Disc Golf

It was only in the mid 40s yesterday and the ground was wet, but that didn't stop us from FINALLY trying out our new toys by playing a round of disc golf.

From "Winter" 2010

From "Winter" 2010

We played at the Wells Branch course, an easy 9-hole course not too far from our house. There were quite a few other groups out playing, also. And, we weren't the only group to put discs into the creek (which was high & chilly, and went right through our shoes into our socks.... not fun).

In the course of the round, I learned two things:

1. It's been a LOOONNNGGGG time since I've walked very far! But, I made it with only minimal pain.
2. It's been even longer since I threw a disc (and that was an ultimate disc, which feels very different in your hand than a golf disc).

But, it was a lot of fun, and moderately good exercise (especially for me -- with all the walking & coordination required).

Any other disc golfers out there? There look to be a ton of great courses around Austin which we'll have to check out!

Culinary gardending adventures

These little lettuce seedlings appeared on our windowsill yesterday. Soon, we'll be eating home-grown microgreens!

From Blog Photos

I'm using the technique described here.

More than half done!

From Blog Photos

I am now more than half finished with my bluebonnet applique block. I have completed:
3 of 4 large flowers
8 of 16 small flowers
2 of 4 leaves

It's not perfect (great Hawaiian-style applique should be completely symmetrical; mine is off a bit in most places), but I think it's looking pretty good!

I annotated the photo, above, to show some of the tools I've been using:

• General's Sketch & Wash pencil. I use this to mark the pattern on the back.
• My most-excellent Gingher scissors, in their special leather sleeve.
• Normal, boring, blue thread. I sometimes use special thread (like gutterman or mettler) but the boring stuff works just as well.
• Little pincushion with tiny pins.
  

Greatest. Games. Ever.

We bought an xbox last summer, mostly so we could play Rock Band online with friends and download instant movies from Netflix. Matt & I have also played some of the best computer games on the market today. As amazing as these are, they just can't compare to in nostalgia value to a few of my favorite early '80s dos or basic-based computer games. Anybody else remember these?

CIA Adventure. I'm not finding any version of this classic (though I think I have the source file somewhere - it's a basic program that's really easy to understand). This game is purely text. You essentially control a blind guide, who is trying to infiltrate a large building. The guide understands only basic commands like "go west" or "press button." With my dad's ingenuity and programming knowledge, we cracked this game and found out that you didn't have to type the entire phrase: "dro but" was good enough for "drop button." My dad, brother & I played this game until we figured out all the little steps necessary to get the gem, foil the bad guys, and win the game!

The Trucking Game (Trucking USA, maybe?) Another text-based game where you used basic commands to control a truck going across the country. You had to choose your cargo (oranges, mail, or something else, I think), and could then choose how fast to go (risking speeding tickets), when to gas up (for which price) , etc. I liked the version we had, which somebody hacked. If we entered my dad's name at the start, we were given a free set of tires for our truck. In late elementary school, my gifted class was able to play an updated version of this game (in color!) at recess. That game was mostly the same, with the ability to pick up hitch-hikers. We quickly learned that you must never pick up hitch-hikers: when you did, they'd shoot you. Fun lesson, that.

Castle Adventure. This was a mid-generation game, with text-based commands but also some rudimentary graphics (the graphics are mostly just combination of text and special characters). The basic scenario is that you're in a castle and have to collect treasures, kill monsters, and find your way out. This is the game that's responsible for my inability to pronounce the word "ogre" correctly for at least 15 years of my life (not like that word comes up often in daily life). Unfortunately, I can't find a version of Castle to play online, but with the help of a dos-simulator (where you can manually tweak the speed the game plays at) I was able to play the original dos-based Castle game tonight. You simply must check it out here. The quality of the graphics will amaze you!

Burger Time. This was a later-generation game from some of my other favorites, meaning (mostly) that it had graphics. Happily, I found a version you can play online. So, yes, you too can walk over buns, lettuce, and meat and make your own burgers before the evil hot dogs and fried eggs get you!

