Earth Day - A Day Late

Belated Happy Earth Day! What a great planet we live on! I have been involved in the "GREEN" movement before it was COOL. I was a young environmentalist as I started in 6th grade being involved with an environmental science camp with Mr. Stern and Mr.Szigethy (sorry if I spelled that wrong). I did this for 2 summers and we were fortunate enough to visit ecofriendly sites all through out Long Island. My favorite trips were Caumsett State Park, canoeing the Nissequogue and traveling out east to Orient Point. I then got involved in the environmental club, hiking and then took an enlightening course called A.P. Environmental Science. As I got older I became an avid hiker and naturalist explorer. My husband and I have a national park pass that allows us to visit many national parks around us... so far we have visited Rocky Mountain National Park, Yosemite National Park, Acadia National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Muir Woods. (Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park are my favorites!) So all that background information was so that I could lead up to my EARTH DAY CHALLENGE for my readers..... I will try for 1 year (hopefully longer) to use as little plastic bags as possible. For every plastic bag I use from today till next earth day I will donate .25 cents to the National Park fund. If you would like to participate please post a comment! I will keep a tally on my website for my weekly plastic bag count. So HAPPY EARTH DAY to all ! Be green and Stay green! Remember Kermit the Frog..its not easy being green! but its worth it!

Becco

While this review is way overdue... I promised that I would. So last year ...literally a year ago. My friends and I went to go see Martha Stewart. After a very exciting show that was about bring your kids to work day we had reservations at Becco. Becco is owned by the Bastianich Family as Lidia Bastianich as the matriarch. The cuisine is authentic italian. My friends and I arrived early as we underestimated our travel time from the studio in Chelsea to the restaurant in the theater district. We were greeted warmly as the restaurant was just opening for the day. We were escorted to the bar where the bartender was friendly and introduced us to Lidia and her sons wine collection. The information was excellent and the bartender was pleasant and well informed. We were then seated and presented with the menus... and what a menu it was! All of us opted for the very affordable and very tasty prix fix pasta lunch menu. I selected a gorgeous white wine from Lidia's vineyards that was clean, crisp and very tasty. We started our meal with the antipasti offering which consisted of grilled octopus, swordfish, fresh mozzarella and many other tasty offerings. Among our bread offerings we enjoyed a great long thin bread stick that was buttery and perfectly crispy. The pasta offerings were rigatoni with a fresh pomodoro sauce, ravioli with broccoli rabe and fettucine bolognese. The best part is that I did not have to pick just one ! ( As a Korean American I love to graze and taste as opposed to eat one single flavor... We put out a large spread in even the most casual meals!) My favorite was probably the rigatoni in the fresh pomodoro sauce. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was the best I have ever had. What a great meal ! I highly recommend this great restaurant as a place to go while in the city and its easy on the wallet! What a deal! My hat is off to Lidia and the whole Bastianich family !