Taco Joe’s in Massapequa

I haven’t posted anything in a while since I’ve been busy studying for the CPA Exam. Now that it’s over, I am back to exploring the Massapequas!

I received a menu for Taco Joe’s this week with the words “Taco Joe says: ‘I’m Keepin it Real and Fresh.” Taco Joe’s is on the corner of Merrick Road and Hicksville Road in Massapequa. Real and fresh and close by – that sounds like a good place to go for lunch.

So on Saturday, I found myself waiting in line at Taco Joe’s. All the tables were full, as well as the seating by the window. There were couples, families with kids and small groups of friends enjoying their lunch. The man in front of me in line ordered a number of items for his family while we all watched the assembly taking place behind the glass – steak fajitas with 2 soft flour tortillas and pulled pork, rice and bean burritos.

When my turn came, I ordered 2 El Deluxos – tacos with lettuce, tomato or salsa, cheese, sour cream and beans. I chose chicken but they also offer ground beef, steak, pulled pork and spicy chicken. They advertise nothing but fresh ingredients. My El Deluxo Tacos were a good, quick, fresh lunch close to home.

Taco Joe’s menu includes tacos, quesadillas, burritos, fajitas, nachos, salads, southwest sandwiches and a kids menu. They are open 7 days a week until 10PM. There is also a Yogurt & Such Café in there which I plan to try next time.

The Massapequas were Hit Hard by Irene

Tropical Storm Irene (also known as Hurricane Irene until it hit New York), hit our area late Saturday night and into Sunday morning. After the rain stopped, everyone on our block went outside to assess the damage and start to clean up. A few hours later, the winds started to pick up again (the back-end of the storm) and it caused more damage.

We lost power in Massapequa Park very early Sunday morning but I consider us lucky since there are huge uprooted trees, large branches and fallen power lines in the streets and on houses all around us. A tree fell into the street a house down from us and blocked the street off. Luckily no one was hurt and property was not damaged. On my way to the Southern State, I passed at least 5 uprooted trees and many more with large branches broken off. Two of the uprooted trees were resting on people’s homes while others were tied up in power lines. Many streets were still closed late this morning.

Our neighbors south of Merrick Road had to evacuate their homes before the storm. I haven’t been down there, but have seen pictures from friends and family whose streets are flooded with knee-deep water. Hopefully everyone is OK down there.

We are on Day 2 without power (I am writing this from a family member's house). Half a million LIPA customers (this is at least a million people since there is more than one person living in a house or apartment) lost power. This is more than 500,000 out of the 1 million customers served by the power authority (2.5 million people live on Long Island). The power authority says it could take until Friday to restore power.

How have you fared in this storm? Please let me know in the comments. I hope everyone is safe.

Rained Out

On Friday night, we wanted to grill some chicken thighs which I purchased on sale from Village Farms on Park Blvd in Massapequa Park. Village Farms has become my go-to supermarket now that I have stopped driving to Plainview. I still plan on trying more of the local supermarkets though.

My husband found this recipe for Cedar-Planked Chicken Thighs with Soy-Ginger Glaze on Weber grill’s website. Unfortunately, while preparing the glaze on the stove, we heard thunder and within minutes it was pouring rain outside. Forget the grill – I ended up sautéing the chicken thighs on the stove and pouring the glaze on top. We hope to try the recipe on the grill before the summer is over!

I posted this recipe on my other blog The Cooking Accountant. This recipe is adapted from the Cedar-Planked Chicken Thighs with Soy-Ginger Glaze on the Weber website.

Sautéed Glazed Chicken Thighs

Ingredients

-          10 skinless boneless chicken thighs

-          ¾ cup soy sauce

-          ½ cup balsamic vinegar

-          ½ cup packed brown sugar

-          1 tablespoon minced garlic

-          1/8  teaspoon ginger powder

-          ½ teaspoon pepper

-          1/8 cup sesame oil

Preparation

Clean any remaining fat and membrane from the chicken thighs.

In a saucepan, cook the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar until reduced by half (about 20 minutes). Remove the saucepan from heat and add the garlic, ginger powder, pepper and sesame oil.

In a frying pan, brown the chicken thighs on both sides and then let them cook through until the chicken is opaque.

Pour the glaze over the chicken thighs, loosely cover with aluminum foil and turn down the heat to a medium simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes, turn the chicken thighs over and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve with stir fry vegetables and/or brown rice.

