Joe Biden and Lasagna

I won't mention her name, but I know a beautiful lady from Easton who is an amazing Italian cook. I've had her spaghetti and meatballs a few times when I was several tons heavier than I am now. It's the best I ever had. If I ate her cooking on a regular basis, I'd be several tons heavier now than I was back then. It would be worth it. I'd die with a smile on my face. I was unaware until yesterday that there's another person who shares my opinion of this woman's cooking. His name, believe it or not, is Joe Biden. Let me tell you the story.

Back in the '90s, somebody was running for something, and Joe Biden was invited to come up to Easton from Delaware and speak on her behalf. As the third Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he readily agreed. But he had one condition. Was it an outrageous speaking fee? No, he was coming to help a fellow Democrat. His one condition was that he wanted a nice Italian meal.

My friend was asked to book a reservation at some good Italian restaurant. There's no shortage of those in the Easton area, but she refused. "If he wants good Italian food, he's coming to my house," she said, and so he did.

Joe was treated to a nice lasagna meal, after which he went on to give his speech.

Fast forward a few years, and Joe was in the Easton area again for some other Democratic event. This time, an intern who grew up in the Lehigh Valley came with him. This intern, a college student at Weidner at that time, was considering a career in public service. His name is Steve Barron, Northampton County's Director of Fiscal Affairs, aka the NorCo Money Man.

Biden came out to meet the crowd and spotted my friend. He looked at her a moment, smiled, and shouted out, "Great lasagna!"

Barron would go on to tell me that Biden is himself a great foodie, and loves this area because of the different foods available. He loves Syrian and Lebanese food, and has spoken fondly of Damascus in Allentown. He also likes Hungarian, Slovak and Polish food.

"You're Slovak, what's the difference between halushki and halupki?" he once asked Barron.

I wonder if he's ever had garachki.

That's what you use to unlock a garage.

I can explain Biden's fascination with ethnic food because I share it. You see, we're Irish, and our food sucks. Who the hell eats mutton? Seriously. And haggis? That's sheep shit boiled in a bag, for Christ's sake. I swear all British cuisine was invented on a dare.

If Biden returns to the Lehigh Valley during this Presidential race, it will be because of our wide variety of great food.

By the way, I gained 10 pounds just writing this story.