Warm food throughout the meal

Feedback

“I received my order today and I am thrilled!!  It is for my Mother who loves to keep her plate and food warm but takes forever to eat.  She is going to get a ton of use out of this ”

Thank you very much,
Sue T., North Carolina

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“If I had known how wonderful Dining Stones were, and how much I would come to rely on them, I would have been your very first customer.  I am so thankful that I had them on hand at Thanksgiving.

Great for dinner parties

As hostess, my meal usually ended up cold and unappetizing but not now!”

Terri P., Grinnell, Iowa

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“I have been using the dining stones and they are wonderful! They keep the plates warm through the entire meal. I pop them into the toaster oven for 15 minutes and just like that, they are ready to use! It has made my life so much easier.

Thank you again for sending them to me so quickly. I can assure you I will be promoting them!”

Sherry M., Chatsworth, Georgia

Cold stone, cool salad

“I love your dining stone and it is so beautiful, what lovely work you do.  I am going to have a great time using it.  Especially with our hot summers, it will be wonderful to chill down and use with wine, salad, or a good old fashioned jello dish like we used to have in the Midwest.  Thank you so much.  What a good idea it is!”

Judy D., Tucson, Arizona

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Posted in The Business of Dining Stones
Tags: Plate Warmer

6" or 9" Cinnamon Granite Stone

Extra Stone

When placing an order for your Dining Stones, you may want to consider purchasing an additional single stone.  This extra stone will save you time.

The extra stone can be placed in the toaster oven or standard oven when you remove the stone you were planning to use.  If your meal runs long, you can then swap out for the hotter stone in the oven.

The 6″ stones are great for keeping coffee mugs warm.  Having one stone in the toaster oven while using the other will keep your coffee warm to the last drop, especially if the stones are swapped every 15-20 minutes.

6" Salt & Pepper Stone

Our stones typically remain hot between 30 – 45 minutes (depending on room temperature) after being removing from the toaster oven or standard oven.  However, if you want to keep that dish piping hot, swapping out for the hotter stone every 15 – 20 minutes will accomplish that.

To order an extra stone, simply click on the product page from our website and select the second page of products or “view all” at the top of the section.

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Posted in Placing an Order
Tags: All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c) 2010 Dining Stones Plate Warmer

Deb's Chili Recipe

Mmmmm…warm food!

The following two recipes will warm your family’s spirit on a cold winter evening.  The chili is my own recipe which I have perfected over the years.

Each winter I would try varying ingredients a little to fit my signature flavor profile of pablano, red, and yellow peppers.  This last winter my family said I made the best chili ever!  So I am sharing it with you, my blog visitors.

Chili

Pablano, red, and yellow peppers

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef (2 lbs if you prefer a lot of beef)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 pablano pepper, seeded and finely chopped (or green pepper)

1 red pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 yellow pepper, seeded and finely chopped

Chili beans, red kidney beans, and black beans

1 can of chili beans

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can of black beans

1 can of diced tomatoes with green chilis

1 can of tomato paste

1 large can of tomato sauce

1 packet of Tex Mex chili seasoning (or 1/4 cup chili powder and 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper)

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Cook ground beef over medium-high heat until the meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease.

Cook onions and all three peppers in olive oil

Meanwhile, cook onions and all three peppers together in olive oil until they caramelize.  Stir the drained meat into the onion and pepper mixture along with the diced tomatoes with chilis, tomato paste, and tomato sauce then season with the Tex Mex packet or substitute with chili powder and cayenne pepper.

Place stones in toaster oven or standard oven

At this point, place your Dining Stones in the toaster oven, or standard oven, at 350 degrees.

Bring the chili mixture to a simmer over medium heat, and then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lastly, gently fold in the 3 cans of drained beans and heat another 5 full minutes.

Chili on hot Dining Stone

Top the individual servings of chili with shredded cheese and accent with crackers.  Set your warm bowl of chili right on a hot Dining Stone at your table so you can take your time eating every bite.

Best New Dessert Recipe

Over the weekend, I invented a Twix candy shortcake, by adjusting a strawberry shortcake recipe which was a huge hit during the football game.  The original shortcake recipe came from a friend of mine who is a talented photographer and cook, Tina Starnes.  I think she will like my adjustment to her recipe.

Twix Candy Shortcake

After all, we are women and we like chocolate!

Twix Candy Shortcake

Ingredients

1 prepared angel food cake

10 – 12 Twix bars (depending on packaging; family pack has 11 bars)

Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (low fat will reduce calories but not change the flavor)

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Custard ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened (low fat will reduce calories but not change the flavor)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

12 oz. cool whip, softened (low fat will reduce calories but not change the flavor)

Directions

Carefully cut all Twix bars into chunks and set aside.  Blend together the softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth.  Fold in the entire contents of softened cool whip and chunks of Twix bars.  Pull the angel food cake apart into bite sized chunks and layer half in the bottom of a cake pan or casserole dish.  Pour half of the custard evenly over the top.  Drizzle chocolate syrup evenly over those layers.  Add the rest of the cake evenly, cover with the remaining custard.  Tapping into the artist within you, create an appealing design on top with chocolate syrup.

