songbird's crazy world

So I was reading about subscription boxes.  It's an interesting concept.  Every month you get a box of merchandise -- accessories, cosmetics, foods, craft items, whatever.  It's like getting a gift every month. So I thought I'd give it a try.  I ordered the April Wantable box. What I liked about Wantable is that they try to gear the products in your box to your individual needs and taste.  They ask you to complete a survey - do you like sunglasses?  Earrings?  Hair accessories? Is your style classic?  Glamourous?  Rock star? Your box is then "personalized" with accessories they think you will like. My box contained earrings, bracelets, a ring and some ballerina hair ties.  I like the jewelry, but I'm not sure I'll use the hair ties.  Barretts or a headband would have been a better option for me. Definitely worth the $36 subscription price, I can't wait until next month. Here's what was in my box. ...

So the Thai food was our celebratory dinner in honor of our parents.  My mom and dad have been married 55 years. 55 years, can you imagine that?  It was a quiet evening at home, take-out food, cake from Dortoni's, nothing too elaborate.  Cozy.  Moments to relish. Of course, the old stories were told. How they were both teachers at the time.    How my dad lived on Long Island and my mom lived in the Bronx.  How they initially planned to marry in June and honeymoon in Europe.  How they chose to marry on Easter Sunday instead -- Easter was in March that year, but Passover was at the end of April -- and have a brief honeymoon in the Catskills, with the idea they'd go to Europe during the summer anyhow.  That's not how things worked out.  I was born 11 months after they got married, so no trip to Europe that summer.  They didn't get to visit Europe until my dad retired.  There are very few pictures of thei...

Lest you think it's all Asian food for me, tonight we got takeout from Jackson's. We have eaten here and/or gotten takeout several times, so we knew what to expect. The employees were pleasant when I picked up the order. Portions were large and food was tasty. But apparently we has a communications breakdown, because there were several mistakes with our order. I had the chicken Parmesan. Mauve portion of chicken breasts, breaded, fried and buried in mozzarella. The dish had been placed under the broiler and the cheese was a tad overdone. Side of rigatoni with marinara was pretty standard. The salmon dish and the chicken dish ordered by my dining companions looked good as well. Caesar salad looked and tasted fresh. Yes, we will be back. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

We did take-out from this place the other night. It was my first experience with this restaurant, and I've had very limited experience with Thai food in general. I really enjoyed our dinner. Our meal began with an assortment of appetizers and dipping sauces. We had mini spring rolls - crispy goodness with sweet orange sauce similar to Chinese duck sauce. Chicken satay -- skewers of chicken with a thick, flavorful peanut sauce. Curry samosas - triangles of fried dough stuffed with a spicy curry, a little too spicy for my taste. Next we had whole red snapper - filleted, breaded and fried, and served with a sauce similar to Chinese sweet and sour sauce. The shrimp fried rice -- only vaguely similar to Chinese or Japanese fried rice, it contained chunks of pineapple and had a very sweet taste. Ginger duck - a stir fried dish with lots of vegetables and a sweet sauce. Chicken Pad Thai - rice noodles, chicken and vegetables stir fried in a savory brown sauce. We also ord...

If you're a Long Islander, that name brings about visions of white boxes with blue writing, of cakes and pies and cookies on supermarket shelves. Specially decorated cookies or cupcakes for holidays: green icing for St. Patrick's Day, orange and chocolate sprinkles for Halloween. It's a regional bakery with a large assortment of products. Yesterday the company announced that it was closing its Bay Shore plant, which was its main site for decades, and relocating those functions to another plant. No big deal for the consumer, right? Except that it means they're also closing the factory outlet store. When I was a little girl my parents would take the drive to Bay Shore to buy cakes and etc. at the outlet. Back then we ate a lot of baked goods, there weren't a lot of supermarkets in our area, and the choices and markdowns at the outlet made it worth the time and effort to drive to Bay Shore. You'd see the boxes, with red or black slashes drawn on them...

Previously known as China City Buffet, this restaurant was recently closed and remodeled, and has reopened as Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffet. The dining area of the restaurant is large and open, and can accommodate large groups of people.  The koi pond in the lobby is a nice touch.  We were a fairly large group, yet had no problem being seated even on a busy Sunday. Food offerings include both Asian and American selections.  The American selections include a complete salad bar (with peel and eat shrimp), pizza and macaroni and cheese.  Honestly, I didn't touch any of that -- I don't go to an Asian buffet to eat pizza. There were about a dozen different sushi rolls, nothing too complicated, but freshly made and tasty.  The hibachi area offers cooked to order meat/vegetable/noodle combinations. Buffet table offerings:  Most of the dishes were seafood or chicken, but there were pork and beef dishes as well.  .Spare ribs were meaty and in a tangy...

I was running some errands in East Meadow and needed lunch.  Tucked into a shopping center, this small restaurant is primarily take-out and delivery oriented, with a couple of tables in case you'd like to eat your meal there. The menu is predominantly Chinese, but they offer a nice selection of Thai dishes as well as Japanese udon noodles. My choice was a combo plate from the lunch menu -- chicken in garlic sauce with pork fried rice.  The dish was made of nice slices of white meat chicken and an assortment of vegetables, including broccoli, baby corn and pea pods.  I would have liked to have seen a little more chicken in the dish.  The garlic sauce had a nice kick to it, but was not overwhelmingly spicy.  Fried rice had a decent amount of pork in it. Definitely worth another visit the next time I'm in the area.