At precisely this time 1 year ago today I was arriving at Montgomery Hospital in Norristown, in the middle of a blizzard, after receiving news that my father had a heart attack. He was gone by the time my sister and I arrived. We were shocked, horrified, and mostly stunned. The evening seemed like a mini viewing, as word spread, and his family, friends and colleagues streamed through the emergency rooms for hours. We stayed at the hospital for 4-5 hours before heading back out into the storm. I was exhausted and completely numb.

Well over a foot of snow had fallen by the time I dropped my sister off at her house around 5 or 6 AM. I can remember the helpless feeling I had at the moment she hopped out of the car and headed up her driveway. What would I do with myself now? The 1/2 of a mile drive home is a blur, but what I remember most is parking my car down the street from my house, getting out of the car and standing in the middle of the street watching the snow flakes fall. It was a magnificent snow that night. I stood there for a long time wondering how the world could appear so beautiful on such an ugly night.

I was numb when I went inside and proceeded to send mindless text messages out to friends and family. I knew I wouldn’t sleep. Earlier that week I had purchased a bottle of Port, so I opened it that morning (still night to me, don’t judge.) I honestly have no recollection of the rest of that day, but I do know that I had a glass each night for the next few nights. At some point I realized that I needed to put the remainder away for safe keeping, after all, it was the wine I was drinking the night my father died.

I tucked the bottle in the liquor cabinet and didn’t pull it out again until tonight. I poured only a sip and put the bottle back for next year. And so tonight, I toast my father. I didn’t expect the emotion that accompanied this toast, but I think with the passing of a year, it is finally sinking in; he will never return.

He is a man who requires no qualifications from me of what he has meant to so many.  His accomplishments are beyond imagination. Anyone who knew him knows that. Those who attended the nearly monthly tributes this year by one organization or another that was touched by his generosity and good will, already understands how he was appreciated. To all of you who have honored him, spoken of him, and continue to remember him, I thank you.

My father made wine. Dad’s closest friends reading this may wonder, “why wouldn’t John’s daughter toast him with his own wine?” While I loved his limoncello, I was never a huge fan of Dad’s wines. This is a fact he realized, and I know hurt his feelings. I never told him that I didn’t care for his wines, but when he arrived with 4 bottles in hand, I always had an excuse such as, “Oh is that a Cabernet? I’m already drinking Pinot Noir.” These harsh memories make me cringe now. I had some of his wines that I thought were alright and others which I didn’t care for at all. I wish I had the opportunity to consume every glass he offered now, because it meant so much to him. His friends tell tales of the “good times” had by all while making wine with dad or visiting his wine cellar. He was happiest there, put down all barriers and was simply himself.

There are no re-dos in life. I cannot drink my father’s wine tonight, because there is very little wine left. There were 125 gallons of wine remaining after dad passed, but it was all poured down the drain. I have only a few bottles in my possession. I want to hold onto the few I have left to celebrate his life over the many years to come. I drank one bottle since he died. It was surprisingly good. I guess we just never appreciate what we have, until it is gone.

Sheriff John P. Durante 1949-2010

As I said, there are no re-dos. I cannot go back and change anything, but I can move forward. My father’s memory lives on in all of us, and hopefully soon they will break ground on the greatest memorial of all for my father, a building in his honor. Many know of the hard work he invested in making tremendous changes at Plymouth Ambulance, where he worked as a teen and was on the board as President when he died. Funds are being raised to build a new structure; The John P. Durante Building, to enable ambulances to arrive more quickly at emergency scenes. He would be so proud.

Instructions were provided by my step-mother here in his obituary for donations to support the construction of this new facility.

We all love you and miss you, Dad.

Tributes

Summer is over! The weather is shockingly cool after the hottest summer in the world (literally)! I was not planning a party or picnic, but on a day like today. I cannot resist.  Quick! I need recipes that reflect the season and can be made fast, fast, fast! This was the very first, so unbelievably delicious thing that came to mind.

Green Bean, Grape Tomato, and Grilled Corn Salad

1 1/2 lbs of green beans, trimmed

3 ears of corn husked

1 TBLS plus 1/2 cup EEOV

1 1/2 cups grape tomatos halved

1/3 cup packed thinly sliced fresh basil

1 large shallot, chopped

3 TBLP white wine vinegar

Cook beans in a large pot of boiling salted water until just crisp, about 4 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water and drain again. In other circumstances, these can be made one day ahead. Chill and wrap.

