What's Cookin'? Smithtown - Luck of the Irish Crispy Cake

What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown

 By Nancy Vallarella

Luck of the Irish Crispy Cake

The Crispy Cake idea came to me about five years ago. More festive than the average Krispies Treat squares; the first version was a sheet cake. I would purchase a plaque of chocolate from Garguilo’s Bakery and ask them to decorate and write a birthday message on it. This would easily attach to the sticky cake.   The problem was getting candles into it. This required plastic birthday candle holders that anchor into the cake. These are very hard to find. The other problem was precutting the sheet cake which did not present well and bringing a serrated knife into the classroom environment is precarious at best.

Then as I was throwing yet another Kohl’s sales circular into the recycle bin, I spied a picture on the back cover. Under a glass cake plate dome was a Crispy Cake in the shape of an angel food pan. This was a certified aha moment. A sturdy candle could be placed into the center! Alternatively, for non-birthday occasions, the center can be filled with wrapped candy with additional candy placed around the cake on a platter providing a sweet treat for guests that are not Crispy Cake fans.  This shape can be cut into 24 slices (perfect for most classroom and team events) and will maintain form.

It requires no forks. Left over Crispy Cake requires no refrigeration. It is a hostess’s dream. 

If you know Krispies Treat fans or simply do not have time to bake, I highly recommend giving this a try. I have developed hidden surprise versions to amp up the festivities by inserting food colored cut out crispy shapes into the cake to coordinate with the occasion. - This proves I really need to get out of the kitchen more often. 

St. Patty’s Day Give-a-Way:

In honor of St. Patty’s Day, I am giving away this Luck of the Irish Crispy Cake to one lucky Town of Smithtown resident. Feel like you have the luck of the Irish?  Go onto What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown’s facebook page (from article: click on the symbol of the bull wearing the chef hat above right for link); like the page and the post with the picture of the cake. Then treat yourself to a free subscription to Smithtown Matters so you don’t miss out on future local offers. The winner will be announced Saturday morning, March 15 on the What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown facebook page and Smithtown Matters. This is a great treat for your St. Patty’s Day celebration or classroom treat on Monday! 

Luck of the Irish Crispy Cake DIY instructions:

Make sure you have all of your equipment and ingredients organized and available before starting. Working with the recipe while it is pliable is critical in many steps. This cake requires 3 batches of the Rice Krispie Treat recipe.

INGREDIENTS fOR 1 Batch – you will need 3 batches for this cake

• 3 tablespoons butter 
• 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
• OR
• 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• Food coloring (optional)
• 6 cups Kellogg’s® Rice Krispies® cereal

EQUIPMENT

• 1 baking sheet pan
• parchment paper
• cooking spray
• cookie cutter
• angel food pan
• rolling pin – optional
• large heavy bottom pot
• wooden spoon
• measuring cup

DIRECTIONS

1. In large heavy bottom pot melt butter over medium low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Stir in food coloring (if desired)*. Remove from heat. 

2. Add KELLOGG’S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using parchment paper evenly press mixture into 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan coated with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Cool slightly. Using cookie cutters coated with cooking spray cut into desired shapes. 

*For the first batch: follow the above instructions and add green food coloring to the melted marshmallows. I used 10 drops.

For second batch:  repeat steps 1 and 2 without food coloring. Pour mixture into angle food pan sprayed with cooking spray. Press mixture down. Mixture should fill pan half way. Arrange cut out shapes upside down into the mixture. 

For the third batch: repeat steps 1 and 2 without food coloring. Pour mixture into angle food pan over cut out shapes and press down. 

Let mixture cool entirely in pan before releasing. Decorate with extra cut out shapes or wrapped candy. To cut cake, saw with a serrated knife. Do not press down with knife.

Editorial - Say No To Committee For Land Use

 “For God so loved the world that he didn’t send a committee.” (Christian quotes)

On the surface Councilman McCarthy’s March 4th proposal to create a 15 member panel to examine, draw conclusions and to make recommendations on land use issues in the Old Northport Road/Lawrence Road/ Town Line Road area sounds like a positive step; the reality is that it is not. People who are elected to office are PAID to make decisions. These paid officials  have staff, experts and legal counsel to assist them. Interested stakeholders including business owners and constituents have a role providing comments and opinions.

There are too many interested parties in this area to suggest that five business owners and five community members (with the assistance of five appointed department representatives) can speak for all of the interested parties. This ignores the reality of the complexity of the area. This is a situation which screams for leadership.

