Category Archives: Reviews

Buca Del Vino Restaurant Review

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Last Saturday night my husband and I finally had a date night! My best friend babysat our daughter overnight so we could go out and enjoy ourselves. It is very rare that we get a chance to go out to eat at a fine dining restaurant. So rare in fact that this particular restaurant had caught my attention somehow back in July, so I followed their Facebook page just to remember that I wanted to try it! I’m so glad I did!

Buca Del Vino is located at 1901 Highway 315, Pittston, PA 18640 (the former Mayfair Supper Club, which I unfortunately never had the pleasure of visiting) and features Northern Italian Cuisine. Reservations are encouraged, according to the website,http://www.bucadelvino.com/.  We arrived for our reserved table at 6:30 PM, the host took our coats to the coat room ( I can’t tell you the last time I was at a restaurant that had one!),  our drink orders, and brought complimentary bread with a herbed olive oil dipping sauce. I ordered a Margarita, I believe it was $5.00, and my husband a Rum and Coke, also $5.00.

Turns out I’ve been friend’s with our waitresses father for many years. She had just started working there the week before. For my appetizer I ordered Zuppa D’ Clams ($10.00)
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and my husband ordered Fillet Mignon Risotto with Wild Mushrooms ($11.00)
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Although I had heard of Zuppa D’Clams before, I had never tried it. It was excellent! I loved the spicy tomato sauce! So much so that when I was done with the clams I ate some of the sauce alone with my fork :) My husband enjoyed his Fillet Mignon Risotto with Wild Mushrooms. I tried some and it was excellent, also.

On to the main course, I chose Veal and Crab Florentine ($24.00)

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and my husband chose New York Strip Steak ($32.00). Both entrees came with mashed potatoes and broccoli as side dishes.
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I didn’t try my husband steak, but he enjoyed it and commented that the mashed potatoes were a perfect consistency.

My Veal and Crab Florentine was fabulous! Perfectly cooked veal topped with spinach, flaked crab, and sliced tomatoes in a seasoned broth that I can only assume was made with veal stock.

We both decided not to have dessert, but next time I want to try the fried dough that was mentioned.

Over all, the food was excellent, the staff was courteous, and the decor/ambiance was relaxing. We’re looking forward to dining there again..

Believe me, there will be a next time!

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T-Fal ActiFry Product Review and Giveaway

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Back in December I was contacted by T-Fal asking if I would like to receive an ActiFry to try out and review. I had never heard of one but it peaked my interest. Described as a healthy alternative to modern cooking methods, the ActiFry uses pulsed hot air and a stirring paddle with less oil than traditional deep fryers. So, I decided to try it out.

It is advertised for making French Fries, but comes with a recipe book with all sorts of different recipes. Most of the recipes call for 1 ActiFry tablespoonful (supplied with the Actifry) of oil, which is much healthier than regular frying. I did measure the oil against a household tablespoon measuring spoon and it is exactly 1 tablespoon.

Now, I have to be honest and say that I decided not to try it out with a recipe that you would normally deep fry, but instead a Sesame Beef with Broccoli recipe in the supplied book. This was simply because it was two days before the Super Bowl, and we already had pizza and wings ordered from a friend for the Super Bowl, so I wanted something a bit healthier, and a complete meal. I was a bit nervous that the beef wouldn’t cook in the time stated on the recipe, but it did.

I like the fact that the ActiFry uses less oil than regular fryers, so little in fact that most of the oil is absorbed by the food, therefore using fresh oil each time you use it. I have issues with my deep fryer in that I always want to change the oil, but it uses so much I don’t want to be buying more oil all the time. Plus, since it’s full of oil, I can never put it away in a cabinet, but instead sits on my counter taking up space. With the ActiFry I can just clean it and put it away!  Plus, less oil means less fat and fewer calories. I know many of us are watching our weight after the new year! All of the parts used for cooking are dishwasher safe, and the base can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.

The only problem I had trying it was some of the liquid in my stir-fry spilled over into the base of the fryer, but that might have been my fault because either I didn’t lock the turning paddle in place correctly or because I did go slightly over the full line on the fryer. I was able to easily clean the base, though.

You can cook a wide variety of foods in the ActiFry, from French Fries to desserts. You can even cook prepackaged frozen foods. I can’t wait to try Chicken Wings in it!

T-Fal has been generous enough to offer a free ActiFry to one of my readers ( a $250 value). All you need to do to enter to win is answer the question in the link below! There are additional entries too, so you’ll have more than one chance to win! You can view the ActiFry and read more about it by clicking this link, www.tfalactifry.com. It is available at Bed, Bath and Beyond or online.

a Rafflecopter giveaway < Click here to enter to win! Contest starts now and runs until Friday, February 15th at midnight!

