Commack - Kings Park Rotarians Support "Gift Of Life"

Eight year old Eljesa Vllasaliu of Prestina, Kosovo thanks the Commack-Kings Park Rotary Club for their support.  Dr. Sean Levchuck (pictured with Eljesa & her dad) surgically corrected Eljesa’s Atrial Septal (Heart) Defect at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn as part of Rotary’s Gift of Life Program giving her the opportunity for a full life.  Eljesa was accompanied by Gift of Life District 7260 Chair Joe DeVincent and her dad Nexhmedin Vllasaliu, a Kosovar Police Officer. 

What's Cookin'? - Smithtown - Thanksgiving!!!

What’s Cookin’? – Smithtown

 By Nancy Vallarella

THANKSGIVING

Time to put the last few weeks behind us and embrace “the holidays”. 

As a child, Thanksgiving marked the beginning of a magical, warm and loving time of the year; as an adult, not as much. This is probably due to the mounting responsibilities of trying to make everyone’s holiday magical, warm and loving.

Foremost, relying on gratitude for what one has goes a long way toward having a half full glass.  Stress does put a strain on keeping this glass full.  Travel, hosting, cleaning, cooking, anticipated bills, colds, flu, hurricanes, sibling rivalry and repressed resentment all drain the gratitude glass.  I have no qualifications in stress management or therapy.  I can only offer help through foodie fixes.

Sharing Thanksgiving with family? - There is a very good chance you will encounter sibling rivalry and repressed resentment.  You may not be the cause; it could be contributed by other attendees. In any case, to avoid those hurtful and awkward moments limit the quantity of alcohol served. Alcohol fuels courage and magnifies emotion. Who hasn’t experienced comments of repressed resentment when the alcohol is flowing?  No one needs this to happen around their dining table on Thanksgiving. The comment surfaces like a ton of dead fish, stinking and leaving everyone to look on in silence.  Instead go with limited quality options. Perhaps a pitcher of a mixed premium cocktail prior to dinner (one per adult guest), calculating a two glass maximum of wine per adult with dinner and filling  in with plenty of water and cider; flat or sparkling.  It will make for a more pleasant evening and you will be thanked for it.  - Especially the next morning and maybe even in the years to come. 

My recommendation for a premium cocktail – Fresh Cranberry Cosmo - recipe provided.  It may be a little labor intensive compared to using premade cranberry juice but it is quality and not quantity we are aiming for here. As for the wine – buy the local Long Island wine you enjoy. Calculate 4 -5 glasses per 750 ml bottle.

Stressed by hosting, cleaning and/or cooking? No problem.  Here are some solutions:

Mirabelle at the Three Village Inn in Stony Brook will offer a buffet with gourmet fare. Dine on smoked fish, shrimp cocktail, cheese and charcuterie, oysters Rockefeller,  lobster bisque, pumpkin soup, turkey, herb-stuffed rack of lamb, prime rib, rack of Berkshire pork, puff-pastry-wrapped halibut and an assortment  of side dishes and desserts. Refer to Smithtown Matters Food and Restaurant Guide for contact information.

The Garden Grill in Smithtown and all of Chef Tom Schaudel’s restaurants (Jewel in Melville, Coolfish in Syosett, A lure in Southhold and A Mano in Mattituck are serving Thanksgiving Day dinner. Check their websites for menus and reservation information.

Take out Thanksgiving dinner is available throughout town.  Call soon because order by dates range from Thursday, November 15 through Monday, November 19^th.  Kitchen A Trattoria and the Sequa Deli in Saint James, Elegant Eating and Uncle Guiseppe’s in Smithtown all offer take home Thanksgiving cuisine. Menu and pricing info are available on their websites or call to place orders.

Regarding travel – no foodie advice here.  I can only advise that you don’t do it. If you have to travel, do so during non-peak times.  If you are flying, drink plenty of water.  Colds & flu – stay home if you have either of these. It is not better to give these than receive these.   Bills- spend only what you have.  There are meal options available at varied price points. The Thanksgiving meals offered by the above mentioned establishments range from $15 pp to $50 pp.  Hurricane – none are forecasted in the near future and if there were it would be the topic for an entire article even if I were only to cover how to feed a family during. 

If you would like to help families in town that do not have the financial resources this Thanksgiving, please reference the What’s Cookin? - Smithtown facebook page for a listing of local food pantries and charities assisting in this effort.

Stay healthy, safe, limit the stress and keep those glasses half full! 

Happy Thanksgiving Smithtown!

