"Best Dinner Ever!" Wonton Raviolis and Non-Dairy Cream Sauce

This was one of those recipes I just had to blog right away because I instantly saw it becoming a family recipe. Lucky for you, it won't be a secret!

What You'll Need (Raviolis):

1 pack egg roll wrappers (larger than wonton wrappers and easier to work with. Located near the tofu in the produce section.)

1 lb very lean ground beef or turkey 

Handful of kale

Handful of mushrooms

Onions

Garlic

2-3 tbsp grated parmesan

Sauce:

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1/3 cup pinenuts 

Spices of choice (I used herbs d'provence, sage, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning and a pinch of sea salt)

In a skillet or sautepan, spray some cooking spray or use a little coconut oil to sauté some onions and garlic. When it becomes fragrant, remove half of them and put it to the side (they will be added to the sauce). Add the beef/turkey to the pan and cook until almost brown. Chop up a handful of kale and handful of mushrooms and add to the pan, continue cooking until meat is brown and kale is wilted. Remove from heat and let cool.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. 

While water is heating, mix Parmesan in with the meat and veggie mixture as it's cooling.

Lay out several egg roll wrappers and scoop meat mixture into the center of each (about a tablespoon). 

In a small container, crack one egg and add a tbsp of water, mix. Using a brush (or your fingers) apply egg wash to the outer edges of each wrapper, one at a time, and then fold corner to corner. 

Turn pot of boiling water down to medium heat. It should be BARELY boiling. If it's boiling too harshly, it will break the ravioli open and the meat will get everywhere. Drop each ravioli into the water, don't add more than about 4 at a time to the pot. Let them cook in water for about 3 mins each and remove with a slotted spoon. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet or flat plate. Continue process until all are cooked.

In a blender, pour tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and pinenuts. Add all desired spices and blend for about one minute on low or medium speed. Heat up in microwave or a saucepan on medium heat.

Serve ravioli topped with the "creamy" sauce and a pinch of Parmesan. Fresh basil would complete this meal, but I didn't have any! 

Since it's Halloween, what meal wouldn't be complete without some Gypsy Red in a Skeleton cup?!

First Annual Fall-tober Fest Weekend

This weekend we celebrated our own made-up holiday, Fall-tober Fest. It's important to me that when we have children, we have traditions in place for them to look forward to each year. We decided to wing it and Fall-tober Fest ended up being a fun weekend full of fall-ish activities (actually not unlike our typical weekends, but now I'm turning it into a tradition).

We woke up Saturday morning and went to the pumpkin patch and picked out the perfect ones for carving/painting. 

A few hours later we headed to the corn maze, which I had been dying to do for the past few years. When we got there we walked all the way to the ticket booth and were already so hot we were debating giving up and going home. So we did (it was SO HOT, don't judge!)

We came home and invited our best friends (and our typical Saturday night group) over for taco night and while the guys watched the fights, us girls played a new game called "Heads Up" which was hilarious once we had had a few tequila sunrises! We plan on having a friend get-together every Fall-tober Fest weekend.

Me, cracking up playing "Heads Up!"

Sunday we went to a fantastic lunch at a crepe place in town. The waiter was a kid from high school and since we had never been there before and raved about the food, he gave us a huge, delicious crepe dessert that we devoured before I could even take a photo! I spent the afternoon making frosting with my mom for our cake decorating class (next year the tradition will be cupcake making!) while the guys watched the Niners game. 

Afterward, Matt and I worked on our pumpkins with a bottle of cab and "Nightmare Before Christmas."

My Jack and Sally pumpkin

My Snooki pumpkin

Matt's carved pumpkin on the top left

Our little "poogle" Lucky had a seizure in bed with us a week ago, and since he's been having lots of tremors pretty much all day. We are making sure to spend a lot of time loving him and trying to keep him comfortable and happy for as long as we have left with him. He has a costume for his Halloween celebration!

Wedding- It's All in the Details

Two months have flown by faster than I could've ever imagined. Luckily, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and the further we get from August 3rd, the more the details seemed to fade. I was so excited to get my photos back because I needed them to reinforce my memory that I did, in fact, have my DREAM wedding. The photos were better than I could've hoped.

