Easy Italian Tomato Salad Recipe

Wondering what to do with those end of season tomatoes? Not me.

I got home late the other night, at least later than usual, and I was starving. Along with a rotisserie chicken and some fresh ciabatta bread, I made this tasty italian side salad (with tomatoes from the local farmer market) - direct from my "direct from Italy" mother-in-law. Maybe it'll become an old standby in your house much like it is in mine.

Italian Tomato Salad Recipe

• 1 medium tomato per diner - chunked
• sweet or red onion - to taste - chopped in bite-sized pieces
• oil - canola or virgin olive oil (nothing too strong)
• a dash of water
• italian spices or simply salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients. Prepare this dish first and let it sit out on the counter for 15 minutes or more - as you make the rest of the meal.

That's it...this salad is that easy...no kidding.

For a tasty treat add crumbled gorgonzola cheese...oh my goodness!! And don't forget to dip your bread in the "juice"...it's heavenly.

As always, I urge you to try it and let me know how it turns out - leave a comment below if you are so inclined...it'll be delicious, is my bet!

Evanne
RV Cooking Show

Assateague Island National Seashore has Wild Ponies!

When we were in the Florida Keys a cool couple - Glen and Kathy - told us about the wild ponies on Assateague Island (both MD and VA) and that we simply had to see them for ourselves. As you may have read in a recent post, we had an opportunity to stay a mere 4 miles outside the park recently (in Ocean City, MD) and got to have a great visit on the barrier island.

The first stop we made was at the Barrier Island Visitor Center where we learned that we could park our vehicle in the next lot up and bike the island...and that they don't guarantee pony sightings but would be shocked if we came back unhappy.

We parked, unloaded the bikes and took off on a 4 mile (each way) ride - 1 mile to the State Park entrance, 2 miles to the National Seashore entrance and 1 more mile through the park.

There are specific paths - off the roadway - for bicycles and they were smooth going (watch out for the pony scat, tho - they do get around!). The first portion of the path is over the Verrazano Bridge Bikeway...what a view.

As we rode the path we came across several ponies just grazing away. They were close by and in the estuary. Beautiful...



The National Seashore park entrance fee is $15 per vehicle or free if you are bicycling or hiking. You can walk atop the dunes and gaze at the seashore, enjoy an exposed old shipwreck, head to the ferry landing to clam or crab, and more. You can also dry camp in either the state or national park campgrounds.

Visitors can also enter the park in Virginia at Chincoteague and enjoy hiking, swimming and of course, ponies. The last Wednesday and Thursday of July the Chincoteague herd is rounded up for the annual "Pony Swim and Auction".

If you are in the Assateague Island area do stop, take a bike ride and check out the wild ponies!

Evanne
RVCookingShow

Campground Review: Frontier Town, Ocean City, MD

Upon the prompting of one of my excellent YouTube RV Cooking Show viewers - DanielLamore (who, btw, has a great collection of RVing videos on his YouTube channel) - I've decided to give you an inside look at why I chose a particular campground and how it turned out.

I've had a wonderful, albeit active, RV summer - staying in one location for no more than a few days at a time. Lots of amazing food, fun and friends. But after nearly 5 months I needed someplace to "land" for at least a week.

I took a good look at my needs (full hookups, wi-fi at my site, near Annapolis, MD (to film an RV Cooking Show episode), and in my price range) and wants (near the water, outside of a larger town, free wi-fi). After reviewing options in my Trailer Life Campground Directory and RVParkReviews.com I chose Frontier Town Western Theme Park and Campground in Ocean City, MD.

Okay, stop laughing. Two full-timers with no kids at Frontier Town (take a look at their website and you'll see what I mean)? Well, they made the grade on my needs and wants - their spring and fall discounted camping fees are very attractive - so...I expected it to be a bit, well, hokey, accepted it and made reservations.

As you enter the park you first come across the waterslide and theme parks (closed after Labor Day). We entered the campground registration building and were assisted by a very helpful gal. She got us all checked in and directed us to our site.


















It was a bit tricky getting the RV Cooking Show Tango Travel Trailer into the site but my husband is an expert backer-upper and took care of it in short order.

Once we were settled in we took a look around and wow, what a wonderful surprise!!


The park is on Sinepuxent Bay - right on the bay and estuary - with plenty of birds and beauty. We didn't expect such a naturesque setting in Frontier Town but that's exactly what we got. Yippee!!!




The park is clean, well maintained, large enough to take a decent bike ride or walk, has a well-stocked campstore, offers free mini-golf in the off season, has excellent wi-fi at my site, and is just an overall pleasure.


















The moral of the story I suppose is...try it...you just might like it! We did and in fact, extended our stay 3 days. They even extended our weekly rate for those days - bonus!!

Frontier Town...we'll be back!!


Evanne
RVCookingShow

PS -Assateague Island (home of the wild ponies) is just 4 miles away...more on that later...