tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-129227772010-02-12T08:00:45.756-06:00Life with Matt & Becky - mostly Becky. I think Matt has access to this blog, but I don't know that he's ever posted anything. I'll change this description when he does. :)Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.comBlogger197125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-25517838359243209092010-02-09T22:05:00.002-06:002010-02-09T22:09:15.508-06:00

These look good enough to eat! Too bad I can't share them with you through the internet! :)Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes with Ganache Frosting I added the heart-shaped sprinkles on top, and think they turned out perfectly! These are for our women's group gathering tomorrow.From "Winter" 2010Orange-Cranberry-Pecan Bread (from America's Test Kitchen). These definitely have a good orange flavor.

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-9516222665505159912010-01-31T14:20:00.003-06:002010-01-31T14:27:37.679-06:00

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" 2010From "Winter" 2010We 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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-54178375418352738132010-01-29T13:09:00.002-06:002010-01-29T13:12:12.736-06:00

These little lettuce seedlings appeared on our windowsill yesterday. Soon, we'll be eating home-grown microgreens!From Blog PhotosI'm using the technique described here.

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-40122681800147943812010-01-29T08:49:00.002-06:002010-01-29T13:09:21.475-06:00

From Blog PhotosI am now more than half finished with my bluebonnet applique block. I have completed:3 of 4 large flowers8 of 16 small flowers2 of 4 leavesIt'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 &

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-45271316005325322212010-01-25T20:10:00.003-06:002010-01-25T20:36:22.063-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-27473943132427029802010-01-19T21:24:00.004-06:002010-01-19T21:40:07.369-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-87730660100278032882010-01-17T21:59:00.003-06:002010-01-17T22:09:19.427-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-15553305883943113102010-01-10T15:27:00.002-06:002010-01-10T15:55:56.015-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-16309306547994309462010-01-06T17:37:00.004-06:002010-01-06T17:52:24.393-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-85537364268267629812010-01-03T22:08:00.004-06:002010-01-04T17:44:32.811-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-22729073056472535632010-01-02T18:41:00.004-06:002010-01-03T21:14:02.256-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-44318906824638218112009-12-31T07:44:00.002-06:002009-12-31T08:19:55.418-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-12020631096791798122009-12-31T07:17:00.003-06:002009-12-31T07:38:44.232-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-33764760922751974442009-12-15T21:08:00.004-06:002009-12-15T21:19:07.109-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-83704080975154782482009-12-05T08:22:00.003-06:002009-12-06T07:48:36.120-06:00

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)Frontera Grill - ChicagoAlan Wong's - HonoluluChuy's - AustinPepe's - New Haven, ConnecticutRoyer's Round Top Cafe - Round Top, TexasPortillo's - Schaumburg, Illinois (

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-85394461121621538622009-11-28T15:43:00.004-06:002009-11-28T15:53:01.494-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-52983450090359434432009-11-26T20:47:00.001-06:002009-11-26T20:48:10.488-06:00

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

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-86094763726802648972009-11-23T22:04:00.002-06:002009-11-23T22:14:26.094-06:00

I felt like sewing tonight. None of my many quilts & bags in-progress inspired me, so I whipped this up - a little felt ninja (inspired by some pics I found while browsing aimlessly at flickr).Clearly it's a good ninja, since Matt is scared of it (or something, judging from his expression). :)See a close-up here.

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-46268817864307389902009-11-23T22:02:00.001-06:002009-11-23T22:06:02.285-06:00

This weekend, we made Chicago-style Italian Beef sandwiches from scratch (roughly following this recipe). It's quite the process!Didn't turn out quite like Portillo's, but it was still pretty good. The picture looks like a blob of meat, I know, but it tastes much better!

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-73173613013254222142009-11-17T07:10:00.002-06:002009-11-17T07:16:10.094-06:00

I came home last night and had the annual realization that it's about time to put up the Christmas lights.Want to know why?It was dark out. Yes, shock of all shocks, it actually got DARK after the sun went down!Christmas lights would help this problem immensely, since ours go on a timer that reacts to the amount of outdoor light and turn on automatically. Yet, I'm not putting any lights up yet!

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-77774195223544906452009-11-02T21:15:00.003-06:002009-11-02T21:35:00.982-06:00

(Title translation: A recap of our Halloween adventures!)From Halloween 2009Since we were invited to a Halloween party this year, Matt and I decided to make costumes. I've gotten good use out of the jack-o-lantern costume my mom sewed for me during my final year to go trick-or-treating when I was a teenager. But, this year, we wanted something special.We considered going as Homer & Marge Simpson.

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-71478600649619729732009-10-29T06:33:00.002-05:002009-10-29T07:09:02.945-05:00

Think back to 2001. The media was hyping some code-named invention ("Ginger" I think they called it) that was going to revolutionize transportation. It was going to revolutionize where we live. It was going to revolutionize how we commute to work. It was going to revolutionize how cities are designed. It was going to revolutionize human life.The Segway is released to some fanfare. I admit, I was

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-51890095412439940272009-10-27T16:25:00.003-05:002009-10-27T16:40:20.676-05:00

What's new around Matt & Becky's world...Not much!No trips, no cooking classes, no home improvements, nothing very exciting lately, alas. Matt's been working a few late-nights recently as his company works on some innovative and exciting new products. I've been working a lot (too much, but not as much as Matt). In between I've managed to make several more scarves for the project I mentioned

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-20330574379693205272009-10-19T14:45:00.004-05:002009-10-19T18:34:03.212-05:00

Stolen from Lisa, who stole it from Vince, who probably stole it from somebody: the map of states I've visited.I have visited 42 states (84%)Create your own visited map of The United StatesAdmittedly, a few of these were when I was a young kid (Oregon, Washington, Utah, Montana, Wyoming) and there are a few more (Delaware, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia) I've only seen via a small portion of

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12922777.post-41836348061297719192009-10-11T22:14:00.001-05:002009-10-11T22:15:28.464-05:00

It feels a bit like January today (at least by Austin standards) with cooler temperatures & rain.To celebrate, I finished off another scarf to send to some international students at SDSU (the one in South Dakota, of course, not the one in San Diego!). See a super-close-up here.I can picture a student wearing this, heading across campus like I and so many others have done: head down, walking on

Becky Laswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01700098704205827097noreply@blogger.com0