 Flowers- I was SO specific on what I wanted for my flowers that we went through flower rolodexes (literally!) until we handpicked every single flower that went into each bouquet. There was nothing I wanted less than that typical, "round" bridal bouquet. I wanted a beautiful feel as if we had walked through the world's prettiest garden and picked each flower by hand. Natural, natural natural. From the dusty miller to the tabasco roses to the ivory bridesmaids bouquets, my florist dealt with numerous, in-depth meetings about every single flower and she was so wonderful. She truly saw my vision better than I did and I couldn't be happier. Stems Florist in Vacaville, CA.

I decided to have a neutral toned wedding with the only color being my bouquet, Matt's boutonnière, and the flowers on our cake, and it was my favorite decision I made along the way. The standout color was originally going to be a dusty rose, but three weeks before I wedding I felt something was off and I searched high and low for the right shade of orange roses with just enough pink at the tips and my florist found it. SPOT ON.

I used both round and rectangular tables for the reception, and it gave for a very romantic vibe. We did ivory centerpieces with just enough winding twig for a rustic touch. We did a "trial" run with a 50% mark-up around Christmas time last year. Then we tweaked what we didn't like, added more of what we did, and came up with a beautiful centerpiece. Plus we found out that the boxes they were in weren't waterproofed and would have stained the table cloth had we waited until the wedding to see them! Problem solved. It kills me that we only got to enjoy them for one day- but the photos will last forever. My mom was a great help with the flowers- she knows so many species and styles and what's in season when. Flowers were likely the priciest detail of the day, but also my favorite part and I thank her so much for that gift.

Tablecloths and all rental items came from Classic Party Rentals in Napa. After numerous visits, a changing headcount and so many alterations to our order, it all arrived smoothly and in full. The table drapes are called Essence Onyx, in a heavy, good quality fabric. This, of all my wedding details, was the one thing I fought hardest for. I think my mom and I had 49275 fights about these tablecloths alone. I have never felt so strongly about such a "small detail" in my life, but I hate plain white tablecloths, so I wanted to choose something that represented me as a person and my style. I LOVE patterns, and these tablecloths are not exactly understated. But I knew that seeing all 14 tables in this amazing print would give me the perfect look for my dream wedding. I don't regret a single argument on behalf of those damn tablecloths, and my mom agreed we made the right decision :)

Tobasco rose petals and wrought-iron candelabras down the center of the rectangular tables. We worked together to select the right china, and my mom nixed all ideas of mason jars, stemless glasses, and flowers around the base of the candelabras- and she was right! Everything looked so elegant!

  

Little details- matches for our sparkler send-off.

What's a Boughtin Wedding without a Boughtin Bar?

We opted for greenery rather than flowers at the end of the aisles- it definitely gave the natural touch we needed. I kept thinking maybe baby's breath on the insides of the aisle chairs, but my mom felt plants would be a better touch- she was totally right. We didn't want to go overkill with any detail, and with all of the green grass and vines, it was just understated enough. My mom hand painted and decorated the gold pots and purchased the plants at a local garden shop like Lowe's or Home Depot.

Our sweetheart table, which now sits in our dining room. Table by Pottery Barn and via my mom (thank you!). Monogrammed wine glasses, decals via Etsy.

We put flowers in the restrooms as well to spice up the "portables." Why not?!

I knew I wanted to design my own wedding cake, and Sweetie Pie's in Napa did better job than I could have asked for. I brought in photos similar to what I wanted to both the florist and the bakery, and then coordinated the florist to decorate the cake once it arrived. When it came time to cut the cake, Matt and I did so begrudgingly- neither of us wanted to ruin how beautiful it was! My father-in-law, who purchased the cake for us, came running over saying "Don't cut it! It's too pretty!" 

It was a strawberry shortcake flavor with fondant ruffles and thick layers of strawberry through the center. Yesterday we had some guys over for football and my mom showed up with the top layer of our cake to put in our freezer. Little did she know, our bakery gives a free anniversary cake (a replica!) so we ate our wedding cake with lunch yesterday! 

Our beautiful venue all lit up at night. Not pictured: the gorgeous surrounding vineyards.

Gordon Valley, California.

These are my favorite details of the evening, but there were so many more. I am so incredibly proud of my choices, and more importantly, the hard work of our vendors. It's not easy to take an empty property, not even a wedding venue!, and stick to your vision with every outside vendor. I find this wedding to be one of my proudest moment and greatest accomplishments.