Carini Restaurant, Waterford Pa.

I've driven thru Waterford Pa hundreds of times over the years but never stopped at Carini's.  This restaurant is right in the middle of town, easy to find and with plenty of free parking.  The decor is dinor style (NW Pa spelling!), but very clean and comfortable.  It's the kind of place that has advertisements on the place mats.  The menu consists of a nice selection of subs, salads, Italian entrees and a nice choice of lunch specials.  I also noticed the chef hand tossing pizza dough, although we didn't get the chance to try any.

I went with the Spaghetti Bread Bowl which is served with a tossed salad for $7.35.  Stacy went for a dinner entree of Chicken Parmesan which came with pasta and also a tossed salad ($10.45).  The salads were typical iceberg, but very fresh and crunchy.  My spaghetti was very good and the sauce was exceptional.  The portions were fairly large and a nice value for good quality, fresh food.

This is a very nice local restaurant with friendly service and good food, which is sometimes difficult to find in the backwoods of Pennsylvania.  I'm sure we will return.

Carini Restaurant is located at 118 High St in the center of Waterford Pa.

Holiday Turkey!

I really love turkey with crisp skin and juicy meat.  The problem is that when trying to crisp the skin, it's easy to overcook the turkey resulting in a dry, overdone bird.  The solution is pretty simple.  The night before, I remove the turkey from it's packaging, and leave it in the refrigerator uncovered.  This drys the skin.  To roast, I like to use a sheet pan with a rack.  An uncovered roasting pan works too, but the sides of the pan hinder air circulation around the bottom of the bird.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Yes, 500.  Roast the turkey for 30 minutes.  At this point, turn down the temperature to 300, and cover the breast meat with foil. This will prevent the white breast meat from overcooking, while allowing the darker meat to cook fully.  Check with a meat thermomoter and remove when internal temperature reaches 155 degrees.  Now just cover it and let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes before carving.  Excellent!!!