None of these games compares in complexity to even just one second of playing Rock Band online with friends, of course. But, I like them. :)

Do you remember any other classic '80s computer games?

Goal update

Just over two weeks into our fitness goals for January, here's where we stand:

• Matt has done 9 of 14 workouts for January.
• I have completed two weeks of 60 minutes of workouts, and am 30 minutes into this week's goal. I slipped a little bit on stretching last week, but caught up over the weekend. Remembering to my stretching every day is what I need to focus on now.

So, that's good progress! There's a pedicure (for me) and a trip to Mi Tierra in San Antonio (for us both, plus friends) if we achieve our goals this month.

Other goal updates:

• I wrote a letter to our Compassion child in Nicaragua. I didn't have a lot to say, but hope I was friendly & encouraging. It seems like he's doing well in school and has gotten to do some fun things as part of our sponsorship (he wrote to us about going camping). It's always fun to think up flat objects that I can send in the envelope to him (can't send anything of real value or weight, since it will either be stolen or will be too heavy to mail). Last time, I sent Spider Man band-aids (I haven't heard if he got them yet). This time, I got some stickers. I don't think 13-year-old boys in the US really get fired up about stickers, but Jose Luis adheres various stickers to each letter he gives us, so I figure stickers work for him!
  
• I am almost half done with my very difficult Hawaiian applique block, where I'm learning valuable skills I can take into the larger quilt that's on my goals for the year. (see previous post)

What else is new around Matt & Becky's world... Let's see:

• We drove out to Llano (about 90 minutes from here) to Cooper's BBQ on Saturday. Cooper's is always one of our favorite BBQ spots (regardless what Texas Monthly said recently, in dropping them out of the top 5).
• We got tickets to see two favorite bands together in Houston in February: Switchfoot and Seabird.
• I had lunch last week with Shan Reed, a family friend from growing up in Madison, SD. She was in town while on home-assignment from her role as a missionary in Japan.
• I'm still having trouble with my feet, but I'm able to stand up a lot more. I'm able to cook dinner from scratch most nights without my feet suffering too badly.
• Matt continues to work hard, on all kinds of project to make the internet a safer & better place to live (or something like that!)
• Oh, and I'm also now blogging for work. It's a mix of behind-the-scenes info, random inspiration, and some spiritual content. Check it out if those things interest you: Etcetera. Whatever.
  

Bluebonnet Applique Progress

I made progress with my bluebonnet Hawaiian applique block this week. As you can see in this picture, I have completed 2 of the 4 large flowers, 3 of the 8 small flowers, and 2 of the 4 leaves. If only there were more leaves! Leaves are really easy!! The floral parts are incredibly difficult to sew correctly.

Also of note in the photo:

• The next small flower section (at about 5 o'clock position) is prepared with a freezer paper template.
• Compare the lower left & lower right corners. Notice the difference between finished floral sections and unfinished (turning under the edge refines the shape drastically).
  
• I'm still having a hard time with really sharp inside points (on the larger floral sections).
  

I'm almost half done! It's not as symmetrical as I would like (in very minute ways). But, I'm happy with it so far.

Technique update:

Glue Baste-It: I used this special water-soluble glue to help turn under the edge in a few of the trickier spots. It has a special applicator, which dispenses a dot of glue about the size of a pin-head. I like the applicator a lot, but wish the glue was tackier.

I love my scissors! I have a tiny pair of extra-sharp Gingher (brand) scissors. They are fantastic for detailed applique like this!

I should find a way to take a picture of my needle. It's bent horribly (it's probably 15 degrees off from straight)! I think I'm gripping the needle harder than normal, as I handle the pressure of working on these very detailed sections.

When I do my big 2010-goal project (wall-sized Hawaiian applique quilt), I think I will go back to working with batik fabric. I used regular fabric (though from a good quilt shop) for the design in this block, and it is fraying too much. Batik fabric seems to have a higher thread-count and tighter weave and doesn't fray so badly.

Bluebonnet Applique Update

I am working more on my bluebonnet applique block. As I work on the block, I thought I'd blog about some of the techniques I'm using.

Today's Topic: Marking the pattern.

Hand-applique involves turning-under the raw-edge of fabric in a precise spot to create the pattern. There are several different ways you can mark where you should turn under the fabric. I will be using at least 3 different techniques on this block (in order of complexity):

• Cut the shape & turn-under.
• Back-baste along an outline.
• Freezer paper on the top.

Turn under 1/4" inch:
The easiest way for me to applique is to cut a shape, attach it to the background, then just turn under 1/8" to 1/4" of the raw edge as I sew. The leaf section pictured below gets this technique. Too bad there are only 4 small leaves in this block: I can breeze through applique when it's done this way!

Advantages of this technique: fast, no extra work
Disadvantages: not for highly-detailed sections



Back-Baste along an outline:
For the bluebonnet floral sections, I am using a technique I learned a few years ago. It doesn't have an "official" name as far as I know, but some people call it "back-basting." This tutorial explains it pretty well. Basically, you draw an outline on the back, baste along it, then remove the basting stitches as you sew. The basting thread leaves minuscule holes, which you follow, stitching dot-to-dot.

In my case, because I traced around a thick cardboard template, I had to baste just inside the lines I drew, as you can see in this picture:


With this technique, one bluebonnet floral section takes about 1 hour to stitch (there are 4 sections total). Here's how it turns out in the end:



Advantages: Can help you sew complicated sections accurately. No templates get in the way of your stitching.
Disadvantages: You have to sew everything twice.

Freezer paper on the top:
I haven't started the other sections (there will be 8 sections, each with 2 small flowers with 5 petals each, on a narrow stem). I intend to use the freezer-paper-on-top technique for them. Freezer paper is waxy on one side, so if you put it against fabric and iron it, it adheres temporarily (then removes cleanly).

This is a very standard applique technique. So standard, in fact, that regular everyday freezer paper you buy at the grocery store includes the directions! (Right next to directions on how to actually wrap food to store in the freezer!)

Advantages: good for detailed sections; the pattern is on top so you can see it easily. Allows you to shift the pattern a little more than back-basting allows.
Disadvantages: the paper can get in the way of stitching, and can be time-consuming to cut out, and can be a pain to get off (if you stitch through the fabric, which you WILL do).

This is not my favorite technique, so I only use it when I really have to. But, I hope it works to help me produce sharp points on the 5-part flowers.

We've Got Skills!

Matt & I finally got around to signing up for Knife Skills 101 at Central Market cooking school. Our class, held last night, was pretty good. I'm not sure I learned any concepts I didn't (intellectually) know from watching Alton Brown on Good Eats, but having practice and somebody there to check my technique was good.

We sliced, we diced, we julienned. And, we even cut supremes from oranges (which wasn't nearly as hard as I feared, once I got onto the idea that I'd be cutting away 70% of the orange). We started by making julienne strips out of a tortilla, then moved on to cutting an onion, jalapeno, tomato, carrot, and finally oranges.

The instructor passed on these tips, which I'll share in case you haven't watched the Good Eats episodes (linked below):

• Sharp knives are actually a lot LESS dangerous to use than dull ones, since you don't have to try as hard. Yeah, you could go to great lengths and buy an expensive mechanical sharpener (which doesn't work all that well and costs a lot) or a cheaper stone (which you don't know how to use that well and is a pain to store) or you could just take your knives in for professional sharpening. Around Austin, take them to Knife Sharpest on Burnet Road. They'll sharpen a chef's knife for about $3.75. (I understand most quilt shops know people who sharpen scissors, and they can often do knives, too.)
  
• Keep your knife on the cutting board as much as possible, rocking the knife rather than forcing it down.
• Keep your fingers out of the way when holding the food.
• Don't put the knife in the dishwasher. Wash it right away and put it away (our instructor recommends a magnetic rack like we have (she said there's a cheap but good one at Ikea, too), though I would not recommend it if you have kids!)
  
• Don't buy a big block of knives, since you won't ever use most of them. I like the advice America's Test Kitchen gives on that subject: buy knives separately, and you don't need to buy the most expensive knives, either! ATK recommends the Victorinox Fibrox knives, which really are a bargain compared to most.
  
• We need to get a sharpening steel. That may come in a block of knives, and is actually useful, if you use it as you should. A steel does not re-sharpen a knife, only brings it truer to form. Knives should be honed like this each time you use them (and wiped clean afterwards!). A good steel should have a larger plastic handle, to protect your hand.
  

Bluebonnet Applique

Here's the start of my next Hawaiian Applique block. I wanted to make one more (custom-designed) small block before I tackle the larger wall-hanging which is in my goals for 2010. The block pictured here is a custom design, which is roughly based on the Texas Bluebonnet. So, it will be a mix of Texas and Hawaii!

Hawaiian applique quilts traditionally have an 8-part repeat and feature nature-related patterns (hence picking the bluebonnet as inspiration). Traditionally, Hawaiian applique is done entirely by hand. I will do the applique by hand (turning under the fabric with my needle to hide the raw edges then using tiny stitches to secure it) but will do the quilting itself by machine (or, technically, my mom will do the quilting for me!).

I have taken a few classes on applique (in general, to learn needle-turn stitches) and have been trained in Hawaiian Applique both in Hawaii and here in Texas (in Hawaii at a quilt shop in Maui; in Texas as part of International Quilt Market, with instructor Maggie Davies). Davies' book Perfect Points outlines Hawaiian quilting quite effectively.

Making a Hawaiian Applique quilt is incredibly complicated! Finishing a bed-sized Hawaiian quilt would be an amazing life-long accomplishment (the only thing I can think of which would be harder is probably a detailed baltimore album quilt). I've made several small blocks in the Hawaiian style, but I want to have more practice before I try a larger project.

Here's roughly what goes in to such a quilt: (with times for the Bluebonnet block / what I estimate for a wall-hanging)

1. Get a pattern. Published patterns are available, but I prefer doing my own thing - which requires custom-designing, testing it on freezer paper, fixing it, etc. (1 hour / 6 hours)
2. Prep fabric (folding in quarters, then on the diagonal). (10 minutes / 30 minutes)
3. Transfer design to fabric. (30 minutes / 4 hours)
4. Cut top fabric. (15 minutes / 2 hours)
5. Pin to base fabric. (15 minutes / 2 hours)
6. Baste with thread. (30 minutes / 4 hours)
7. Hand applique & all that goes along with that! (15 hours+ / 100 hours+)
8. Quilt (thankfully, I can have my mom do that for me!)
9. Enjoy forever! :)

I anticipate my wall-hanging will be about 30" to 40" square (anything larger is hard, since fabric only comes in 40-44" widths, and also is unruly to work with). I am combing through quilt designs at the Bishop Museum (from Honolulu) for inspiration for that piece.

UPDATE:
Here's the pattern for the bluebonnet quilt (shown above). This section below is repeated 4 times in the block above. As you might notice, I have only roughly cut out the fabric so far; I will have to cut more precisely later.

2010 Goals

While eating some yummy BBQ at Rudy's tonight, Matt and I wrote down some goals for 2010. I don't intend to share all of them but I thought I'd mention a few, just to keep me going.

• Short-term fitness goal: workout 60 minutes per week and do my stretches 10 times per week. If I do this through January 31st, I get a pedicure! (and then I can set a harder goal for next month)
• Short term household goal: get the Styrofoam out of the garage. Part of me blames the city of Austin for this problem, since it's so hard to throw out trash, but I can't use that as an excuse any longer! Once I finish this, I get chocolate truffles.
• Yearly goal: Write to our Compassion child in Nicaragua at least 6 times this year.
• Yearly goal: Design & finish sewing a Hawaiian applique wall-hanging (which will be larger & more complex than the pillows I've made thus far).
  

Here's a Hawaiian Applique block I designed -- was to be made into a small pillow, but my mom suggested I finish a few more and turn them into a table runner.

2009 memories in photos

We cooked a lot - and are starting to become quite competent in tex-mex and mexican recipes:


Our mailbox was destroyed. Again.

We thoroughly enjoyed Pi Rho festival (the rocket festival we go to with our friend Sally):


Having baseball to softball sized hail hit my car with me in it is not something I want to do again:


Having old friends move to Austin has been a very good thing. It's been fun cooking and playing Rock Band with Brian & Angela. We've also had fun making sure they've experienced almost all of our favorite Austin restaurants:


We may not be fast when it comes to home improvement, but we did finish our half-bath:


I like doing Hawaiian Applique:


We toured the Astros Stadium in Houston, and Matt posed in the dugout as the manager:


Colorado was beautiful, especially the aspens.


It will be tough to top these Halloween Costumes:


Matt got 2nd place in the Central Market Hatch Green Chile cook-off:


Mi Tierra at Market Square in San Antonio is as kitschy as anything, but wow, is it tasty:


No trip to Cornerstone is complete without a James Brownie Funky Jackhammer from Andy's Frozen Custard in Springfield, Missouri (and this year, a bonus trip to Kansas City)


Our elitist & Cornerstone friends are among the best people ever. It was really great having Sara there this year!


Going on sabbatical is the best. I wish I could do it every day!

Being delayed in Dallas, then re-routed to Vegas did not make for a great start to our Hawaiian vacation. But, we did have the most expensive hamburgers ever (when you factor in cab fare from the Las Vegas airport to the nearest In-N-Out burger). Delicious!


We both hiked Diamond Head in Oahu. This was a big accomplishment for me, considering that 2009 has been the year of heel pain. :(


Hawaii was gorgeous, of course!


Having my parents visit us in Hawaii was wonderful! (and warm, other than the day on Haleakala)


We drove through West Texas. Not a whole lot there, honestly. But, I will remember that it's always fun to road-trip with Matt.


Here's a slideshow of other photos from 2009:

Family Fun

My parents are visiting us for a few days, from Connecticut. We've had fun going shopping, watching Nebraska win their bowl game, and eating BBQ & Tex-Mex together.

Here's mom, making corn tortillas, from scratch. This was the first time she had ever made them. We ate them with homemade posole and green-chile-chicken-breasts on Tuesday night. Last night, we fried the leftovers to make home-made chips.

I just had to take the picture, since I don't think you'd expect someone who grew up in Minnesota and now lives in Connecticut to be making corn tortillas from scratch!

Here's dad, singing along to Rock Band. We play via XBox live and connected our group in Austin to a friend who lives in Atlanta. Dad played guitar a few times and then sang on several songs -- having to sort the songs by decade to find some he knew! He did quite well! We may have him try drums later today, and have mom try the guitar.

We've also done a mini tour of central Texas BBQ joints, visiting the Green Mesquite in Austin (for baked potatoes w/ BBQ), Rudy's near our house (for breakfast tacos) and Kreuz Market in Lockhart (for the whole experience of BBQ served without forks or sauce).

Today, family tradition dictates that we'll have to go to Chuy's! (and I'm definitely not about to change that tradition!)

Tomorrow, they'll head up to Nebraska to visit my brother & sister-in-law. We'll miss my parents, but we're always so glad when they visit!

Desserts!

I took the day off and did a little baking & cleaning yesterday. The baking was far more successful and rewarding than the cleaning!

This picture shows some of the chocolate cookies I made. My favorites are probably the one on top: dark chocolate candy cane cookies. The recipe comes from the Wisconsin Dairy Board and is oh so delicious! (I chop my candy canes with the food processor and leave them finer than the recipe calls for, which laces the entire cookie with pepperminty goodness.)

From Christmas 2009

I also made chocolate pixies, peanut brittle, chocolate-coconut macaroons (a no-bake cookie) and O Henry Bars (all of those are from family recipes, which I can share if anybody wants). I still want to make Spritz, but plan to wait until we have our new stove (since those cookies are prone to burning). Did I say new stove? Yes! We bought a new convection oven which comes on Friday, to replace the model we have now, which literally came with the house (as in when the house was built - around 1982!)

