Harvest Chex Mix

I just love this chex mix! I just sends me straight to thoughts of fall. I got it at from my mom a few years back and it's been a favorite ever since. Though I don't often make it... It makes a big batch that's best shared and all these ingredients don't add up to a cheap snack. So I look forward to enjoying it once or twice a year!

Harvest Chex Mix Recipe:
1 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1T cinnamon
Combine above ingredients in a small sauce pan until the butter is melted and you have a sauce. Do not boil.
1 box Crispix
1 box Honeynut Chex
1 can mixed nuts
1/2 bag pretzels
3 packages apple chips
Mix together in a large bowl. Then pour over butter mixture while still warm. Spread on 3 cookie sheets and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

Awhile ago I tried this great recipe for pumpkin scones from Tasty Kitchen. In fact I think I may have heard of it from Heather. They're so good!

Pumpkin Scones

Added by Shugary Sweets on September 13, 2011 in Biscuits and Scones, Breads

Prep Time 15 MinutesCook Time 15 Minutes

Servings 36

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• FOR THE SCONE
• 1 cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
• ⅓ cups Heavy Cream
• 2 whole Eggs
• 4-¼ cups Flour
• ¾ cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Ground Ginger
• ½ teaspoons Ground Cloves
• ¾ teaspoons Nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• ¾ cups Butter, Cold, Cut In Cubes
• FOR THE SUGAR GLAZE:
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
• FOR THE CINNAMON GLAZE:
• 1-½ cup Powdered Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Allspice
• 2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream (may Need Up To 3 Tablespoons)

Preparation Instructions

For the scones: In a small bowl, mix the pumpkin, heavy cream and eggs with a whisk. Set aside.
In mixer bowl, using paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and spices. Add in cold butter cubes and mix until crumbly. Slowly add in pumpkin mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
Divide dough in half, and form the dough into a 12×5 inch rectangle. If it’s too sticky, using your hands, mix in enough flour so it is easier to shape.
Cut dough into triangles by making three vertical cuts (you should now have 3 rectangles. Cut each of the rectangles by making an X, I use a pizza cutter. Then make ONE horizontal cut across the center. You should have 18 triangles. (See my blog for a picture if you need a visual)
Place each triangle onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 425 degree F oven for about 13-15 minutes. Repeat with the other half of dough.
Cool on rack. Make sugar glaze by whisking the sugar with heavy cream. Using a brush, paint the tops of each scone with the glaze.
To make the cinnamon glaze, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Pour into a Ziploc bag and cut the corner off. Drizzle the glaze over all the scones. Allow to dry (about 15 minutes). Eat and enjoy!

Pull apart Pizza

I recently tried this great recipe for Pull Apart Pizza from Six Sisters Stuff. They have great kid and family friendly recipes. As Millie grows older I am really concerned that she learn to be a good eater. My parents made us eat everything and now I love almost everything and am willing to try almost anything. I find myself give Millie the same basic food all the time. So I started recipe hunting. Millie tends to be a little apprehensive about new things.. food, shoes, swimming lessons, big slides. I knew I had to find something that had aspects of her favorite foods. She loves cheese and ketchup in particular these days. So this recipe totally jumped out at me!
I would say it turned out pretty well. Millie still isn't sure she loves it but she will eat it. I call that success. :) I did have to cook it a good 20 mins longer than called for but my oven tends to do that. And baking it longer made the outside edges really dark but otherwise the middle wasn't done. I also froze about half of it and it's re-heated well.

Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread (a.k.a. Monkey Bread)
Adapted from: Copy-Kat Recipes
Ingredients:
-3 cans refrigerated biscuits (each cans should have 10 biscuits)
-1 (24-26 oz) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (we love Prego Traditional)
-1 (6-8 oz) package of pepperoni
-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
-1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
-Other favorite pizza toppings: green peppers, olives, onions, cooked ham, cooked sausage, etc

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Open canned biscuits and cut into quarters and place into a large bowl. Pour spaghetti sauce on top of biscuit pieces and add Italian seasoning. Mix all together. Then add about 3/4 of the pepperoni pieces (reserving 1/4 to put on top) and 1 cup of cheese and stir well. Pour the pizza pieces into a greased 9x13" baking dish (check out my cute helper! She did the stirring and the dumping into the bowl). Sprinkle remaining cheese, pepperoni, and other toppings on the top of pizza. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the biscuits are fully cooked. They will be slightly firm when you press down on them.

NYC Food Tour

 This fall we took a trip to NYC. Earlier this year, Southwest had an amazing sale and we took advantage! Our NYC trip pretty much revolved around food. We made one of our resturant reservations before we made our hotel reservation! :) My sweet hubby is a total foodie and I love to enjoy all his picks. He always picks the best places and proves me wrong when I'm skeptical.

