Ahoy, matey!

Spotted today on ye ol' Lake Union is me pirate mateys. It seems, me dear mateys, that today is the first day o' boatin' season. Shiver me timbers! Do y'know what that means, Jack? Aye, it means that I'll have another chance to dodge them ducks.

I'm lookin' at you, me hearty Autumn and RyRy. By the powers, let us find some booty or pieces o' eight! And let's not forget the Jolly Roger... and Davy Jones forbid we forget the rum!

(TGIF, yo-ho-ho)

Food. It's what's for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Repeat.

It seems that my blog is turning into a food blog these days. Due to this, my appetite is out of control. I'm trying to be smart about it by only allowing healthy foods around me, but a few (cookies!) exceptions throw me off from time to time.

So last night as I was waiting for Maddie and Autumn to show up for our 7 miler, I found myself browsing my new cookbook and came across a recipe for an egg-white omelette with goat cheese and salsa. And as you would have it, I had ALL of the ingredients at home. It was out of this world good. Success.

Now, go home and make one for yourself. You won't regret it.

Ingredients
1/2 cup egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon crumbled goat cheese
2 to 3 tablespoons salsa (Erika note: I used spicy pico de gallo and I think it was a magic ingredient)

Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites with 1 tablespoon water; season with coarse salt and ground pepper.

Heat olive oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add egg whites to skillet; cook until nearly set, using a flexible heatproof spatula to repeatedly pull in sides of omelet to allow uncooked egg to run underneath, 1 to 2 minutes.

Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese and prepared salsa over the top. Gently slide omelet onto serving plate, folding it over by tipping skillet slightly.

picture and recipe via

C is for Cookie

Today, I brought homemade chocolate chip toffee cookies to the office. I thought I'd send out an email to alert the masses, which was quickly followed by what sounded like a stampede of elephants.

Email Subject: Cookies in the kitchen!

For who? YOU!
Why? Because I like you.

Enjoy!

I got the usual (and appreciated!) 'thank you' and 'awesome' responses, but my favorite, BY FAR, was this little gem. I think I liked it so much because it came from an unusual suspect.

My inner Cookie Monster thanks you!

What starts with the letter C?
Cookie starts with C ....
(then it linked to this video)

Sidenote: Erika's cookie count for today is 2.5 Considering the amount of batter I ate last night, I don't know how I'm eating cookies today. I suppose I have a bit of a cookie monster inside of me?

The Girls with Glasses

When I was little, I always wanted glasses. (I also wanted braces, but I'm glad that didn't have to happen.)

These girls now make me want them again.

Aren't they adorable?

(Apparently "The Girls with Glasses" is a smart girl talk show. Too bad I don't have cable.)

A fishing story

We started fishing bright and early (woke up at 4:45 and on the lake by 6am!) out on Cain Lake.

It was quiet and a little rainy and cold.

But luckily we were all pretty bundled up.

We got 1 or 2 sunbreaks, even if the temperature didn't rise.

Joe got the first fish.

I caught the second fish.

And as you can see, I was very excited about it.

Kam wouldn't let me take any pictures of him (he must be going through a phase), so I had to sneakily snap a few.

This might be the only picture we got of him where he's smiling AND looking at the camera. Too bad I wasn't doing the same!

At the end of the day, we came home with 14 fish. I'll let you guess who caught the most, but it rhymes with America. :)

Gone Fishing

This weekend, Joe and I are headed north to the good ol' Skagit Valley for opening day of fishing with my Dad and Kamron. I'm pumped (to out-fish them all, of course... ok, I'm sure Kam will take the prize on this one)! Dad mentioned something about 4:15am, but I think that's negotiable. Send me your fishing mojo!

Have a wonderful weekend!

photo from this wonderful flickr stream

Seattle Restaurant Week

If you haven't heard, it's Seattle Restauant Week (SRW)! What does that mean? Well, it means there are AWESOME restauants across Seattle that are offering 3-course meals for $25!

The hardest part? Choosing which restaurant you want to try. There are so many places on the list that I've wanted to try, so how do I choose just 1?!

Well, Steph and I chose How to Cook a Wolf because we've heard good things and we wanted to go somewhere that neither has been. So, we put our name in and it looks like we will have to wait for 45 minutes. We stroll the streets of Upper Queen Anne, return in 30 minutes and they tell us it's going to be ANOTHER 30-45 minutes.

We decide to move to Plan B: Find a nearby restaurant - in the promotion or not - because we were starving. Just a hop, skip and a jump down the street, we come across Paragon, which just so happened to be participating in SRW. Perfect.

It. was. DELICIOUS. You must go. Like now. (what are you waiting for?)

Unfortunately, we were too hungry and gobbled down the appetizers before snapping pictures, but here are a couple of the entree and dessert. Oh, the dessert... yummmm.

