It's funny, because whenever I go to the butcher and ask him to cut up a whole chicken for me and tell him to throw away the insides and stuff, he'll always reply " You're grandmother would be mad as hell if she heard you say that!"

I remember her even using the turkey neck and giblets to make turkey soup on thanksgiving.

The old timers were very resourceful when it came to cooking and making things from scratch. They threw NOTHING out! Even stale day old bread was used to make bread crumbs! I guess back then, with the little money they made and the amount of mouths that had to be fed, they had no choice.



Tonight for dinner we're going out to one of our favorite local Italian restaurants, Luigino's. A real family place that's been in business for about 30 years and still makes great food.

As I've mentioned before, there are 4 Italian restaurants that we go to on Staten Island. Each restaurant is excellent, and each makes a specific dish that I favor.

This one, for me, is their Veal Saltimbucca and their Mozzarella kisses appetizer.