Showing posts with label Sam Monaco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam Monaco. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Conair Home Haircut Kit

Conair Home Haircut Kit
With salons and barbershops across the country mostly closed, it seems that long hair of the '70s may be coming back in style.

What a great time to review my Conair Home Haircut Kit. Conair is an easy to use clipper for all of your home grooming needs.

Most guys I know get their haircut on a regular basis like once every two weeks or once a month.

I'm one of those guys that always wait until my hair is so long that I can't stand it. I don't know why because the salon that cuts my hair is only two blocks from where I live.

I find, the older I get the less hair that I have. Although in my younger days I had sideburns that would have made Elvis jealous.

My hair grows faster on the sides than on top. So, for in-between hair appointments, I bought this Conair 10 piece haircutting system. I have had this for several years now and it still works like new.

This makes it so easy to trim the sides and around my ears to keep me looking neat and respectable until my next appointment.

Conair Home Haircut Kit Includes:

  • The Barber Clipper to Cut.
  • Four guide combs, 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" for detailing.
  • Cleaning brush and oil to keep it clean.
  • Barber Comb
  • Blade Guard
  • Styling Clip, this is something that I never need.
Here are some tips and tricks if you're new to cutting your own hair or someone in the family. It's one thing to hack up your hair, but, if you hack up one the kid's hair you may be in big trouble.

Always start with the largest comb. Start cutting from the bottom of the side around the ears and work your way to the top. Don't cut the top of your hair yet. Once you get a little confidence you can move to the shorter combs.

For the top, use the comb to lift the hair. Cutover the top of the comb, starting from the front to the back to blend the hair to the sides.

The kit also includes a full set of instructions for cutting hair. If you're new to this, don't worry with a little bit of practice you'll be cutting hair like a pro just like me.






Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Fresh Lemon Hand Pies

Fresh Lemon Hand Pies


My mother made the best ever lemon meringue pie, it's one of my all-time favorites. Every time she made it I was like, "is it cool enough to cut yet mom".

Anyone else in the house was lucky enough to get a slice with me around. Today I'm reviewing how easy it is to enjoy that lemony taste that brings back some wonderful childhood memories.

Hand pies are so easy to make with store-bought pie crust and lemon filling, or any fruit filling for that matter. This perfect snack or dessert could be ready in 40 minutes or less.

Every year my cousin sends me these giant lemons for his backyard in Arizona. This weekend I decided to make homemade fresh lemon hand pies. The first thing that I did was make the lemon filling.

Homemade Lemon Curd

Lemon curd is really so easy to make. I made this and refrigerated it overnight, but you can make this and let cool for a couple of hours and use it for whatever your making.

Lemon curd is so versatile it can be used for cakes, cupcakes, donuts, or spread it on top of a scone of crackers.

Fresh Lemon Hand Pies Ingredients (Lemon Curd)

1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (4 to 5 lemons)
zest of 2 lemons
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup salted butter (Cold)

Instructions
  1. You will need a double boiler for this, add some water and bring it to a boil.
  2.  Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks, continue to stir.
  3. Add the zest of the lemons and the lemon juice. Continue to stir the mixture for about 10 minutes, it will begin to thicken.
  4.  After 10 minutes remove the mixture from the heat, and add the butter one tablespoon at a time.
  5. Continue stirring, the mixture will become nice and thick. Once all the butter is melted into the mixture pour it into a bowl and let it cool for 2 to 3 hours before using it.
Pie crust ingredients

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Crisco (Cold)
6 to 8 tablespoons of Ice Water

  1. Cut the Crisco into smaller pieces
  2. Add flour and Crisco into a mixing bowl
  3. Mix until Crisco begins to fold into the flour
  4. Add ice-cold water one tablespoon at a time 
  5. Mix until a ball of dough forms
Divide the pie crust into two equal parts wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about a half-hour. I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer to make the pie crust.

Making Lemon Hand Pies

Now, it's time to assemble and bake these little sweet treats. I rolled each ball of the pie crust out to about a 10-inch circle between two sheets of parchment paper.

Tip: Lay the parchment paper or wax paper on a kitchen towel. This prevents it from moving all over the counter while rolling.

Cut the crust with a 4-inch cookie cutter, place a tablespoon of the lemon curd in the middle. Then, fold them over and pinch the edges together. Press a fork around the edges to seal.

