erica danielle

I've had my heart set on baking bread since we moved and even though its 100 degrees outside, I thought this would be my week. I am happy with how easy it was and how it turned out, especially for one of my first bread endeavors. I'd like to try using wheat flour next time. But wanted to stick with the actual recipe on the first go-around. ready to rise-- and it did! Split into thirds rolled out. ready to rise for the last time. doubled! baked! SO good! I found this recipe on Pinterest. The original is found here with better pictures and the recipe. This was so simple, I hope to never buy bread again. Sten loves it! There are only a few ingredients: Water, Yeast, Flour, Oil, Honey. It made 3 loaves, one of them I made into cinnamon bread, which turned out excellent as well. I hope you'll try this bread! In other news- it's been a great week. Sten and I finished Scraping, Sanding, Spackling and Painting the spare room and I ca...

August is almost over and it flew by in a flash. Sten took his annual trip to WY to fish and I spent the week in the cities with my family. My sister threw me a shower and then I went crazy getting all the last items we need for the baby. Lots of great Craigslist finds and hand-me-downs... After Sten got home we spent 2 days at the Leadership Summit with the Cedarbrook staff. We finally made it home only to turn around a day later- back to the cities to go on a boat ride for my dad's Birthday. It was the absolute best night on the water: clear, calm and beautiful, we're trying to convince my parents they need a boat :) We left for the Cedarbrook staff retreat 2 days later at Lake Beauty Bible Camp. It was awesome to spend time getting to know the staff and their families. I already miss relaxing at the lake and dinners at the picnic tables! Cedarbrookers joined us for the weekend for Family Camp and we were able to meet a lot of awesome people. So glad we were able to get awa...

It has been a whirl-wind of a week! I can't believe July is over and August is here. Summer is flying by. Last weekend Lauren and Elin came to visit. We had so much fun! Despite the below average temperatures we still managed to visit: The Menomonie County Fair....  The Cottage Winery..... and go out to a few local hotspots to eat. On Saturday night, Sten's Grandma, Aunt and "Brave Uncle Dave" (Elin gave him that name) came over.  It was so awesome to visit with them! Sten grilled and I made Sopapilla Cheesecake. This recipe came from my sister- and we were so in love with it that I had to post it. I hope you enjoy! Sopapilla Cheesecake: Servings: 12 Ingredients: 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese (I used light), softened 1 C white sugar 1 tsp Mexican vanilla 2 (8oz) cans refrigerated crescent rolls ___ 1/2 C white sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 C butter Directions: Preheat oven to 350, Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray Beat c...

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...

Can't believe it's Monday and Sten's at work... We had a great weekend! Highlights included: - lots of yard work - deck time - bonfire with the neighbors - getting ready for my mom's party - Sten preaching at church - celebrating my mom's 60th Birthday with family! Jessica and I had lots of fun planning the menu and came up with a Mexican BBQ theme. Our menu included: Apps : Summer Corn and Cheese Dip (recipe below!) Chips and Salsa Veggies and dip Main : Chipotle Sliders Mexican Rice Black beans with queso fresco PW corn/pepper salsa Guacamole Dessert : Sopapilla Cheesecake Chocolate Amaretto Cake The party (which was supposed to be a surprise) was a blast! I think my mom was somewhat surprised??!! haha I got a few blurry pics (photo credit: Sten) I found the corn dip recipe on Iowa Girl Eats "Friday Favorites " and thought that would be PERFECT for this party- and it was! The recipe is from Minimalist Baker, and...