I got the Shrimp and White Cheddar Grits

Steph got the Lamb and Cucumber Mint Cous Cous

We both couldn't resist the banana custard.

Simply amazing.

Napping Nook

via

On a gray and rainy day like today, it always sounds nice to cuddle up in a warm blanket and take a little nap. I think this little nook would do just the job.

Singer Spotlight: Ingrid Michaelson

via

She's adorable. She has an amazing voice. (Favorite song is not embeddable, but check it out.) For the first time in awhile, I'm considering buying an entire album. I'm usually more of a piece meal kind of music listener, but I think I just might do it.

What do you think?

DIY: Shower Decorations

On Sunday, I went to Carol's bridal shower with Jessie and had a great time! (Except for the getting lost in Tacoma part - that wasn't too much fun... But we survived and made it in one piece.) Now I can't wait until the actual wedding!

The shower had the most amazing decorations. I was especially impressed with these fun, colorful lanterns. They are pretty simple to make - just get a couple different sizes of paper lanterns and glue or tape on a ton of colorful yo-yos (my mom made an entire quilt of yo-yos, so I've definitely seen my fair share of these), then you have a pretty little decoration to hang above the table. Simple, yet adorable!

photos via Everyday Delights

TGIF

Things I'm excited for this weekend:

• My cousin Lynnette's baby shower
• Carol's bridal shower
• My shower after running 13 miles (If it feels as good as last week's 12, then it'll be awesome!)
• Cocktail Par-tay on Saturday night where I plan to shower the host with champagne
• Planting my garden on Sunday which will be showered next week with rain
• An evening with my mom where I will shower her with my love (I know, I'm cheesy)

Speaking of showers, isn't this a beautiful shower from Boutwell Studio?

via

Recipe for a Perfect Wednesday Evening

2 Tasty sandwiches
Generous helping of a beautiful sunset
A sprinkle of sailboats on the horizon
A light breeze
2 warm jackets
Plenty of Golden Gardens
1 cute fella

Combine all ingredients for a delightful treat and enjoy.

(Martha ain't got nothing on this recipe)

I did a good thing

Did I save the world, Jack Bauer style? No. (But how cool would that be?!)

Did I save millions from malaria by providing mosquito nets to everyone who needs them? No.

Did I help an elderly woman cross the street? No.

Did I donate to Haiti Relief? Yes, but that's not what I'm getting to here.

I RAN THIS MORNING. If you remember, I made this a goal to run in the AM, but haven't been too good about it recently. Because, if you also remember, I have a problem with my snooze alarm.

Mornings are not my cup of tea. Yet, often times they require a cup of tea or cup of joe, for that matter. (The beverage, not the bf. But, I guess I'd take both.)

How can so many people actually make the commitment to work out in the morning? I mean, geez, Frances was telling me yesterday that she gyms-it-up 4-5 days a week at her gym downtown. Olita goes to classes at her gym at like 5am. My dad even goes to school early to play basketball at like 4am, plus he has a 40+ minute commute! (I guess I didn't get his early bird gene.)

And once again, the run felt great. Plus, it's done for the day so I can do whatever my little heart desires tonight. Like, for instance, make something out of this little gem.

flickr

This is where I ran today. The wobbly feel of the picture appropriately shows the world through my tired eyes this morning.

Vacation, por favor?

via

I'm still dreaming a lot about vacation, even though I did take a mini-vacay a couple weeks ago. I think I'm just craving the sun. We had a little teaser this last weekend, but it didn't quite fill the void. I honestly don't know when my season preference changed because I used to be all about winter, but these days, summer is definitely topping the charts. And considering I don't tan, it's even more of a mystery.

At least I have Chelanigans to look forward to in July! And bring on the Green Lake floating!

When and where is your next vacation? (Please don't respond if it's somewhere tropical and for a long period of time. I'll get too jealous.)

Conquered Cougar Mountain

Awhile ago, I bought a great hiking book for trails in the Central Cascades and on Saturday, Joe and I decided to give one a shot. Due to a little bit of a late start, we opted for a quicker, closer hike on Cougar Mountain. After a couple miles uphill hiking, seeking the peak of Cougar Mountain, we finally made it to the end of our hike.

The end was in the middle of the woods. With a bench. And a journal. That's it. No viewpoint. No waterfall. No cliffside. A bench.

BUT, I'll admit, it was still a great hike - a little cardio mixed in with the great outdoors. I think the best part was actually reading the locked up journal where people write about their hiking experiences. As you can see, we were a little snarky because we expected a little more, but I'm sure we just wrote what everyone else was thinking.

We're working up to Mailbox Peak (I don't think Joe knows this yet). It looks beautiful and it's so cute they have an actual mailbox on the top. Don't you think?!

Us with the bench.

Single Ladies Devastation

Lesson learned: Never break a little boy's heart.
We can ALL be single ladies.

