jerry Vale, and Dino has his turn too. Those were warm and wonderful days spent with loved ones, and sadly all of the older generation is gone, and we miss them dearly. But me, I think of them often, and especially when it comes to Sundays, eating all day long, cahtting and having fun, eating maccheroni, sausage, Meatballs, and Braciole, listening to Sinatra, and loving it all. My cousins Joe, Tony, and I keep it going. We try to organize as many get-together s as we can, always centered around food, whatever it may be: fresh fish, pasta, Steak, and our all-time favorite Sunday Sauce. And don’t forget Sinatra, Francis Albert that is. Or just simply Frank. 
 
Basta !
 
 
 
 
 
 
LEARN HOW to MAKE
 
SUNDAY SAUCE alla SINATRA
 
RECIPE
 
 
 

 
Frank Sinatra
 
The SUMMER WIND
 
 
A Pot of SUNDAY SAUCE
 
“GRAVY”
RECIPES
FRANK and FRIENDS
 
At GILLY’S
 
NEW YORK
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Ali Frazier Fight MSG 1971

ALI – FRAZIER

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

1971

The ALi – Frazier Fight 1971, pitted WBC/WBA World Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier (26 W – 0 L)against The Ring Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali (31 -0) for the Heavyweight Championship of The World. It was billed as The Fight of The Century, and in the end it was certainly one of the greatest of all-time. Held at New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 8th 1971.

This fight was the first time the two fighters fought each other for the World Heavyweight Title. Joe Frazier won the fight in 15 Rounds on a Unanimous decision.

This fight was the first in a Trilogy of Fights for these two fighter, the second was The Super Fight in 1974, and the third time they met was the famed Thriller in Manila a year later in 1975, the 2nd and 3rd fights both won by Muhammad Ali.

Dave Anderson of The New York Times writes the following :

Ina classic 15-round flight, Joe Frazier broke the wings of the Butterfly and smashed the stinger of the Bee (Ali) at Madison Square Gaeden.

Defying an anonymous “lose or else” death threat, Frazier settled the controversy over the World Heavyweight Championship by handing Ali his first defeat with a savage attack that culminated in a thudding knockdown of the deposed titleholder from a hammer like left hook in the final round.

During the classic brawl, one man in the sellout throng of 20,455 died of a heart attack.

When the verdict was announced, Ali, also known as Cassius Clay accepted it stoically.

Hurried to his dressing room rather than the post fight interview area, Ali remained there for about a half hour.

Suddenly he departed for the Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital for X-Rays of the severely swollen jaw. He was released from the hospital after 40 minutes, and left un-bandaged.

“I always knew who the Champion was,” Frazier, his brow swollen above each brow, said with a smile.

Frank Sinatra was Ringside at The Fight

Tribute to a Great New Yorker (Writer) Pete Hamill

Screenshot 2020-08-06 at 2.05.01 PM
 
Pete Hamill
I chose to use this picture, as Pete looks utterly Happy, Confident, and Content.
 
 
It is a most sad day in New York today. Those New Yorker’s with the good sense and capacity to know who this great man was, one of The Great New Yorker’s of all times. Hamill passed away Wednesday, August 5, 2020, and New York and The World has just become a much less interesting place,” without Pete in it. Hamill may very well be the “Last of The Great Celebrity Newspaperman.”  Hamill wrote 10 novels and a couple collections of short stories, and he was a top author, he will most be remembered as a Newspaper Reporter. This he would tell you himself. His style was muscular, sometimes gritty, and always of energetic prose. 
 
Over his career Hamill worked (wrote) for The New York Post, New York Herald Tribune, The Daily News, Village Voice, and New York Magazine. He penned numerous articles for Esquire, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and other magazines. Hamill was at his best telling the story of his beloved city New York. He could seamlessly write great articles on crime scenes, crime, courthouse drama, of New York and the Worlds Power Brokers, and just about anything. He was a natural storyteller, and with so much knowledge with an encyclopedic take of New York, in his later years Hamill was often featured as a speaker in television documentaries the great metropolis, its history, places, events, and characters, The Heartbeat of New York. We all know him for his books and thousands of magazine and newspaper articles, but if you have never seen Pete Hamill talk about New York, people, anything, do yourself a favor and seek these documentaries out. He had a wonderful voice, and he could besides penning a story, Hamill was great at telling (vocally) as well.
 
Yes we have lost another great one in Pete. I know it sounds cliche “we’ve lost another great,” yes it may sound cliche, but it is as true as can be. When I look around, at such things as books, writings, music, entertainment, and the horrible crap they’ve (so-called musicians) been putting out the past 20 years or so, and the people we’ve lost over the years; Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., John Lennon, Dean Martin, Jimmy Breslin, and now Pete Hamill, the World is so less interesting. Sorry, but there just will never ever be any other entertainer like the great Frank Sinatra, there can’t be, current generations just don’t have the style or class to appreciate this type of greatness. If you have an entire generation listening to shitty crap rap music, and the so-called alternative rock, it proves right there that these people are completely devoid of good-taste. It so so sad, when we had all that great music (R&B, Pop, Standards, Rock n’ Roll) in the 1960s and 70s, that there is so much crap out there today, and practically all the so-called music is so horrible (other than a very few exceptions), “I just don’t get it?” Thank God for books, and Thank God for recordings so we don’t have to listen to all the Shitty Music (except when your in retail shops) that’s out there today, we can listen to the great stuff of the 1960s, 50s, and 70s, and not have to listen the shit they make today (Kanye, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, etc.), yes Thank God for recordings of the past. I feel sorry for the kids of today. We have R&B, Rock n’ Roll, Dean Martin, and Sinatra, and we always have Pete. This great man has passed away, we are thankful that we had him (for 85 years). Pete Hamill has passed away, a very sad day, but his words and his legacy live on, “read him.”
 
God Bless you Peter Hamill, and thank you for all you gave us. Rest in Peace, you live on in your written word.
 
 
DBZ
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A DRINKING LIFE
 
Pete Hamill
 
A Memoir
 
“Read This” !
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New York Times journalist Dan Barry once said, “If the pavement of this city could talk, it would sound like Pete Hamill.” Of course Barry was referring to Pete’s beloved hometown, New York City.
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Screenshot2020-08-05at2.20.20PM
.Pete at his Favorite Watering Hole
The LION’S HEAD
GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pete Hamill with The Great Joe DiMaggio
 
and NT Daily News Cartoonist Bill Gallo
 
 
 
Pete Hamill at dinner with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
 
 
They once dated. Pete also dated Shirley McClain, 
 
and Linda Ronstadt
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Two Great New York City Writers
 
One Italian, One Irish
 
Gay Talese and Pete Hamill
 
 
 
 
 
 

SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

 
Daniel Bellino Zwicke
 
Screenshot 2020-08-05 at 8.59.32 PM
WHY SINATRA MATTERS
Pete Hamill
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