Eating with Erin

Man I just can't keep up with this blog anymore! I have a bunch of things to post, we have been busy the past couple months! But in the meantime, here's some tasty things I've whipped up lately to hold you over!

Cherry-filled Almond Cupcakes, from Love & Olive Oil
recipe here: http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2009/12/cherry-filled-almond-cupcakes.html
I made these for Lindsay's baby shower and wow they were good! And so cute!

Cupcakes. Clockwise from top left we have Pancakes and Bacon, Chocolate Orange, Baklava, and Pina Colada.

I made some of these for book club at Nujoud's (the two on the right) and froze some of the cakes. Then I made the other two right before we left for North Carolina and defrosted the first two, and frosted them all. So I had 4 yummy cupcake flavors to take to the beach for my family to try! These were all my recipes and they were all a hit!

Pancakes and Bacon - Buttermilk cupcake with maple frosting and bacon crumbles
Chocolate Orange - chocolate orange cake and chocolate orange buttercream with candied orange peel
Baklava - phyllo layers topped with honey cupcake with candied walnut/cinnamon/honey topping
Pina colada - Pineapple rum cupcake with pineapple filling and Malibu coconut frosting

Blackened sea scallops with oven-roasted asparagus. We brought back some scallops from NC and I tried blackening them for the first batch. They were good!


Cinnamon Swirl Bread, from Pioneer Woman.
recipe here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/08/homemade-cinnamon-bread/
Really good, also, really impressed with myself ;)


Pesto Zucchini Pasta
I had leftover basil and spinach before we left for vacation, so I threw together this pesto (with garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and parm cheese) and froze it so I didn't have to throw anything out since it would go bad while we were gone. For this meal, I sliced zucchini lengthwise as thin as I could by hand, cooked some pasta and threw in the zucchini for the last minute (this is a good way to feel like you're eating more pasta without all those carbs and calories!). Mix it all up with some baked chicken breasts and dinner is served!


Chocolate-Peppermint Whoopie Pies, from a mix
Syd came over last week while her dad was away and her mom was at a class, and we baked up some whoopie pies from a mix I had. They turned out delish, in fact we ate them too fast for me to get a picture! It was fun baking with my little Apprentice ;) Having her stand on the chair to reach reminded me of baking with my mom when Heather and I were little. That's exactly what we did, one on each side of our mom!

Please forgive the poor picture quality, sometimes I just take them with my phone because I'm lazy. That's really helping me learn more about my camera, right? ;)

More soon on our various summer vacations!

California Love

I got to go to California for work for some meetings with the company SpaceX. They happen to be flying a vehicle to attach to the ISS in the coming years which should be pretty cool. I was in the LA area from Wednesday through Friday. I saw a lot from the rental car in a very short amount of time. After LA, I drove down to La Jolla, just north of San Diego to spend the weekend with my buddy Sean. The highlight of my trip had to be playing 18 holes at Torrey Pines. Check out the slide show, Cali was beautiful.

Family Portraits

My good friend Jaime is sharpening up her already excellent photography skills, so she offered to take pictures of our family. So this past Sunday we went to Herman Park and she worked her magic. I'd never been to Herman Park, and it was quite the gem to be found in Houston - it was beautiful there. Here are a few of my favorite shots!

Thanks for a fun morning, Jaime, and for some great pictures of the three of us!

Fun stuff with friends

A few weeks ago Beth hosted a Sex and the City shindig. We dressed up and went to her house for apps and cosmos, then went to see the second movie. While completely over the top and full of ridiculousness, I still liked the movie and had a great time hanging out with my girlfriends, as usual. Here we are looking fabulous!

And here are the scrumptious Dulce de Leche Cheesecake squares I made!

Over fourth of July weekend, the Mauldins came over for dinner and we drank some wine and I ogled over the adorable Charlie. We also went to a pool party at the Parris's but sadly there are no pictures from that fun event!

That weekend we also rented a limo and went out on the town with some friends. We had so much fun, perhaps a little too much fun for some of us!

The week before we went to PA, my friend from high school, Dave Madden, was playing at a local wine bar, and we went to see him. He put on a great show, and it was great to catch up!

Also, a couple pictures from PA since I didn't have any when I posted about that; my sister- and brother-in-law and their adorable kids, and Sydney water-skiing!

Catch-up post - Eating with Erin

I've been cooking and baking up a storm the past few months! Here are a few things I've made.

Oscar Statue Cookies (these were actually in February for Jaime's Oscars party, but I never posted the pics)

Pineapple Upside-down Cupcakes (for book club)
Roasted Rosemary Skillet Chicken (burnt my arm for this one, but it was worth it!)

Tomato Soup Cake (another book club gem)

Lamb Stew (made with Guinness!)
Kebabs (de-Kebabed, made when Irv & Suzy visited)
This is making me hungry! Time to go start dinner...

Catch-up post - June

June is close enough to being over and we don't have anything big planned, so here is a June summary as well.