Zig Zag Design

(Example: continuous circles, zig zag lines, etc.)

Dessert Leftovers

Any remaining dessert can be frozen for later.  Simply thaw in the refrigerator for six hours and set out on the counter for another three hours before serving.

Best regards,

Deb Chance

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Posted in I’m a rebel without a measuring cup - this is my definition of a "Foodie", Recipes
Tags: All Rights Reserved. Chili Recipe Copyright (c) 2007 Dining Stones Hershey's Chocolate Syrup Plate Warmer Twix Candy

Elwood enjoying a warm meal

Email From Happy Customer

This week I received a very nice email from Sherry in Georgia who had purchased two Dining Stones as gifts for her parents.  Her dad, Elwood, likes his food warm during the meal and usually it would get cold by the time he finished eating.  Sherry hoped that a Dining Stone would solve that problem.

Both Elwood and his wife Amy, now in their 90’s,  were happy to report that the heated stone radiates up through their plate all during the meal and even the last bite of food is toasty warm.

Elwood and Amy from Georgia

Thank you for sharing your story with us and allowing your photos to be posted on the blog.  It warms my heart (pardon the pun) to see happy customers enjoying their Dining Stones.

Best regards,

Deb Chance

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Posted in The Business of Dining Stones
Tags: All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c) 2007 Dining Stones Dining Stones heat stones keep the plate warm keep warm all during the meal Plate Warmer

Cafe Mocha Granite Color

New Arrival

We are excited to announce the arrival of several new Limited Edition granite stones.  These beautiful stones are one of a kind and limited in supply, so act quickly to get your favorite color.

Follow this link to view all of the stones available and to place an order.

Best regards,

Deb Chance

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Posted in The Business of Dining Stones

Typically our Dining Stones are heated in standard ovens but they can also be heated in toaster ovens. Click link for a demonstration.

Toaster Oven Demonstration on YouTube

Toaster oven instructions:

1. Place the stones on the toaster oven racks.  Depending on the size of your toaster oven, you may be able to place up to 4 stones inside.  Remember when stacking your stones to keep the smooth sides together.
2. Select the heat temperature of 350 degrees and start the heating process.
3. If you have a timer feature on your toaster oven, set it for a minimum of 20 minutes.  If your oven doesn’t offer that feature, simply use a standard kitchen timer.  Your stones can stay in the oven even longer if needed.
4. Continue with the preparation of your meal.
5. When the food is ready, remove your stones from the toaster oven and place in the wood tray.
6. Set the dinner plate on top of the hot stone to radiate the heat up through the plate all during the meal.

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Posted in The Business of Dining Stones
Tags: All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c) 2007 Dining Stones Heating Stones in a toaster oven Plate Warmer Toaster Oven

My Definition of “Foodie”

I consider myself a “foodie” and recently re-awakened my love for cooking.  I have always created my own recipes because I’m a rebel without a measuring cup – that is my definition of a foodie.  Like Rachael Ray, I just want to do it myself with a dash of this and a pinch of that.  When I didn’t have the time to cook, it always seemed like more work than I could give it.  I let those thoughts go a few months ago, and completely embraced cooking as often as the budget would allow.

An absolute “must have” item for a lot of the versions of my recipes is fresh peppers.  Red, yellow, and orange are my favorite.  I don’t particularly care for green peppers because their taste overpowers the other flavors in my dishes.  So I substitute it for either jalapenos or pablano peppers.  If you use these types of peppers in your recipes, take care when you work with them.  Be sure to get all the hot seeds out or your meal will be too spicy.  Also, don’t touch your skin while you are gutting the seeds because eventually your fingers will end up on your lips or in your eyes … such pain!  

Jalapeno and Pablano Peppers

I love the jalapenos and pablanos as a substitute because the green skins are mild in flavor.

I know what you are thinking!  For those of us living in the Midwest, what do we do in the winter when the gardens are frozen and pepper prices are out of range?  I have a solution!  When your favorite peppers go on sale, jump on it.  Buy as many as you can afford, because I am about to give you a fantastic foodie tip.  Clean them, cut them, and freeze them!

I start by rinsing them in my colander, then cut them in half and take out the seeds.  Next I cut them into pieces that are about one inch long and pat them dry with a paper towel.  After that, I put them in freezer bags, push all the air out of the bag, and flatten them so they stay on my freezer shelf.

