erica danielle

This was the only picture we snapped in Mary Poppins before we were told no photography was permitted Monks Tavern before the show. Cool place. peanuts at your table! Mary Poppins was a good show! We were both very tired and I think will admit that maybe each closed our eyes through a scene or two... Friday nights are rough!  In other news: I tried a new breakfast recipe that I stole from Kate... it's easy and delicious! This is a Laurel Print trick.... add cottage cheese to your scrambled eggs to make them WAY more fluffy. Starting to layer: spinach, potatoes scrambled eggs and cheese. All wrapped up.. brushed a little melted butter on the top and seasoned with s and p. Golden brown and hot! Surprisingly everything stayed inside perfectly. Brunch. Isn't breakfast the best meal of the day? I just love it. Pipping hot coffee, eggs, fruit, pancakes, bacon, sausage, french toast, muffins, biscotti... I could go on. Here's this re...

I ADORE this kitchen. Here are my reasons why: The Kitchenaid is the only thing on the counter I can just picture my friends and family conversing around the island. Telling stories and eating dips and drinking wine. There are multiple shelving units for Cookbooks and magazines and an ipod dock. The nook in the corner with the cake sign above it screams -- "drink your morning coffee here while you plan out your weekend and reflect on your life" Because of the neutral color pallet, you could easily dress this up for any holiday - Christmas time? add a few red and green spectacles. Birthday? Hang a giant banner. Thanksgiving? pumpkin city. With that much counter space I could make dinner and dessert at the same time. The lighting is spectacular, especially for making a detailed Birthday cake. I would be able to hear the sounds of my future children playing in the toy room next door I spot a dishwasher over by the sink. No more hand washing EVERY. SINGLE. DISH. ...

Pretty excited about tonight... Sten and I are going to Mary Poppins at the Cadillac Palace Theater downtown. Can't wait! I love going to the Theater! I think this is one of those things I will remember forever.

doesn't this just scream "it's fall!"? Today I am home alone as Sten is in Batavia on Thursday's. It's the perfect time to blog and catch up on things that I don't like to do while he's around because it takes away time from being together. I made these cupcakes on Tuesday night and brought them to work on Wednesday for a co-workers Birthday. I got rave reviews! They take no time at all and only a couple of ingredients. I love the way these look without frosting success Here's the recipe: Cupcake-  Spice Cake Mix 15 oz. Pumpkin Puree Mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 20- 25 minutes. Cream Cheese Frosting- 4 oz. Cream Cheese 1/4 Cup Butter 2 Cups Powdered Sugar 1 tsp Vanilla 1-2 Tbls Milk 1tsp Cinnamon Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Frost liberally! Unfortunately, my mom and I are challenging ourselves to "no sweets until Thanksgiving" so I didn...

Talk about a PACKED weekend. Here are the highlights: Celebrating Kate's Birthday with lots of friends downtown. Relaxing on Saturday after work while the sun blazed and the blue skies took my breath away. Taco Pie with Sten's family in Geneva! Listening to Sten give his FIRST sermon ever. Running in the sun today in shorts and a tee. (Oct 23rd might I remind you) Eating pizza with Sten and talking about the weekend.  Celebrating Kate's Birthday downtown is a great memory I will have forever. We met at her brothers pent house on State St. and had champagne and snacks before heading to Quartino's for dinner. The walls are all glass and make for perfect city-gazing. I love this city. Birthday girl. Everyone in the elevator on the way to dinner. Our centerpiece at Quartino's I just love this girl. She is the most generous person I know and does an amazing job of making you feel like the most important person on the planet. I don't...

 Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. Hello Pumpkin! Cooling. Frosting. Assembling. Drooling In an attempt to do some Fall baking I set out on a quest for the PERFECT Fall recipe. And I think I found it. Katie and I got right to work (after a quick stop at Jewel for the essencials). This recipe is seriously easy and SERIOUSLY good. Do you love whoopie pies? Kate and I do. We made them the first time for a Women's Ministry Cookie Exchange with the church I went to at undergrad. The older women just about died when we told them the name. But, I am pretty sure they were the FIRST thing gone AND the most delish. Ever since then, W.P.'s have had a special place in my heart. Enough stories, here's the recipe. Make and then re-make and then re-make. Cookies: 2 1/2 C all purpose flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp ground cardamon 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice 1/2 tsp salt 1 C sugar 1/2 C brown sugar 1/2 C butter softened 1 ...

Happy Monday. Can't believe the weekend is over. O.V.E.R. It ended prettttty abruptly when I climbed back up the stairs and took my window seat on the Megabus for my 8 hour journey home. Luckily I was prepared this time with 3 magazines and a book I've been wanting to read "Hunger Games". It wasn't such a bad ride overall. Yes, the girl next to me spilled sticky pop on the floor, yes, I was in the middle of 15 Moody College kids talking about their Fall break... but on the whole $30.50 for a round trip ride to Minnesota for: a night out with Laura... a morning of pumpkin pancakes with "m and d".... a baby shower... walk with mom... before dinner girl chats with my sis and my mom... dinner and games with the 'rents, the Bernards and the Erica... an early morning run in the Grove.... church with my dad bringin' it!... and lastly a quick bake sessh with Emily. Phew! Back to reality this morning when the alarm went off.  After work, Sten and I and ...

Words can't describe this weekend. It was just perfect in so many ways. The weather was out of this world, the people and conversations were spectacular and the productivity was great as well. Here are some highlights: Campus in the Fall. I think this tree is my favorite. Elin LOVES cement. There was a WHOLE green space to play in, and she only wanted to be on the black top. This is the building where Sten spends most of his days. FAVORITE picture of all time. Early morning snuggles and cartoons. HELLO? I LOVE BEING AN AUNT! Petey + Anne. Good times at the soccer game Junior year roomies! This was right when we WWWOOOONNNNNNNN!!!!!! Overnight with Elin. That girl can sleep! She was so much fun and I think she really loves sleepovers at 5151 N Christiana-- I mean, truthfully, who doesn't? Painting Mim's garage. It was the perfect day to prime a garage and Sten and I deducted we primed about 80% on Saturday afternoon. 3 bags are ready ...

Yesterday was pretttttty amazing. I woke up to the sunshine in my face and Tre Kronor on my mind. Sten and I hit the streets and walked the 0.5 blocks to our destination. I ordered the waffle and Sten ordered the roasted bell pepper and brie quiche. wowza. The food was simply amazing- as was the company- as was the view out the window. seriously good. With a beautiful view of Fall Foliage, Foster Ave, and my Freshman dorm! I went for a long run in the sun after running some errands and laying out in the sun. I then began Barefoot Contessa's Apple Crisp. The perfect dessert for a large group on a Fall evening. Top it with some ice cream and you are GTG! I used 10 small Macintosh Apples The zest of one lemon and 1 TBLS of lemon juice This mixture smelled so delicious. I added cardamom for a little extra special kick. All those little apples ready for the crisp! I never thought those butter chunks would turn into this: Ready for the oven. YUM-O...