In today’s fast-paced and competitive business world, you need to run your company wisely. Call center software can impact agent productivity and job satisfaction, as well as delight customers. Also, effective marketing can establish your position in the marketplace and help you expand your reach. In this article, we provide 6 six genius marketing tips…
This summer consider adding Italian ingredients to your meals to improve flavor and color! Combine Italian elements to BBQ, picnic meals, or campfire dinners to get creative. Pasta is the staple quintessential Italian food we think of. The Italians cure award winning meats that are perfect for sandwiches, starters, and even snacks. Finally, adding Italian cheese to sauces, cheese boards, and main dishes can elevate them into the stratosphere. Below are some of our favorite tested Italian foods and meal ideas to introduce you to delizioso.
Grill and Thrill
Italians like to grill like we do. They use spiedini (skewers) with cheese, veggies, and meats. By adding extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) at the end of the grilling process with a dash of sea salt, the grilled ingredients have a clarity of flavor that is not seen when one douces them in thick BBQ sauce. Rubbing fresh oregano and rosemary prior to cooking can give a light essence that couples with the natural flavors of meats. A side salad, like a caprese salad, a cold tortellini pesto salad, or a macaroni salad all go great with BBQ! ROI produces a tasty Basil Pesto made with basil, dry tomatoes, garlic, cashews, parmigiano Reggiano and EVOO. BBQ meal desserts can also be grilled Italian style. Try grilling peaches or pineapple and top with gelato or just make a tiramisu! Dark Chocolate & Cherry Crostata is also a magnifico to try!
Powerful Pasta
Pasta is now perfect even for those with allergies or who are looking for lower carb options that are protein based. There are so many options to choose from. Dishes can be hot, cold or warm. Germinal Organic www.germinalorganic.com makes Riso E Quinoa Spaghetti that is gluten-free. It can be found at www.eataly.com. It absorbs the flavor of sauce well or can be eaten with a brown butter and a Parmigiano Reggiano cheese pairing from Vivaldi Foods www.vivaldifoods.com. They also make organic gluten-free mais e riso Lasagna that is sold at Eataly. Lasagna can be vegetarian, or meat filled. Just add to the base ricotta mixture items such as grilled zucchini, sauteed mushrooms, spinach, or ground meat. Linguine Pasta with Cuttlefish Ink from Pastificio Morelli www.pastamorelli.it/en is a treat for your tastebuds! It pairs beautifully with seafood-based sauces like clam sauce. One can also mix pastas together for a more colorful look. Try Morelli’s red chili or lemon pepper pasta with the black ink pasta for a different taste and presentation.
Cheese Please
Italian food is known for cheese. It is the base of food and added to so many dishes. Start meals with an antipasto platter that has multiple cheeses like Asiago Fresco DOP from Agriform www.agriform.it . Asiago also makes the most incredible sauce when paired with cream and pears. Dates can be stuffed with this versatile cheese and encased in bacon and grilled for a smokey, sweet, creamy combo. Gorgonzola DOP by Vivaldi belongs to the blue cheese family and tends to have a soft and creamy texture. It can be found in cream sauces, gorgonzola and honey bruschetta, and on the prized pizzas like caramelized apple and gorgonzola pizza and prosciutto, pear, and gorgonzola pizza. While Satori cheese is made in Wisconsin, it has a rich Italian heritage. The BellaVitano Merlot has a creamy texture with fruity notes of plum and berry. The rind is meant to be eaten and enjoyed. This cheese, due to the merlot, is mesmerizing and memorable on a cheese board. Last but never least, is goat cheese. Laura Chenel www.laurachenel.com makes a Kalamata Olive Goat cheese Log that takes pizza to the next level! It can be added to Italian salads and sauces for rich olive flavor. One could just eat it plain as well and let out a huge sigh.
Marvelous Meats
Salame Emilia by Ferrarini www.ferrarini.com is made from slowly cured pork with warm complex flavors. It has a 90-day shelf life for campers and pairs with cheese, crusty breads, and pizza. Tempesta www.tempestaartisansalumi.com from Southern Minnesota makes some of the best meat products we have tested. The Mortadella with Pistachios is swoon worthy. Tempesta’s Sopressata Picante (uncured spicy salami) gives your sandwich heat with flavor while the Tempesta Tartufo (uncured black truffle salami) is so rich and fragrant that you may gobble the whole salami!
