French Fry Diary 580: PNC Field

On Easter Sunday, we were invited to a minor league baseball game at PNC Field in Moosic PA by the brother-in-law and his family. It was sunny but cool with a nice breeze, otherwise I might have burned. Good game, I guess, as baseball games go. The nephew enjoyed his first game, the nieces got their faces painted, and all three loved the bounce house.

The game was the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs and we got to see it from a suite. Hmmm... now I know I'm not local, so I could be wrong, but aren't Lehigh Valley and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre essentially the same area?

Anyway, the reason I'm writing about it here is that there were potato products. Duh. The homemade kettle chips were awesome - hot, and just the right thickness. It is so hard to get that right. And they also had natural cut fries, big regular cuts, nice. They were both very good except for the food proviso of all sporting events - there were crazy expensive. At least they didn't charge for parking at PNC Field.

Food was good, family was good, and oh yeah, the game was good too. Thanks to the brother-in-law for putting this together.

French Fry Diary 445: Coney Island

On a recent road trip with The Bride, we stopped at Coney Island in Pottsville, PA. It was just one of those places that just call to you from the road. You know when you cruise through an unfamiliar small town, that this is the place you must stop and have lunch. Yeah, it's like that.

There was a giant sign both by the road and on the building itself proclaiming Coney Island outside but inside it was just all cozy little hometown diner. Just a few tables, a counter, and a TV up in the corner, and on the other side some more tables - maybe they were expanding. We sat in the cozy side. They also sold lots of local beers, and lottery tickets at another counter just a few feet away from us. Wow, I loved it.

We ordered at the counter and sat down, our food came out almost immediately. I got a great but simple hot dog, good snap and flavor. The Bride also got a dog and some deep-fried cheesy veggie things. The latter was the most expensive thing we got, and I don't think it cost more than two bucks.

You know I also got French fries, right? The fries were big thick natural regular cuts, battered in seasoning, and deep-fried. They were a little greasy, but with a good crunch to them. No complaints, an almost perfect fry - crisp shell, hot and soft and potato-ey inside. We both cleaned our plates like champs. Yeah, that good.

The best part? We got a pretty full meal, good portions, and it was crazy inexpensive. This place was an all ways winner. If you ever get out to Pottsville in the Poconos, definitely stop at The Coney Island. Recommended.