While you are making these bags, keep one in the refrigerator for the recipes you plan to make that week.  Here is another tip on keeping them fresh in the crisper drawer.  Place a folded paper towel in the zipper bag with the peppers to soak up the excess moisture and it will keep them crispy!

Year round, in my freezer or my crisper drawer, you will find a bag of peppers.

Best regards,

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Posted in I’m a rebel without a measuring cup - this is my definition of a "Foodie", Recipes
Tags: All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c) 2007 Dining Stones foodie Plate Warmer

Dining Stones was featured on the Metro Woman television show out of Des Moines on WOI TV Channel 5 which aired on January 3, 2010.  If you would like to view the episode, click on the photos below: (more…)

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Posted in The Business of Dining Stones
Tags: Plate Warmer

What is a party without the proper drinks?

My “Twist” on Hors d’oeuvres

This year we celebrated by having family over for the evening of Christmas.  Since everyone had eaten a large meal at noon during other family celebrations, I decided to offer delicious hors d’ oeuvres this year.  I started researching recipes a few weeks before in order to have time to pick just the right formula.

Dining Stones Cheese Ball

My final menu is as follows:

• Chili Cheese Dip with two kinds of corn chips

• Meat Balls with Stroganoff seasoning

• Bruschetta Crostini

• Cheese Ball with a variety of crackers

• Egg rolls with hot mustard and Hoisin sauce

• 

  Freshly Washed Spuds

  Potato Wedges with cheese and bacon bits

• Smores Cake with ice cream

• Bowl full of chocolates

• Wine, hot chocolate, and pink champagne

Variation of Recipes

Most of these recipes are my own variation of an original recipe.  For the Chili Cheese Dip, I took a risk and used a new chili mix from my favorite Iowa grocery store, Fareway.

Potato Wedges Soaking

The mix caught my eye because the ingredients had been dried and I only needed to add boiling water.  I liked that idea over making my own chili as another time saver.  I used the traditional Velveeta cheese melted in the microwave and folded in the hot moistened chili.  I placed the melted cheese dip on hot Dining Stones and served with various dipping corn chips.

Fitting neatly in pan

Meat balls are always a hit at any party so I knew that item had to be on my list.  I purchased three pounds of ground beef, eggs, and a stroganoff seasoning packet for my ingredients.  I beat three eggs in a large bowl and after whipping in the stroganoff packet for my own twist on the recipe, then crumbled the ground beef and blended all together.  I used a deep set spoon to measure each one because I wanted them to all be a uniform size.  I had prepared this the day before the event and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes with aluminum foil covering the dish.

Bite Sized Meatballs

After it cooled, I set it in the refrigerator.  It only needed to be in the oven another 30 minutes on the day of the party. 

Easy … simple!

For the crostini, I used french bread cut on an angle and brushed with extra virgin olive oil.  I placed them on a cookie sheet and baked until just before they turned brown.  I used basil and tomato Classico Bruschetta since tomatoes and fresh vegetables aren’t in season right now in Iowa.  That could just be an excuse on my part but I love this particular bruschetta blend and wouldn’t come close to duplicating it.

Just before the seasoning!

My family loves baked potato wedges with melted cheese and crumbled smoked bacon pieces.  I cut the freshly washed potatoes into wedges and then blanched them until they started to be translucent.  My twist on the recipe is putting the wedges in a large plastic bag with olive oil and McCormick Montreal Chicken seasoning sprinkles.  I topple the bag around to mix it up then dump into a casserole dish to bake for 30 minutes.  Then I sprinkled shredded cheddar cheese and cooked bacon pieces on top.

Dessert

Smores Cake

I ran across an amazing recipe for Smores cake a while back and just loved it, so I made my own version of that dessert.  I took a full box of graham crackers and placed in a plastic zipper bag.  I rolled a bottle over it to break up all the pieces evenly.  Then I melted two sticks of real butter and blended well with two tablespoons of real vanilla.  Half of that mixture went in the bottom of a small (9″ x 9″) glass casserole dish.  On top of that I sprinkled a layer of miniature marshmallows, then a layer of the very small chocolate chips.  I repeated the layering and pressed it down gently to fill in empty spaces.

Time Savers!!!

Then in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  That is the perfect melting temperature.  When it cooled, I was able to cut it into squares and served with a dollop of whipped cream.  Delicious!

Time Savers

The egg rolls and cheese balls were not made from scratch but I needed to save time somewhere.

Happy New Year!

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Posted in I’m a rebel without a measuring cup - this is my definition of a "Foodie", Recipes
Tags: All Rights Reserved. Copyright (c) 2007 Dining Stones Plate Warmer

Happy Holidays from Dining Stones

The Metro Woman episode that features Dining Stones has been changed to air on January 3, 2010.  See previous blog entry for channel and show times.

Happy Holidays!

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Posted in The Business of Dining Stones
Tags: Plate Warmer