Beat the Heat

When I was younger, we didn’t have air conditioning at home. Back then, you had to think creatively to beat the heat. Growing up in Brooklyn, my brother and I joined our friends by the open fire hydrant or walked over to Tony’s Pizza around the corner for Italian ices.

We loved rainbow flavor ices but couldn’t have them all the time. Mom yelled at us when we bought anything other than lemon flavor because that was the only “natural” flavor (a.k.a. no food coloring). Nevertheless, rainbow has remained a favorite of mine over the years.

On a 90-plus degree day such as today, I still think of a rainbow ice as the only way to cool down. Ices are more substantial than a cold glass of water but not heavy enough to weigh you down like ice cream or yogurt.

Since it was only a short drive away, we decided to try Ralph’s Famous Italian Ices on Park Blvd in Massapequa Park. They had numerous sizes from small all the way up to pint and quart sized containers. I usually like to eat ices the old school way by pushing them out of small paper cups. However, this time, I have to forgive myself for ordering the larger size Styrofoam container and eating with a spoon given that a heat wave is going on.

Ralph’s serves water ice flavors such as cherry, lemon, cotton candy and, of course, rainbow. The rainbow flavor tastes a little sweeter than the pizzeria ices, but it’s still good and refreshing. They also have cream ice flavors such as coconut, vanilla chip, spumoni and cremalata which I haven’t tried yet but plan to. It would be nice to have a good spumoni ice without having to drive to all the way to Brooklyn!

A Few Things for a Dollar

I have to confess that I have never been in a dollar store before. It’s sad, I know, but I could never think of a reason to go in other than “let’s see what I can get for a dollar.” That reason alone wasn’t enough to compel me to visit a dollar store. If I needed something for a craft, I would usually purchase it from eBay, way cheaper than a dollar.

Some of my friends and relatives get great things from dollar stores –toys for kids and dogs, vases, plates, bamboo plants (yes, plants). These are people who also have the patience to scour racks of clothes or shoes to find a good deal. I am more of a quick shopper because some stores make me claustrophobic (ever been to Macy’s Herald Square during the December holidays?) and I prefer to shop online (with coupon codes, of course) to save time and get exactly what I want. Now that I have slowed down my career to pursue my writing dreams, I have time to actually drive to a store.

A couple of weeks ago, when I needed a plush toy and large plastic toy car for a baby shower basket I was making, I decided to go to Marshall’s in the Holiday Park Shopping Center on Hicksville Rd. When I got out of my car, I saw the Dollar Tree and decided to take a look there first out of curiosity.  

It was a fairly large store with many glass vases (I bought one), cheap toys for kids and dogs (I bought a Rubik’s cube and bag of squishy baseballs), lots of plates and cups, and even groceries. I found packs of blue rattles, blocks and baby carriages and spools of ribbon that I used to decorate a diaper cake I was making.

Here’s a picture of my creations: a diaper cake, a car filled with books and toys and a Yankees plush toy basket. I created them using supplies from the Dollar Tree, Marshalls, Costco, Party City and Babies R Us.

Fourth of July in Massapequa Park

For the second year in a row, we attended the Massapequa Park fireworks show in Mansfield Park at Walker Street which was held on Friday July 1.

The show had originally been cancelled this year due to Massapequa Park Village budget limitations; however, the event was brought back and sponsored by Supervisor Venditto and the Town of Oyster Bay.

When we arrived, we found the park packed with people. We walked by chairs and blankets on the grass, children running around and extended families sharing snacks.  Vendors sold things to eat and drink and glow necklaces and swords for the kids (and adults) to play with.

A concert by Time Was Productions was performed before the show. The fireworks show started after sundown following a few words from Massapequa Park Mayor James Altodonna and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto. The fireworks were accompanied by music.

Here are some videos:

More fireworks…

And the grand finale!

In memory of our dear friend Anthony whose favorite holiday was the Fourth of July.

Quest for Marsala Wine

I had a slice of chicken marsala pizza the other day, and ever since, I have had a craving for veal marsala. I decided to make it for a lovely Friday night dinner instead of going out to eat.

For that, I needed to purchase a bottle of marsala wine. Normally, I would drive over to the Stew Leonard’s Wines in Farmingdale; I figured it would be better to try out one of the local liquor stores.

And so, the quest for marsala wine begins!

