Rome Cast Iron Pie Irons - Reviewed

We enjoy our backyard fire pit every year and make lasting memories with all of the fun. Our Rome cast iron pie irons have been part of that fun for as long as I can remember.

What is a pie iron? A pie iron is a handy cooking tool that turns an ordinary campfire into an opportunity to make delicious hot sandwiches, called mountain pies, or, as some people know them, hobo pies or pudgie pies.

The classic Rome Square pie iron is designed to accommodate a generous portion of bread and fillings, allowing you to make any kind of delicious hot sandwich. One of our favorites is the pizza mountain pie. Find out how we make the pizza mountain pie here in one of my posts, Mountain Pies.

Rome also offers round and double models, giving you several options depending on what you want to cook. Our pie irons are the classic square designs.

You can make hot sandwiches, savory meals, and sweet desserts with your pie irons. Another favorite of mine is apple pie filling with cheddar cheese.

If you enjoy camping or spending time around a backyard campfire pit, Rome pie irons are worth considering. Once you start experimenting with different fillings and recipes, you will be looking forward to your next campfire.

After every campfire, I wash my pie irons with soap and water and thoroughly dry them. Then, I coat and rub them with vegetable oil on the inside and out to make them ready for the next campfire.

ROME Industries 1760 Double Xl Square Pie Iron, 5ROME Industries Pudgie Revolution Pie Iron Cookbook, Recipes For Pudgy Pie Cooking

 

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National Onion Day - A Holiday Review

 

June 27 is the day selected to celebrate oodles of onions. The date was chosen by the National Onion Association(NOA) to document the creation of their organization in 1913. It’s definitely nothing to ‘cry’ over. LOL.

Culinary Versatility

Onions have countless culinary uses. You can take a raw onion and slice it, dice it or chop it to add to recipes. This can be either a condiment (such as a slice of onion on a burger) or diced or chopped as an ingredient to almost any recipe. 

Onions can be the featured star of a meal or appetizer, such as homemade onion rings or the delicious ‘blooming onion’. Onion Soup is a popular beginning to the main course in many restaurants. 

The Onion is Good for You

In addition to the flavor it adds to foods, onions are beneficial. They have very few calories, no added cholesterol, rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, plus vitamin B5. It also gives you an increase to your dietary fiber. 

Funny Personal Onion Story

Years ago our daughter & son-in-law were in town visiting us. We had just acquired our very first gas grill and planned on burgers-on-the-grill for dinner. Instead of offering sliced onions as condiments, we decided to add chopped onions to the burger patties before cooking. 

Our son-in-law, Paul, does not like onions (can’t imagine life without onions, myself). So we made two burger patties plain for him.  

Well, somehow in the confusion of learning the new grill and turning the hamburgers, some of them must have gotten switched. When dinner was served, Bob took a bite of his burger and declared “I can’t even taste the onion in this”. Paul said “I can!” LOL. Seems Paul got Bob’s onion burgers and Bob got Paul’s Plain burgers! So, naturally, they simply switched.

The moral of the story (other than the impossible task of teaching Paul to like onions) is ‘never try a new recipe out on company’ (or, perhaps while learning a new appliance). :) 

A Related Holiday:

Close to Onion Day, we find National Onion Ring Day on June 22. So, while you are enjoying your onion dishes, add in a serving of fried onion rings made from scratch. My favorite is my friend’s tempura batter used to deep fry the onion rings. Paired with a burger or a steak, it would be a delicious meal to end both National Onion Day and Onion Ring Day.

So, enjoy the versatile onion in all its many forms! 

For more Holiday reviews, click on

ReviewThisReviews: Holidays

*National Onion Day Holiday Review is written by Wednesday Elf

Onion Cookbooks and Handy Tools

Perfect Onion Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Cooking with OnionsCheck PriceOnion Holder for Slicing (2 Pack) - Stainless Steel Vegetable Slicer Guide, Tomato/Potato/Lemon/Meat Holder - Safe, Even Cuts Kitchen GadgetCheck PriceOnions: A Country Garden CookbookCheck PriceOnion Storage, Avocado Saver Keeper, Reusable Tomato Lemon Holder Storage Container (Onion Saver)Check Price

 

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The Incredible Edible Egg Holiday Review

June 3rd is known as National Egg Day. The holiday was founded by the American Egg Board in 1996 to focus on the importance and versatility of eggs.