The sun will come out

Tomorrow! Makes me want to get one of these beauties. (Even though I know it's still not quite swimsuit season.) But oh, how I love Anthropologie.

Aren't these just gorgeous? Which suit do you think would work best for me? I think I have my vote, but would love to hear yours!

Smartie Pants

Who? You might ask.

This girl. Susannah Nellie Bea.

Why? You ask now.

Because she got into the best program in her field at STANFORD UNIVERSITY!

I'm so proud of her. She's such a smartie pants.

Congrats, Suze! Love ya like a fat kid loves cake. And that's a lot. This kid has also been deprived of cake, so he really loves it. And misses it dearly. Kinda how I miss you dearly. And how I miss Easter candy dearly. Oh, and your brown sweater. I miss that a lot.

One day without shoes

Will you go without shoes tomorrow?
As you know, I love the idea of Toms shoes.
(Kathryn, sorry in advance if my feet are stinky.)

I like this picture

The mysterious turtles at Green Lake.

I pass this log on my runs often.

And I like it.

That's all.

Happy Hump Day!
via

And for dessert.

As promised, my Easter dessert: Tiramisu. A dessert that I fell in love with when studying abroad in Italy. I've had bad tiramisu before so I hoped to pull this one off, especially since my sister had never tried the delicious dessert. (Italian translation of Tiramisu: Pick-me-up... and as our Italian professor told us, it's a aphrodisiac. Interesting.)

Verdict: Success!

The recipe I used isn't your traditional recipe, but super easy. I'd highly recommend giving it a shot.

Easy Tiramisu

Ingredients
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 bar (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 packages (3 ounces each) soft ladyfingers
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Erika's secret additions: cinnamon and pure vanilla extract (Straube, are you proud I didn't use imitation?)

Directions
In a medium bowl, mix espresso powder with 3 tablespoons boiling water until dissolved. Add 1 1/2 cups cold water; set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese with heavy cream and sugar until light and fluffy.

Spread a few tablespoons of cream-cheese mixture in the bottom of a 2-quart serving dish. Separate ladyfingers. One by one, dip a third of ladyfingers in espresso, then arrange in bottom of dish. Spread with a third of cream-cheese mixture. Repeat twice with remaining ladyfingers, espresso, and cream-cheese mixture (can be refrigerated, covered, up to 1 day).

Dust with cocoa just before serving.

Task: Easter dinner

My mom tasked me with Easter dinner this year. I took a good 20 minutes of browsing through my favorite cookbook before I decided on Spring Risotto with peas and zucchini. (It was my first attempt at the challenging recipe. It's a slow and tedious process, that's for sure.)

The outcome? Well, it was met with requests for seconds and thirds! (Yay! Mission accomplished.) And while the risotto was the highlight, salmon and roasted asparagus completed the meal.

Spring Risotto

Ingredients
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons butter
1 to 2 large zucchini (1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Directions
Heat broth and 2 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan over low heat; keep warm. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until zucchini is golden, 8 to 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer zucchini to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add onion; cook until soft, 5 minutes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Raise heat to medium. Add rice; cook, stirring, until translucent around edges, about 3 minutes. Add wine; cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes.

Cook, adding 1 cup hot broth at a time (stir until almost all liquid is absorbed before adding more), until rice is tender, 25 to 30 minutes total.

Add zucchini and peas; cook until peas are bright green, 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining tablespoon butter and Parmesan. Serve, topped with more cheese.

TGIF

It's Shaggy Friday! What does that mean? Well, don't you think his music just screams Friday? It's upbeat, catchy and has that reggae-no-problem feel to it.

Shaggy made it on to the first 4 or so volumes of SB4P, but there are only so many Shaggy songs to go around. I used to queue my stereo to Shaggy before I left my car in the morning on Fridays, so when I came out and turned it on, the Friday vibes would fill my car (shooby dooby dooby doo boy, shooby doo). I've gotten out of the habit... until Tronics sent me this friendly reminder this morning. Enjoy!

Have a fabulous weekend and Happy Easter!

Nice one, 92.5.

I'm not gonna lie, I think practical jokes are funny. So you would think that I would be on super-skeptical mode come April 1, right? Not so much. I've been duped bad today.

The best one? So this morning I was listening to Brooke and Monti on 92.5 and heard this little story:

"Another icon in Seattle becomes off limits. The Seattle Space Needle has been bringing visitors to the top of it’s observation deck for the past forty eight years. Soon, it will all be over. Today, the Space Needle corporation has announced plans to close Sky city restaurant and build eight to ten luxury condominiums that will take it’s place."

NO WAY! I thought. They can't do that! Man, I better plan on getting a cocktail up top soon. This sucks. I guess I should have visited the top while I could. I don't think I've gone since I was like 4-years-old. Sad... When I get to work, I tell Kathryn about the news and express my frustration. Then logged onto the website they mentioned: http://www.spaceneedlecondos.com/.

Duped.