Inspector Montalbano

Sun, food, women, and murder; four words that best describe the Italian detective series Inspector Montalbano based on the books by Andrea Camilleri. Primarily set in picturesque Sicily, the series takes a wickedly fun and sinister approach as Inspector Montalbano, played by Luca Zingaretti, and his team go about solving crimes in the region.  

Having viewed two episodes I found Inspector Montalbano to be exceptionally well crafted because it tackles humor, death, and mystery in just the right balance. The series in general can be a bit unnerving at times, in a positive manner, because it combines sporadic moments of comedy with that of misery, changing the mood from light to dark, and back again, instantly at the flip of a coin.  

Excursion to Tindariconsists of the inspector looking at a murder, a missing elderly couple, and a case of adultery amidst politics and mafia intrusions. What struck me most about this episode was the unconventional end, something that brings forth the extreme cunningness of the Inspector.

The Artist's Touchis a murder mystery with a storyline consisting of deductions that mirror Sherlock Holmes at times. Once again, as in the previous episode, there is always a lingering shadow of the "important" things in life; beautiful women and food, both of which usually bring about the humorous side of Inspector Montalbano. 

It's easy to be carried away and get comfortable with the number of subplots while watching Inspector Montalbano. After only a little while the transition into reading the subtitles became natural, but still, a number of times I was so engrossed in the episodes, admiring and enjoying the original language (Italian), that I would skip reading the subtitles having to actually rewind, in-order to understand what was being said.

While the title character of the series portrays a certain charisma and charm and is without doubt the "hero", it has to be the supporting cast and their mannerisms that truly make it special. Be it the regulars, with a special mention of Catarella, or the episodic cast, each member is so well developed that they form an integral part of the series with Inspector Montalbano serving as a head keeping everything and everyone under control. It is also this supporting cast that is primarily responsible for the subtle, almost Peter Seller-esq comedy that underlines the series throughout. The influence of Italian culture is abundant with the food and sun-kissed locations playing a prominent role along with a general flirting that takes place between a number of characters.

Inspector Montalbano brings about certain freshness amongst the barrage of detective series that are produced in the west. Making the most of its location, the series keeps itself unique by having strong characters that can't help but make the audience love them and their eccentricities.       

Inspector Montalbano is a series not to be missed, especially if you like your dinner served by the seaside with a hint of anguish, a dash of whimsy, and a sprinkle of personalities to bring about an explosion of taste. 

DVD Information:

Title - Inspector Montalbano Collection Two

Episodes - Excursion to Tindari, The Artist's Touch, The Sense of Touch, Montalbano's Croquettes, The Scent of the Night, The Goldfinch and the Cat.

Release Date - 3rd September 2012

Running Time - 611 minutes approx. on 3 discs

Certificate - 15

Language - Italian with English Subtitles

Release - Acorn Media UK

Always Good Eats in O.C.

I like to take pictures of food. It's just one of the many weird things I like to do that generate stares of bewilderment from onlookers. Here's a couple of yummy things people ate while we were at the beach the other week. These first two are from Shenanigan's Irish Pub & Grille at 4th St. & the Boardwalk. They have plenty of seating directly on the boardwalk which has made this spot a new favorite with my family.





Skibereen Po'Boy: Traditional shirmp Po'boy. Spicy breaded shrimp on a six-inch toasted hoagie roll with lettuce and tomato, served with home-made remoulade sauce.

Gallagher's Banger: Authentic Irish Banger sausage flame-broiled, topped with caramelized onions, red peppers, and spicy brown mustard served on a toasted hoagie roll.

And from de Lazy Lizzard at 1st St. & the Bay, Godzilla Nachos which we had to order just because of the name.

Foodles...for Me and Yoodles

Everytime I go to a grocery store, besides the two I frequent, I always find all kinds of goofy and/or cool blogworthy items. Last week while shopping at a gigantic new store in town I spotted these kiddie food trays from afar. I noticed that the shape of the tray resembled Mickey, and then when I got closer I saw some familiar faces staring back at me!