Clinton Street Bakery
   This was the only day we made it out for breakfast and it was fantastic! I am not exactly a morning person. So between my slow going and trying to figure out the subway on our first day, we had breakfast at about 11am. I started with a super chocolatey mug of hot chocolate. It started raining-- link and I was already cold so this hot chocolate was the perfect remedy. And is was so rich! I love me some chocolate so this thick and creamy beverage was right up my alley. For the main.course I ordered their famous pancakes. Best. Ever. Even better than Cracker Barrel. Now I know this is hardly a fair comparison but I really like the nice crispy buttermilk outside and soft inside of Cracker Barrel pancakes. J ordered a delicious omelet and bottomless coffee. 

Babbo

   We had to call a month in advance to get in here! This is one of Chef Mario Batalli's 5-star returants. And they take reservations only a month ahead. J called exactly a month before our trip and after an hour of redialing, got thru and we had to rsvp at either 5:30pm or 8:30pm. So we had to eat at 5:30pm. But it worked out well because we also took in a Broadway show--link that night. This is the most expensive and the best meal I've ever eaten! We had Warm Lamb’s Tongue Vinaigrette, Pig Foot “Milanese”, Goose Liver Ravioli, Black Spaghetti, Grilled Pork Chop, and Olive Oil Geliato.

Russ & Daughters
    Bagel
Scheshwan Gourmet
  Chinese
Shake Shack

   Burgers and chocolate shake
Katz's Deli

   Pastrami sandwich
Totto Ramen
   Ramen.. to die for.
I think I'm going to have to seriously consider going on a diet now.

Starbucks Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Starbucks Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark raisin
1/4 cup golden raisin
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping (optional): 4 tablespoons dark raisins, 4 tablespoons golden raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Blend oats, flour raisins, cranberries, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg, cinnamon, and vanilla; beat until combined. Gradually add oat mixture to butter mixture; beat until combined. Combine raisins for topping in separate bowl and set aside.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart onto two lightly greased baking sheets. Place 1 mounded tsp of raisins on top of dough.
Bake about 12-16 minutes, until cookies are golden brown, but still soft. Cool on sheets before serving.

Notes: I don't do the topping because they usually burn on me and they're really not necessary because there are plenty of raisins and craisins in the cookies. Also, 1 batch makes 17 cookies when I use my pampered chef scoop. So I like to buy all the stuff and keep it on hand to make a small batch every once in awhile or double or triple it. Do not succumb to eating all the craisins after you make one batch! They're so good but expensive! :)
Oops I guess I haven't made it quite clear that I didn't come up with this recipe. I got it from my sister who probably found it online somewhere but I don't know where. 
Hope you enjoy these cookies!

S'mores Cheescake Bars

S'mores Cheesecake Bars
from Annie's Eats (who adapted from Sugar Plum)

Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 7 graham crackers)
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 cup marshmallow cream
2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Topping
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
Milk chocolate chips, melted (optional)

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil leaving an overhang on opposite sides to lift the bars out. Spray the lined pan with cooking spray. Stir the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt and melted butter together in a small bowl with a fork until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the mixture in an even layer into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Transfer the pan to a wire rack while you prepare the filling. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.

To make the filling: Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second bursts on 50% powder, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, sour cream and marshmallow cream on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and eggs to the bowl and beat until incorporated. Finally, beat in the melted chocolate. Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to ensure everything is evenly combined. Pour the filling over the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center is just set (does not jiggle when shaken gently). Transfer the pan to a wire rack and spread the mini marshmallows evenly over the cheesecake layer. Return the pan to the oven for about 2-3 minutes, or until the marshmallows just begin to melt into one another. Remove the pan to the wire rack and, using a kitchen torch, brown the tops of the marshmallows. Let the cheesecake cool to room temperature then drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours before cutting into squares and serving.

I found this great recipe at Tracey's Culinary Adventures. This week I signed up to make dessert for Bible Study and since my birthday is also this week, I wanted to make something chocolate so I could enjoy the leftovers all week. So started hunting and found that August 10th is S'mores Day so I had a lot of marshmallow and chocolate treats to choose from. Amy Atlas did a fun s'mores day roundup and Tracey's cheesecake struck my fancy. But when I found I could make it in bar form, I was sold! They were easy to make, didn't require the traditional cheesecake water bath and are very tasty! I hope everyone else liked them as much as I did!

