Forking Tasty

I have known John as long as I have been alive. Over the last 35 years he has been many things to me. In precise order here is the list.

1. The first barrier of defense when my other cousin Joe would use me as a barbell
2. The person with the most number of comic books I have ever seen
3. A rock star DJ who apparently knows every single person on campus
4. Technical wizard on all things video
5. Super fun, caring father

Over that time we have ate hundreds of meals together. Many of them large. Like, Thanksgiving large. During the earlier meals I usually was wearing his retired clothing. Quick side note, for a long time i thought they were called Ham-y-downs. I never can get food off the brain. This meal was no exception in size. Although, I was NOT wearing any of his clothes.

What we ate:
beef ribs, pork ribs, pork chop, hot link, cole slaw, deviled eggs, corn bread mash

Home Cookin at the Johnson’s from Anthony Anello on Vimeo.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 136 | Post-meal (1 hour): 154 | Insulin: 5 Units

I had a great week down south with my girlfriend Kelsey. On our last night before heading home to New York, Kelsey’s parents, Mark and Karen, wanted to cook us dinner, Southern Style. Mark and Karen are such great and kind people. They really made me feel welcome in their home. As much as I wanted to help out in the kitchen there was no need to. Karen had taken care of everything the night before and the only thing left was to heat it up. As for Mark, he already had the Pork Loin on the grill on a low temp already cooking by the time Kelsey and I got to the house. Dinner and dessert was delicious. Thanks so much for everything Mark and Karen.

Biltmore Estate from Anthony Anello on Vimeo.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count

Pre-meal: 96 | Post-meal (1 hour): 136 | Insulin: 5 Units

Kelsey and I went on a little road trip to Asheville North Carolina. The main attraction we went to go see was the Biltmore Estate, which is the biggest house in the U.S. There are almost 300 rooms in the house including a bowling ally and indoor swimming pool. However, that is not all to see on the estate. Here is what went down…

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 94 | Post-meal (1 hour): 107 | Insulin: 4 Units

I am down in South Carolina to visit my girlfriend Kelsey. I have never been down in the Carolina’s before. I like it down here. It’s quiet, about 15 – 20 degrees warmer than New York, and there is a lot of great southern foods for me to try. Kelsey’s family are big fans of Forking Tasty and know I am going to be looking for some typical southern food that I am not used to up north…

That headline may leave some of you a bit grossed out. Let me clear this up quickly. These two activities were not done simultaneously. Last Friday night started out with my first trip to the Russian and Turkish baths in the east village. It seems ridiculous that I had not visited this ancient neighborhood hot spot for the for six years I lived just four blocks away. Never-the-less, I was being taken by a veteran so I had little worry other than; “How hungry do you get during this ritual?

I will forgo the full description of what took place in the bowels of this dank, decrepit, building and get straight to the food. For those who have never gone, let’s just say it is an attraction. Communal steam baths, ice plunge pools and really tiny towels make for a sweaty, medieval, journey into a masochistic, voyeuristic and narcissistic land of multi, age, shade and gender new yorkers. The point here is when you are done bathing you are really hungry. Like, eat a horse hungry. We didn’t do that but we did…

I met Cathy last year at SXSW in Austin. She was speaking on a panel about how to be a successful food blogger. Interestingly enough, this was before Forking Tasty had launched. After the session I went up to introduce myself because I loved her blog, we had a mutual friend and we called the same borough home. Since that moment last March I have competed against her, cooked with her and ate next to her on various occasions.

Last week…

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 84 | Post-meal (1 hour): 95 | Insulin: 5 Units

It was an impromptu double date. Jay and I took our women to a Brazilian restaurant called Rice and Beans. This may be the first time in years that this has happened. We both have to great girlfriends and lucky for us they love food and trying new things. It’s always a good time when you eat with the Brothers Tasty and you know a good meal is about to be eaten…

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 83 | Post-meal (1 hour): 131 | Insulin: 5 Units

I am home for only a few months and I like to see as many of my friends and family as I can before I ship off. I went to go visit my cousins out in Long Island with my mom. It’s been about a year and a half since I had been there and was really excited to see them, meet their chocolate lab (Bella) and see what they have done to their house.

Mom was treating for lunch that day so we were thinking of where to eat before we left the house. There were a lot of choices but my cousin mentioned her favorite burger place in Port Jefferson. Even though I had a burger the night before at BLT Burger my mind was set. If it’s my cousin’s favorite then I had to try it.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 95 | Post-meal (1 hour): 149 | Insulin: 5 Units

It was man night and the men wanted to eat burgers! There are hundreds of places to go and eat a good burger in New York City. Jay couldn’t make dinner so the boys left it up to one of the Brothers Tasty to decide on a Burger. One of my personal favorite burgers in the city is at BLT Burger. They just do it right.

Now…, when we were trying to get everyone together lots of emails were going around on who can make it and who can’t make it. For those who could not make it were hazed a bit. It was a very manly night and I was prepared for a lot of testosterone that night. However, somehow the conversation turned to talking about Farmville over milkshakes. WHAT!, where was all the man talk??? We did bounce back to our man hoods eventually and start to talk about old and future bachelor parties. Way better guy talk.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 73 | Post-meal (1 hour): 222 | Insulin: 4 Units

There is a place down the street from me called Wine:30 that has a lot of different Bruschetta’s. Bruschetta is one of Kelsey’s favorite things to eat with a meal and I wanted to bring her there on Valentines Day before our dinner for some Bruschetta and wine. However, we didn’t have time, I kind of over packed the day. A couple days later we wanted to go to for lunch and we invited my roommate Laura along as well. We were all so excited for some wine and Bruschetta but when we arrived it was closed. We were all very disappointed and hungry. Look for the Wine on 30 post in a few weeks.
We needed to find an alternative lunch spot. Laura and I had talked about this pizza place down on 14th street called Artichoke. It has been around for a while now and it always has a line down the street of people waiting for pizza. We decide to headed down and see what all the hype was about.