Stranded At The Beach: In The Land of Fritos and Pita Chips

Spending prolonged periods of time away from my usual array of eats is not always easy. Unlike Alice Waters, I don't always have the wherewithal to schlep along my own small cache of foodstuffs. It is especially difficult when staying with friends or relatives, for then I must rely on other people's food...which is what we are doing this week. You never know what people keep in their drawers...Junk food may be verboten in our house but elsewhere, it rules the roost.

When I complained to my friend T. about the snacks on hand during our beach vacation she was not exactly sympathetic. I detected her bemusement as she imagined me being force fed pita chips. It is not quite as dire as that, for I am guilty of even wanting to eat those pita chips. Ordinarily I have no inclination to buy food like that, let alone eat it, but if it is placed before me I find my hand wandering into the bag.

Worse yet is that Izzy is falling prey to the allure of the evil snack drawer. Each time I turn around he is stuffing some sort of unhealthy tidbit into his mouth and I am powerless to stop him. Bowls of crunchy tidbits magically appear on the table and in the beach bags and everyone is having trouble resisting the call of the pita chip. At least the Fritos have escaped Izzy's notice and I have an easier time keeping away from them myself.

I try my best to tell myself that one week of junk food consumption will not a junk food fiend make. What's a bit of junk food between relatives, especially when Grandma L. is preparing her famous family waffle recipe for breakfast, served with a bounty of fresh fruits...


and when we are dining out at incredible places like Pinziminio, a wonderful trattoria that serves up copious portions of lusty Italian fare. Go for the Sunday Gravy Dinner...(Izzy and I both ordered it and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow). A huge Caesar salad, Pasta with sausage, meatballs and Braciole and a cannolo for dessert. Their eggplant appetizer, a meal in and of itself, is especially terrific, light and minimally cheesy it was one of the best versions of eggplant parmigiana I have ever eaten.


Yes. Izzy and I have been eating up a storm here on Long Beach Island, if only we could just steer clear of that snack drawer...