Hand Pies


Poke the middle of each hand pie with a fork. I made 12 hand pies, six out of each half of the crust. You will have to re-roll some of the crust to get the other 2 out of each half.

Baked Lemon Hand Pies

Now you will need two egg whites and a couple tablespoons of sugar. Beat the egg whites in a small bowl.

 Brush the hand pies with the beaten egg whites and sprinkle the sugar over the top. Or you could skip the sugar and dust them with powdered sugar right out of the oven.

Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. Set them on a rack to cool and enjoy.

You might enjoy some of my other fresh lemon recipes





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Wednesday, April 22, 2020

New Balance Running Shoes Review

New Balance Running Shoes Review

Many years ago, I needed to get into shape and lose some weight.

A good friend of mine suggested that I should start exercising. By exercise, he meant running. Well, I haven't done any running since high school.

After thinking about it, I decided to give it a try. So, I put my tennis shoes and sweat pants and drove to the school track.

I couldn't even make it around the track one time, and it was only 1/6 of a mile track.

I'm not one to quit, so I stayed with it and before long I was running 5 to 6 miles a day. I lost some of that weight and I was getting in really good shape.

It wasn't long before I started to feel some aches and pains. My legs, shins, and back started to bother me. I thought maybe that I was overdoing it by pushing myself so much.

My running partner; who was the same guy that talked me into this wonderful world of running suggested that I really needed a good pair of running shoes.


New Balance Running Shoes:


Now, I was off to investigate running shoes. I found New Balance to be the perfect running shoe for me. I wear a 9-1/2 wide and New Balance seemed to be the only running shoe that I could find in half sizes. I find the support and comfort to be superior over other shoes that I tried on.

My friend was right because soon my aches and pains vanished, as I continued to run, (No not like Forrest Gump). Every day when I came home from work, I changed into my running gear and it was off to the park for my 5-mile run. Rain, snow or sunshine I was out there running.

Okay, maybe I was a jogger and not a runner, but it was a good aerobic workout. I would welcome anyone to tag along with me running an 8 to a 9-minute mile for 5 miles.

The New Balance shoes made all of the difference in the world, they have excellent cushion and support and I felt like I was running on clouds.

Fast forward to today. I really don't run anymore. But, I do a lot of walking and I'm wearing my New Balance walking shoes. New Balance is the only sports shoe that I'll ever wear.





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Friday, March 27, 2020

About Sam Monaco

Sam Monaco - author, cook, and contributor
About Sam Monaco on Review This Reviews

First, let say how honored I am to be part of Review This Reviews Blog. I've followed most of the contributors here for a long time.

What I like about Social Media is that you meet people and follow their work and communicate with them on-line.

You never meet them in person and yet they become part of your family. That's the way I feel about the contributors on Review This Reviews.

My full name is Eugene Samuel Monaco, but everybody just calls me Sam. I only use my full name when signing important documents. I was named after my uncle who was called Sam also.



I'm a semi-retired Industrial Engineer working in the automotive and furniture industries. You just can't get any further apart from an industry standpoint. My work gives me the opportunity to interact with people every day on the manufacturing floor. This is the reason that I love my job so much.

I began my online writing about 9 years ago and this is where I meet so many wonderful and helpful people. The following are just some of the places you can find me online.

Sam's Places: This is my food blog where you will find old and new family recipes. I have a passion for preserving old family recipes the recipe's from my mother, grandmother, and aunts.  So many of these old recipes are written on little scraps of paper. I find it to be such fun to figure them out and reproduce them so they can be enjoyed for many generations.

Cherished Toy Finds: This is my toy blog where I write about what I call cherished toys. I watched my grandchildren play with some of the very same toys that I had and my kids had. So, I thought what a great idea it would be to write about some of these toys that have been around forever. You'll find many of these cherished toys in my blog. Along with some new ones that they teach grandpa about.

Reviewed By Sam: This one is my own review blog where you can find a variety of things; books, products, travel, and do-it-yourself project. I always own and use the products I write about in all of my blogs.


A Little More About Sam:


My interests are simple. I enjoy the work I do and the interaction with so many people. I take great pleasure in preserving those family recipes and creating some new ones along the way. My biggest joy is my four grandchildren. I cherish every minute I spend with each one of them.











Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


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