The Egg Came First

The practice of eating eggs has been around for millions of years. Early man first found eggs in birds nests and found them edible. Later, domesticated hens gave them chicken eggs.

Americans generally rely on chicken eggs as their primary source, but other cultures around the world eat pheasant eggs and those of the quail, the goose, the gull, and turkeys. These other ‘bird’ eggs are popular, offering a slightly different taste from chicken eggs. 

Comparisons of Various Egg Sizes

The average Large chicken egg weighs about 2 ounces and measures 2.5 inches in length.

• The Dinosaur egg is about 1-2 liters in volume and equals roughly 15 to 20 chicken eggs.
• The Ostrich Egg is football-sized and equals 24-25 chicken eggs
• The Emu Egg is about the size of a papaya and equals 10 to 12 chicken eggs.
• The Goose Egg is approximately 3 times heavier and one egg would equal 3 chicken eggs.
• The Turkey Egg is half again as large as the chicken egg and equals up to 2 chicken eggs.
• The Duck Egg is about 1.5 times bigger than a chicken egg.
• The tiny Quail Egg is about the size of a large marble and it would take 4 or 5 quail eggs to equal one chicken egg.

How Many Ways Can You Fix Eggs?

An estimate of the number of egg recipes available today is too numerous to count. Eggs are one of the most versatile ingredients in the world with maybe 80,000 ways to prepare or use them. The favorite ways for breakfast possibly include fried (sunny-side up, over-easy, over-medium and over-hard), boiled soft or hard, scrambled and poached. From the basics, you can get fancy with everything from a plain omelet to a fancy Western Omelet, all the way up to elegant Eggs Benedict or Cloud Eggs.

There are three main egg celebration days: 

1. World Egg Day held on the second Friday in October
2. Winlock Egg Day happens on the third Saturday in June each year.
3. National Egg Day is June 3rd.

The Incredible Edible Egg Commercial

The long-running egg commercial used by the American Egg Board (AEB) in the 70s to the 90s to promote the eating and use of eggs is still remembered by many to this day!

So, have an egg or two on June 3rd to celebrate this delicious food holiday.

National Egg Day
June 3

*The National Egg Day review was written and compiled by Wednesday Elf

Egg Cookbooks and More..... 

The Egg Cookbook: The Creative Farm-to-Table Guide to Cooking Fresh EggsCheck PriceThe Perfect Egg: A Fresh Take on Recipes for Morning, Noon, and Night [A Cookbook]Check PriceOXO Enhanced 8” Nonstick Frying Pan Skillet, Ceramic PFAS-Free Cookware, Stainless Steel Handle, Eggs & Omelets, Dishwasher & Oven Safe, Storm BlueCheck Price

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Copycat Tate's Cookie Recipe Review

 If you are a Tate's cookie fan than you can spot the infamous green bag of Tate's from a distance at your favorite market (or white bag if gluten free). My local market first started carrying Tate's, the original Chocolate Chip flavor, known for its' crispy buttery flavor; the market now carries the entire line of cookies including gluten free. 

If you like your chocolate chip cookies on the crispy side then you will enjoy Tates! I came across a copycat recipe for Tate's Chocolate Chip Cookies which I have tried quite a few times and found very enjoyable. Not exactly the same of course as the original Tate's but still yummy on its' own.

CopyCat Tate's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup salted butter
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 tsp water
•  1 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Serving size is a medium to large cookie. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

1. Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Cream softened butter and the two sugars in another bowl.
3. Then add vanilla and water to the sugar creamed mixture.
4. Add eggs, mix together. 
5. Stir flour mixture into bowl. 
6. Fold in chocolate chips.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-16 minutes depending on your oven and how large you make the cookies.

Medium-Large cookie size is 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Adjust up or down to your preference and don't forget to adjust baking time.

