Garden City Insider of the Month: Kathy Lucchesi

We are pleased to have Garden City resident, Kathy Lucchesi, on the blog today as our Insider of the Month. Kathy was born and raised in GC, met her sweetheart, Chuck, here (another GC native) and together they raised their family in town. She basically knows all of the ins and outs of this great town and most of the people in it! Kathy is deeply involved in the community and devotes a large portion of her time to charitable causes. Kathy is also a successful businessperson in town and she writes of her experience in GC below:

I have had the pleasure of being born and raised in Garden City- in an Italian/Irish family of ten children (I'm number 9!). I attended St. Joseph's elementary school, Garden City Middle School and Garden City High School. I graduated from St. John's University while working every day after school at Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner and Smith on Franklin Avenue in Garden City. I married my husband, Chuck, in 1987. I became a registered representative and continued to work with Merrill Lynch until my oldest daughter Kelly was born in 1991. My new profession became "full time stay at home mom" to my three children, Kelly (23), Jack (19) and Sam (16). 

Fast forward to 2013. As my children were becoming increasingly independent with school and sports, I found myself with more idle time on my hands than I was comfortable with. Still wanting to be close to home, I made the decision to return to school and obtain my New York State license in Real Estate. Having always been intrigued by the beauty of the homes in Garden City, I felt real estate would be a wonderful fit. I am employed with Daniel Gale Sotheby's on Seventh Street, a firm based on integrity and its stellar reputation. I take pride in servicing my clients and customers in the most honest way and dedicate myself to exceeding all of their expectations during their real estate experience.

What inspires you?

I am inspired by people who give back. I think we need to raise our children as kids who give back- Simple random acts of kindness. We, as a community, are privileged in so many ways. Volunteering is very important to me. 

The Andy Foundation is one of the charities that is close to my heart. It is an amazing local charity that raises funds for various needy child-based organizations throughout Long Island. Speaking of the Andy Foundation... this Friday, March 6th, 7pm-11pm, is the 2nd Annual Andy Foundation "ANDY GO BRAGH" event at the Garden City Casino! Please come out and support a fantastic event with great food, music and friends. Would love to see you there! Please contact me with any questions: kathleenlucchesi@danielgale.com

Of course we couldn't resist asking this Insider about her GC faves:



What is your favorite GC restaurant? Hmmm... That is a tough one. We really do frequent many in town. Walk Street is one of my favorites as it combines consistently great food, warm service and an opportunity to bump into and catch up with so many friends and neighbors all in one evening! 

Your favorite store in GC? Again, so many great shoppes. A personal favorite is Food for Thought. The Green Monster Smoothie is fabulous and its my go to place for all of my vitamins and essential oils.... (The vegetarian chili is to die for btw!)

Favorite GC place to grab a drink? Nonna Bella and Walk Street.

Your favorite outdoor place in Garden City? The Patio Bar-Garden City Hotel. It's a fantastic happy hour and evening spot.

What do you love most about Garden City? Sounds cliche, I am sure, but definitely the people!

What's your favorite thing to do in Garden City? Eat and shop with friends.

What would you change about Garden City? Not much at all...Lets get St. Paul's resolved though.


Thanks to Kathy Lucchesi for being our Insider of the Month! Please visit us on Facebook and Instagram. 

Weekend Events Guide: February 27th Edition

If the icy mounds of dirty snow and Sunday night's predicted snowfall are getting you down, check out one of the fun events going on in and around Garden City this weekend! 

Friday- If you're tired of pizza during Lent, head to BK Sweeney's for Friday Fish Fest every Friday during Lent. 636 Franklin Ave., Garden City

Friday- The Garden City Casino is hosting the Garden City Lacrosse Night Annual Party and Fundraiser to benefit the GC Boys HS Lacrosse Team. Tickets: $60 online, $70 at the door. 6:00pm-9:30pm. 21 and over. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets. 

Friday and Saturday- See Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform at the Tilles Center. Friday 8pm, Saturday 2pm and 8pm. Concert Hall. To learn more about Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, click here. To buy tickets, click here. 