August Ten

So my ten has officially become a top ten list, not ten photos. I sure wish I had a better eye for photography. But, hey, I definitely know how to make lists. I am the list queen! I make lists during the day just so I can remember everything and then so I can mark things off. I feel more accomplished! :)
So today...
1. Going to the YMCA. We started the day off right with a trip to the Y for some PiYo. It makes me feel loose! Today Millie didn't want to leave. She was coloring. I guess I'm glad she no longer cries while I'm gone.
2. Groceries for the 3rd time. This week! Grr. The country girl in me does not like. I went Sunday and then again Monday to exchange my faulty hamburger. I bought 80/20 instead of 93/7 for meatballs. Oops, that would've been greasy. So today I was back for 3 more things.
3. Playtime. We spent a fun filled hour or so with the neighbors. They have toys, lots of them. Millie loves it. And today she got to chase the bunny too.
4. Bunny chasing. Millie absolutely loves to chase the sweet bunny. Good thing Cutels is so good tempered. She just runs around searching for a safe hiding place. When she gets fed up she runs back to her cage for a break. Isn't Cutels such a cute name for a bunny!? It's "cute" and "ellls". Add bunny to the list of pets that baby girl is going to beg daddy for someday.
5. Blueberries. Millie has been thoroughly enjoying freeze-dried blueberries. She won't touch fresh ones with a ten foot pole... purple food apparently isn't edible in her book. (Please forgive the awful blurry phone picture and smile at the blue lips.)
6. Baby meal. One of our friends just had a sweet baby girl so I prepared a meal for them today. My go to baby meal is meatballs. The other moms expect it. :) In a good way. But one of the other gals brought meatballs on Monday. We thought it would be ok for them to have it again cause they're a little different. But I didn't feel right about doing that. So with a quick (and 3rd) trip to the store I was set for Hamburger Pie (casserole) a la the yellow Mennonite cookbook. I wanted to keep a spoonful for myself!
7. Starbucks outrageous oatmeal raisin cookies. Yum. Recipe coming up later.
8. Good friends and good talks. I'm thankful for my Titus 2 'older' woman. A girl can really be encouraged by a listening ear!
9. Veggies! We are part of a CSA vegetable share. Hmm I'm say that wrong. But we do get a bag of fresh, local veggies every week. Yummy! We got lots of tomatoes this week. We also have sweet corn and beets coming out of our ears. I'm looking forward to enjoying whatever my chef comes up with this week.
10. Sweet corn. It is so in season right now. It's perfect! My ear for supper was so sweet and had nice big kernels. Yum! Thanks Dad! I think we should definitely visit my parents again, at least for the sweet corn. ;) I'm attempting to freeze a bunch so we can enjoy it this winter too.
Happy August 10th!

Barley

We had some amazing Barley Casserole this fall after Grandpa passed away. One of my mom's friends dropped it off. I'd never had barley casserole and was skeptical. But I tried it. And loved it!
I wasn't able to get the recipe from her so I asked my mom who said just to use one off the Internet like they had. So I hunted the google and tried this Mushroom and Barley Casserole recipe from My Recipes.com.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon stick margarine
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 (3 1/2-ounce) package shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
1 (1-ounce) envelope onion soup mix (such as Lipton Recipe Secrets)
4 cups water
Chopped chives (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Heat margarine in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Set aside.
Combine barley, onion soup mix, and water in a 3-quart casserole, and stir in mushroom mixture. Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until liquid is almost absorbed. Garnish casserole with chives, if desired.

Millie helped me watch it cook. And she also unloaded the cabinets while we waited. :) Good kitchen help is hard to find!
It wasn't the best. Even though the ingredients seemed the same the flavor was really bland. We added soy sauce to make it take better. Soy sauce makes everything better, right? We sure thought so. And baby girl agreed. She loved the barley casserole both times!
For the next go around, I made sure I got the exact one my family ate. My mom sent me theirs to try next time from Taste of Home.
Ingredients
1 cup medium pearl barley
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
3 to 3-1/2 cups chicken broth
Directions
In a small skillet, saute barley and onion in butter for 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Transfer to an ungreased 2-qt. baking dish. Stir in the mushrooms, almonds, soup mix and parsley. Add 3 cups broth.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 1-1/4 hours or until barley is tender, adding more broth if needed. Yield: 8-10 servings. 

I hope it's better. :)

Comfort Food

This is what comfort food means to me...

Onion Gravy & Verenika

Zweiback & Ham

As Easter draws closer I'm getting excited to go to Granny's house again and have these foods. We have basically the same thing at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. And I like it that way!!

The table is always full, and I'm always stuffed. There's barely enough room for dessert!