There's several different varieties of Disney Gardens' Foodles, all of which contain a combination of three different healthy snacks in kid sized portions. You might think that $3.49 is a lot to pay for 1/3 of an apple, a handful of pretzels and six grapes...but did I mention that the package is shaped like Mickey!?!

Seriously, it's a pretty neat little treat for kids. And you have to give Disney some credit...they could slap their characters on sugary-sweet breakfast cereal or potato chips (and they have) but they are trying to make a move to associate Mickey and the gang with good food choices for kids. Now, if we can just get somebody to make Batman Broccoli, I might get my kids to eat some veggies!

Disney Gardens has a pretty nice website, featuring games and kid-friendly recipes.

The Sauce of Paul Sorvino

Let's get back into the swing of things with another odd supermarket shelf find. Actor Paul Sorvino often plays mobsters and crime lords. And let's face it, we all picture mobsters as Italian guys who like to eat alot of pasta. So it makes perfect sense for Paul Sorvino to run with that stereotype and start a line of his own pasta sauce. I don't know, Paul! It's gonna have to taste at least half as good as Paul Newman's Sockarooni sauce!

Paul Sorvino Foods make two kinds of sauce and four different kinds of sausage. Now all he needs is to make the pasta too. Maybe that's a business for daughter Mira to pick up.

See Paul pitch his sauce here.

Pancakes on Parade

As I've mentioned before, I love food that is flavored like other food. It's like a 2-for-1 deal! When I laid my eyes on Tastykake's new Pancake Krimpets they were in my shopping cart quicker than you can say "Mrs. Butterworth!" Everyone enjoys the classic Krimpets varieties of jelly filled or butterscotch, but the thought of sinking my teeth into a pancake flavored snack cake simply sent chills up my spine. The description on the box reads: "Butter Flavored Cream Filled Sponge Cakes with Maple Syrup Flavored Icing". Yes, they are that tasty! Plus they are alot easier then frying up some cakes on the griddle. They might also be responsible for the mild heart attack I've been having all day.

Classic Commercial Sunday - #25

Classic Commercial Sunday - RoboCop is Hungry

In our country, RoboCop is a string of extremely violent action movies. In other countries, RoboCop is a pitchman for various food products...

All That And A Bag Of Chips:5 Favorite Vending Machine Selections

Hey look, another vending machine related post! I gave it some long hard thought and for no reason whatsoever I came up with a list of the five things I most like to get out of a vending machine...because everybody has their favorites!


Chuckles You can find Chuckles in stores and in vending machines but either way they are hard to come by and I always associate them with snack machines. Chuckles are pure candy delight with five distinct flavors. The black and the red are my favorites, but yellow, orange and green aren't too shabby either. The best way to eat them is to bite them in half and then try to jam your tongue into the jelly goodness of one half. To much information?

Big Texas Cinnamon Roll Texas is known for it's cinnamon rolls, right? This is a must go-to when you need to substitute something in the snack machine for an actual meal. The Big Texas Cinnamon Roll (or BTCR as it's known in circles) is probably one of the biggest items you'll even find in a machine. It's pretty hardy. Unfortunately, it has the caloric equivalent of two McDonald's value meals so I only eat them when I know I ain't gettin' dinner anytime soon.



Hard Pretzels If you're gonna do things right, you really need to get your hands on hard pretzels made by Snyder's of Hanover, and I'm not just saying that because I used to live one block over from their factory. Snyder's uses the right kind of salt on top of their pretzels plus they are baked just right. Hard pretzels give you all the chewing and chomping you need with out all the artery clogging goodness of the Big Texas.

Zero As far as candy bars go, I prefer alternative selections. Snickers and Milky Way are all fine and dandy but sometimes you need to dig a little deeper to find some new flavor sensations. If you've never had one - it might sound gross. The Zero bar is caramel, peanut and almond nougat covered in white fudge. Good eats, my friend! Good eats!

Robotically Made Sandwiches Packaged in Triangle Containers There's something about these sandwiches that just makes them so good! Perhaps it's whatever they put on it so the bread doesn't get all soggy or perhaps it's the completely artificial ingredients. I'm quite sure not one real egg makes it into one of these egg salad sandwiches, but that doesn't mean they aren't tasty as all get out! Plus, this is one vending machine selection that is an actual meal. If you dig up a few more coins for a bag of chips and a coke, you've got yourself quite a little feast going on!

