Breath into your Belly

A collection of reflections on decadent foods that will tickle your pallet. Written by a very cold Central New Yorker

[breathintoyourbelly]

LA PASTA!

I'm so tickled to bring you a brand reflection. More importantly you can thank the new Costco they gave to us Syracusians for the inspiration (or maybe I should?). Which I am very thankful for. It hasn't even been open for a week yet and I already wish to go back. Brian and I decided to take an hour out of our Sunday afternoon to walk up and down the aisles of THE Costco. To his suggestion we ended up purchasing organic pumpkin and sage raviolis. Ya, I know right? You know those times in relationships when you can't seem to agree.. "What do you want to eat?" "I don't care you pick." "-__________-" Well this WAS NOT one of those times. PUMPKIN. SAGE. ORGANIC. FRESH? I'm so in. The brand is La Pasta. Now, I don't know if Costco carried other 'flavors', but I do know through their website (lapastainc.com) they carry a variety of pasta and sauce products. They even carry gluten free and vegan options. YEP STILL ORGANIC AND FRESH. I am one of those grocery shoppers who spends hours in the store because I have to read the entire package before I purchase anything. Yea. When I flipped over the package and saw ... wheat, cheese, pumpkin, sage, you know the shockingly rare REAL ingredients... I wanted to bust it open and start chowing down. I did keep my cool, only until I got home and.. you know how Costco has those like bulk portion sizes? yea.. well between myself and Brian we may or may not have eaten it all in one sitting (we fell asleep shortly after from carb overload). Whoops... I hope that you all are getting my point here. As we know Costco is known for selling quality products at affordable prices. I would have to say that the La Pasta pumpkin and sage ravioli certainly fits the criteria. The pasta is refrigerated so it's not frozen and you only need to cook it for five minutes in a light boil, what I mean by that is you do not want a rapid boil because it breaks the pasta apart. However, it's that easy to prepare. Gorgeous not to mention! the ravioli had beautiful green and orange markings on there to really make Sunday's best, well, Sunday's best! You can even eat them plain. I topped with a little marinara sauce and served with a salad and slice of Italian bread. When you cut into the raviolis you can see the fresh bright orange pumpkin and a touch of green sage. When shove into your mouth as quickly as possible without exploding your esophagus (just me? oh..) you can really bring out the freshness in the pasta. Nothing I've really been able to experience at home before since I am usually a box pasta kinda gal (that will obviously change now). I immediately told Brian that we need to look out for other fresh La Pasta pasta that Costco may carry. We hope they will carry other varieties as the seasons change since we concluded that this was probably a fall seasonal item. I will update you all on that, especially if you find yourself trying it out and giving some feed back (feel free)! Thanks again

Ang

[breathintoyourbelly]

My 1st Foodie Review

Every year at the LaFayette annual Apple Festival I treat myself to the most tasteful Chicken BBQ dinner. The dinner is provided by the Columbian Presbyterian Church and girrrrrl it’s a fav for sure. You get at 1/2 a chicken, salt potatoes, roll with butter and my favorite part…. Homemade apple sauce. It’s warm too. It’s the best apple sauce in all of existence I’m sure of it. The chicken is warm and has that light smokey flavor, tender and juicy on the inside. You know the fall off the bone kind of “hell yes”. Salt potatoes are average but they go well. For $11 bucks you get a drink, silverware, wet naps. Everything you need, they take care of you. They even offered to help deliver because I got one and so did everyone I was with because it’s that good. Applefest is now over but next year make sure you support them and their chicken (They also specialize in homemade apple pies for dessert). Quick too they tend to sell out on the last day! Probably gunna do more posts similar to this one. Thanks for reading.

[breathintoyourbelly]

Cafe 407

On Tulip Street in Liverpool, NY is a non-profit café called Café 407. I visit every so often with my girlfriends to get a healthy taste of local, seasonal and fresh foods and of course a hot loose leaf tea to pair. My girlfriend likes their frozen tundras. But this place is incredible. Every time I go I’m happy to hand over my cash not only in exchange for quality grub and girl time, but Café 407 funds non-profit Ophelia’s Place. Ophelia’s Place's mission is to empower individuals, families and communities who are impacted by eating disorder, body dissatisfaction, etc. They do this through redefining health and beauty through support treatment and their wonderful café. So every visit you are supporting a local business, other local businesses that Café 407 supports, and the beautiful organization of Ophelia’s Place. I love to support them in every which way. I must mention however the food is incredible. My girlfriend and I love to share their hummus plate. My mom said I reeked of garlic when I got home but what’s wrong with that? The hummus is served hot with lots of garlic (yes I love garlic clearly), tomato chunks and melted provolone and parmesan cheese on top. It gets better with their warm toasty but soft focaccia toast points. There is never any left between the two of us (yea we get the large don’t judge). My other usual is their chicken salad wrap. The chicken inside is warm, wrap is toasty but still soft again but what makes the wrap is the halved red seedless grapes they wrap up in there to give you my personal fav a sweet and savory MMMMMMMMM. Usually served with a side. So please check this place out. It’s a great cause. Great atmosphere. They seem to change it around a lot in there. Plenty of artwork and readings about their projects as well as others. It’s very heart warming knowing this exist in my hometown. I believe we need more communities such as Café 407 and Ophelia’s place. Thanks for reading

Ang

[breathintoyourbelly]

Pita Gourmet

If you’re a SUNY Cortland student (gratefully I am ready to graduate in the Spring!) search no more for I have done it for you. Just a drunkenly stumble from Dark Horse down Main Street you can find authentic Mediterranean food for as much as that iced mocha latte costs you at the Bookmark. And what mean by “I’ve done it for you” there’s little that tops this homey family cuisine. For others passing through Cortland (with all do respect what else could you possibly be here for?) Pita Express is “my shit” when I’m hungry in this impoverished city. At Pita Express you are treated like family. The owner even charged my cellphone for me behind the counter. I could go on and on about the atmosphere of this place but what I’m really here to talk about is that baba ganoush…. Rolls right off the tongue doesn’t it? Served with plenty of pita and zing, it is the perfect appetizer. They have a lot of vegetarian options so I highly recommend all herbivores to check it out. Secondly I ordered my usually chicken gyro. Not like what you got at the NYS fair two months ago. NO. Less sloppy. More real flavors. You sink your teeth into a gyro and bob your head to the Greek music they play and you might temporarily forget about the two papers and group project that is due after fall break. Unfortunately as soon as you wait what feels like 25 minutes but it’s really only 3 1/2 minutes to pull out onto main to get back to campus you sudden start questioning why you’re a senior at SUNY Cortland and how the hell you’ve lasted this long. Okay just me? Awkward…. Anyway did I almost forget… Yes I got dessert. Yes I got the Baklava how did you know? Oh because it’s the best Baklava on this side of the Mississippi? Eh? Whatever it’s so fresh sticky sweet honey ugh I almost got two but I held back. Pita Gourmet is currently participating in a food drive where they will match their donations! A lovely way to give back to the local community. Thanks for reading.