Friday- Hear the acoustic trio Hat Trick perform at Plattduetsche Park in Franklin Square. Enjoy authentic German food and beer while you're there! 7:30pm-11:30pm. Visit their website here. 1132 Hempstead Tpke. 

Saturday- Come to the Lakeshore Learning Store between 11am and 3pm for a different craft every Saturday. 2709 Hillside Ave., New Hyde Park. 

Saturday- Cheer on Hofstra University's Women's Lacrosse team as they play against the defending National Champion- University of Maryland. 1pm-3pm at Shuart Stadium.

Saturday- Sleeping Beauty is showing at the BroadHollow at Elmont Children's Theater. 2pm. Click here to purchase tickets.

Saturday- Be wowed by Masters of Illusion Live! at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury. 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury. www.thetheatreatwestbury.com Tickets: $50. 8pm. 516-334-0800

Saturday- The Singles Association of Long Island is holding bowling night at South Levittown Lanes followed by a gathering at the Empress Diner in East Meadow.  $7 per game, $4 for shoes. 516-465-3953 

Saturday and Sunday- See Adelphi's Best of Broadway: Tales of New York. Enjoy songs, duets and ensembles and scenes from many hits that were inspired by the Big Apple, such as Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Fiorello, Rent and much more! Saturday 8pm, Sunday 4pm. Tickets: $20 adult, $15 senior. Click here to purchase tickets.

Sunday- Love chocolate? The Chocolate Expo returns to the Cradle of Aviation Museum. Purchase tickets online by clicking here or at the Museum. 10am-7pm. $15 adults, $10 children (ages 2-12). 

Sunday- Long Island Children's Museum. Since March is Women's History Month, celebrate the legacy of Amelia Earhart- first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean- by creating a miniature clothespin bi-plane. Free with museum admission. 11 Davis Ave., Garden City. 2pm-4pm


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Nutella Nirvana {Recipes}

If you're on a diet, this is your warning to stop reading now.

As some of you may know, I've been on a serious Nutella kick lately. Perhaps it's because World Nutella Day just passed on February 5th (am I the only one who thinks Feb. 5th should be a national holiday?) or because I discovered that Costco sells giant size jars (in a Costco style two pack of course). Regardless, the Nutella has been flowing in my kitchen lately and it's been heavenly. Try these and report back. 

Nutella Brownies:

• 1 cup melted butter
• 1 cup  sugar
• 1 cup  brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons  vanilla extract
• 4 large  eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup  all-purpose flour
• 3⁄4cup cocoa
• 1⁄2teaspoon  baking powder
• 1 cup nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Grease a 13x9" glass baking dish.
2. Using an electric mixer, combine sugars & vanilla with melted butter. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each egg.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, and baking powder.
4. Add flour mixture slowly to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Mix well.
5. In the microwave, heat Nutella until it thins out a bit (approximately 1 minute). Stir it well. Stir the softened, melted Nutella into the batter. then pour it into a prepared baking dish.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

1. 
   

Grilled Nutella & Marshmallow Sandwiches:

This dessert has appropriately been referred to as the love child of s’mores and a grilled cheese.

Makes 2 sandwiches

INGREDIENTS:
4 slices soft white bread
2 tablespoons Nutella (or more, or less — depending on your taste!)
40 mini marshmallows*
2 tablespoons butter, divided

*You can also sub in 2 tablespoons (or more!) of marshmallow fluff.

PREPARATION:
1. Spread Nutella on two slices of bread, 1 tablespoon on each slice. Spread marshmallows out evenly on the other two slices, 20 on each each slice. Pair them together to make two sandwiches.

2. Heat a small skillet or grill pan over medium-low heat, then melt half a tablespoon of butter in the skillet. Put one sandwich in the skillet and cook until the underside is golden brown, about a minute and a half. Add another half a tablespoon of butter to the skillet, flip the sandwich and cook until both sides are golden brown and the marshmallows are melted, about a minute and a half. 