Fresh Cranberry Cosmo

Ingredients: (Recipe makes 8 cocktails)

1 cup vodka

Cranberry Slush (see recipe below)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

Cranberry Slush:

4 cups water

12oz. fresh cranberries

1 ¼ cup sugar

1tsp. lime zest – (optional)

Place water, cranberries and sugar into a 1 ½ qt. sauce pan. Cook on medium heat until berries begin to pop. Remove from heat and bend with an emersion blender or transfer contents into a standing blender. Blend for 1 minute. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer with a medium bowl under strainer.  Do not press skins. Ladle strained liquid from bowl into two standard ice cube trays. Freeze until set (6 hours or overnight). Once frozen, cubes can be removed easily by sliding the tines of a fork in the side of each cube to lift out. Place frozen cranberry cube on a flat surface and press down with fork tines to create cranberry slush. Transfer slush to a glass pitcher.  Add vodka and lime juice.  Stir until slush has melted and serve immediately in chilled martini glasses.

Individual recipe:

4 cranberry cubes

2 oz. vodka

½ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice

Place frozen cranberry cube on a flat surface and press down with fork tines to create cranberry slush. Transfer slush to a cocktail shaker.  Add vodka and lime juice.  Shake until slush has melted and serve immediately in chilled martini glass.

Unused cranberry cubes can be stored in ice cube trays in a plastic freezer bag up to 4 – 6 weeks.

For Some Town Employees Salaries Are Going Up Well Beyond 3 Percent

What’s In Your Wallet? 

Most people don’t have a clue what is in a town’s tentative budget.  Most people aren’t paying attention because they are busy working and struggling to survive, especially during these very difficult times. But if people were paying attention they might be asking how the Town Board could be raising taxes and giving raises in excess of $840,000. They might ask why 40 positions are getting raises of over 10 percent. And they might ask, how can you do this to us? Click Here 

Town Salaries Are Going Up And So Are Your Taxes

What’s In Your Wallet? 

Most people don’t have a clue what is in a town’s tentative budget.  Most people aren’t paying attention because they are busy working and struggling to survive, especially during these very difficult times. But if people were paying attention they might be asking how the Town Board could be raising taxes and giving raises in excess of $840,000. They might ask why 40 positions are getting raises of over 10 percent. And they might ask, how can you do this to us?

In the Supervisor’s budget message he notes that the tentative budget avoids layoffs of personnel and does not cut services.  “It should be noted that a large portion of the increase includes $1.8 million which is attributable to pension and hospitalization costs. Increased fuel costs also is a factor.” No mention of raises.

According to preliminary number crunching here are some startling numbers:

• 40 people are scheduled to receive a 10 percent or higher salary increase. 
• 10 people will see their salary’s grow by better than or equal to 6 percent 
• 108 will see an increase of greater than 5 percent.  

These increases go way beyond the 0 - 3 percent salary increase many employees will see and what we have heard about.

Here are some items from the tentative budget, Appendix E Salaries:

• The Town’s tentative budget includes a 34 percent increase for one Assistant Town Attorney and a 19.7 percent increase for a second Assistant Town Attorney. 
• A 10.7 percent increase was granted to the Town Attorney when he was hired in 2012 but is not reflected in the 2012 adopted budget. 
• The Comptrollers office has three people scheduled to receive increases of 10 -10.6 percent. 
• Account 1340, Stipends  will rise by 67 percent. 
• Town Parks – Account 1620 – four positions will be increased by 10.3-11.6 percent. 
• All members of the Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals will receive 10 percent increases. 
• This list is a sampling of departments and is not exclusive.

What are they thinking?  Maybe they are thinking that no one is paying attention. Or maybe they are thinking that repeating the phrase “I am a fiscal conservative” over and over will give them credibility.  While the Town Supervisor prepares the budget, Town Council members review and may challenge the tentative budget. The sound of silence from the board members has been deafening and speaks volumes about their lack of understanding of just how hard times are for so many residents.  

Don’t take my word for it, check out the 2013 Tentative Budget, Appendix E Salaries, it is about 12 pages long.  Capital One Asks “What’s in Your Wallet” you don’t have to look far - it is the Smithtown Town Board. 

Pat

Smithtown’s Ellen McCulloch Lawrence Collects 966 lbs. Of Food For LI Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Smithtown resident Ellen Lawrence wanted to help the people on Long Island who are suffering from Hurricane Sandy. Ellen contacted Island Harvest in Hauppauge and volunteered to collect food from shoppers at Stop N Shop in Smithtown. With a sense of urgency she arranged, almost overnight, to stand outside the store on Monday, November 5 from 1-5pm.  Shoppers responded to the woman standing outside in the cold giving her time to help others. The people of Smithtown responded in a big way! When all was said and done 966 pounds of food and cash was donated to Island Harvest to help Long Islanders.