Diamond in the rough

 Today's lunch was at one of our favorite places here in Charlotte, Diamond Resturant.  It is owned and ran by the same people who gave "The Penguin" the cult following that it has.  So for all of you who have no idea what I am talking about let me give you some back ground.

"The Penguin" is a local dive burger joint that has been a Charlotte icon for lots of people for 10 years.  The people that started it split up and took on the Diamond Restaurant.  The menu mixes Southern classics with a mix of multiple other cuisines.  The Penguin was featured on Diners Drive ins and
Dives. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3DnvdPUR4Y&feature=player_detailpage 

Diamond Restaurant took the favorites from "The Penguin" and added alot more to there menu.

 I was looking forward to gettin some grub, Braden was super excited, can't you tell???

 I love the decor and the condiments on each table take me back to eatin with my grandparents when I was small in little diners.

 Alecia and Alaurie were both ready to have some good home cookin.

I love the fact that the big hot sauce here is called Texas Pete's, and I am a Texan and have never heard of the stuff.

I got the fried oysters, french fries, vinegar slaw and hush puppies.

They were awesome, lightly breaded and they still had lots of flavor.  You could taste the fresh cracked black pepper and corn mill in the breading.   The vinegar slaw is simple and delicious.  It is basically shredded cabbage soaked in apple cider vinegar. The fry's are simple but hand cut and perfect. the hush puppies remind me of my grandma's.   I filled up but it did not weigh me down like fried foods tend to do.

Braden and Alaurie had some spaghetti.  They loved it and  licked there plates clean.

Alecia had the Salmon sandwich, sweet potato fries and vinegar slaw.

Once again simple preparation with great ingredients well put together.  She loves there sweet potato fries, they are crisp and flavorful.  You can really tell that they take there time and put alot into the preparation of these dishes.

Alaurie never eats well at restaurants so the fact the she attacked her food until it was all gone, says alot about how good it is.

I savored every bite as you can tell.

Alecia was eatin here fries two at a time she was lovin them so much.

Then at the very end, since the kids were so well behaved and eat all of there food with no fuss (that is a victory in it's self) we got them some velvet bunt cake for desert.  It was light and airy, but full or flavor without being too sweet.  The icing was nice and creamy and slightly sweet. 




All in all a amazing lunch, If you come and visit us in Charlotte we will definatly take you there.

STAY HUNGRY



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Back and ready for action

Hello all, It has been a while since my last post.  I am back and in full summer swing ready to cook up some great summer creations and do some entertaining. Since the inside of our house is laid out a little strange and since we have a great back yard, we have opted to set up outside with some new duds to enjoy the space.

The next area that we enjoy, and will hopefully be adding to my list of fresh ingredients for recipes is my small garden and fresh herbs.

Just starting to get my crop of cucumbers for salads and pickles.  I cant wait to start eating them.

Alecia loves her lemon-balm for making her own tea.

This would be my freakishly tall collard green plant.  I have to trim it down and see if it will start producing  big leaves again.  For now I have a collard tree.

Also this year we are planting alot more flowers in the yard to enjoy.

I have some pumkin plants that have shot up from last years crop that I guess left some seeds behind.

For know I am working to get things set up where I can get back to cooking and playing around with recipes.  I have been working on my hummus and pita bread and this weekend will be brisket for the first time in the new smoker. That's all for now.

STAY HUNGRY!!!!


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