Please add your favorites in the comment section...

Back From The Beach `09

We spent a week at the ocean. We brought our laptop so I figured I would update the blog while we were there but then I never felt like doing it. So now we're back in the WWoB offices and the fun and mirth can continue! We were in Ocean City, MD for one whole week. We had a great time. Quite a few friends of ours were down there the same time we were. Some planned it that way, others we ran into! The weather was hot and beachy with highs of 103. The actual beach part of the beach continues to be my children's least favorite part of the beach experience. They prefer the mini-golf, candy stores and rides and quite frankly that's fine with us. We spent a lot of time at the pool and many evenings strolling the boardwalk listening to the sounds of the ocean and a guy wearing a cardboard box painted like Spongebob Squarepants and playing the banjo. Life is good!

One of the new attractions at Ocean City that we were looking forward to checking out is The Pirates Plunder Museum and Gift Shop on 26th St. With all the same ideas repeated over and over in Ocean City...it's nice when something original and different opens up. This little museum is small and doesn't have a whole lot to offer but at $3 bucks a head (kids 10 and under are free) it's worth the price. There are plenty of pirate artifacts on display such as weapons and treasures, and there is a bounty of information to be had in this small space. Who knew Blackbeard the pirate had a home and a wife right here on the East Coast of Maryland!? The museum offers lots of photo opportunities and it even has a small theatre that runs a very fascinating National Geographic film about Blackbeard. There's a large gift shop attached with all sorts of pirate goodies to take home including toy weapons which happens to be the very favorite item of one of my own little crew members and believe me, he left a happy little pirate! And yes, in case you were wondering, the soundtrack to Pirates of the Carribean was playing the entire time we were there!

Of course, eating plays a big role in a visit to the beach. For me, and many others, nothing is better than a serving or three of Thrasher's Fries. I also visited the wonderful Dough Roller for my beloved Pizza Omelet and traveled over the state line into Delaware for my newest favorite pizza in the world: Grotto Pizza.
I also established two new food traditions; a Peanut Butter Fudge and Banana milkshake at Dumsers and Kohr Bros. banana frozen custard with chocolate sprinkles! That's flavor country, my friends. We also hit up other favorites like The Bonfire, Tequila Mockingbird, Phillips Seafood, Big Peckers and Harpoon Hanna's. Oh, and the kids dragged us into at least a dozen Candy Kitchens.

A highlight of the trip for me was finally getting to ride the Haunted Mansion ride on Rehoboth Beach's boardwalk. Rehoboth Beach is about a 20 minute drive from Ocean City but offers a completely different beach experience. Rehoboth has a small amusement park called Funland which operates a handful of rides in a tightly packed but beautiful little area. Their Haunted Mansion is considered one of the best dark rides in the country. It only opens at 6:30pm so the lines are very long. I've tried to ride it two other years and waiting in a long line isn't an option when you've got two little ones with you. This year, I went back and checked on the line near the end of the night and there was no wait. I bought my $1.50 worth of tickets and walked right on this legendary ride. Unlike most Haunted Houses, this one's cars suspend from the track and the whole ride is actually upstairs from the loading area. It's a really cool ride filled with all sorts of old fun house gags and props collected from other classic dark rides. One of the highlights of the ride is the "Peeing Skeleton". Sounds charming, don't it!? It's a great ride which I hope I get to do again soon!

On the way home from Ocean City, we decided to make a small detour and visit Cheeseburger in Paradise in Pasadena, MD. There used to be a CIP not to far from our home, but it closed down about two years ago. We've often talked about making the 75-90 minute drive down to the next nearest location, but sole Maryland operation ended up only being about 10 minutes out of our way on our return trip. We were so happy to be back. Cheeseburger in Paradise has the best sliders - hands down! They also have lots of yummy island inspired dishes and drinks and you get to chow down while listening to Jimmy Buffet tunes. It was a great conclusion to a fun (and calorie) filled week!