Today we picnicked at Binghamton’s lovely Otsiningo Park, bringing Boar’s Head bologna and liverwurst, since it is one of my short-term missions in life to consume as much of these products as possible given price and availability. Since the “good bagel place,” according to my father, closed, he suggested we buy bagels early in the day at Giant. Where else, since Giant seems to have the market wrapped up in this area. Sitting on an old shower curtain that my dad has expressly for the purpose of going to the park, we ate our lunch and did the crossword puzzle in the Press & Sun-Bulletin. The bagels were not bad, but the liverwurst didn’t hurt. Dinner, oh, dinner! We went back to New York Pizzeria in Binghamton and had Buffalo wings, pizza and a chicken parmesan hero. Good Buffalo wings are in plentiful supply in these parts, and NYP cranks out some contenders. They are made to order from real chicken wing sections, so you are eating something with flavor and texture, not a sodden mess that came premade from a supplier to your plate via microwave. The chicken parmesan hero was what I had been craving. A big, juicy chicken breast cutlet — breaded and fried — on Italian bread with decent sauce and massive amounts of mozzarella on top, all toasted up together in the pizza oven. When I come to New York this is one of the things I try to get my hands on early and often. Sure, I have an allergy to tomatoes, particularly when they are concentrated, but these heroes are so damned good I don’t care.
