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.