I'll have an Italian please

Whether you call them hoagies, grinders, or subs, every one loves a good Italian. Provolone cheese, salami, ham, prosciutto, capicola, onions, tomatoes, oregano, and maybe some oil and vinegar makes a typical Italian sub. Last year I bought an Italian hoagie at Boulevard Pizza in Cranston, Rhode Island. Boulevard is right up the block from Johnson & Wales and I was over at a friend's apartment on campus, who suggested we get something to eat. I thought the hoagie was really good, but I eat like a bird (it's just a fact of life). I gave the rest of my hoagie to Matt and he loved it. (Now in order to understand the recent events you have to understand that during the beginning of our relationship Matt told me that he liked a lot of food. The first time we met I made chicken packets; it took him almost 3 months before he told me that he didn't like that meal, and was lying when he said he liked it.)

Fast forward to yesterday. I love a good Italian hoagie, and I had been dreaming of one ever since I left Pennsylvania. I asked Matt if when I was in Rhode Island we could run to Boulevard Pizza and get a hoagie. On the way he laughed at me for calling it a hoagie and we discussed how he really doesn't like Italian hoagies. I already knew this, because he had told me this summer when we were buying hoagies for a day trip we were taking. The problem was neither of us knew if Matt really liked the Italian hoagie I had given him from Boulevard Pizza or if he had just told me that he did. This is why we don't lie about liking food kids. No seriously we were having a dilemma.

After thinking and thinking about what Matt was going to get for dinner, he ordered a chicken parm sub. It was a good choice and we both decided safer than him not liking the Italian sub. The sad part of this story, Matt took a bite out of my hoagie just to see if he really liked the Italian or if he was lying, and he liked it!

This got me thinking. What made Matt like this hoagie and despise the other ones? The ham on Boulevard's Italian is sliced extra thin. They use American cheese, and they leave out the capicola. All of the flavors of an Italian hoagie really blend together, because it has kind of an evenness of flavors. You don't really get a strong bite of salami or a strong bite of ham. Matt said the reason why he didn't like an Italian hoagie was because he didn't really like ham, but this blend of flavors proved that he liked the overall flavor of an Italian hoagie just not the individual flavors. Is this really possible? I think it is (why else would I spend all this time coming up with it?).

After a deliciously salty hoagie what would be better than a homemade chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Kids in New York City schools are going to find it harder to find these bake sale favorites. The school districts have banned bake sales and the sales of other types of junk food at the school. This change was made in June, but the lack of cupcakes is becoming more and more apparent as the school year goes on.

I originally read this story preparing an angry tirade on how people need homemade baked goods. The further I got down the story the more I felt that maybe this school district was justified. According to the Omaha Herald's article 40% of New York Cities elementary and middle school aged children are obese or overweight. Woah America it's time to wake up!!! Unfortunately I don't think banning baked sales is going to solve this problem. These kids have bad eating habits. Telling them they can't get homemade cupcakes is not going to make them lose weight and become healthier kids.

Honestly that story was a total downer after finding the perfect Italian hoagie, but I guess it's something we should all be aware of. We're all being watched by somebody. Are our eating habits pulling someone else down and making them unhealthy? I guess that's some interesting food for thought.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily