Frozen Treats

Making and eating lots of frozen treats. Yesterday I had frozen grapes for the first time. I can't decide whether I like them or not.

Mom and dad just left yesterday from their visit. I felt like they got a pretty good idea of what Austin was like while they were here. Sometimes people visit and I feel like they didn't get the whole Austin feel during the visit.

Lots to look forward to this week: Friday evening a work party for Eric's work and we have Monday off! Austin can't have fireworks this year, so I guess we will have to make up for that with extra food?






(I know this is a stretch here, but I'm going to tag this frozen banana under "popsicles".)

Spoiled Students

My summer class is small enough to get my baking leftovers! We're about half way through the summer course right now. The class meets every day (Mon-Fri) and I'm starting to run out of ideas to stay perked up during the class since I see them so often. I try to bring in a little math puzzle for us to talk about half-way through the class to break up the lesson and homework monotony. Having a lesson and then having them work on worksheets or homework in groups isn't giving us enough variety anymore. On a positive note, I'm starting to leave the office much earlier now. I'm only getting paid for teaching one course, but I was staying and working in my office for half a day...way more than I was getting paid. Not that I care much about the hours vs. pay, but I have so much things I'd like to do at home.

The cupcakes are from this recipe.

happy friday!

The inspiration for today's Happy Friday comes from the dozen of fruit flies I saw in our kitchen this morning.

Asparagus Salad (in Sweden!)

One night in Sweden our friends made my aunt and I the best salad:

- asparagus, cooked, but still firm
- boiled eggs
- bacon
- avocado
- melon (green)
- cherry tomatoes
- raw mushrooms
- lettuce
- lime wedges
- balsamic vinegar + lemon olive oil

I loved it. I think I ate three servings of salad...Mmmm. And they served us fresh bread and had a big block of some Swedish cheese out that we could slice as we go. And champagne!

And you get to watch the sunset as you eat. Perfect.

Eric and I made this salad last night for dinner, with a couple of variations. It's so good. (I don't have pictures from our version last night.)

nutella + greek yogurt popsicles

I'm in love. The frozen nutella tastes like a fudgesicle but much better. The rich and sweet nutella is perfect next to the tart yogurt. Idea stolen from here.

Eric and I are rewatching Freaks and Geeks. I never watched it until recently; the show got so much hype I figured it was way overrated (perhaps like the band Wilco..). But man it kills me that there isn't more than one season of this show.

I didn't bake bread this past weekend. Sunday I slept most of the day before Sunday Family Dinner because of our late(/very fun) night.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! I'm a little late in the day to be posting this, but my dad was out of town (and away from internet) today.

Dad and me at my brother's wedding last summer.

Notice the wedding band on my dad? My dad's always working on a project - welding, building something out of wood, helping a neighbor tile their floor...He's always making something. Over the years I've had him help me build things and as soon as I say, "dad, I have this idea I think I need your help on..." he responds, "ohhhhh boy..". My ideas were usually complicated when I was younger. They've gotten more practical over the years, right dad?

Happy Father's Day to one of my favorite people in the whole world. I love you so much!

pencil skirt

I made a new pencil skirt from some thick red fabric I bought recently. The fabric has a nice texture (quiltish?) and some stretch. I started using the pattern I also used to make this skirt, but I went away from the pattern almost immediately. It didn't have the narrowness I wanted for a pencil skirt. I took it in quite a bit and added belt loops.

Have a great weekend! I actually have today off for Juneteenth. I think I'll bake some bread, go the gym*, and meet up with Eric and his work buddies for happy hour. Tomorrow we are joining in for "BBQ & Barbarella": we're joining several friends to drive out to Lockhart, TX for the city's famous BBQ and then reconvening in nighttime for dancing at Barbarella downtown.

*Eric and I joined the YMCA down the street. I hadn't been exercising hardly at all for a couple months or longer and the weather now has made it very difficult to go outside and run.

friday!

Missing Sweden Weather

The high every day while I was in Sweden was 65°. It's been sweat city since I've been back in Austin.

It's unfortunate that the time of the year I have the most free time lines up with the time of the year with the most unbearable weather.. I can't complain though. The class I'm teaching right now is actually great; I have eight students now and all of them are very attentive. I don't think I've ever taught a class where I say "hey, try this problem on your own" and 100% of the class actually works the problem (when it's for their own good and not being graded.)

Cherry Muffins

3 & 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt (I actually used 1 scant tsp. kosher salt)
2/3 cup canola oil
1 & 1/2 cups brown sugar, tightly packed (I used light brown)
2 large eggs
1 & 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 & 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 cups of pitted, coarsely chopped cherries (I ran out of cherries and had to sub some strawberries)

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Happy Friday

Green Juice

I've wanted a juicer for about a year now and one of my aunts mailed me one she picked up at a garage sale. Eric and I love Odwalla's Superfood drink.

I made my own using kale, spinach, a granny smith apple, a gala apple, a handful of baby carrots, half of a lemon, and a couple pieces of pineapple. It's so good. Mine wasn't quite as sweet as Odwalla's; if you are going for the same taste, you would want to throw in another granny smith.

happy friday

Teaching a summer algebra class that started on Wednesday. There are only six students in the class! :)

Sweden Post #1: Adorable Apartment

Thanksgiving 2010:
Aunt Elaine: I want to go to Sweden. Are you interested in going?
Me: YES
...

When my Aunt Elaine was in college, she studied abroad in Austria. While she was there, she met a Swedish guy named Lars. Lars and my aunt kept in touch throughout the year and the following summer my aunt stayed in Sweden for a couple of weeks and got to spend time with Lars and his family.

Lars had been planning to come to the states the following year, but during that year he was killed in a very bad car accident. He was only in his early twenties.

My aunt recently reconnected with his family and mentioned to them that she was interested in visiting the country again. My aunt picked up on my interest in going and began making plans. Lars' sister, Kerstin, let us stay in her and her husband's apartment in Stockholm. Kerstin is married to Mats, the same guy she was dating when my aunt visited Sweden 35 years ago!

The entire family is incredible; they are some of the nicest and most welcoming people I have met. Our trip was so special, mostly because of them.

Kerstin and Lars' mother is Ulla, and we visited her a couple times during our stay. I fell in love with her apartment immediately. Oh my gosh, her color pallet, her furniture, her decorating..perfect. Here are some photos below. The photos barely give her apartment justice.

Ulla and my aunt Elaine.

(Don't I look like my aunt?)