I remembered seeing a liquor store near Village Farms, so I decided to try out Park Liquors on Park Blvd in Massapequa Park. There is a parking lot in the back (commuter and customer parking) and they have wines from various regions. I was able to find a bottle of marsala. Success!

I will share my recipe for veal scaloppine with marsala and mushrooms which I originally posted on my other blog, The Cooking Accountant. This recipe is adapted from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. I use mushrooms and a little more butter. Buon appetito!


Veal Scaloppine with Marsala and Mushrooms





Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 pound veal scaloppine, thin-sliced
- Flour, spread on a plate
- Salt
- Pepper
- ½ cup Marsala wine
- 8 oz cleaned and sliced white mushrooms
- 2 Tbsp butter


Preparation
Heat your skillet and when hot, add the olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter.

Once the butter starts to foam, dredge both sides of each veal scallop in the flour, shaking off the excess, and place in the skillet. Dredge right before putting them in the pan; any earlier and the flour will become soggy.

Allow them to cook on one side and then flip to cook on the other side. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

When the veal scallops are browned on both sides, remove them from the pan and place onto a plate. Leave the stove on.

Add the marsala wine and the mushrooms and turn the heat up. Scrape the brown residues from the skillet using a wooden spoon.

Add the 2 Tbsp butter.

Once the wine has reduced and the mushrooms have cooked, return the veal scallops to the skillet to heat them and coat both sides with the sauce.
Remove the veal scallops from the pan and place on your serving plate.

Serve with spaghetti (I like to put my drained spaghetti into the saucepan to mop up the remaining sauce before adding it to the plate).

Schools in the Massapequas

Usually when looking to purchase a house or property on Long Island, you will want to know what school district it is in since you will be paying school taxes in addition to property taxes. If you have just started looking in the Massapequa area or are new to the neighborhood, you are probably wondering what schools are in the area.

The Massapequas are served by 4 school districts:

 

• Massapequa School District # 23
  • Massapequa High School (Grades 10-12)
  • Massapequa High School, Ames Campus (Grade 9)
  • Alfred G. Berner Middle School (Grades 7-8)
  • Elementary Schools (Grades K-6)
    • Birch Lane (Massapequa Park)
    • East Lake (Massapequa Park)
    • Fairfield (Massapequa)
    • Raymond J. Lockhart (Massapequa)
    • John P. Mckenna (Massapequa Park)
    • Unqua (Massapequa)

 

• Farmingdale School District # 22
  • Farmingdale Senior High School (Grades 9-12)
  • Weldon E. Howitt Middle School (Grades 6-8)
  • Elementary Schools (Grades K-5)
    • Albany Avenue (North Massapequa)
    • Northside (Farmingdale)
    • Saltzman East Memorial (Farmingdale)
    • Woodward Parkway (Farmingdale)

 

• Plainedge School District # 18
  • Plainedge High School (Grades 9-12)
  • Plainedge Middle School (Grades 6-8)
  • Elementary Schools (Grades K-5)
    • Eastplain (North Massapequa)
    • John H. West (Bethpage)
    • Charles E. Schwarting (Massapequa)

 

• Amityville School District # 6
  • Amityville Memorial High School (Grades 10-12)
  • Edmund W. Miles Middle School (Grades 7-9)
  • Elementary Schools
    • Park Avenue Memorial (Amityville) (Grades 3-6)
    • Northwest (Amityville) (Grades 1-2)
    • Northeast (Amityville) (Grades Pre K-K)

 

There are quite a few resources to help you figure out and learn more about the school districts. These include:

To identify the school district

• MLS listings
• Nassau County’s Land Records Viewer

For general information and test scores

• Newsday
• New York State Department of Education New York State Report Cards
• New York Schools
• Long Island Schools

Welcome to my Blog!

Even though I have lived in the Massapequa area for a little over a year, I still feel like a newcomer. I was working insane hours in corporate accounting and only saw my neighborhood on weekends. Walking from the house to the car and driving to the train station before anyone is awake and returning home when everyone is ready for bed does not count as seeing the neighborhood.

Now that I have more time on my hands, I want to see more. I want to walk around the neighborhood and in the Massapequa Preserve for exercise. I want to drive to stores that are not a walking distance from the train station. I want to stop shopping in my old neighborhood and try out some of the local stores. I want to experience and enjoy what my taxes are funding.

We live in an area less than an hour’s train ride to New York City and minutes away from Jones Beach but we also have our own local gems. Join me this summer as I discover them.