We hope you are inspired to make mouthwatering Italian influenced dishes! Buon Appetito!
It’s officially BBQ Season! BBQ is all about the rubs and sauces to make you grill bosses! Savor the sauce and consider the plethora of possibilities for your palette. Below are flavor packed ingredients that can help make your next BBQ memorable. Try them on veggies, cheeses, meats, and even pizza bases. Remember, sometimes letting a marinade sit on meat overnight helps it to permeate through the skin and tenderize the dish. Summer grilling with superb sauce makes all the difference in the meal!
1787 Ponti Glaze with Balsamic Vinegar of Medinawww.ponti.com
1787 Ponti Glaze with Balsamic Vinegar is a full-bodied glaze with moderate acidity and the aroma of cooked fruit. Drizzle it on your fish dishes, eggs, or veggies for a perfect pairing. The sweet and yet sour taste mixed with grilling is a great combo. $6.90 at Eataly
Hatch Green Chile Barbeque ($10) from pitmaster John Lewis has roasted green chiles galore. Lewis, of Charleston, has bold flavors in this this mouthwatering mustard-based sauce. Use it on potatoes, wings, or burgers to take the flavor profile of your food up a notch.
Smoked Cherry BBQ Sauce ($9.99) has a fruity sweet tart cherry taste. Slather it on pork tenderloin or a rack of ribs to ignite a cherry bomb in your mouth! Try Sweet Preacher and the Original BBQ Sauce too.
Chucktown Stinger (2 10oz $22.99) is low country style hot sauce with honey. Use this sweet heat on fries, pizza, and chicken! Lillie’s can be added to marinades and finishing sauces to make food taste more complex and robust. All the products are made with love and care.
Sorta White ($8.99) This award-winning handcrafted smooth tangy sauce is great for dipping gluten free or added to side salads, fried green tomatoes, and scallops. Mayo based with horseradish, chili peppers and apple cider vinegar, you may be tempted to drink it! Also look for the Spellbound Rub ($7.99) Complex flavors meld together in this rich versatile rub. It works wonders on meat, like steak.
Rufus Teague Honey Sweet BBQ Sauce is award-winning thick sauce made with sticky honey. It is a rich and flavorful KC classic BBQ sauce. Try this gluten-free sauce on brisket, pork, or shrimp to elevate its taste. $12.00 at Amazon
Spicy BBQ Sauce ($6.99), Original Sauce ($7.99) and FH Jerk Seasoning ($6.99) all should be considered when grilling this summer due to the high intensity of their flavors! Jerk chicken is an art that starts with seasoning and sauces!
Mambo is a mild DC Style sauce ($7.75) that makes ordinary wings taste magnificent! Mild enough for most everyone, this tomato-based sauce can be used as a glaze, a marinade, finishing sauce or dipping sauce.
Sweet &Tangy sauce from pitmaster sisters Deborah and Mary of KC. Pour on the Jones flavor and let it seep into your meat or tofu over night for the best results. $20 Amazon
The Mixed Sauce and Rub set for $32 is the way to go for gift giving at the next BBQ you are invited to! The set has 2 rubs and 2 sauces for when you want sweet or spicy.
As a type 1 diabetic, I always look at sugar and carb content. This brand helps me pack in the flavor without spiking my blood sugar. The award-winning pit master has a number of condiments to try for every occasion. The Maple Brown BBQ Sauce ($6.85) is a must try! It works so well on meatloaf and turkey burgers. The Polynesian Dipping Sauce (5.54) and the Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce are charismatic on wings, chicken skewers, or on top of pizza.
