CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA DINING

Restaurants, dining reviews and food news for Harrisburg, Camp Hill, York and more

The last time that I read a nutrition label on a container of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs, there were too many chemical names that I could not pronounce. For the convenience of using store bought, short cut ingredients, unneeded preservatives and sodium become part of your recipe.

Dan Gleiter, The Patriot-NewsArooga's Grille House & Sports Bar

Economic hardships are not hindering the fun or the fans huddled at Arooga's Grille House & Sports Bar. Hearty bar food and drink specials and a daunting, belly-bulging menu have customers hurrying in to slam dunk the goods especially the award-winning wings. Referee-clad servers keep pace with all the different jerseys hanging out at the gregarious bar or nearby at tall tables.

Dan Gleiter, The Patriot-NewsNick Dunphy is opening The Cellar restaurant off of 21st St. in East Pennsboro Twp. The concept is BYOB and he is going to have lockers customers can rent where regulars can store their liquor and bottles of wine.

Nick Dunphy is back in the driver's seat at the former J.C. Dunphy's House of Bull in East Pennsboro Twp. just eight years after closing the restaurant.

JOHN C. WHITEHEAD, The Patriot-NewsSue Noriega of Derry Twp. prepares a chicken taco salad.

Any parent of a young athlete knows the dinnertime drill.

If your kids play soccer, football, basketball, baseball or softball, you encounter the merry-go-round of practices and games that often fall around the dinner hour.

Between chauffeuring kids to practice and tracking down uniforms, cleats and shin guards, you have little time left to throw together a meal. Realistically how many nights can you hit the fast food drive-thru or order pizza?

The Friends of Fort Hunter Mansion and Park will stage an evening of food, art and entertainment titled "Under the Hunter's Moon" 5:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 17.

The festivities will take place at the park at 5300 N. Front St., Susquehanna Twp. A ticket is $125. Patron tickets range from $150 to $1,000. Reservations are requested by Oct. 9. For information, call 599-5188, ext. 2116.

The next time you are invited to an Italian's house and they offer you a Spuntino, you better jump at the opportunity. The other night I asked my wife if she wanted a Spuntino. Knowing all well about my gastronomical adventures and experiments, and not quite sure what that word meant, she cautiously declined my offer.

Not all Mozzarella cheese is created equal. We usually associate Mozzarella cheese with the yellow stringy and not very flavorful variety used on a typical pizza. However, the true Italian version is made from the rich milk of the Water Buffalo.

Judging from the schedule of entertainment, food and crafts, visitors to the 44th annual National Apple Harvest Festival in Adams County 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 4-5 and Oct. 11-12 will have a bushelful of fun.

The festival will be at the South Mountain Fairgrounds, near Arendtsville. Tickets are $8 adult; $7 seniors 60 and older; free, under 12. Tickets includes admission, parking and shuttle service. For information, call 677-9413.

When I was a little boy growing up in an Italian neighborhood, I learned all I needed to know about the passion of cooking from my family. They did not consider the long hours of preparation, the back breaking strain from working the garden, and cooking as just another responsibility. It was all a labor of love and joy.

When I was a little boy growing up in an Italian neighborhood, I learned all I needed to know about the passion of cooking from my family. They did not consider the long hours of preparation, the back breaking strain from working the garden, and cooking as just another responsibility. It was all a labor of love and joy.