History of Tate's

The idea and recipe behind Tate's is from Kathleen King from the Hamptons.  She has been creating desserts since 1980 and has two cookbooks: Baking For Friends and the Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook still available on Amazon or used online book sites. As Tate's grew through the years with the inevitable ups and lulls business' encounter, Tate's rise and success of it's products was ultimately purchased in 2018 by Mondelez for a reported 500 million dollars.

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How Not to Age Cookbook Review

I have been working on improving my diet over time, and have become more plant based as a result.

My latest endeavor, or wakeup call came from watching YouTube videos by Dr. Michael Greger. Greger not only has recommendations on the better choice of what to eat, he knows the science that backs it up.

I was so impressed with his knowledge, that I bought his latest book, The How Not to Age Cookbook.

It was in this cookbook that I saw a recipe for Roasted Asparagus with Tahini Lemon Sauce. Below is my photo of my results.

I usually sauté asparagus, steam it once in a while, or cook it in soup. My husband and I were both pleasantly surprised with the flavor of it being roasted. I also liked the sauce, my husband wasn't so impressed with the sauce, he didn't even taste it. The sauce by itself was a bit strong to me, but paired with the asparagus and also on the pasta, I thought it was pretty good. Overall I was pleased with this recipe and liked the lightness of their not being any oil in it.

In the Introduction part of the book, I learned that berries appear to reduce mortality risk as much as green leafy veggies. Did you know that? I have heard a lot about getting your greens, but I hadn't heard about the praise of berries. Berries may benefit the eyes in a variety of ways and can also suppress inflammation in the gut. Pulling out information from three studies on eating berries, overall, those with a higher berry consumption tended to live significantly longer than those with a low berry intake.

I'm not even half way through the Introduction part, and there are a lot of terms that I am not familiar with; I won't even try to explain those. But for those that want the scientific background on the best foods to eat, and then have recipes that incorporate those findings, this book is for you. Or if you just want to eat more plant based, this cookbook is a great option.

I do like carrot cake, but am not a fan of cream cheese frosting, and I don't care for most things that are overly sweet. So I was also pleasantly surprised when I tried the Baked Carrot Cake Oatmeal. There is no frosting, a plus right from the start. However, it didn't have any raisins. I reduced the shredded carrots by around 1/4th of what was called for and replaced that with two small boxes of organic raisins. That added just a bit of sweetness to the recipe, and made it a hit with me. This recipe called for date syrup. (Dr. Greger has a recipe in the front of the book if you want to make your own.) The date syrup that I had on hand seemed to thick to me, so I reduced that by half and replaced the other half with water. That may have watered the recipe down more than it should have been, but the cake did come out very moist, so I added some extra baking time to it. That worked pretty good.

There are more recipes that I'm looking forward to trying. Most of the ingredients, from what I looked at so far, are every day ingredients. Two things that I noticed that weren't part of my normal ingredient selection, were white miso paste and tahini. Besides that, you might want to have ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, nutritional yeast, and soymilk on hand for your repertoire of plant based ingredients.

Another great thing that I like about this cookbook, is that it has a chart of Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen. It is a list of the various types of food one should eat in a day for maximum health. This has really helped me to see where I might have been lacking and what I should make more of an effort to incorporate into my day. I don't always get all 12 categories checked in one day, but I can see where I'm short and what I can add in the next day or so. If you are interested in checking out Dr. Greger's chart, you can check out the sample pages for the book, on Amazon. Greger also has a free app for those that are interested in keeping track on their cell phone.

The How Not to Age Cookbook. Check price and or sample pages on Amazon.

Cheryl Paton

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October is National Seafood Month

For Seafood Lovers everywhere, join me in a review of several seafood products and recipes by the contributing writers here on ReviewThisReviews.

Celebrating National Seafood Month

People everywhere love seafood. And what’s not to love with so many choices. The variety, from shrimp cocktails to fish, from smoked salmon to yummy, dripping in butter, lobster tails, makes choosing a favorite nearly impossible. And when you consider the wide variety of ‘ways’ to prepare various seafood delicacies, the list is just about endless. Plus, for quick meals, there are some delicious, pre-packaged, seafood dishes available at your favorite markets.

