Anyway, here were the three highlights from Sunday….

My sister made a lunch of chicken spiedies on the grill. These are marinated chunks of meat that are popular only in the central part of New York State for some reason. I mean, kebabs are everywhere, but only in this region are they called spiedies. And man, they are delicious. They are served on bread, often with sauteed hot peppers–this is especially awesome during the summer when my sister and brother-in-law grow the peppers and garlic in their garden. Yum. Oh, and don’t use whole wheat bread. As my brother-in-law says, who wants to put spiedies on “sawdust?” Sorry, Ellie Krieger.

For dinner, we ate at the place that, in my opinion, has the best pizza in the free world — Bud’s Place in Appalachin, New York. It’s thin, crispy, and has a cheese and sauce blend that is about as close to food nirvana as there is. Seriously…..if I could have Bud’s ship me frozen pies, I would be happy. We just don’t have good pizza in Madison, despite the fact that cheese is what we do here. Or at least, I haven’t found good pizza yet. I’m from Long Island, so I’m partial to NY pizza, but still, no one does it like Bud’s–it’s truly one of a kind.

Finally, we stopped for ice cream at The Big Dipper. I was so full from pizza that I could only stomach the “lite” stuff called Dole Whip. Now, I wish I would have had the custard instead, but the pineapple whip wasn’t too bad. Still, we do have good custard places in Madison such as Culver’s and Michael’s.

Oh, and even though I got stuck in Binghamton’s airport for far too long, Bud’s pizza survived in plastic wrap at room temperature, well enough for my wife and I to have it for dinner when I got home. Man, that pizza is amazing. If you’re ever in that area, make sure you check it out.