Thankful... Day 7

Thanksgiving is next Thursday. But I've already been noticing Christmas decorations everywhere I look. The mall is covered in lights and swag. Downtown has up the 12 days of Christmas decor. My neighborhood entrance has their wreaths hung. And Christmas sales are already in full swing. 
It makes me a little sad and mostly annoyed. What about Thanksgiving!?! I realize that Thanksgiving is about family and food and isn't commercialized as much so maybe that's why Christmas seems to come sooner each year. But I love Thanksgiving. I particularly love all the fall decorations. The colored leaves and vibrant colors are beautiful! Thanksgiving feels like the last hooray for enjoying fall. I also enjoying spending time with family. I enjoy this at every holiday but Thanksgiving in particular reminds me to be thankful for me. And Thanksgiving is about football for me! The day after Thanksgiving is always the the last Nebraska football game of the year. So this year, one way I'm specifically trying to enjoy this Thanksgiving season is to share what I"m thankful for in the next week.
Today I'm thankful for my wheels. I took our car in to get a few things fixed, including the breaks which have been setting off a beeping alarm whenever I turn right for weeks now. It was driving me crazy! So they gave me an old school ford Taurus to drive for the day. Wow, not even my Buick regal was this rickety. I am looking forward to having my Passat back at the end of the day!
I'm thankful for the words I get to enjoy spilling from Millie's lips. She has learned how to say mama and dada. And though I know she doesn't know she's calling my name, it's still a joy to hear. I love having conversations with her!

Why I do love PA

We went to PA the beginning of May to visit Justin's family again. And like always we had a great time! ...

1. I love the landscape in that area. The open gently rolling hills dotted with trees and farmhouses are so picturesque. I would love to have a Pennsylvania inspired home in Nebraska! These pictures are of the battlefields of Gettysburg but this really is what it looks like in the Lancaster area where we visited.

2. I love the food! Grandma Fisher makes the best food for us! - ham loaf with stewed tomatoes, crab legs, stuffing, the creamy-est mashed potatoes ever, ham salad sandwiches, potato rolls - I'd eat anything she makes! That must be a grandma thing because I feel the same way about Granny's food. Grandpa Fisher loves anything peanut butter and so do I. We enjoyed peanut butter ice cream and peanut butter donuts daily. Again, these are the best peanut butter donuts I've had in my life! We even had ice cream fresh from the cows. You could see the cows as you walked in. Of course we had more than one of Joe's steak sandwiches. And we brought home a box of pretzels right off the line.

3. I enjoy all the time we spend with Grandpa and Grandma Fisher. We are blessed to be able to stay with them. We drive all over the countryside talking and hearing stories. And almost every night we stay up late playing Hand & Foot. It's a very fun card game! We always play in teams and the boys usually beat Grandma Fisher and I. I think it's my fault because I'm still learning. And the guys are merciless!

4. This year I loved watching everyone get to know Olivia...

Here's Olivia with Aunt Donna, Uncle Scott & Aunt Robin, Uncle John, and Aunt Miki.

I was actually sad to leave this time. I'm usually the type who is happy to go home at the end of vacation. I really have fallen in love with Justin's grandparents and think of them as my own. I'm sad to say good bye for at least another year. But in spite of the 20 hour drive I'm looking forward to our next trip east! 

I'm a little Tea Pot

I had to buy a new tea pot. No I cannot go without one! We drink sweet tea at our house. Well it's more like Huebert Tea. When we were in Charlotte, I discovered that sweet tea in the South is more like tea flavored sugar syrup. It's intense. So at our house we have a tea pot specifically for tea. It cannot be used to boil water for hot chocolate or anything like that. That would change the flavor of the drink and the pot. So when I recently scorched our pot (that changes the flavor in a bad way), I knew it was time to replace the trusty kettle I bought in college. And of course I bought the same one from Target! :) It's a good size.

Recently I also got one of these. This particular angel food cake pan was my Grandma's pan. We're in the process of selling their house so all the extra stuff had to go. I don't how many years it will take me to feel confident to attempt to make angel food cake. But I"m ready!

Fall

I think I'm ready for Thanksgiving...
I've been dreaming of cheesy potatoes, corn casserole and ham. Oh I love ham. Yes, we have ham at Thanksgiving. Papa doesn't like turkey and he's boss. And I'm not complaining! :) Speaking of ham, the first thing I"m eating when I'm not pregnant is a deli ham sandwich and an over-easy egg. I miss runny eggs.

This cool weather we've been having makes me sad that I won't be wearing my trusty sweaters this year. I do not want to stretch them out in hopes that they'll fit again next year!

