Mini Wine Tour

This school year has been jam packed with events, paperwork, lessons to plan, papers to check and meetings. I've been staying late and still bringing more work home to complete. It's almost 9:00 and I just finished my lesson plans. This past weekend was a breath of fresh air because we were able to spend the weekend in the hill country. I could leave all my stress and a dirty house to enjoy a weekend in Wimberley.

On the drive out, we always pass a sign for a winery not too far from the property. Justin and I love exploring the various wineries in the area (remember this visit, and this one too) so it was hard to believe we had never been to that one! Justin, his grandparents, aunt, and I decided to check out a few wineries on Saturday afternoon. 

Fawncrest Winery is located right near Canyon Lake. Here is the view from the back porch.

We also stopped at Driftwood Vineyards where they were set to host a wedding. It looked gorgeous!

Another view from Driftwood.

Our last stop was Wimberley Valley Winery. Did you notice the llama in the background? We were too caught up in wine tasting to take any pictures inside the wineries. At least I took pictures of the beautiful day.

The whole crew!

Gluten Free Options at Comerica Park

In honor of the Tiger's playing in the World Series tonight, I thought I'd find time to update. Plus, this post relates to my previous one about the Tiger's.

When we were at the game about a month ago there was a rain delay. With all the waiting, I didn't realize I had become hangry (hungry + angry). Luckily, I knew there were some gluten free options at Comerica Park. I had read up on their website about the Brushfire Grill.

I was a little disappointed when I did read their gluten free options because none of them were a meal. My choices were a fruit plate, hummus & veggies, or peanuts!

Although I did smile when I noticed Redbridge!

I opted to order a chicken breast (of course sans bun), a Redbridge, and hummus & veggies. The chicken was served with Lay's potato chips which I could eat. Since I was hangry, I was upset that they served me a bag of pretzel thins with the hummus. In the end, I was thankful to have some gluten free choices especially because it filled my belly and I wasn't sick.

Another FYI, under concessions on their website it also lists other GF choices:

All Sausages and Hot Dogs (without the bun), Chicken Breast, Turkey Leg, French Fries, Peanuts, Popcorn, Nachos w/o cheese (salsa only), Frozen Minute Maid, Redbridge, Beer – Beer Hall

Who's Your Tiger?

Tonight is a huge game for the Tigers; in fact it's a must win! In order to get pumped up for the game, I decided to share Justin's ball delivery from last month. We went to Michigan in September for a wedding and some friends found an awesome program to honor the military.

We flew on a Friday and Justin was to deliver the ball that night. 

Unfortunately, the game was rained out! (We should've seen it coming because there were no players out before the game.) It was a disappointment, but we still were able to go on the field with Dave and Amanda. Luckily they rescheduled the game for Sunday night. It was a little crazy for me because I had planned to fly back to SA Sunday night. I had to change my flight and check with my boss to make sure it was okay that I took another day!

Justin met his Tiger!

They are now officially BFFs! (Okay we only wish.)

But they did share a conversation.

Choosing the game ball.

Walking it out! I took some video too, but I want to try to edit it a little. So hopefully when I find a spare minute from work I can work on that. Then I can upload a link so everyone can see.

On the big screen!

I'm so proud of my husband and was so thankful to be a part of this amazing opportunity.

GF Warm Cheddar & Bean Dip

On my birthday post, I gave a sneak peak picture of our football food! We had chicken tenders marinated in Red Hot sauce and then grilled. Justin and I also made a cheddar and bean dip.

I found the recipe for the dip on the back of a Glutino box of bagel chips. <--- I linked the recipe from the website, but below the box picture I also copied and pasted it, just in case the Glutino site ever takes the recipe down.

Warm Cheddar and Bean Dip

• 2 cups canned white beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2  cup gluten-free beer (1/2 to 3/4 cup) or apple cider
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and cut into thirds
• 1/2  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 2 green onions, tops and roots discarded, minced for garnish

In a food processor, combine beans, beer, garlic, cumin and salt.  Process until smooth.  Add 1 cup of the grated cheese along with the Tabasco Sauce and process just until combined. Place the mixture in an attractive, heatproof dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup cheese over the top.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and serve with Glutino bagel chips.

Here are all the ingredients for the warm cheddar and bean dip, including gluten free beer.

I was also overly ecstatic to use my new Le Creuset Heritage stoneware casserole dish. (Even though in the end it was a little too big, the dip still gave me an excuse to use it.) If you read the recipe, it even said to use "an attractive, heatproof dish."

The food processor with beans, beer, garlic, cumin and salt. The hot sauce and cheese were ready to mix in.

Right out of the oven!

I ended up scooping some dip into a ramekin, which worked out because it was sort of runny. Even though it was runny, it still tasted fantastic. I will definitely make this again! If you like beans and cheese, you'll love this dip. The bagel chips are what make it truly delicious.

It was my Birthday!

I'm so thankful that my husband was home for my birthday. Saturday was my birthday, and the day always seems much better when it falls on a weekend.

I started out the morning with a wonderful breakfast made by my hubby. He made gluten free waffles with GF Bisquick. I also had a mimosa, fresh fruit with dip, and coffee.

We enjoyed football appetizers during the MSU game. For this game we ate skinless, boneless chicken tenders and gluten free bagel chips with cheddar and bean dip.  I'll post more about this dip recipe on a later post. 

For dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Las Canarias. I savored the food so much that didn't document all of the food with photos! But as usual, it was decedent and delicious. We ordered a three course meal with a wine pairing. This is me with my final course, one scoop of coffee ice cream and one scoop of pistachio gelato. 

 The handsome man who made the whole day of food possible!

I love getting free birthday desserts! Even after my ice cream, they brought out chocolate covered strawberries for me. Remember last year when we celebrated my birthday in Dallas? I enjoyed some gelato then!

After dinner we went to a musical at the Cameo Theater. We saw The Marvelous Wonderettes, which was about four girls in the 50s and 60s. Following the show, we had some drinks downtown.

We were able to meet up with some friends I made while Justin was deployed where we danced the night away.

Me & Kara