Over the summer I made macaroni and cheese for some friends. They rather liked it, and have dubbed it, or perhaps me (?), Annaroni & cheese. Someone asked me for the recipe tonight, but I really don't have a recipe to give. I just *make* the stuff. It's never the same twice, and as far as I know, it's really just basic m&c. Having just made it this afternoon though, I thought I'd try to jot down, for posterity, how I make this macaroni and cheese that has garnered me a new identity and probably rushed many friends toward early coronary bypasses.
Start off with a nice big pan. I like to use my big le cruset soup pot (cheese sauce cleans out of enamel well).
Over warm heat, melt some butter. Let's say, oh, 3 Tbsp.
Crush up a bunch of garlic into the melted butter. I usually go for 5-6 cloves. Maybe more if I'm not going to be socializing. But definitely no less.
Now, being super careful, make sure your heat is just high enough to simmer the garlic a bit, without scorching it. If it get's burnt and stinky, start again! There is no recovering from scorched garlic. You must banish it.
When the garlic is just the lightest bit tan, stir in some flour (1/3 cup should do) with a whisk. Make sure the flour and butter really unite into a nice paste, or little butter/garlic/flour balls. No one should be left out of this party. Make sure everyone is mingling.
Keep an eye on the situation. You want the flour to toast a little bit, to get rid of that horrid raw-flour taste, but again - beware the scorching. When things smell sort of toasty, pour in some milk (~3 cups), using your whisk again to get everything nice and even.
Let the roux/milk situation cook for a bit on low/medium heat, stirring frequently. At this point, toss in some dry mustard and ground black pepper. I can't even begin to estimate how much. Keep simmering over medium heat. You want it to get warm, steamy and thicken a bit, but not necessarily actually boil.
Now for the fun part - the cheese! I use somewhere between 2-4 cups of various cheese. Typically, cheddar plays a big part, but beyond that, I usually go for about 4 types of cheese, total. Tonight I used cheddar, gruyere, muenster and parmesan. I also used panarello, but I'll get to that in a sec.
Grate up all your cheeses, and stir them into the milk sauce. Keep stirring until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is uniform and creamy.
While all this is going on, you should also cook a box of macaroni (or penne or rigatoni or whatever suits your mood).
Once the noodles are cooked and drained and the cheese sauce is ready to go, stir the two together. Taste some - you've waited long enough!
Spread the whole shebang into a large casserole dish. Set aside for a minute while you crush up about 20 melba toasts.
Melt about 2 Tbsp. butter in a small frying pan, and toss in the crumbs. Stir around until everything smells toasty, then sprinkle the buttery crumbs over the top of the mac and cheese.
Tonight, before baking, I also dotted tiny cubes of the panarello on top of the crumbs. That was a delicious addition, I must say.
Now, toss the whole thing into the oven at 350 degrees, for about 30 minutes (or until it's golden and bubbly and your house smells divine!).
Enjoy!
Warning: do NOT consume this mac and cheese the night before a blood test. You will fail. Your doctor might try to sue me. No one wants that.
Friday, November 02, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
Little update
I keep thinking I should post something. Then I think I should post some pictures if I do. And then I don't seem to get around to uploading pictures, which seems to prevent me from posting.
I'm sitting here with my computer keeping my lap warm and thinking about posting, so I suppose I ought to just write something.
It's been a seriously busy few months. August was the usual whirlwind of birthdays, anniversaries and wrapping up summer quarter.
The highlight of September was Erin and Erik's wedding. It was perfect! I should have written about this sooner, but... Anyhow, the wedding was absolutely perfection. Erin was radiant. Erik beamed. EVERYONE cried. And cried. And then we all got tipsy and partied. The food, the band, the cake (oh! that cake!), the photographers, the flowers... everything was truly absolutely perfect. It was a beautiful day, and just the best wedding ever.
See how lovely?
Following our return from NY, I headed down to Oregon to do the Canby Flock and Fiber Festival with the lovely and sassy Sarah. (Who is a very good blogger, and probably wrote lots of good things about the weekend.) There may be some pictures of that, but they're languishing on my camera... maybe someday they'll make it out.
After the OFFF, I was ready for a good long rest. Instead, we moved. Oh, wait - I started a new quarter, and we moved. Into a house.
Don't get too excited, it's a rental. And there is a pathologically crazypants landlord in the mix. But still - house! Allow me to share these magic words: my. own. craft. room. Oh yeah - you read correctly. H and I each get our own room to do with what we will. Mine is adrift in crafty material. His is swimming with wires and gadgets and beer brewing equipment. But there's room enough for peace to reign, because of those magic words: my. own. room. It also has a backyard and two decks. Three bathrooms. Lots of closets. It's amazing how much landlord crap you can tolerate when given a ton of space.
We're having a party. You should come!
I think this is supposed to be a blog about teaching and doing crafty stuff, but it's usually just about being busy. I feel I should say something crafty.
I went to Webs! When I was on the east coast, after the wedding, I met up with Adrian and Carolyn and we went to yarn heaven! I have enough yarn for two sweaters that I will never have the time to make. But still... yarn! It was glorious! Oh, and once we were fully yarn sated, Ms. Lisa met us for the yummiest dinner in Northampton. It was glorious beyond imagination. (Marred solely by Mr. Sick E. Pants that came along despite being on his deathbed.) It was awesome to see the east coast ladies!
In other yarn-based news, which is neither new nor notable, I am still working on the shrug that I meant to wear to E's wedding. How long does it take to make a shrug? It's just sleeves! And yet, I persist. I'm getting there. The majority of the thing got done on the plane to and from NY, and in the car driving to see H's family. Definitely more than enough time to finish such a project, but no. Not me. I need to have my fingers checked... I think they're challenged. One day, the shrug will be done. Then maybe I'll finish the socks I started in March. And then on to those two sweaters.