Bday Cheesecake

We had flock the day before my birthday so I made sure to sign up for treats. While I do appreciate other people making me something for my birthday, I like to pick what I get. This year this Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottom Cheesecake tickled my fancy. The recipe is from Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen. Find it here.

And my first cheesecake attempt turned out pretty good! :) I used a spring form pan that I borrowed from Karin.
Here's the final piece...
It took about a week to polish off and I took it to flock and to work. Everyone wanted small pieces because it was so rich. I wanted a big piece! :)


I also received this fabulous purple purse from my siblings for my bday! My sister picks out the best purses! At first I thought it was black and was a little disappointed. I thought now this is just not like her to buy me a boring purse. I expect her to broaden my purse choices. I expect to have to reign her in if necessary. But when I pulled it out of the bag, I realized it was purple! How cool! It's the perfect size and I love it.

My Favorite Husband & Chef

The cast of characters...
A few weeks ago after church I began craving an Egg McMuffin or a Bagel 'n Egg sandwich from McDonald's. J said 'no' because we will not be indulging my every craving - it's not healthy and I would gain 100 pounds! We even drove past McDonald's and I begged to no avail. Then my genius hubby said he could make one for me at home. I wasn't so sure. I really wanted that fake looking patty of eggs. And I was doubtful J could produce that or anything as good as I imagined it would be at this moment. OOH how wrong I was!!!
This picture is from the second time we've had these sandwiches of egg, bacon, cheese and English muffins. The may not be as structured as McDonald's but I think they're way better tasting! I am so impressed by my hubby and to blessed that he likes to cook and is good at it!




A little extra bacon and some hash browns make it the perfect Sunday lunch. Satisfying and nap inducing.










The other food I've been craving is coleslaw. Not just any coleslaw but only the world's best! I am very picky about this. Coleslaw from the grocery store has this weird tang to it and at restaurants it's just not creamy or homey enough. I finally called my Granny for the perfect recipe. It's from our Mennonite church recipe book and is actually from Dresbach's in GI. Sadly Dresbach's is no more... no more fried chicken and sides in the park. BUT the coleslaw lives on! It's perfect - nice and creamy with just enough vinegar to keep it from getting too creamy. Thanks to Dresbach's, Mennonites and Granny, I can count this craving satisfied!! Who knows what it'll be next.

Easter

I love Easter!! Here are the highlights...

Church
We had 3 choir songs and they were all a blast to sing. I love Easter music. It's so joyful! And Pastor Tom's sermon was challenging as always.

Family, specifically the babies We have not had babies at family gatherings since I was among the babies or at least the kids. This is Audrey and I holding Camden and Skylar. Camden is about 3 months old and Skylar 6. It was so fun to have them for entertainment!

Food
Sorry no pictures.
Saturday my mom made brisket and we all brought sides. We brought brussel sprouts. They were met with much cynicism but won the hearts of all willing to take a no-thank-you helping. And those that refused totally missed out!
On Sunday we had the standard fare of verenika, onion gravy and ham. And we had cream corn, seven layer salad, zwieback, and deviled eggs on the side. I requested the eggs. No one makes them like Gran! Yum! I still felt full on Monday.

What are your Easter traditions?

Good Eats

We spent this past weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina for GD's annual Ethics Film Festival. J and co-worker K's video was a finalist again. Friday night we ate at a great new (or new to us) restaurant in Downtown Charlotte.

Here's the hype: Zink American Kitchen’s creative menu and “speakeasy” décor offer Uptown Charlotte guests a unique and memorable experience. The menu, which is overseen by Executive Chef Tom Condron and Chef de Cuisine Jon Fortes, takes traditional American comfort foods and reinvents them into “cool” dishes that give this restaurant its distinct style. From small plates of Maryland crab fritters to sushi and Artisan cheeses, fresh seafood, apple cider pork chops, and grilled burgers and steaks, guests are presented with a variety of New American cuisine to consider. As “cool” as the food, is the restaurant’s deep crimson décor which offers a relaxing ambiance that’s both modern and fun. This chic, understated elegance is the perfect backdrop for the restaurant's impressive 30’ Zinc bar and bustling patio which overlooks the heart of Uptown Charlotte. Zink’s impressive menu together with its extensive wine list, beer selections and specialty drinks makes it a great place to dine anytime.

J got the American Wagyu Burger. Apparently Wagyu Beef is like Kobe Beef from North Carolina. I ordered the special which was the same kind of meat but in steak form and with a side of mushroom gnocchi. So yummy! Find more info at their website. I wish I would've taken pictures!! But really, how weird would I be for taking pictures in a nice restaurant.

It was a great trip and we have all good food! We were full after Zink's, a great luncheon at the hotel and a night full of eating catered food at the races.