....is for the Love of the Game

This past weekend one of my darling friends (a college roommate) married a lovely southern boy from Georgia. They share an intense love for baseball. She is a San Francisco Giants fan and he's an Atlanta Braves fan. With that in mind I wanted to make them a special something to celebrate their love of the game and their love for each other.

Here's the inspiration for this project:

I took a few liberties on 'we met', 'we married' & 'we live'. And used prints of each of their team's stadium and a little love in the middle.

So there's more to these stadium's than the handful of games they attended at each. At AT&T Park, Will took Sarah on a behind the scenes tour where they were able to play catch in the infield. After throwing one wide, to make her run for it, she turned around to him on one knee over home plate.

And the Braves Stadium was the location of their GORGEOUS engagement photos.

The steps to make this present were pretty easy, I cropped the pictures and used Adobe Illustrator to write the words on the images before printing at my printer's top quality on some high gloss photo paper. 

I cut them out with an X-acto knife and stuck them to the backside of a floating frame with some double-stick tape.

I cleaned a few finger prints off the glass and set it all in place.

Lastly, I dated the back with their wedding day, signed it to the Mr. & Mrs. and added a little love.

The final product all set and ready to go!

....is Roasted Zucchini, Black Bean & Goat Cheese Enchiladas

1 Large Zucchini, 1/4'' dice

1 Yellow Squash, 1/4'' dice

1 Mexican Grey Squash, 1/4'' dice
3 tsp Olive Oil, Divided

Salt & Pepper
1/2 of a Small Red Onion
1 15 oz. can/2 Cups Black Beans, Rinsed and Drained

1 Lime Zested and Juiced

1 bunch of Cilantro, Chopped
5 oz. Soft goat Cheese
10ish Flour Tortillas
12 oz. Trader Joes Red Enchilada Sauce
2 Avocados

Preheat oven to 425'. Place the Zucchini on a rimmed baking tray, drizzle with 2 tsp. of the Olive Oil and Salt and Pepper. Toss everything with your hands to coat. Spread in an even layer, using two pans if it looks crowded. Roast on the middle rack for about 30 minutes until the edges are brown. Remove to cool. Turn the oven down to 375'.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the Onion, Black Beans, Cilantro, Lime Zest & Juice. Set aside 1 oz. of the Goat Cheese for the topping and crumble the rest into the bowl. Add the cooled Zucchini and toss everything together very gently. Set up your assembly with the tortillas and the filling.

In a 9x13 oven proof rectangle dish pour 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. Working with one tortilla at a time, fill it with a heaping 1/4 cup of the filling and roll it up like a taquito. Lay it in the dish seam-side down. Continue with remaining tortillas, squeezing the enchiladas in tight (you may have extra filling, it's great on it's own as a snack or in a quesadilla). Brush the tops of the tortillas with the remaining olive oil. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle reserved Goat Cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes until warmed through and the top is just crisp. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Top with lots of diced Avocado.

....is Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

A, only slightly altered, Gluten Free recipe from Eat-Live-Run.

1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, room temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1-1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Salt
2-1/2 Cups Whole Oats*
1 10-oz bag Dark Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Almond Butter

2 Tbsp Flour
2 tsp Vanilla

*The Original Recipe called for 3 Cups. When I used this it made the cookies a little more like Granola and they had trouble holding shape. I had to force them into the cookie scoop to hold shape. They were still delicious but I think next time I'll try a few less Oats.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, Sugar and Brown Sugar until well blended. Add Vanilla extract. Keep beating until everything is combined.

In another bowl, mix together the Oats, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon and Flour. Add to wet ingredients along with Chocolate Chips. Mix until just combined.

Roll small balls of dough (using a Cookie Scoop is easier, it looks like a Mini-Ice Cream Scoop) and place three inches apart on a silpat or parchment paper-lined sheet tray. Do not flatten dough balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes until puffy. Let cool for 5 minutes on sheet tray before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.