erica danielle

I searched my blog high and low for our Swedish Pancake recipe on Sunday night and came up short. I thought for sure I’d posted it throughout the years as it’s a staple in our house (especially around Christmas). Here it is now-- I apologize for the horrible pictures.  The recipe comes from the infamous “Ada Shawl” whom I’ve never met, but her name is a legend among all of us in the Carlson clan. I make it just as it’s written on the recipe card and it feeds our family. I, of course love to load mine with lingonberry and a drizzle of maple syrup. But you can roll whatever you’d like in these tasty treats. After pancakes we decorated our house for Christmas. It’s fun to decide where things will go as this is our first Christmas on Robin Lane. The kids were excited to see all the things coming out of bins. Their little people nativity set and the millions of Christmas books we've acquired being their favorites.  Our house feels so warm and cozy and very Swedish with all...

I made banana bread this morning and while it was baking: Lucy was napping, windows were open, I was cleaning, and the smell was AMAZING. I highly recommend this recipe, make it for your mom for Mother's Day. It is grand. Banana Bread: from My Baking Addiction 2 C Flour 1 t baking soda 1/4 t salt 1 t cinnamon  1/2 butter 3/4 C brown sugar 2 eggs 2 t vanilla 2 1/3 C ripe bananas mashed (abt 5) ----- Topping: 1/4 C flour 1/4 C brown sugar 1/2 t cinnamon 2 T butter Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, vanilla, and banana. Mix. Add in dry ingredients.  Pour in bread pan.  Using a pastry blender mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over bread dough.  Bake 60-65 mins at 350.  YUM! Before going in the oven.  YUMMMMM!!!! We had a great weekend! We traveled down to Rochester for the NWC annual meeting where we got to see some awesome friends, drink Starbucks and walk around Target. (We are easy to pleas...

I didn't feel like I could welcome Spring when the temps were still in the 20's and we had snow in the 5 day forecast. However, after yesterday's BALMY 60 degrees, I am happy to say Spring has sprung in Menomonie and we are more than grateful.  Here are some happenings over the last week:  Lucy is rolling everywhere. We are currently in transistion mode from full swaddle to arms out. So far night one: Lucy- 1 Sten and Erica- 0 After her going to bed screaming, then us moving her twice after she had weaseled herself to the way corner of the crib (screaming) we gave in and swaddled her back up and all slept through the night. Maybe we'll try again next week :) Ashley and I made baked donuts after school last week. They were delicious and the best part was just hanging out! Lucy is OBSESSED with this "edible" book from Pete's mom, Wendy. It's amazing. THIS happened on Friday. and THIS happened on Sunday! We had the bes...

While unpacking boxes back in June we had quite a few things that hadn't been used for the 3 years we lived in Chicago. My thought was, if we went without it for 3 years, do we really need it now? One of those things was a waffle maker. My mom said in her sweet little voice- "oh, I think you'll want to keep it, don't you think you'll use it?" and Sten said- "ya- Saturday morning waffles!" So glad I listened to them, because it is totally worth the space it takes up in the pantry. I found a great recipe on All Recipes and just LOVE it. One great thing about this waffle recipe is it makes enough for 6. The remainder you can freeze and pop in the toaster for a "Saturday morning" on a random Wednesday! I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. I think in the fall I may add a little pumpkin... Saturday Morning Waffles 2 Eggs 2 C. Flour (you can use white or wheat) 1 3/4 C Milk 1/2 C Oil 1 Tbls Sugar 4 tsp. Baking Powder 1...

This weekend Sten's mom came to see our new place! It was so fun to show her around and explore our new town together. If there is one thing I know about Meredith it is that she loves anything almond-y. In fact, the Christmas Almond cookies I made are her specialty and I owe her all the credit for those Christmas cookie staples. I googled "Almond Coffee Cake" and came across a few different recipes. I really wanted to make it in a cake pan instead of a bundt and so I kind of improvised and made my own version adapted from this blog as the cake base. It turned out great! the cake part was very moist and flavorful- I would totally make this again. Here is the recipe I used: 1 C Butter 1 C Sugar 3 Eggs 2 1/2 C Flour 2 tsp Baking powder 1 tsp Baking soda 1 tsp Salt 1 C Sour Cream 1 tsp Almond extract ____ Cinnamon Sugar/ Brown Sugar ____ Topping: 1/4 C Butter 1/2 C Brown Sugar 1/2 C Slivered almonds 1 tsp Almond Extract 1 tsp Cinnamon Preheat oven...

Phew! It has been a whirl-wind of a May. Sten graduated and I end my career (in 8 working days) at AVT with my largest group of the year- I have been so busy at work the LAST thing I want to do when I get home is sit down at the computer and type :) I am feeling especially nostalgic tonight. I'm home alone and Sten has been busy this week packing up our apartment. Our goal is have everything packed by the time I am done with work so that we can enjoy the city and squeeze in every last 'Chicago' thing we want to do. I am so going to miss this little apartment. It is the longest we have ever lived somewhere and, although the decor is not my favorite, we have made so many wonderful memories here. I am ecstatic about our house and our new city- but it is going to be hard to say goodbye. Lots of tears. I've been feeling lots of movement in my tummy lately and finally Sten got to feel a little kick. I just so happened to catch his shocked expression and my heart just soared...