journey of a retired student-athlete

Well if any of y'all know me, this is my first semester without volleyball priorities. With no volleyball and only two classes, everyone thinks that I have all the free time in the world...little do they know I am probably busier than ever because of Blackstone and working at Daily Iowan TV. But don't worry about me, I have been able to get out, have fun and have the opportunity to do some new things. So...lets get to it. 

Sazerac at Graze restaurant for Date numero uno with Taylor...the bartenders were impressed that two girls were able to drink this. Not gonna lie, it was stronggg but the licorice flavor made it all okay. 

Then I made my way to Chicago for the "Chicago Advertisement Fair" to network, network, network. I drove there during the awful midwest weather and ended up getting into town super late...and starved. I googled forever on where to eat but decided to just make it an easy night and call for room service. 

The nachos that were smothered in guac. Honestly, these were some of the best things I've ever eaten in my life, I was nauseously full about half way through but just powered on through to polish them off before the big day. 

My name tag for the job fair. 

 

Then after the big day, I met up with one of my favorite people in the world and my old roommate Alli. Of course Dave gave us a recommendation to go to Shaw's Crab House and got some delishhh sushi and some cute little cocktails. 

Then came date number two with Taylor. We decided to stick to Graze and got the Mockingbird drink. Don't be alarmed by the jalapeño, it tasted like a zesty piña colada and was to. die. for.

Speaking of to die for. So here's the thing, we reallllly wanted to cave into our sweet tooth. We went with the "half ass ice cream pie" and ended up getting the "big ass ice cream pie". Its an Oreo crust with neapolitan ice cream smothered in sauces, strawberries, and whip cream...I cant.  We buckled down and gave it our best efforts to finish it off but were defeated and left a few bites on the plate. Now before you get disappointed in us, we were miserably full...like not able to fall asleep because we were so full. I am not quite sure if thats a win or a loss. 

And just because I love this picture, here is a picture of a simplistically perfect day when I am actually able to have a morning off. A large almond latte at High Grounds paired with some thank you notes and bron bron of course. 

Until next time. Besos y'all.

Blackstone is bringing the warmth

As everyone knows, this has been a brutally cold winter. I think it is safe to say that everyone is sick of the snow, bitter winds, and negative temperatures…even those who are crazy enough to claim to love winter. With Major League Baseball season just 33 days away, everyone is ready for snapbacks, sunlight, and most importantly hot dogs. Now let me be real with y'all, I do not like hot dogs. The only way I eat those things is if it is deep fried and made into a corn dog or wrapped up like a pig in a blanket…until now. 

My home away from home Blackstone is getting in the Spring spirit and doing a hot dog special tomorrow, Feburary 27th! When I first heard about a hot dog special I was a little taken aback by the idea, until I heard and saw what they were going to be. I introduce to you...

Gourmet Hot Dogs

"Hopped Up Dog"
This frank is bacon wrapped (lets be real…that should get your attention already), then topped with house-pickled jalapeños, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, and zesty hopped-up mustard all housed inside a toasted poppy seed bun. 

"Champions Dog"
This dog is accompanied by maple glazed ham, caramelized onions , arugula, tomatoes, garlic béchamel*, and crushed pineapple and most importantly topped with an oven poached egg and snuggled in a toasted poppy seed bun.
* béchamel: a rich white sauce made with a roux of butter and flour that is seasoned and cooked in milk

I am ready to get down and dirty to try both of these guys and most importantly you should too! 

Now I know your next question is, what in the world am I going to wash these bad boys down with? Well, Blackstone has you covered there too. At 3pm, they are going to tap some delicious brewskies to quench your thirst. 

The showstopper here is the Toppling Goliath's KingSue. It is a double version of their very popular PseudoSue and very limited. Blackstone is only getting one keg…I repeat ONE keg. The other beers being tapped are Confluence Milk Man Stout, Millstream Johns White Ale, as well as a very limited release from Madhouse Brewery- V.I.P. Vanilla Imperial Porter that is aged in Cedar Ridge whiskey barrels. I'll take one of each please!