A few weekends ago we went to PA for Cory's annual wakeboarding trip. Last year our friend John went with Cory, and this year his wife and my good friend, Beth, and their daughter, Sydney, and I decided to go along! The weather was gorgeous, we ate a lot of good food, did some waterskiing and wakeboarding, and got to see a lot of family and friends. Cory's friend Tim and his family were there, and we got to see Cory's mom, sister and her family (our nephews and niece are SO cute!), and my parents. The highlights of the weekend were: Yuengling, getting tan, and seeing Sydney and Connor learn to waterski! And of course spending QT with our friends and family! We were lame and took zero pictures; if I get some from Beth I'll post them.

My cousin Derek is in the Navy and moving across country from San Diego to Pensacola. So he stopped in Houston on his way and spent a couple nights with us this past weekend! We are fortunate that we grew up not too far away from each other and got to see each other a lot, so we are pretty close. We don't see each other often anymore, so I'm glad this worked out; it was great catching up and having Derek get to see where we live and meet Cosmo!

Catch-up post - May

At the beginning of May, Heather and I went to NYC to spend a weekend with our BFF Carolyn from Penn State! She is there doing her residency.

I flew into Baltimore and Heather picked me up and we drove to Carolyn's hometown of Rutherford, NJ, where her friend Bonnie picked us up and we drove to Carolyn's place. Although it was a long voyage for me to get there, it was really nice to have some time alone with Heather; it's so rare that we get that anymore. New York was awesome! We had a lot of great food (Mexican, Thai, Sushi, brunch) and some very expensive and delicious drinks! We went to a bunch of cool bars and clubs, including one that had free happy hour for ladies, one on top of a building where you had a great city view, and one in the meatpacking district.

We also went to Brooklyn's Botanical Gardens, Central Park, and the Empire State building.

And we saw 'Wicked', which was just amazing! I absolutely loved the show.

On our way to Times Square that day, we bumped into O'Neal from the Biggest Loser! He was the nicest guy and even let us take our picture with him.

It was a wonderful weekend! The three of us don't get to be together very often, but when we do, it's like no time at all has passed. I love that about our friendship. Next up for us: 30th bday trip, somewhere awesome!

Also in May I worked my last Shuttle mission and I started a new job! I'm still working at NASA but have moved to a new position in Safety. I've been here 6 years and it was time for something new. I'm still learning my new job and a new way of thinking, but I'm enjoying it. The people are really nice and the regular office hours are fantastic! Cory is still enjoying his job, and he is super busy being the Increment Lead for his group.

Catch-up post - April

I've been a complete slacker with the blog lately! My bad. I'll be posting a few catch-up posts by month (since it's been that long - woops!), and then hopefully we'll get back to normal. So here's what happened in April:
My parents came to visit over Easter and we had a lot of fun! One day we went to Brazos Bend State Park and walked around some lakes and saw gators! It was pretty neat/scary. Obviously they would not let people walk around there if there were daily alligator attacks, but I was surprised how close we were to actual live big alligators! We also had a picnic that weekend with our friends; lots of good food and company! Somehow we managed to not get a picture of all of us, but here's me and my mom, my dad and Cosmo, and a giant gator.

That Monday when my parents left, Cory's friend from high school, Lauren, was in H-town for one night for work, so we went downtown and met her for dinner. It was great to catch up, and it prompted us to start planning a budday reunion in Virginia in September! We know a lot of peeps in Virginia so we'll also be seeing my sister and brother-in-law, and my cousin and her husband and her new baby. Can't wait!
Cory's Dad and Suzy also came to visit in April and we had another good weekend! They golfed a couple times, and we went to the Greyhound Park one night which they really enjoyed. Lots more good food and company :) I don't think we took any pictures, we need to do better about that!

Eating with Erin

During the mission, I didn't cook much, but I baked a lot to take stuff into console. With the mission over, I was really excited to get back to cooking! Unfortunately I haven't been taking pictures of stuff I've been making. Here's a short list, a couple photos, and a promise to take more pictures of food (I need to keep getting better at my food photography anyways!).

Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles - soooo goooood

Vanilla Peppermint cupcakes - for my birthday on console

Shoofly Pie - a Pennsylvania treat

Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Bars - had to use up that leftover cupcake frosting

PW's Penn a la Betsy - a tomato cream sauce with shrimp

Chicken Noodle Vegetable soup - made a big pot of this to take to console during the mission

We made stuffed peppers over the weekend

And right after the mission I made creme brulee again - YUM! I was also excited to use my new green creme brulee dishes that I scored at TJMax or Ross, or one of those places!

I'm always cooking and baking (and eating), so I'll post more soon!

House Project: Random decorating items

I found this picture in a catalogue probably a couple years ago. I think it was Pottery Barn, and I really liked the picture arrangement. I tore it out and kept it, with plans to do something similar above our bed in the master bedroom.