On Wednesday, June 21, 2023, La Barca Cantina, NYC’s one-of-a-kind Mexican restaurant located on a three-story yacht, hosted by the Panorama Mezcal Festival. The largest mezcal-tasting event on the East Coast, for its second year in a row. Mezcal lovers experienced the vibrant flavors and rich traditions of Mexican distilled spirits while tasting over 300 top-tier mezcal and…
By Lil Nickelson Jalao NYC is the first dining Dominican cuisine restaurant in Washington Heights located at 2420 Amsterdam Avenue on the northwest corner of 180th Street. The name is derived from the Dominican traditional dessert of coconut and honey that is served warm with a scoop of Dominican rum ice cream. Located in the…
Alfa Ousmane Barrie, one of the boys who went missing in Harlem who later drowned in the Hudson River, was laid to rest at a janaazah (funeral) on Friday. Barrie, 11, went missing last month along with 13-year-old Garrett Warren, who’s body was recovered from the Harlem River.
Services were held at the Futa Islamic Center in The Bronx followed by the maqbarah at Marlboro Muslim Memorial Cemetery in Morganville, NJ.
On May 12, Barrie and Warren, both students at Democracy Prep Middle School, went missing. After a week-long search, Barrie’s body was recovered under the Madison Avenue Bridge over the Hudson River on May 20. Warren’s body was recovered from the Harlem River on May 18.
Reports indicate that the boys climbed through a broken bridge close to the 145th Street Bridge.
By Lil Nickelson and Photo by Rudy Collins On a rainy Saturday, May 20th, 2023, morning eager ticket holders began flowing into the Alhambra Ballroom. The Ballroom is located on the southwest corner of 126th Street at 2116 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. at 9 am to attend the 2023 Great American Hat Show under…
By Bretton Love Retail businesses have entered quite a competitive atmosphere now. They are continuously striving to meet the ever-increasing demands of the consumers. Return policies are playing a significant role in store’s success nowadays. In fact, the stores that are offering flexible return policies are building a loyal customer base as consumers share that…
Following a month of activities and events promoting the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming. Including non-binary, queer, and intersex (LGBTQ+) New Yorkers, the NYC Health Department, the NYC Unity Project and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Equity are proud to announce their participation in the NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 25, 2023,…
The City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the artists whose work will “enliven and beautify the walls” of the 191st Street Tunnel.
From a pool of 57 applicants, DOT has selected five artists, most of whom have ties to Northern Manhattan.
The artists will begin their work in the fall.
The tunnel is a roughly 1,000-foot passageway connecting Broadway to the #1 subway line at 191st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.
Though it bears the characteristics of an above-ground tunnel, the space is actually categorized as a mapped city street above one of the system’s deepest stations, at 180 feet below street level.
The selected artists are listed below.
Vicky Azcoitia: The Washington Heights-based artist works with photography and design. Dedicating most of her time to freelance photography, photo-editing, and graphic design, she also works on developing her own documentary photography projects. Azcoitia currently teaches digital photography at the Bronx River Art Center and is a member artist at Cornerstone Studios.
Daniel Bonilla: A Washington Heights/Inwood-born and raised artist who is curating the Riverside-Inwood Neighborhood Gardens ‘Art in the Garden’ for the third year in a row. Bonilla has been an artist his entire life, working previously with Colossal Media and independently since 2019, he strives to do public art in The Heights and Inwood area to feel connected to his neighborhood and roots.
Denise Coke: A Queens-born Caribbean-American who is based in Jamaica, Queens, is an award-winning creative director and owner of $NP Designs who is best described as an augmented reality artist, muralist, and digital artist. Coke visited Washington Heights when younger to visit friends and family and she references the many cultural aspects of uptown in her work, such as bodegas and bustling city life. She has earned commissions from The Madison Square Garden Company, New York City’s Department of Education, Nike, and Google, while her work is showcased globally.
Rasheeda Johnson: A multidisciplinary artist with 13 years as a Washington Heights resident, Johnson has had the opportunity to experience the rich cultures represented in the area which she uses as inspiration for her work. Johnson was exposed to art at a very early age with a scholarship to Saturday art classes at the Carnegie Museum in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. Her passion for creating visual art has not wavered over the past 40 years as she looks toward the next 40 creating art in her community.
Carla Torres: A Washington Heights-based artist since 2006, originally from Ecuador, Torres works across several media including drawing, painting, illustration, animation, and murals. Torres has been commissioned by NYC DOT, the Garment District Alliance, NYC Health + Hospitals, the HBO Max Latinx Diaspora Campaign, and Google NYC, and has received a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Creative Engagement grant three times since 2019.