Hot dogs will start being served at lunch time (open at 11am) and the new beers will be tapped at 3pm! Escape the cold and head over to Blackstone tomorrow, and bring a friend so you can each get one. Or follow after me and get both, I mean why not at only $7 each! 

I'm not gonna tell you again, get your booty to Blackstone and get yourself a dog. But thats not all, I want y'all to let me what you think. So after you grab your hot dog and a brew or two, head back here and let me know which one was your fav. Yeah yeah yeah I know I am asking a lot of you, but I think you and your tastebuds will be thanking me after you do it. 

Which was your favorite?

Hopped Up Dog

Champions Dog

Poll Maker

Home away from home

I am lucky enough to be able to work in an atmosphere that is like home and employees that are like family. I work at a restaurant called Blackstone in Iowa City, and it has seriously been one of the best choices I have ever made. I have made some life long friends, ever lasting memories, and even more importantly have eaten some amazing food. 

Speaking of food, Blackstone made some different specials for the love bird's holiday. Since I worked on Valentines day, Mitch and I decided to head back the next day to get our grub on while our girl Linds had to finish up managing. I apologize in advance for the bad picture taking, we were really hungry and couldn't wait to get the right snap.

We started off with one of the specials…calamari. 

Mitch was beyond excited for this one…he got to sneak in a few little squids before I took a picture, and I don't blame him because it was amazing. It was a chili zesty calamari that was fried to perfection. Then it was main course time. We got to try the specials on Valentines day to be able to describe them for our table, and once I tried this pasta I was in love. 

Everything about this pasta was my favorite. Farfalle check. Crab check. Asparagus check. Creamy yummy goodness check. It had a "oscar sauce" (which is a hollandaise based sauce with crab, asparagus, and tomatoes) as well as three perfectly cooked scallops. 

Mitch decided to get one of our regular menu items, which was the stuffed chicken and grilled asparagus on the side…not steamed. The chicken is stuffed with tomatoes, artichokes, onions and then has mozzarella cheese and a creamy tomato sauce on top. 

We then continued to drink away with wine, sazerac, and a mojito…but I was a little to thirsty and didn't snap a picture before. 

So if you haven't been to Blackstone, or you haven't been in a while then get your booty to Iowa City and to 503 Westbury Drive to get your drink and grub on. 

Mom Comes to Town

Volleyball season ended and all that there was left was the banquet. Dad had a big work event so Mom decided to brave the cold and come to Iowa City for the banquet festivities.

Ma and I wanted to try new things that Dad wouldn't necessarily go for. We started off at this little vegan cafe called Trumpet Blossom Cafe. The place was very quaint and earthy, and needless to say Mom was in love.

The fabric napkins and Mason Jar water mugs.

Falafel Pita.

Vegan grilled cheese…there was no actual cheese in this and it was unreal. 

We followed up the day by going shopping and seeing Labor Day. 

…where we snuck in some wine juice boxes. 

The next day was banquet day so we started off by going to Brix and drinking a glass of wine or two and a cheese platter before heading off to the banquet. We didn't really eat much at the banquet, but I could have had about twenty of the tiramisu cups. 

We then headed off to Josephs to have another drink and bite to eat. 

My yummy and strong Pomatini. 

The salmon grilled cheese…I was too hungry so I had to sneak in a bite.

Fries. 

We ended the night by chilling in the hotel with some Backpocket Brewey. I had a bomb weekend with so much yummy food and drinks. Ma left on the morning of Superbowl Sunday so I had to rush home and start making food. 

The great Super Bowl spread we had…for three people. 

The good things in IC

Last week I started to get my booty off the couch and do some more eventful things in my life. Well…kinda, I still love having a night in with some vino and great movies. 

My first eventful night in Iowa City, I went with some Bstoners to my first wrestling meet! It was actually really fun, I didn't know the lingo or why everyone kept yelling "twooooo", but after many pestering questions I started to get the hang of it. I also experienced my first fall on the ice…so that wasn't fun. After the wrestling meet we headed to Baroncini's for a nice dinner. 