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter & Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies :

adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

Makes approx. 2 1/2 dozen cookies

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Using an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until blended. Beat in the egg and egg yolk, one at a time. Then add in the vanilla and yogurt and mix until well combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill your dough and Nutella for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 350°. Once dough is chilled measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball. Make sure that the nutella is not seeping out of the dough. If necessary, use small bits of dough to plug the gaps.  Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten, just slightly, with your hand VERY gently.

Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Sprinkle with sea salt right after they come out of the oven, and cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

I suggest making a batch and keeping them in the freezer for whenever someone pisses you off, breaks your heart or you just have a bad day. You know what I'm talking about. Remember, Nutella makes everything better!


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Still Alice

Inside Garden City is excited to introduce a new column. Carly Hampton will be covering movies and TV- and all things entertainment related- that might peak your interest. Carly has recently returned to the East Coast from California and has a background in film and TV. I am very happy that she will be sharing her expertise with our readers!

Carly Hampton

Inside Garden City Staff

I decided to see the film “Still Alice” after Julianne Moore won the 2015 Oscar for best actress. I usually see all the movies nominated for best picture and because ‘Still Alice’ was not nominated, it was at the bottom of my “must watch list”. I didn’t hear much buzz about the movie, what with ‘Boyhood’ and ‘Birdman’ getting all the attention, so I put it off. I’m a fan of Moore and was curious if she deserved the award. The next day I went to the theater to investigate. 

            ‘Still Alice’ based on the book “Still Alice” by Lisa Genova, follows the story of Dr. Alice Howard (Julianne Moore), a happily married linguistics professor at Columbia University and mother of three grown children.  After forgetting a few words here and there, going blank while delivering lectures and loosing her bearings, she is soon diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. 

            The directing choices gave the audience a feel for the disease from the point of view of Alice. In an early scene, Alice gets lost while taking an afternoon run on campus. During her run she suddenly feels confused. We know she’s lost without anyone having to speak and tell us  – this would feel clunky and expositional. Instead, the camera pulls out of focus around Alice leaving her the only clear thing in the shot. The “out of focus camera” shot happens numerous times during the film.  Another example of the director giving us a sense of confusion is when the story would suddenly jump weeks and even months ahead without filling us in on how we arrived there. Alice is just suddenly somewhere and we are suddenly there too. When Alice doesn’t know or remember what’s going on, neither do we. I personally thought that was helpful in understanding the character.  

            I can’t give the directing and camera work all the credit. What would a movie be without a good lead? I was blown away by Moore’s performance and the more the story unraveled, the more impressed I was. Alice changes drastically during the film- from not remembering words to not remembering people and so on. Moore does an excellent job showing us the progression and the effects of the disease. A scene that stuck out to me was when Alice (well into her disease) watches a video of herself from the past. In the scene, the “old Alice” and the confused “new Alice” are dramatically different; one being coherent and giving out instructions while the other is disoriented and trying her best to follow. Moore was able to capture both and all versions of Alice beautifully. 

            I highly recommend seeing this film. I think it gives a unique perspective on the disease and shows what people are actually going through and how they feel during the battle. Julianne Moore totally deserved the Oscar for this movie and congrats to her for winning.  I hope you check out ‘Still Alice’ and enjoy it as much as I did.  If you do watch it, let me know what you think about the movie by leaving a comment below. Happy watching!

Thank you for reading www.Inside GardenCity.com. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram! 

Ringing in the {Chinese} New Year

In case you hadn't heard, this year's Chinese New Year started on February 19th and this is the Year of the Goat. I never celebrated Chinese New Year before but Orchid's annual celebration intrigued me and I decided to make my rez. Turns out- this was the place to be!

There were two seatings: 6pm and 8pm. Food selections were already made for us with a set menu. I was happy with the menu- one dish with a variety of apps on it per person plus 3 entrees (a chicken, a beef and a fish) for the table to share family style, followed by dessert (chocolate cake or ice cream- not sure if those desserts make it into the authentic Chinese cuisine category but hey, I'm not complaining). Service was attentive as well- despite the busy night. 

The evening's highlight was, of course, the traditional Chinese entertainment. We were treated to a show of traditional Chinese dances, four elaborate (and large) lions/dragons doing their own dance routine and Chinese music. Of course, the most fun may have been putting the traditional Chinese red envelopes with money (tips) inside the lion's mouth as it came to your table. It was here that I basically got my head swallowed by one (all part of the fun).