It is time for Town Board members to step up to the plate and provide that leadership. It is time for the Town Board to take ownership of the area’s problems and to take responsibility for finding a resolution.

Today, there seems to be agreement that the situation has become intolerable. The area has been put under a magnifying glass, there is finger pointing, there is stagnation, there is blame  ad nauseam and there are code violations enough to fill a land fill. Homeowners want the TOWN’S CODE enforced, business owners want it amended. Many of the businesses have been operating successfully and illegally for years and now they want their operations to be legitimized by creating a new zone for the area. 

Businesses in the area need to pay their fair share of taxes. They are not. Changes in the code must not diminish the value of the property and its ability to generate tax revenue. Outdoor storage increases the intensity of the land use and benefits the property owner, but it is not a pancea for the area. Development of commercial interests in the area is not a bad thing, but residents have for too long heard that this or that action will bring in tax dollars. Residents are wary of rhetoric. It is time to be specific how much revenue will be generated.

Homeowners need to have assurance that health and quality of life issues are the priority. Boundaries need to be established separating  business operations and homes. Hours of operation, traffic, odors, noise and dust are some of the legitimate concerns homeowners have expressed and need to be addressed.  Business owners need to have a reasonable understanding of what is to be permitted and what will not be permitted. Everyone needs to know that violations will have immediate and significant consequences. 

The first step to finding a soulution to the land use issues in the area is for the Supervisor or a council person or persons to take ownership of the issue. Councilman McCarthy has shown an interest.  McCarthy is a businessowner and was supported by many of the area’s residents in the last election. It is logical that he get the ball rolling on finding a resolution for the Old Northport Rd/Lawrence Rd/Town Line Rd area. The positions of the interested parties have been made clear. All that is lacking is the resolve of the electeds to come up with a plan. 

The time to move on this is now!

Pat

Theater Review - CROSSING DELANCEY

Theater Review - CROSSING DELANCEY

Produced by: Theatre Three, Port Jefferson

Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur

Elizabeth Ann Castrogiovanni & Sue Anne Dennehy The actual Delancey Street in Manhattan is an eight-lane thoroughfare that runs east and west through the heart of New York City’s predominantly Jewish ‘Lower East Side.’ The street has long been famed as the pulsing artery that gives life to the ethnic area it traverses…and for the high fatality rate incurred by the many unlucky souls who’ve failed in their attempt to cross the broad boulevard where they shouldn’t have. Indeed the parental admonition to “…be careful crossing Delancey” has rung in the ears of youngsters since the earliest days when dodging East Side motorcars and pushcarts along the street’s length presented a very real challenge.

All of this, ostensibly, has nothing to do with the plot of the delightful cluster of Jewish humor that’s being offered under the title “Crossing Delancey” thru March 29^th at Theatre Three in Port Jefferson. Curiously, the phrase is never used in the romantic comedy. Of course, it’s possible playwright Susan Sandler injected something into her script that I missed (it certainly wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened), but I rather doubt it, because everything else Sandler has put in the mouths of her five characters came through loud and clear.

Isabelle (Elizabeth Ann Castrogiovanni) is a charming, if rather pedantic twentysomething who works in a lower Manhattan bookstore, and imagines herself in the arms of Tyler, a local author of questionable success, played by TV veteran Steve Ayle. Tyler is at least a decade too old for the smitten do-gooder, and after “Izzie” ditches her bookish eyeglasses and bunned hair, she throws herself at “Ty” once too often. He finally comes on to her inappropriately…with predictable consequences. “Izzie” may be a bit naive, after all, but she’s not stupid. She unloads “Ty” with a Yiddish expression that might be better left to the imagination in this family-sensitive review.

While author Tyler has been taking his best shot, Isabelle’s Grandmother, “Bubbie” (wonderfully played by Sue Anne Dennehy) has conspired with her lively “Matchmaker” friend Hannah (Sheila Sheffield) to hook “Izzie” up with Sam, a young, no-nonsense, East Side pickle merchant. James D. Schultz (as Sam) delivers his lines a tad too fast at times, but shows enough stage presence to make us want to watch for him in future roles. The rapid speech pattern of the likeable Delancey Street pickle maven becomes obvious largely because Castrogiovanni’s pace, volume, and diction, are just about perfect. Playing opposite her must be a far-from-easy task.

As for the many scenes featuring Dennehy and Sheffield in this episodic show (during which the sold-out audience applauded lustily after every scene) the cliche ‘well-oiled-machine’ comes to mind. Director Mary Powers surely deserves an appreciative nod for that.