T-Fal supplied me with a free ActiFry to try out, is providing a free ActiFry to one of my readers, and is monetarily compensating me for this post.

A review of Dan’s Keystone Grille

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  My husband and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on Sunday! On Saturday night my wonderful friend Kelly babysat our daughter overnight so we could go out to dinner and enjoy our night. This is the first restaurant we have gone to since I started the blog, so I wanted to do my first review.

  A bit of a disclaimer, although not really, and you’ll see why in a minute, but my husband knows the owner since college, I guess they hung out together back then. We had never gone to his restaurant before because my husband couldn’t figure out where it was!

  Dan’s Keystone Grille is located at 162 Union St in Plains Twp, PA. We did have a bit of an issue finding it. From the outside ( I should have taken a picture of the outside, I didn’t think of it!) it looks like a house, except for the beer signs ( although around here you might find those on a house…well at least a garage!). We we told to sit anywhere, and my husband and I went over to talk to the owner. He recommended the stuffed mushroom and the steak. After talking for a while, I actually told him I’m a food blogger and I was thinking of doing a review.

  The prices were reasonable, but I just didn’t want steak because we had just had it the night before, I didn’t want crab cakes because I was planning on making my own this week, so I decided to be my usual weird self and ordered 3 appetizers! French onion soup, stuffed mushrooms, and steamed clams (the menu claims the steamed clams are the best in the valley). My husband ordered the surf and turf and scallops wrapped in bacon. He ordered rum and coke and I ordered a margarita. I don’t know why, but I love this glass!

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  I should mention that I had read several reviews on Urbanspoon complaining about ( among other things) the wait for the food being extremely long. We didn’t wait long at all, but there was only one other table in the restaurant.

  The French Onion soup was ok, nothing spectacular. I tend to prefer bread under the melted cheese instead of croutons, and they used croutons. There was only one slice of onion in it, though.

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  The clams were good, and had no sand left in them so they were well scrubbed. However, I’m almost positive they provided margarine instead of butter to dip them in. I didn’t take a picture of the clams because I figured that unless they are seasoned if you’ve seen steamed clams you don’t really need a picture.

  The stuffed mushrooms…I love stuffed mushrooms and I’ve had some really good ones. These were in a garlic butter sauce and stuffed with crabmeat, but I found them to be too greasy. They lacked any real flavor, even salt.

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  My husband liked his steak and the bacon wrapped scallops. He’s more of a steak fan than I am, and I had read in one review that someone complained their steak was all fat, but his was not.
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  The owner came over to talk to us again ( I didn’t say anything about the food) and offered us dessert, but he fully admitted that he does not make his own desserts, he purchases them. I also heard him talking with another customer and saying that he also orders his sliced steak for cheese steaks. My husband ordered tiramisu for dessert and I ordered cheesecake. The owner told my husband that the tiramisu comes in the glass bowl it is served in. Hmm..

  Ok, at this point I have to confess that I feel bad giving a not so great review to one of my husband’s friends. We did spend the rest of the night at the bar there sitting and talking with him and the waiter and cook, and he seems like a nice guy. But I also have to be honest, and the food just wasn’t that great. Average at best. The restaurant itself needs interior work. I can’t say anything about how they would be if they were busy, because we were there for hours and there was only one other group eating the entire time. The bar counter wasn’t wiped off ( I could see glass rings), and the lady’s room sink handles were basically turned inside out and stuck, although I did manage to unstick them and they did have hot water.

  There was one other thing that bothered me. I took a walk outside around the building and at one window you can clearly see into the kitchen. There was a handwritten sign that read “All dishes are to be towel dried. One towel per day!” Ok, I know most people who hand wash their dishes at home towel dry them but for proper sanitation dishes ( all including pots and utensils) should be air-dried in a drying rack. The one towel a day thing really bothered me. What if that towel was dropped, or became dirty drying something that hadn’t been properly cleaned?

  So, unfortunately, my first restaurant review wasn’t a good one. I already asked on Facebook, but has anybody else ever been there and if so what was your experience like?

  Comment on this post or any between May 7-June 7 and follow My Crazy Kitchen on Facebook  to be entered to win a large bag of kettle corn from Country Girl Kettle Corn and a box of Gertrude Hawk Chocolates or Smidgens ( winner’s choice!) and don’t forget to vote for Rants From My Crazy Kitchen on Circle of Mom’s Top 25 Foodie Mom’s Bloggers 2012!