Category Archives: “the fam”

It’s a PARTY!

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I can’t believe that it took me more than a week to blog about the AMAZING time I had while I was at home last week. I got to see lots of family and friends which is always lots of fun.

When I planned this trip my mom told me she wanted to have a get together at the house so I could see lots of people. A couple days before I got home my mom told me she emailed a bunch of people and invited everyone over for an Erica party. I thought I had misheard her so I asked her to say it again. I was a bit confused because it was not my birthday but my mom informed me that I could still have a party about me. So… I went with it and had a great Erica party with lots of good friends and family there. Here are some of the snaps:

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I have a new niece!

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Last night we got a call from my brother, Josh. He has recently graduated college and is living in Houston. My brother is amazing… I guess I’m a bit biased I am his older, and wiser sister. He has had so many changes over the last two months and he truly has worked hard to get to where he is now. Also he just started a new job at a place called Snap Kitchen. I wish we had this place in Minneapolis. Maybe he could open one here. (then I would have the best of both worlds) Ok, sorry I am rambling so… Back to this phone call… He was on his way home with a new puppy. My mom and dad are grandparents for a second time and now have two grand dogs. Josh’s dogs name is Nicki and she is super cute… Don’t ya think? I’m a very happy Auntie. Now… If I could just book a flight to Houston to meet her :)

Forty Six is a big number… When it comes to desserts

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I promised y’all all the dessert details so… Here ya go:

My mom set up 6 tables for her desserts. She started making all of these delicious delicacies at the beginning of October and covered them in quite a lot of foil and placed them in the freezer. I don’t know how the woman does it but she makes sure to have the old favorites ( party cheesecakes, pecan pie, pistachio cake, and chocolate casserole) and some newbies (malted milk ball cake, butterfinger pie, and gosh knows I’m forgetting some). I love how she makes labels for all these desserts out of name tags and Popsicle sticks. Unfortunately I was not there to help her come up with creative names for the desserts this year. (next year… I will be there to fix this) At the end of the post you can see the pictures. If you count in the pictures you will get 44 desserts. I realized after I did this that one of the trays has 3 desserts on it so that makes it 46.

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Mom, I love you but am begging you… Next year I think the dessert theme should be like the top 10 desserts.

What do y’all think?

What would be on your top ten dessert list?

Truly the best

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As I sit above the clouds on a flight back to Minne all I can think about is how much fun we had this Thanksgiving! My parents did an incredible job and not only was the food yummy but the centerpieces were gorgeous too. Before we got to the airport this morning I asked my mom what she was going to do today and she told me absolutely nothing. After y’all see these pictures I think you’ll agree with me that she has earned a day to simply relax.

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How was your Thanksgiving?

PS- tomorrow I will post the dessert spread :)

Justin’s Favorite Thanksgiving Dessert

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Can you guess who got to these before I photographed them?

Thanksgiving is upon us and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s amazing to think back to where I was and what I was doing last year at this time. I am so much happier with my job and how I have taken charge of my health.

Justin reminds me every year of how long he has been at my family’s Thanksgiving and what his favorite dessert is that my mom makes. This year it is his 9th Thanksgiving and his favorite dessert is still Pecan Bars. I have never made these before because I think was a bit intimidated by the homemade caramel sauce. This year I caved and. Decided to try my hand at them. These bars are very easy to make and require little clean up.

Pecan Bars

1 package Pillsbury Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 cup butter
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup whipping cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees.place cake mix in a large bowl and cut in 1/4 cup butter. Press loosely in jelly roll pan. Top with pecans. In a large sauce pan combine 1 cup butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and honey. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and turn in whipping cream. Pour over pecans. Bake 17-20 minutes on the lower rack of the oven. Let cool and cut into squares.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?

Time flies…

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I have been m.i.a. for almost 2 weeks. I wish I could tell all of you that I have accomplished a lot of tasks that are on my to do list but, in reality I have recovered from kidney stones and been super busy with the start of the school year.

Bear with me and I promise some great recipes soon :)

This past weekend my mom surprised me and came to visit. Here are a couple snaps from our day trip to Aamodt’s Apple Farm. We had a blast and I definitely recommend you check this place out.

http://aamodtsapplefarm.com


Lots of Love,

Erica

Back to reality

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Why do vacations go by so fast?

Last night I flew back to Minneapolis. I spent last night unpacking (a lot of clothes that i didn’t wear). I have to admit Justin was right… I did not need to pack everything I own for my one week trip. Next time I will pack lighter(probably not). I came home with 3 new T-shirts and a new glassy baby ( for my b’day, 2 weeks from now). I’ll post pictures of these later.

Here are a couple more snaps from the trip.


Umbrella time= no sunburn


The last night on the beach is always… Happy Hour! All the family enjoying my dad’s Amazing cocktail concoctions.