The nice little set up

The cute little rolls…that I ate way too many of 

Bottle of wine we had

My glass of wine, with a glimpse of our bruschetta 

My amazing Salmon…seriously unreal. It had creamy mashed potatoes and white beans among the Salmon. 

Then we proceeded to go out, and I shockingly did not get any pizza. I went home and at a bowl of cereal, if you know me at all then you understand how big of a miracle that is.

Just a glance of my post working brunch shift at Bstone

My night in. Full of homemade teriyaki chicken, veggies, and rice noodles, a glass of White Zin, and two red box movies. 

Even though this break has has its ups and downs in so many ways, it was a great time. I am excited and ready for school to get started this week. Although I do love staying in, it can get pretty boring so I am ready to have a schedule again! 

My favorite food

So here's the thing, I in no way can keep track of all the different foods that I state are my favorite, I mean let's be honest there are way too many yummy treats to keep track of which we like more than the others. But, I am not exaggerating at all when I say pizza is my true love child.

Now I am not talking about Dominos or Pizza Hut (cue vom faces), I am talking brick stone oven thin thin bubbly crispy crust…seriously there is nothing better. Since I am lacking the key factor of a brick stone oven pizza, the closest place to heaven I can get is in my oven with homemade pizza.

It was always my favorite day in the Bedell house when we were having Dave's homemade pizzas for dinner, then Erin started to join too and she made this breakfast pizza one time…I have no words. Although I am no where near a pro, you can't really mess up bread and cheese with some ingredients on it, am I right?!

Homemade Veggie Pizza
Dough- I bought mine at our local Bread Garden, but if you call ahead some pizza places will let you buy their dough off of them. If buying frozen dough lightly cover the dough in EVOO and place on a bowl and cover with a towel and let it rise throughout the day.
Really any ingredients that you want to toss on a pizza…really any.

For MY pizza
pre work: roast garlic, roast bell pepper, sauté onions and mushroom, preheat oven to 425
Simply roll out the dough and place on parchment paper or greased pan. (if you have cornmeal put some on the bottom side of the crust).
Mash up the roasted garlic with EVOO until smooth and spread across the dough for crust
Slice up veggies and sprinkle amongst the dough
Lastly but NOT least the cheese, but as little or as much as you would like…I put a lot.
Pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes and viola! A delicious pizza that is doughy and gooey-licious.

Other pizza ideas I've done in the past:
-pesto chicken
-margarita
-pepperoni (duh)
-breakfast…with an over easy egg (yum!)

the good things in tejas part 2

As I am sitting in the frigid 5 degree weather here in Iowa City, I thought it would be perfect timing to hash over the latter part of my winter break at home. I started to slack on foodtography, so bare with me as I throw in some more personal ish. 

Christmas Day mimosas 

The greatest meal of the whole entire year. Dad's famous Christmas morning breaky: egg, ham and cheese croissant 

Dad's legendary drinks from his new juicer he got. This was blood orange something deliciousness

Apple eggnog brown sugar cinnamon donuts, hot cocoa donuts, and orange Grand Marnier donuts. Seriously though, these were amazing and I got to use my new donut hole pan :)

We took a trip to "Dad's" Brewery at the lake

One of the brews 

Nothing classier than a set of Duck Dynasty cards in Gun Barrel City

Birthday Dinner at Cafe Izmir for Mehreen's Birthday (on Ida's Birthday)

Amazing birthday cake that had Nutella creme filling

Traditional picture of the browns 

Sister time on NYE 

NYE on Mehreen's actual bday

One of the first nights back in Iowa City full of nachos, chips and salsa, and puppy chow 

…puppy chow made my Lindsay who mixed it up in a garbage bag, shockingly it went over very well.

Well that is all for Texas time, I am now stuck in Iowa City where yesterday the windchill was -34. As nobody is here I look forward to making many delicious meals of one.