Well we got our new furniture, and our ceilings are high in there, but on the wall that our bed is on the ceiling slopes down. So I didn't feel there was really enough space. So we decided to do it in the family room, above our console table. Here's how it turned out.
We took all of these photos ourselves, and they are of places we love. Starting in the top left corner and going clockwise, they are of St. Lucia (where we went on our honeymoon), the Susquehanna River (where Cory grew up wakeboarding), the Eiffel Tower (we loved our trip to Paris last year), Old Main at Penn State (no explanation necessary), my parents house, Ocean Isle Beach (where my family grew up going on vacation in NC), our house in Texas when it snowed in 2009, a sunset from the cruise we went on with my family in 2008, and the Pennsylvania countryside covered in snow.
The guest bedroom is starting to come together, and I picked up this quilt at Target last weekend which I love. Next up for this room, a DIY art project to decorate those walls.
I also picked up some new curtains at World Market. Our red ones were fine, but they looked pinkish when the sun shone through them, which Cory apparently hated. And I just loved these. I like how they have red, which is my accent color in that room, but they also have other colors, including green, which compliments the kitchen walls.
Lastly, the master bathroom is still a work in progress. I finally started prepping the walls for paint by washing them with warm soapy water to get the glue off. It's working well, but it's a lengthy process. I gave myself a goal of having the room done by the time my parents visit for Easter - 1 month to go!

STS-130/20A

Cory and I are once again both working in the Mission Control Center for the current Shuttle mission that is visiting the ISS. We are on different shifts, so we've probably been awake in each other's presence for maybe a total of 30 minutes since the mission started a week and a half ago.
The mission is going well, and we only have 3 days left! I'm looking forward to being back on normal hours and seeing my husband!
Here is a picture of League City, TX that was taken from the ISS last week. I marked our house(-ish)!
(Click on the picture for a larger image)

Happy Birthday Heather (and me)!

Happy birthday to my sister and best friend, Heather! And to me - cuz ya know, we're twins ;) I couldn't ask for a better sister or friend. I miss you always, but most when we're apart on our bday! Can't wait to spend 30 together!
Here's me and Heather at our good friend Alicia's wedding. We were both in it, we don't normally wear matching dresses!

House Projects: New Master bath faucets, Bedroom Furniture, Painting the bedroom: Part II, everything including the Kitchen Sink!

We asked for Home Depot gift cards again for Christmas this year, and we put them (and more) towards some house projects during the few days we had at home after our trip to PA. We bought new faucets for our master bathroom, and Cory installed them in no time.

We also got a new white cast iron kitchen sink. I wanted something more functional, and it turns out this looks way better too. Cory installed this as well; I'm glad I have such a handy husband! I never thought I could like something so much that is used for washing dishes, but I love our new sink!

We also finally got new bedroom furniture, and miracle of miracles, Cory and I actually agreed on it! We had gotten a set off of a friend a few years ago, and we liked it, but we wanted two matching nightstands and another dresser, and we wanted to pick something out together. The old furniture made our guest bedroom much nicer!

And then there's the painting. Remember this: Painting the Bedroom? Yeah that was last year. Turns out we weren't in love with the color; it was too dark. So we repainted during the week before our furniture arrived, which made it pretty easy. Luckily it only needed one coat and we love the new color with our new furniture! Here's a close-up, but you can see the new paint in the bedroom pictures above.

Next up: finishing the master bathroom makeover. You can see the ugly stripped walls in the picture above. I started the wallpaper removal about a year ago, so maybe this year we'll get it done!

Christmas and New Years

Christmas

We decided to drive to PA this year and it worked out really well! We saved money, we got to bring Cosmo, and it was nice to have our own car in PA. We happened to leave just in time to follow a blizzard up the east coast. We had planned to stop in Williamsburg the second day to see my sister's new home and have lunch and then head up the rest of the way. But because of the blizzard we decided to stay the rest of the day and overnight at Heather and Aaron's. It ended up being really nice because I got to spend some time with just my sis' which we don't get to do very often anymore.

We spent the first part of PA with Cory's family. It was so good to see everyone! Our nieces and nephews are getting so big! Cosmo had a lot of fun in the snow and with the kids. Sadly, I didn't get to see Cory's buddays because no one else was home yet , but Cory did get to catch up with Lauren and Tim on the day we split up to each get some extra time with our own families.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family which was great. We even got to see some of my aunts and uncles and cousins! And my dad had a lot of fun with his grand-dogs :)

We did a lot of eating and drinking and relaxing, and it was hard to leave everyone.

On the way back, we met up with Josh and Lisa and caravanned half of the way home, which made the trip a lot more fun! Once we got back we did some more relaxing, and started some home improvement projects (details and pictures coming soon!).

New Year's Eve

Jaime and Charlie hosted a party this year, and it was a great evening spent with great friends! There was more eating, and a lot more drinking, and of course ringing in the new year with champagne! We love our Houston family; we always have so much fun together!

New Year's Day

We slept late. As in, had to force ourselves to get up so we didn't miss the beginning of the Capital One Bowl! Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we didn't get to watch the game with our LSU friends the Mauldins. It was a stressful game, but Penn State pulled it out in the end!

I made the traditional Lancaster county New Year's meal for dinner: pork and sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and cope's corn. YUM!

Then we had to go back to work, and back to eating healthy and working out :(