The delicious Bloody Mary that I shared with mom on our last day at Stinky’s Fish Camp.

I should have snapped a picture of my Snapper po’boy. Just believe me it was delish.

When we got back to Birmingham I had to snap some pictures of the flowers in my parents yard.


And the vegetables!

And of course… Selly and Sassy playing in the plants!

Lots of Love,

                                                                           Erica

Reminders of my childhood

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My favorite breakfast when I was little was a birds nest or egg in the hole. Basically a piece of bread with a hole in the middle that has an egg in it. Both of my parents made it for me quite often. This morning I did not want to get up! (wishing for the weekend) Later on as I contemplated my breakfast I had an urge to make my childhood favorite. As a kid I didn’t mind the yolk but these days I really prefer only whites. I managed to cram two whites in the hole.

What was your favorite childhood breakfast?


:)
Surviving in a giant snow globe

Erica

It all started with a pair of Red Uggs…

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Let me ramble for a bit and then I promise to reward you with a new recipe. I know that I sometimes write about my family on the blog/ correction I write about my family A LOT on the blog. I love them/ they are amazing/ and they keep me sane so… here we go:

You can imagine the surprise in my voice last week when I spoke to my mom and she told me that she set her alarm to wake her up at 1:45 A.M. on a weekday morning to order the iphone 4 through Verizon. My mother, who poked fun at me from the beginning when I got an iphone, is now picking her iphone up right now as you read this. (I LOVE IT!)

I am, some would say, a prodigy of my mother. We look pretty similar and we act quite similar too! I have always confided in her and have always respected, most of her opinions. I have though not completely followed some of her fashion / technology advice. For some reason she was against the idea of me buying Uggs in college.  Then after a trip to Chicago  I sent a picture of my feet adorned in red,fuzzy,warm, sensible Uggs ( for the Indiana Winters of course) and her response was to poke fun at my new shoes. I tell you this story because now 4 years later she owns  a pair of uggs and she loves them! This long ramble  I will now wrap up by saying that my mother will now own two things that she was totally against in the beginning. (Maybe I have taught her a thing or two now about technology/ fashion)  But I love her and was happy to help send her advice on what iphone case to purchase when I spoke to her yesterday.

Here are the two that I suggested:

 

 This is the current case that I have on my iphone. I love that it is a hard case and that it can withstand my occasional clumsiness. http://store.apple.com/us/product/H2841ZM/An=iphone4&fnode=MTY1NDA0NA&mco=MjA0MjE5MzI 

I had this case before my polka dotted one. It is also a hard case and was also able to withstand occasional drops. (oops)

http://www.speckproducts.com/iphone-case/iphone-4-case/candyshell-iphone-4-cover-brown-pink.html

Now a new recipe: some call it Mandel Bread and some call it Kamish Bread but who cares: I simply call it DELISH!

 

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup oil

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix in the order listed and form 2-3 loaves on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes. Then slice it with either a pastry slice or a knife (just be careful not to use a really sharp knife on your cookie sheet because then you will have marks all over it). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on one side and then bake for 3-4 minutes. Then take it out of the oven and sprinkle the other side with cinnamon sugar and bake again for 3-4 minutes. Pull out of the oven and place on a trivet and let cool. I ended up storing mine in a glass container on the counter. Personally, I think it tastes even better the day after. Enjoy!

Side note: Thanks to my mom who got this recipe from her friend. I will definitely be making this again. :)

 One more thing: Do you have a friend/family member who resisted a form of technology but now loves it?

Do you have a great recipe for mandel bread/ kamish bread?

I’d love to hear from you. :)

Superwoman

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I have always thought of my mom as a modern day superwoman.


She is putting her cape back on for a third year and raising money for Ovarian Cancer Research. She is riding on a stationary bike for 6 hours straight to raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer research. I rode with her the first year and found the whole experience to be incredible. I wish I could be there to support her because I know she will do great. She will just have to settle for a couple phone calls during the ride.
(do you see the girl in hot pink in the middle on the front row, in the picture below? that’s me!)


My mom has to raise $400 to participate. Please consider making a donation to such a great cause. Any amount is appreciated (5,10,15 whatever you can give) http://www.ovariancycle.org/get_involved/donate/my_home_page.aspx?id=48

I thought I would also share another one of my favorite desserts my mom makes: Chocolate Pie!

This recipe has a small ingredient list and is super easy to whip up.

2 frozen pie crusts
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in microwave. Mix sugar, cocoa powder, and flour. Then stir in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and finally pour equal amounts into each pie crust. Bake for 35 minutes.

Hope I have encouraged you to stay with connected with Ovarian Cancer Research and that I have tempted your taste buds with this pie!


:)
Surviving in a giant snow globe

Erica