Dinner & A Show

            Don’t worry; I’m not talking about a dinner and a play or a musical. But I am talking about food, of course. Do you enjoy Chinese or Japanese food? Do you like being entertained? Do you like getting your money’s worth? Well then I have a solution for you!

            This past weekend was my birthday (as you can probably tell from my last post) and I had the pleasure of having my birthday dinner at a hibachi grille. A hibachi grille is an oriental restaurant with a show atmosphere. When you walk into a hibachi grille, you will be seated around a flat top stove like those in restaurant kitchens. After choosing the meat of your entrée which includes choices like chicken, beef, shrimp, or scallops, a hibachi chef will bring his cart with all his supplies to your stove area. And the show begins. 

             The chef will toss his sharpened knifes all over the place and never drops a single one or cuts himself. He will juggle eggs around in his spatulas, and throw a couple into his chef hat. He will squirt oil all over the grille and light it on fire. You will definitely feel the heat from that flame so close to your face. He will throw food toward you so you can try to catch it in your mouth (which is a lot harder than it looks). Basically the chef builds your entire meal from scratch in front of you and then places it on your plate. Talk about interactive cooking! This meal is the perfect combination of excellent food and great entertainment.

            The hibachi I went to was in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which is about two hours from good ol’ Annville. So I did a little research and found three in the local area.

Kugo Japanese Steak House

1723 Quentin Road

Lebanon, PA 17042   

Sakana Japanese Restaurant

2308 Patton Road

Harrisburg, PA 17112

Sakura

1144 E Chocolate Avenue

Hershey, PA 17033

Happy Birthday October Babies!

      I wanted to share my "birthday cake" with my followers. My "cake" consisted of 21 chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing made by my beautiful mother. Thanks mom! Happy Birthday October Babies! =]

Try not to drool!

Pie without an Oven?

A simple, but delicious, find! Enjoy!

I Could't Think of a "Cheesy" Title for this Post!

PIZZA!!! (yum!)

   Pizza is probably the most popular item in a college student's diet! It's cheap and delicious! Over the weekend my friends and I were looking for something to eat. We decided to head down to J & S Pizza on main street. Many of you probably know the place, but it was the best pizza I had in a long time, so I felt it necessary to mention. My friends and I got a 2 liter bottle of coke and order of french fries and an extra large cheese pizza for around $15! That was $5 per person, and we couldn't even finish the pie. What a deal!!! Great for a college kid's wallet.

J & S Pizza located at:

31 West Main Street
Annville, Pennsylvania 17003

Open daily from 10:30 am to 11pm!

What do College Students Eat?

    We, as college students, have very peculiar diets. We eat at random hours, and the oddest foods. So being curious, I visited some residents on my floor, and asked them what they eat. I took pictures of things they had on their "food shelves." Scroll down to see what things I found!

Jiffy, fish & wheat!

Kids, toucan, and various cookies!

Got to keep hydrated!

Sweets are a necessity!

Mustard & onion? Fruit shaped gummies!

Pickles & Cheese?

The Seven Wonders of A&M’s Rigatoni

Driving west on U.S. Route 422 into Palmyra, you might miss my favorite little Italian pizza shop, A&M. A&M has the best Rigatoni I have ever tasted (and believe me, I’ve tried many). There are seven particular wonders of this delectable entrée. 

First A&M’s rigatoni meal starts with a loaf of freshly baked bread, still warm. There is something about this bread that is so delicious. You can enjoy this soft, warm bread without any toppings like butter. It is divine in itself.

Then comes the freshly tossed salad with its crisp green lettuce, cold tomatoes, black and green olives, and crunchy red onions. This light salad is the perfect pre-curser to the meal to come. However, the salad does not stand alone; it must be paired with A&M’s French dressing. This dressing is the perfect combination of salty and sweet. Its creamy texture pairs excellently with the crisp salad.

Finally your rigatoni will be ready. The first thing you will immediately notice is the amount of pasta on your plate. This oval shaped plate is loaded down with pasta. The rigatoni is mounded upon itself, high enough to feed two.

Usually great things have solid foundations. This is the case with this rigatoni. The flawlessly cooked past is the foundation of this great dish. Pasta is a tricky thing to cook. It can easily be under or over cooked. For the numerous times I’ve had this meal at A&M, the noodles we nothing less than wonderful.

On this delightful pasta are linear indentations. You might ask, “Why is this fact considered a wonder?” Well, these ridges on the pasta expertly hold on the sauce (which is the 7^th wonder). So therefore, the indentations are the “foundation” of the sauce.

The sixth wonder is the seasoned beef. I would consider the beef the basis of the rigatoni sauce. If it wasn’t right, it would ruin the entirety of the sauce. The beef is ideal size to add the right texture to the overall dish. It isn’t in huge overbearing or minuscule pieces. Seasoned with salt, pepper, onion and some garlic, the beef adds a burst of flavor to the dish when it hits your tongue.

Finally, the seventh wonder (drum roll, please), the sauce. A&M’s seasoned red sauce seamlessly combines sweet and spicy. When you put the sauce in your mouth you can taste the brown sugar and the crushed red peppers simultaneously.

These seven elements create one of my favorite meals to eat here at Lebanon Valley College. It’s relatively inexpensive, coming in at only $9.91 with a large soda, and it is way more delicious than any “food” (if you can call it that) here at school. I encourage you to take a trip down U.S. Route 422 and visit A&M. You won’t regret it, and it is definitely worth your time and appetite.

Why Would a Pig Ever Need a Blanket?

Here's a very simple recipe that is so delicious you could eat all of them. And try my twist on the recipe, it turned out excellent. Just eat them with a cup of milk near by. Enjoy!