Prompted by "Shan in Japan" (long-time family friend who is a church planting missionary in Japan) here's the recipe for Pumpkin Smash (which I mentioned in one of the Thanksgiving posts):

1 32 oz can of Libby's pumpkin pie filling
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1 box yellow cake mix (use the cheapest kind you can get)
1 stick salted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350
Mix pie filling, eggs, cinnamon and ginger. Pour into an ungreased 9x13 glass baking dish
Pour cake mix on top of filling (yes, just dump the powder on there).
Try and get it even, else you'll wind up with nasty bites of just cake-mix, which is not good.
Pour melted butter over the top of all of it. If the butter doesn't cover too well, mix just the top part (cake mix & butter) a bit.

Bake 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Top with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Our favorite restaurants

Last night, Matt and I tried to come up with a list of our favorite 10 restaurants in the world (alas, we couldn't think of any outside the US worth putting on the list). Here's roughly what we came up with: (order is approximate)

1. Frontera Grill - Chicago
2. Alan Wong's - Honolulu
3. Chuy's - Austin
4. Pepe's - New Haven, Connecticut
5. Royer's Round Top Cafe - Round Top, Texas
6. Portillo's - Schaumburg, Illinois (or other locations, but that's the one I've been to)
7. Cooper's - Llano, Texas
8. Mi Nidito - Tuscon Artizona (Matt) - Daniel's Bagels, NYC (Becky, just because I've never been to Tuscon)
9. The Flatbread Company - Paia (Maui) Hawaii
10. Kreutz Market - Lockhart, Texas
    

These restaurants range from places that are about 3 miles from our house (Chuy's) to things that are across half an ocean (Wong's). They contrast real Mexican (Frontera) with tex-mex (Chuy's) and Sonoran (Mi Nidito). They contrast beautiful interiors with professional wait-staff and places you order at a counter or don't get any forks. Pizza is represented twice (Pepe's & Flatbread) and BBQ twice (Cooper's & Kreutz). We came up with this list after an excellent meal at Royer's Round Top Cafe, which serves up amazing gourmet comfort food in a town of only 77 residents.

These are all places that unconsciously make us smile. :)

Runners up would be:

• Mi Tierra at Market Square in San Antonio. Yes, I believe there's a place for cheese-covered, gloppy Tex-Mex (said by someone who really likes true Mexican cuisine). Mi Tierra satisfies my classic Tex-Mex-tooth better than any other place we've found.
  
• Chef Lupe's in New Mexico, but mostly because it's filled with happy memories of eating with family. (though the New Mexican style food is amazing)
  

Welcome Christmas

I just put up my manger scene, hand-carved by my uncle Larry circa 1991. No tree yet, but it's starting to feel like Christmas. (though, it's never "officially" the Christmas season at our house until we get uncle Joe's letter and tub tub of popcorn!)

This year, I set the nativity it directly under one of my favorite pieces of framed art in our house - a watercolor by Jimmy A that we bought after the Charlie Peacock show at Cornerstone 2008. This seems appropriate, since I think the watercolor was called "Little Town of Bethlehem."

We won't be putting up any lights outside this year, since we have workers coming to fix our front porch sometime between now & Christmas. Too bad, since coming home to a nicely lighted house always makes me smile on these dark nights.

More pictures here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's Matt holding one of the pies we made for Thanksgiving dinner this year: buttermilk delight. It has a buttermilk interior with a coconut-chocolate-pecan topping. We also made an apple pie (or, as our friend Robert put it a "brown sugar pie") - it turned out way too sweet. And, if that weren't enough desserts, we threw together a pumpkin "dump" cake (one where you just dump ingredients together). Matt also made cornbread stuffing.

We're thankful for many things today, most of which don't remotely include pies. :) But, pies are easier to photograph than other things we're thankful for, so that's what you get!

Much love to you & yours this Thanksgiving, from Matt & Becky.