Remember me?

I know I have been an awful blogger, but there has been a lot going on. No- I am not going to list everything that I have done this off season to try to convince you that I am not a bum, but I will say I have been awake before noon THREE times this week already!! All kidding aside, I stayed away from blogging since we have been traveling and relaxing. I knew if I blogged about our trips I would want to post pictures and frankly I am tired of my pictures getting ripped off and re-posted on other sites. So, now you get a tame blog about my travels, cooking and wine adventures SANS personal pictures (I might sneak one or two in here and there)

So what have I been up to?

Cooking.. I have fallen back in love with the kitchen- I love to cook, but I get nervous that it wont turn out well and all my hard work will get tossed out- this has happened, and it ruined me! Also, I have strayed away from my culinary love since we travel so much, and I am usually just working with a spatula, a frying pan, a small pot and my blend-tec.  I have bought and re-bought so many kitchen items in all the homes that we have lived at... that I have finally given up! I buy simple items to cook or premade meals from whole foods since I am always cooking for one. (Brandon eats at the ballpark, I don't ignore him.. jerks)

So this brings me to my new obsession:

I got it for Christmas and I have been cooking every meal (that we are home) ever since!

Now, if you follow me on twitter (which you have to, otherwise how do you know about this blog) I have been posting pictures of my meals pretty frequently, BUT last nights meal was so tasty that I have to share the recipe:

Pasta with meat ragu

1 small onion cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 small carrot cut into 1-inch pices

1/2 small celery rib cut into 1-inch pices

3 ounces white mushrooms brushed clean trimmed and broken into pieces

1/2 slice of high quality white bread torn into pieces

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of whole milk (must use whole)

Salt and pepper

8 ounces 93% lean ground turkey (do not use ground turkey breast or 99% lean, it will be dry and rubbery)

1 (28 ounce) can of whole tomatoes drained,  but saving 1/2 cup of juice

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves

3/4 cup of slightly sweeter white wine (not a dessert wine)

1 table spoon tomato paste

1 package of spaghtti

steps:

Pulse onion, carrot and celery in a food processor to a fine mince about 10 pulses

trasfer to a bowl

pulse mushrooms about 5 pulses and add to same bowl

pulse 1 table spoon of milk, bread 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper until a paste is formed- about 4 pulses

add turkey to processor and pulse with the "paste" about 5 pulses

remove and add to separate bowl

Pulse tomatoes and 1/2 juice until smooth. About 8 pulses and add to a separate bowl

Melt butter in a skillet and add pulsed veggies. Cook until soften and lightly browned. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds.

Stir in processed turkey meat and cook until it is no longer pink. About 4 mins (hint break apart using a wooden spoon). Stir in remaining cup of milk and simmer until milk evaporates and only s clear liquid remains. Stir in wine and let simmer for about 15 min. Stir in tomato paste for about 1 minute. Add processed tomato mixture and simmer until slightly thickened about ten minutes. Salt and pepper to taste

Make paste per directions and on the box and then add sauce to the pasta.. and just like that yummy pasta

I wrote this whole thing out, so ya'll better make this pasta!!

Now I promise that I will blog more, and since the season is starting back up it will be a lot easier for me to do it. So get ready people.. I am back (kinda)

NOW I am off to consume wine.. I need a drink, my father in law is here for 5 days (Hi Pat)

Off season is here

So, the baseball season finished- that means dinners with Brandon, lunches with friends and vacations!

It took a lot of driving, so much unpacking, an insane amount of organizing, and a mini vacation with my in-laws in Tucson, but we are all finally in Dallas and ALL moved in

AND I can't get enough of our favorite rooftop:

Let the wine nights with friends begin!

Charity Girl

I am still trying to rally up pictures from our charity events.. stay tuned!

Amanda does Dallas.. and Napa

As you might have picked up through twitter I travel quite a bit, not as much as I used to but still enough to be classified as a lot. So, when I found out there was a new airline that has direct flights from SFO to a few cities that I fly to I was very excited (obviously it doesn't take much to excite me). I am here to announce (not being paid) that Virgin America lives up to all the hype. Not only was the leg room/reclining ratio amazing the food was delicious. That hasn't been the case since I was about nine and ate, at the time, what I thought was the best sandwich I would ever have on Continental Airlines. (not the case anymore, Continental)

Brandon and I decided years ago that Virgin Atlantic was our primary airline to fly over seas and I am thrilled to say Virgin America is my domestic carrier of choice now too (please open more flights.. Please)

Now I will stop with all the airline pimping and get back to blogging..

Since I was in Dallas for a week I didn't do much cooking, and since I have issues with being that person taking pictures of every meal before I eat it, I don't have many food pictures.. But we will make it work.

Dallas is always a really fun time. All of our friends and all of our wine are there, so how could it not be fun? Especially, when you walk into your wine cellar and this is waiting:

That is our favorite bottle of wine.. We (well, probably just me) could drink it everyday! 

Every night in Dallas was really low key, even the night of Brandon's birthday was tame. We had just a few drinks with friends at one of our favorite spots, Black Friar. (Dallas people have the short rib nachos.. you are welcome!)