A few fish recipes and restaurants are included in this review, as fish (such as salmon, tuna and trout) are considered seafood, along with those in the shellfish category. 

So, read through the following list of seafood reviews from the helpful review site of ReviewThisReviews.com, and find a few you would like to try. After all, as a seafood lover, you want to help celebrate the delicious Seafood Month of October! 

Seafood Recipes

Buttery Pasta and Shrimp Recipe - review written by Wednesday Elf

Phillips Frozen Crab Cakes Recipe and Review written by Dawn Rae

Review of Our Favorite Seafood Dip - With Recipe written by Wednesday Elf

Recipe Review of Drunken Mussells written by Dawn Rae

Fish Recipes

Easy Meal Recipes for Fish Tacos written by Dawn Rae

Air Fryer Lightly Breaded Haddock, review written by Sam Monaco

Heat & Serve Prepacked Seafood Dishes

Gortons Grilled Tilapia Review written by Wednesday Elf

Review of Budweiser Beer-Battered Cod written by Wednesday Elf

Seafood Restaurants

Flying Fish Bar and Grill Restaurant Review written by Wednesday Elf

Restaurant Review of Go Fish Marina and Bar written by Wednesday Elf

Seafood-Related Holidays

January: 10th Oysters Rockefeller Day, 25th Fish Taco Day.

February: 13th Crab Rangoon Day, 24th Tartar Sauce Day, 24th Fish Fry Day.

March: 9th Crab Meat Day, 12th Baked Scallops Day, 31st Clams On The Half Shell Day.

April: 17th Crawfish Day, 29th Shrimp Scampi Day.

May: 2nd Tuna Day, 10th Shrimp Day.

June: 25th Catfish Day.

July: 3rd Fried Clam Day.

August: 5th Oyster Day, 27th Crab Soup Day.

September: 25th Lobster Day.

October: 2nd Fried Scallops Day, 8th Salmon Day, 19th Seafood Bisque Day.

November: 1st Fried Clams Day.

December: 21st Fried Shrimp Day.

Summary

So, throughout this National Seafood Month of October, indulge in some tasty fish and shellfish recipes and restaurants. Fish and shellfish are considered a healthier meal alternative, plus have the added advantage of being delicious.

Happy National Seafood Month

An October Holiday

*National Seafood Month is a fun food holiday review written by Wednesday Elf

Fish & Seafood Cookbooks:

From OCEAN TO TABLE: A Beginners Guide To cooking Fresh SeafoodCheck PriceThe Ultimate Fish & Seafood Cookbook: 65 Easy & Flavorful Recipes with Salmon, Shrimp, Crab & More (Fish & Seafood Cooking Series)Check PriceShellfish: Recipes with the Fresh Taste of the Sea (A Seafood Cookbook)Check Price

 

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Two-Bite Cupcakes - Book Review

 The cupcakes may be small, but in Two-Bite Cupcakes by Viola Goren, they pack a big punch of flavor and creativity. This cookbook is dedicated entirely to the art of making bite-sized cupcakes.

Every summer, our granddaughters spend a week at our house before school starts. We always enjoy planning fun activities during the week. This year, our youngest granddaughter, Guiliana, brought her Two-Bite Cupcakes book with her. The book is filled with over 50 recipes for delicious bite-sized cupcakes, ranging from classics to imaginative creations.

Guiliana found the recipe on page 24 that she wanted to bake, Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes. So, Fran and Guiliana got busy making these for all of us to enjoy.

Now, for the strawberry surprise. Add half of the batter to the cupcake tin, and then add a teaspoon of strawberry jam. Finish adding the batter and bake. Now you have strawberry-filled cupcakes.

Here are the finished cupcakes, ready to enjoy. I have to say they didn't last long, and were delicious.

The photos in the book are bright and inviting, and make you want to head straight to the kitchen. The directions are clear and suitable for beginners and more experienced bakers.

Two-Bite Cupcakes by Viola Goren is a delightful addition to any baker's kitchen. These treats are perfect for parties, entertaining, or simply enjoying a sweet treat.

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You will find Two-Bite Cupcakes by Viola Goren on Amazon.

Two-Bite Cupcakes (Imagine Book)

 

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