Little get away

So one weekend Jacob and I thought we needed a break and take a little weekend away. We decided on going to Napa ( wine country ). I was supper excited to go because I had never been there. I felt like I had been the only one out of everyone we knew who hadn't gone yet. 

It was such a fun trip for us, well I think more so me because I had never been so Jacob was showing me around. AND we bought ticket to check out a dairy farm because I have this weird love for cows hah

I don't know why....Well I kind of have an idea why. I think it started about 6 years ago someone I knew started calling me moocow because I eat a ton and cant gain any weight. So anywho , with going on the dairy farm you get to see the baby cows and milk a cow!! I was beyond excited for this.  

You have no clue, I was like a little kid .  

So anywho w/the dairy farm we did some wine tastings ( took a tour of Andretti winery) kinda just enjoyed ourselves and walked around downtown Napa exploring .  

Oh and before I forget to mention we are as you can see by my past posts we are total foodies. We asked the awesome concierge where she recommend we eat for dinner so then , she set us up a reservation and off to dinner we went . Let me just say if you are ever in Napa you HAVE ... HAVE to go to Celedon !!

BEST place we have ever eaten at ! holy smokes! MMMM mmmmm I'm drooling just thinking about it . 

Alrighty, then on our way home we stopped off at THE Jelly Belly Factory !!! =D another 1st time for me also . We did the tour there also , which was pretty cool . We got to see the making of the jelly beans from start to finish . Along the way we got to sample some. before we started the tour they have a like sampling counter you could try some good flavors AND some of the omg what were they thinking ones hah!!

So I told Jacob if he tried a yucky one that I would . oh bad idea !! 

Alrighty I guess ill stop here with me blabbing and let you guys see some of the photos =) 

Enjoy !! 

 

1st drink of the trip . yummy 

View from our balcony, the hotel has their own winery in the back . 

It was sucking on my hands ! 

I want one !  

We're part of the club now hah

BEST PLACE EVVVVEER!!!

Port infused figs with goat cheese incrusted in macadamia nuts AMAZING!!!

His dinner

My dinner . I think I said oh my gosh with every bite hah

Was hoping he'd be there hah . He sometimes is . 

Toured Mr. Mario Andretti's winery 

Tour guide . He was great . 

My 1st time eating at Hog Island Co.

Back from dinner =)

I loved our bathroom area 

JELLY BELLY FACTORY!!!

Worst idea EVER !! haha

easy peasy dinner

So I wanted this to be a quick post something I could do really fast and post . But then I ended up turning it into a 2 part deal . What we had for dinner one night and then what I turned it into for left overs the next night. Great way to save on $$ , making something new with the old. 

So my husband and I went to one of our fav stores Whole Foods.

 ( Its just as dangerous as Target LOL!! )

Going in not knowing what we wanted for dinner we circled the store and then we came across the meat counter and took a look at what they had. We decided on some chicken that was pre marinated and on some skewers . I pan fried these up real quick a few mins on each side till they were cooked through . 

For myself I need some sort of green with my dinner and something my husband will eat .  So  I oven roasted some brussel sprouts with some olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. 

Then for something to eat with the chicken and to dip the sprouts in my husband and I wipped up this garlic aioli . If you can try to make this a night a head . It gives all the flavors a chance to "marry" . 

we used :

Mayo ( about 4-5 tb )

Olive Oil ( 1-2 tsp )

Salt ( to taste )

Pepper ( to taste )

Minced garlic ( 3-4 minced cloves ) 

Lemon Juice ( 2 tbs )

Cayenne Pepper  ( to taste )

Seasoning salt ( to taste ) 

 Night #2 something new with the old 

For the next nigh I wanted us to use up the chicken so that it didn't get lost in the fridge then go back and it went bad then waste of food. So on my way home I stopped off at the store and picked up some tortillas . I figured we could whip up some wraps and call it a night . Easy peasy lemon squeazy hah . 

I had Jacob chop up the left over chicken so that I could saute them in the pan to warm them up . 

I took the left over aioli and spread it on the tortillas 

and placed the warmed up chicken on top and rolled away 

Placed them in the same pan that I warmed up the chicken in 

and TADAAAA dinner is served ! 

Happy eating !! <3

Just another made up holiday ;)

Hey everyone!! It is so gorgeous out today my goodness, cant believe it was raining a few days ago. 

I hope everyone one else is experiencing this great weather other places too . 

So I know I am a little late on posting this but I realllllly wanted to get it up , this past valentines day my husband and I stayed in . Since we both had to work and were too tired to go out after work . 

I decided since I got home before him that I would make us dinner. Better that than spending a couple hundred out at some fancy restaurant . 

Now here we go ... Welcome to Restaurant A La Thomas haha!! 

  I took some cilantro and shaved off the leaves with my knife into the bowl . 

 Took some sun dried tomatoes that were already cut added it to the cilantro ( time saver )

Rinsed the asparagus and cut into about 2" lengths 

I heated up a pan to med-high heat with some extra virgin olive oil , pan fried them real quick to bring out that green color . I didn't cook these fully left them with a little bite. 

Then I set them aside on a plate . ( if you leave them in the pan they will continue to cook )

Threw on a pot of water seasoned a little with kosher salt. cooked till just al dente .

While the pasta was cooking I took the mozzarella and sliced them up. (saving the marinade) Then I also slice up a small roma tomato and added it to the bowl with the cilantro . 

Once the pasta was cooked I threw the drained pasta over top of all the waiting ingredients in the bowl (what ever you do,  do NOT rinse the pasta !! big no no . )

Next I tossed everything around , cooked up some bacon in the microwave and crumpled it up in to the mix.  

Then this is where that marinade I saved comes in , pour that into the bowl and another toss.

  There you have it !!

Whats dinner without something sweet after  ?!?

So for our something sweet I made us Pannacotta.

took some cream and milk brought them to a simmer. 

Chopped up some chocolate

bloomed some gelatine

1 cup of nutella 

 Took the simmered milk and cream added vanila , chopped chocolate and nutella

I was too impatient to wait for it to cool to room temp on its own , so I gave it a ice bath. 

poured the mix into wine glassed let them chill for a few hrs tilted 

chopped up some chocolate covered pomagranate seeds and sprinkled them on top. 

<3 <3 LoVe too CoOk