Thankfully the all star break was coming up so we were able to stay a day longer and meet some friends for a fun dinner.. And I was able to break out my newest obsession (again not getting paid) my Abi Ferrin dress. For those who haven't heard of Abi Ferrin let me tell you about her. (If any gentlemen are reading I recommend just scrolling down to the next paragraph) She is a local designer in Dallas who makes really bright,fun dresses and tops. She is also apart of the Freedom Project meaning many of her collections are made by women rescued from the sex trade in Nepal and Cambodia. These organizations counsel, train and shelter the women while also providing income. So not only are her clothes great she is helping so many women here in the states..

The dress I have can be worn at least 5 different ways, due to my horrific sunburn I am wearing it as a top with jeans. Just look how cute this is: (this isn't the only time it's being showcased in this blog) 

I really recommend this dress for everyone. This print is a little bold, but she has some solid ones too. Not only are they light and comfortable they also travel very well. It was in a suitcase for 10 days and it didn't have one wrinkle.. that's my kinda dress!

For more info go to her site: Abiferrin.com

On to all star break!

When we have a few days free the only place we want to go is Napa.. Oh Napa!

We love the weather, the small town feel, amazing views, and not to mention the awesome restaurants and WINE :) 

We were fortunate enough to get a reservation at The French Laundry on Tuesday night. We were all very excited, and looking forward to it all weekend. The French Laundry has such a prestigious reputation that when we sat down we all started to question us being there. Looking around at the tables we realized that we were going to be the youngest and most likely the loudest ones there.. so we sat really quiet for about 10 mins until the first drinks came out. Then said screw it, we are paying just like everyone else and we want our experience to be enjoyable. So, we loosened up and had an amazing night. Here we are with two of our friends from Dallas:

This wine was out of this world.. and I am eating Liberty Farm Pekin Duck. We had about 12 courses that night! 

 Thomas Keller came to the table in the middle of dinner to have a little chat and invite us down to the kitchen when we were done with dinner.. little background, Thomas Keller and his wife were sitting in the courtyard where we were wine tasting earlier that afternoon. Hobbes and I walked out of the tasting room next to him and started up a conversation. I am not afraid to just walk up to people and chat with them. So when he came to the table he remembered that I was the girl with the dog, and like a little girl I just giggled and bobbed my head around.. I had no words.. he probably thinks I am a fool! 

Here is a peek into his magnificent kitchen (I took the pictures in a really non obvious way because I was trying to act cool so they aren't great!)

In the kitchen, quick note about this photo.. my eyes were totally shut and I sent it to my father in law and he had a friend put eyes on me.. I am shocked that people can photoshop so well.. Thank you Pat!

Live feed of his other restaurant.

Kitchen hard at work

 

I have the biggest sweet tooth, and this dessert came out looking so pretty that I had to take a quick picture. This is the Lemongrass dessert.. the menu has a French description, and I don't know French, so I am just calling it the Lemongrass dessert. Then they sent out these little homemade chocolate that are infused with different flavors, the tables favorites were the Peanut butter and jelly on the bottom right and the Hazelnut on the top left. 

All in all the trip was a lot of fun, I could have stayed up a few more days.. but Brandon had to go back to work on Wednesday so that wasn't possible. So it was a one night All-Star break:

After 12 courses and a lot of wine we were able to walk out just fine.. see, we can go to classy places, DAD!

Abi Ferrin dress worn as a dress.. Still covering my burnt shoulders. And the standard leg kick.. 

Girls night in

After a long week of team/city hopping it is nice to be back in a familiar place, and (most importantly) on a "regular" schedule. The morning after we got back from Stockton Brandon and I had be at the park bright and early to help out with 'Rootbeer Float Day'. I absolutely love to help out with charity events, so even though I was working with about 6 hours of sleep I was more than happy to come and lend a hand! The event was a success raising over $29,000 for Juvenile Diabetes.  
The girls all came to lend a helping hand, and I must say these girls are by far the closest group of baseball girls that I have ever met.. 

I feel very fortunate to have met these girls. Hopefully, we will stay in Oakland a little longer so I can get to know them even more!


It took me about 6 hours to catch up on my  'housework' (so domestic, ha) so when game time came around I was just too tired to make it.. so why not have a girls night in and watch the game?.. GENIUS!
An amazing baseball girl that I met this year came over for a little homemade meal and wine.. always WINE!
We started with a little fresh mozzarella and peppadews on homemade crostinis. And I wish I knew what the wine was.. all I remember was that it was a pinot.. no idea the name! Sorry rookie mistake, I know

 Since this was an impromptu dinner I just threw together some ingredients that I had in the fridge.. And since the break is coming up I wanted to use up some of my food before it went bad! It is always a race against time in my fridge!

This dinner was beyond easy.. Lobster ravioli and sauteed spinach. I squeezed a half a lemon, added tsp butter, a splash EVOO, a few pinches of red chili pepper flakes, a little parm and salt and pepper.
Dinner was light and delicious..
We had fun catching up, watching the game and drinking our wine.. I think we stumbled onto something great, maybe even a new weekly tradition! 

Next up: Baseball, fireworks.. AND no more rehab! 
 

Hello World

Well, I have decided to try this blogging thing one more time. In the past I have blogged about planning our wedding, our travels during the off season, and I even blogged a bookclub. All my blogs in the past have had a private setting so only my friends and family could see, but I think I am ready to blog for the world.

This blog will be a little different than the ones in the past. This one is going to be about life as a baseball wife, and my three loves... 
traveling, wine, and food-
Enjoy!