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)