My Daughter - My Inspiration

My daughter Manteee (Samantha) has shown me a path that I like traveling. She has been and will continue to be an inspiration in my life. Her fearless nature and competitive qualities have swelled my heart. I am so lucky to have her as my daughter.

She loves playing softball. Her competitive nature shows up in many facets of the game. As a second baseman she dives for groundballs that have a chance of getting to the outfield. She races for fly balls and pop ups that she must get and usually does get.

While batting she will take one for the team. She will allow a hard pitched ball to hit her so she can get on base. She will stand up to any pitcher, no matter how hard they throw, to get her swings in. On the bases is where she is fearless. Diving or sliding into a base with no apparent concern for her body has often scared me. Taking the the extra base when most girls just stand around has earned her a thumbs up from her coaches.

She has stepped in and played against players, in some tournaments, that were five to six years older than her. Some of these girls are over six feet tall. My daughter is five feet two inches if we put her on a stretching table. Her lack of height has been made up by her determination.. Starting for her high school team as a Freshman was quite an accomplishment. What was even better was that her coach favors Juniors and Seniors because they have more experience.

Baseball and softball have been a large part of my life. Writing this e-zine about my daughter has been a pleasure. She has made her dad proud. I feel like I am glowing inside when I watch her play. I feel like I am the luckiest father on earth.

My fantasy baseball story has come to reality through my daughter. I wanted one of my children to excel in baseball. She is the one that has carried the ball and bat. She may or may not want to continue her career after High School. That is up to her. But for now I am able to watch, admire and feel proud.

I have admired Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays and Derek Jeter to name a few of players that impressed me. My daughter has tied Derek Jeter as one of my all time favorites. They are both on my top ten list.

Aron Wallad has been a baseball lover for over 45 years. What do you like about baseball? Do you love inspiring quotes, unusual statistics or heartwarming baseball stories? If you love baseball you will love this ezine. http://www.baseballsprideandjoy.com/index.php?tag=isnare To contact Aron - aron@baseballsprideandjoy.com

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Greek Style BLTs

Yesterday I promised you my favorite way to use garlic mayonnaise, so here you go! I saw something similar to this in my Taste of Home magazine a few weeks ago, although that recipe just used ranch dressing instead. I also took the liberty of making a few more changes to make it extra delicious.

There really aren't measurements to this "recipe" because it's just more of a method. It's easy to eyeball how much you'll need to feed your particular crowd. How you prepare this recipe depends on what kind of bread you're using. You could use pita pockets or tortillas instead of the flatbread. I used pita pockets the first time I ever made this, and I have to say it was my least favorite way. Not because of flavor by any means, just because it made it really hard to stuff as much in there as I wanted, and the pitas ended up ripping from being stuffed too full. So if you use the pita pockets, I'd suggest you dice up the tomatoes and shred the lettuce.

Ingredients:
flatbread
bacon slices, cooked and drained on paper towels
lettuce
tomatoes
avocado, sliced
1 package feta
green onions, sliced
1 recipe garlic mayonnaise

It's silly to even type this up, since it's very self-explanatory. But you just assemble it like you would a regular sandwich. Spread a little (okay, a lot) of that garlic mayo on your flatbread, then pile on the rest of the toppings. Fold the flatbread over, and there you have it. There is only one thing I will do differently next time -- I will remember to get some greek olives!

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Garlic Mayonnaise

This mayonnaise makes a delicious spread for sandwiches. It adds a really great zing as opposed to plain old mayo or Miracle Whip. The original recipe was one that I got from Food Network off the show Everyday Italian, but I've changed it up by adding a little lemon juice. I think that makes it taste so much better.

I'll share my favorite sandwich recipe tomorrow. I also use this same recipe as a dip for sweet potato fries (recipe to come in the next few weeks!), and it's equally as fantastic.

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonnaise
1-2 cloves garlic, turned into a paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Just combine all ingredients into a bowl, and voila! You don't have to turn the garlic into a paste if you don't want to. Sometimes I just add minced garlic to the mayo. It just depends on how spicy you want it. It's much more mild if you do paste the garlic, but I also love biting into the minced garlic sometimes as well. Either way, it's delish!

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