I will definitely be at Orchid's fabulous celebration again next year. It was more fun than I expected and my whole table had a blast. I'm thinking that I may have discovered a new way to ring in the new year!

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Weekend Events Guide: February 20th Edition

Just when you thought it couldn't/wouldn't get any cooler... welcome to the weekend winter blast! With temps as low as 8 degrees today (feeling like -2), snow expected on Saturday and rain for Sunday, the weather may not be cooperating with your weekend plans. But don't despair- we have lots of other options for you in and around Garden City!

Friday- The acclaimed dance troupe, Taylor 2, performs at Adelphi University. See some of the world’s greatest choreography, performed by some of the world’s finest dancers. 7:30pm, Dance Theatre. Get tickets here. 

Friday- With the start of Lent, BK Sweeney's has got you covered with their weekly fish fest every Friday in Lent. 636 Franklin Ave. 

Saturday- Sleeping Beauty will be showing at BroadHollow Theatre at Elmont at 2pm. Click here for tickets. 

Saturday- Come to Lakeshore Learning to do a different craft every Saturday between 11am and 3pm. 2709 Hillside Ave., New Hyde Park. 

Saturday- Trio Solisti returns to Adelphi. If you missed their last performance, don't miss this one. 8pm, Westermann Stage, Concert Hall. Check out their website and click here to buy tickets. 

Sunday- Don't miss the film screening of Rossini's The Barber of Seville at Adelphi's Concert Hall at 2pm. Running time: 3 hours. Buy tickets here. 516-775-4420

Sunday- Are you caught up on this year's predicted winners for the 2015 Academy Awards? You have until Sunday night and then it's showtime! Catch the coverage starting at 7pm.  

If you'd like to have your business or club's event posted in our weekend guide, please send an email to insidegardencity@gmail.com Thank you for reading and please visit our Facebook page!

Weekend Events Guide: February 13th Edition

It's Friday the 13th and here are 13 things to do (coincidence?) in and around Garden City this weekend!

Friday- Pump It Up Of Great Neck is hosting a Valentine's Day Sweetheart Jump. Receive a Valentine's Day goodie bag, make a Valentine's craft and enjoy food and drinks.
Cost: $19.95 per child. 225 Community Drive, Great Neck. Check the website here for more details.  6:15 pm - 8:15 pm

Twin Rinks in Eisenhower Park is now open for public skating. Click here for schedule information.

Revel on Franklin Ave. in Garden City is offering a special Valentine's Day menu this weekend. Click here to see it.

Saturday- Enjoy Afternoon Tea in the Polo Lounge at the Garden City Hotel. Reservations required. Hours: 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm. 516-877-9385.

Saturday- Learn about Herb Gardening for Health at Hicks Nurseries at 1:00 pm. 100 Jericho Tpke., Westbury.

Saturday- See Tango Buenos Aires at the Tilles Center, 8:00 pm. $33-$63 Click here for ticket information.

Saturday- Head to Lakeshore Learning Center between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm for a different craft each weekend. 2709 Hillside Ave., New Hyde Park. 516-616-9360

Saturday- See the play "Morgan's Journey" at the Long Island Children's Museum. 11:30am and 2:00 pm. Ages: 3 and up. Cost: $5 with museum admission. Click here for more details.

Saturday- Capo on Covert Ave is offering a four course dinner with wine pairing. Click here for more details.

Sunday- See "The Million Dollar Quartet"- the Tony award-winning Broadway Musical at the Tilles Cener. 7:00 pm. Click here for ticket information. Cost: $53-$83

Sunday- See Adelphi University's Student Recital at Recital Hall. Enjoy a variety of vocal and instrumental performances. Cost: Free. 4:00 pm. Click here for more information.

Sunday- Garden City's St. Joseph's Church will be showing the movie Heaven is For Real at 2pm in the St. Agnes Room. Cost: Free. 130 Fifth St.

Sunday- Marc Anthony is performing at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale at 7:00 pm. Click here for tickets.


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