Prepare BBQ to med-high. Brush corn with 1 TBSP of oil. Sprinkle with salt (I use Kosher) and pepper. Grill until browned in spots, turning to cook evenly about 10 mins. Cool

Cut kernels off cobs into a large bowl. Add beans and tomatoes. Mix basil, shallot and vinegar in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add dressing to salad and toss.

This salad is so flavorful and refreshing. Enjoy!

A year and a half after we launched our original website The Best of Food.com, we have launched a new, improved and updated website. Why so soon? Why, indeed!

When we set out on this path, we had grand plans of creating a website that would be a diners best friend, a non-diners guide to better food options, and an all around reliable “go-to” site for dining in the tri-state area. The #1 priority of the site was to be user friendly. In certain ways it was, but for the most part, not so much!

We wanted users to be able to pick as many features as they wanted and have our website “spit” out exactly what they were looking for. For example: The best French restaurant for outdoor dining, with kids, in center city would be ~ Click a button. In our old site, you had to look up outdoor dining and child friendly separately, although that was not what we requested.

In keeping with our theme of “local” businesses, we picked a web developer that was in walking distance from our homes. Great idea, right? Sure, if the developer had any interest in meeting face to face. We met once in a year and a half. After that, everything was via conference call or email. Nothing about the site ended up being what we wanted and after being live for 2 months, we started to search for a new web host/developer.

Thanks to twitter, we found a new web developer in Lancaster and they were willing to travel to Philadelphia to meet with us as needed. We now have the flexibility to do anything with the site we wish. On our old site we had to send an email to have them change everything. Talk about a complete lack of flexibility!

So, thank you for your patience with us for the last year as we have moved toward our goal of being the Philadelphia area’s most comprehensive restaurant guide for the BEST places to dine. We can now get back to the business of building our database to add, add, and add some more great places for you to visit. Please take a look around at our new search features, our new bakery, gourmet and catering pages, and know that we will be adding great new places each and everyday! Also, we now have restaurant’s specials on some pages and we are loading them daily too!

We would LOVE your feedback with ideas, suggestions or questions!

Have a delicious day!

Freshly Charred Peppers

I absolutely love roasted peppers with a great Italian dinner. There is nothing quite like them on perfect Italian bread. A few months back I promised to write about food my dad loved after he passed away and I plan on keeping that promise. Roasted peppers fall into that category.

Last month we had a big dinner to thank some of my dad’s closest friends for everything they did to help my sister and me get through the toughest weeks of our lives. We had a big Italian feast which started with antipasto. I made roasted peppers to go with The Conshohocken Italian Bakery bread our dear friends and owners of the bakery brought to compliment the meal.

If you have never made homemade roasted peppers, you may be surprised by the method and how unbelievably easy they are to make. You do need a gas stove to make them perfectly, but otherwise, it is pretty simple. I use red and yellow peppers because they make the nicest looking presentation and the colors contrast nicely.

The first thing you do is place each pepper in the center of a burner directly over the heat source. Then, turn the flame on to a medium setting.

Pepper over Flame

Let the skin cook until it roasts and blisters, then turn. It is almost impossible to overcook. The skin should actually crack.

Another Angle of Pepper Cooking

As you can see in the photo above, the center of the side that is showing is under cooked. It is important to continue to maneuver the pepper over the flames so all sides cook evenly.

Peppers Cooling

When peppers are cooked evenly on all sides, remove from heat. Cool completely. Once cool, cut peppers in half. Remove seeds and peel skins off of peppers. Rinse peppers and cut into strips. Toss peppers in extra virgin olive oil and season with fresh ground pepper and a little kosher salt.

Roasted Peppers

Serve with Crusty Italian Bread and butter and/or Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinegar

I saw something interesting on the Internet recently.  Actually, it was one of those numerous emails that you get that gnaw at you because you think you should read it, but you know there just isn’t enough time in the day to read all of that stuff.  Well, I decided to read this one and it really made me stop and think.

Do we ever think about what foods we eat and the fact that they actually help certain parts of our bodies?  For instance, if you look at a sliced carrot, doesn’t it look like the human eye (think pupil, iris and all of the lines)?  Now think about how you were always told that carrots were good for your vision.  It’s actually because they greatly enhance blood flow to, and enhance the function of the eyes.   Here’s another one…a tomato…which has four chambers and is red.  Well, the heart has four chambers and is red.  Research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are, indeed, pure heart and blood food.

Here is one more and I’ll leave you to think about the rest for yourselves.  A walnut, which looks like a little brain.  Well, we (some scientists anyway) know that walnuts help develop more than three dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Now see, wasn’t that interesting???