Tag Archives: fruit

Skies Restaurant and Fruit Pastry Tarts

FruitFruit Tarts at Skies on Mother’s Day

On Mother’s Day, I took the special mother in my life and our son to Skies’ Restaurant in Kansas City.  For those not hip to the Kansas City culinary scene, Skies is the tallest restaurant in the area.  It sits proudly atop the Hyatt Regency hotel (one of Kansas City’s snootier fancier hotels) and spins contentedly all day, every day.

Yes, not only is it a very tall restaurant, it’s a revolving restaurant.

Which is pretty cool when you hear about.  If you’ve never eaten in a restaurant that spins (and frankly, I don’t think there are many left), I recommend doing it at least once.  Just try to keep your bearings so you can remember where the bathroom is.

Anyway, I digress.  Upon making my reservations to Skies, I had a certain level of trepidation.  I have had some of the most expensive meals in my life at Skies.  I just didn’t enjoy them very much.  Except for the spinning thing, which really does lose it’s appeal when you decide that you kind of like being about to look out the window and know what you’re going to see.

(The other exception is the Mile High Sky Pie, an eighteen inch high dessert that my wife and I have gone to Skies to order on more than one occasion.  I enjoyed those times very much.)  So, you may be wondering why I picked Skies as our Mother’s Day restaurant.  Honestly, because Caenen Castle and the American were full.

Lucky for me they were full. Let me say in no uncertain terms, the meal I had at Skies was the best Mother’s Day meal I can remember.

Skies was divided into two sections: lunch and breakfast.  The breakfast section had omelets to order, French toast, smoothies, breakfast meats, fruit, and other delicacies.  The lunch section (where I met chefs John and Nathan and forced them to cook a truly heroic quantity of tenderloin for me) was also excellent.  My favorite tenderloin had a nice dijon demi that perfectly accented the meat and went nicely with the pasta made to order.  There was also baked chicken in a nice orzo, roasted pork in cranberry sauce, and desserts.  Lots of desserts.

However, the highlight of the meal were these little fruit tarts they served.  They were just strips of puff pastry with fresh fruit (mango, strawberries, black berries, and blueberries) with a little glaze to hold it all together and to add sweetness.  Had I known Tina would like them so much, I would have made something very similar years ago.  Because I love them, too.

Here is the recipe if you want to make them.

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Filed under Kansas City Cuisine, recipes, vegetarian

Madness, March and Matt’s Munchies

Mango Matt's MunchiesIf you’re looking for the giveaway, scroll down! 🙂

Okay, tomorrow starts perhaps the most impressive spectacle in sports: 64 teams, 1 goal.  That’s right, it’s college basketball championship time.  The Big Dance.  The Big Show.  The brackets.  The munchies.

So while I’ve noted that basketball doesn’t really have it’s quintessential meal, it does have snacking!  Lots of snacking on chips, wings, nachos, dips, and all the usual suspects.   So yes, lots of snacking and lots of sitting to boot!

While I would never hope to end snacking and basketball, I do have a thought.  Instead of gorging on chili cheese fries and hot dogs, why not snack on

Matt’s Munchies

Matt’s Munchies, made by Chef Robert’s, are “fruit leathers”, which I think is code for fruit rollup, but instead of being made with dyes and corn syrups and junk, they are made from things you want to eat like mango, bananas, real chocolate, and ginger.  They are also all-natural and gluten, nut, egg, and dairy free.

And oh yeah, they’re AWESOME.

They sent me six flavors:

  • Choco Nana
  • Apple Pie
  • Island Mango
  • Ginger Zest
  • Mango
  • Banana

In packs that were basically about 70 calories each.  I dutifully tried each one and they were great.  If Matt tasted as good as his munchies, I’d eat him.

I think my favorite was the Island Mango.  It was a blend of mango and coconut and had a great texture I wouldn’t expect in a fruit leather.  In close second, though, was the Apple Pie because it tasted like apple pie.  I’ve had a lot of gluten free, all-natural, dairy free snacks that claim to taste like something and they end up tasting kinda like what they’re supposed to.  Not the Apple Pie.  It tasted like honest to goodness cinnamony apple pie.

I think my least favorite was the Ginger Zest, but that’s because I am just not a huge ginger fan.  Nothing against Matt and his munchies, but the Ginger Zest were REALLY gingery.  They weren’t bad, I think they just require someone who likes that flavor.

Matt’s Munchies and Basketball

So I’m absolutely serious.  If you can find them in your local store, when you sit down to watch some hoops, tear into Matt’s Munchies instead of fried hot wings.  Well maybe try Matt’s Munchies instead of only hot wings?  I promise your tastebuds and your waist won’t regret it.

And…I’m Giving Some Away

Chef Robert’s was nice enough to send me a second pack that I can give away to one lucky reader.  All I want you to do is leave me a comment and tell me your favorite healthy snack or a snack you want me to make healthy by March 25th and I’ll draw for a winner.  That person will have a full set of Matt’s Munchies to snack on by the championship game.

Now, get to commenting and enjoy!

(Image from ChefRobertsDirect.com)

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