The costumes (designer Chakira-Iliana Doherty won the 2013 Encore award in that category) are fair representations of 1985 New York working class attire. And Randall Parsons’ scenic design, with its superb backdrop depicting a crowded lower east side, is equally appropriate. The set also depends largely on the lighting provided by Robert W. Henderson, Jr., and the whole Megillah comes off without a hitch.

My suggestion: get your friends together and head over to Port Jeff’s delightful, 160-year-old Theatre Three before ‘Crossing Delancey’ closes on March 29^th.

You’ll laugh your Tuchas off!

Award-winning Smithtown writer Jeb Ladouceur is the author of eight novels, and his theater reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “Harvest” due in late summer, an American doctor is forced to perform illegal surgeries for a gang of vital organ traffickers in The Balkans.

Smithtown East Team Takes 2nd Place At NYS DECA Competition

Samantha Vallarella, Hope Lefko and Emily De Marinis, seniors at Smithtown East, win New York State honors in Second Place for Community Service Manual for their work creating and running LAX FOR M.E. AND THE G.A.L.S. which raised $10,000 for the Maurer Foundation (M.E.) for breast health education and the Girls Athletic League of Smithtown (G.A.L.S.)at the annual DECA competition in Rochester New York on Friday, March 7th. They will represent their school at DECA Nationals in Atlanta later this spring. GO EAST!!!!!

Legislator Trotta Explains His Abstention On Superior Officers Contract

Suffolk County Legislator Robert Trotta 13LDSaying he felt boxed in between a contract that is unsustainable and the possibility of the negotiations going to an arbitrator, Smithtown’s Legislator Robert Trotta, 13th LD, abstained from voting on the Superior Officers Association’s contract. The contract received overwhelming support from Suffolk County’s other Legislators. The resolution passed the Legislature with a vote of 17 yes, 0 no, and 1 abstention. According to Robert Lipp the director of the Budget Review Office, the contract which will be in effect through 2018 is estimated to cost taxpayers $55.4 million of which $12.2 million attributed to the General Fund and $43.2 million to the Police District. 

Earlier today Leg.Trotta expressed his concerns to Smithtown Matters. “I believe strongly that the officers deserve a raise. They have not received a raise in three years and that is not right, but this contract provides the members of the Superior Officers Association (SOA)  a 28.2% pay raise. That is unsustainable.

Legislator Trotta supports some components of the contract including a longer time frame for new hires to get to the top pay-grade and employee contributions to their health-care costs.  

Trotta’s office released the following statement :

At the March 4 General Meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature, Legislator Rober Trotta abstained from voting on the Superior Officers Association’s contract. In explaining his abstention, Legislator Trotta said, “I feel I need to point out that the proposed contract is simply unsustainable and unfair to the taxpayers of this county. When it comes to voting on a contract such as this one, I feel that we, as Legislators, have been placed in a “no win” situation.

This contract, when coupled with existing contracts, is something that this county simply can’t afford. “This is clearly evident because the Democratic State Comptroller, in his November 29,2013 Fiscal Stress Monitoring System, reports that Suffolk County is in worse shape than Nassau County.  In the past two years, we had to sell the H. Lee Dennison Building at a taxpayer cost o $108 million dollars, took $33 million from the Sewer Stabilization Reserve Fund and borrowed $151 million to pay pension costs just to, hopefully, balance the last two budgets.  Based on this ominous trend, how are we going to pay for the deferred raises in these contracts that may require a potential $120 million dollar payout in three of four years from now?

“We only need to look at Nassau County’s situation for what could happen to us and the last thing we need is having all county employees with frozen salaries,” said Legislator Trotta.

If I voted yes for this new contract, it would provide members of the Superior Officers Association with a 28.2% pay raise. In comparison, the Association of Municipal Employees, the county’s largest union, are receiving a total 9% pay increase over an eight-year period, which is just slightly more than the 8.35% the Superior Officers will receive this year alone. 

“This during a time when the median family income for Suffolk County actually fell .05% to $71,222 from 2000 to 2012 (adjusted for inflation),” according to Dr. Martin Cantor of the Long Island Center for Scoio-Economic Policy.

“If I voted “no” for this contract, we might have ended up in binding arbitration which, based on past awards, may have cost our taxpayers even more,” Trotta added.

Legislator Trotta said, “I am not trying to single out the Superior Officers - this contract is just the latest in a series of law enforcement agreements that have come before this legislative body, but it is the first one that has come before me.  I know first-hand the outstanding job that all police officers do and I certainly recognize that they deserve a fair contract that provides for fair increases in line with the cost of living.”