I'll tell you about teaching some other day.
I'm sitting here with my computer keeping my lap warm and thinking about posting, so I suppose I ought to just write something.
It's been a seriously busy few months. August was the usual whirlwind of birthdays, anniversaries and wrapping up summer quarter.
The highlight of September was Erin and Erik's wedding. It was perfect! I should have written about this sooner, but... Anyhow, the wedding was absolutely perfection. Erin was radiant. Erik beamed. EVERYONE cried. And cried. And then we all got tipsy and partied. The food, the band, the cake (oh! that cake!), the photographers, the flowers... everything was truly absolutely perfect. It was a beautiful day, and just the best wedding ever.
See how lovely?
Following our return from NY, I headed down to Oregon to do the Canby Flock and Fiber Festival with the lovely and sassy Sarah. (Who is a very good blogger, and probably wrote lots of good things about the weekend.) There may be some pictures of that, but they're languishing on my camera... maybe someday they'll make it out.
After the OFFF, I was ready for a good long rest. Instead, we moved. Oh, wait - I started a new quarter, and we moved. Into a house.
Don't get too excited, it's a rental. And there is a pathologically crazypants landlord in the mix. But still - house! Allow me to share these magic words: my. own. craft. room. Oh yeah - you read correctly. H and I each get our own room to do with what we will. Mine is adrift in crafty material. His is swimming with wires and gadgets and beer brewing equipment. But there's room enough for peace to reign, because of those magic words: my. own. room. It also has a backyard and two decks. Three bathrooms. Lots of closets. It's amazing how much landlord crap you can tolerate when given a ton of space.
We're having a party. You should come!
I think this is supposed to be a blog about teaching and doing crafty stuff, but it's usually just about being busy. I feel I should say something crafty.
I went to Webs! When I was on the east coast, after the wedding, I met up with Adrian and Carolyn and we went to yarn heaven! I have enough yarn for two sweaters that I will never have the time to make. But still... yarn! It was glorious! Oh, and once we were fully yarn sated, Ms. Lisa met us for the yummiest dinner in Northampton. It was glorious beyond imagination. (Marred solely by Mr. Sick E. Pants that came along despite being on his deathbed.) It was awesome to see the east coast ladies!
In other yarn-based news, which is neither new nor notable, I am still working on the shrug that I meant to wear to E's wedding. How long does it take to make a shrug? It's just sleeves! And yet, I persist. I'm getting there. The majority of the thing got done on the plane to and from NY, and in the car driving to see H's family. Definitely more than enough time to finish such a project, but no. Not me. I need to have my fingers checked... I think they're challenged. One day, the shrug will be done. Then maybe I'll finish the socks I started in March. And then on to those two sweaters.
I'll tell you about teaching some other day.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
On marriage
My sister is getting married in September and recently asked me to write some reflections on marriage based on experience. I came up with the following. It's still kind of rough, and there is certainly more I could say, but I sort of like this, and thought I'd share.
On a day-to-day basis, being married means sharing life with your very best friend - the person who you are closer to than anyone in the world, the person who knows you and whom you know as intimately as you know yourself. This means playing and having fun when all is well, holding each other close and propping one another up in the challenging times, and celebrating the best times. Being married is sharing - all of the moments of life, from the mundane to the very high peaks to the very low valleys.
It also means giving of yourself. Some consider marrying a sacrifice, or a loss of oneself. I don't see it that way. I see it as growing into a more fully developed person by giving up little individual foibles to be more open to your partner. In exchange, you also gain a fuller partner as s/he gives up his/her own trivialities. True, this doesn't always happen without conflict. But when conflict occurs, the ability to step back and recognize what is most important in the larger picture of your partnership will ultimately lead to an improvement in the marriage. We are all imperfect people, and I believe that a good marriage with the right person helps us to become better.
Although I was asked specifically about marriage, I'd like to share one thought on love, within a marriage. Love is so often misconstrued as a "thing." You have love or you don't, and it is a capricious thing that follows its own whims. But this just isn't true. Love is a verb, it is an action. We choose to love. We may "fall in love" during initial romantic attraction, but continuing to love is a decision we make. We all get older and in doing so, lose some of our young attractiveness, in many ways. But continuing to love one another once the romance has faded is a conscious choice. We go on loving because of commitment, because of a shared life and experiences, sometimes only because we vowed we would. The happy thing is that being in such a commitment - a daily, intentional bond - most often results in joy, comfort, contentment, and happiness beyond that first experienced during romantic attraction. It is a happy and joyful existence for the most part. But the reality is that we all have dark times, individually and as partners. Sometimes it is just hard to be good and giving, sometimes we are needy and selfish. Although this is something that will need attention and work, the commitment to continue loving one another is what carries us through these times.
Marriage is an obligation and it is work, but it is also fun and comfort and joy. After earning a Ph.D. and accomplishing several other personal achievements, I can still say that being a part of a strong and happy marriage is my biggest success, and truly the one that makes my life good.
On a day-to-day basis, being married means sharing life with your very best friend - the person who you are closer to than anyone in the world, the person who knows you and whom you know as intimately as you know yourself. This means playing and having fun when all is well, holding each other close and propping one another up in the challenging times, and celebrating the best times. Being married is sharing - all of the moments of life, from the mundane to the very high peaks to the very low valleys.
It also means giving of yourself. Some consider marrying a sacrifice, or a loss of oneself. I don't see it that way. I see it as growing into a more fully developed person by giving up little individual foibles to be more open to your partner. In exchange, you also gain a fuller partner as s/he gives up his/her own trivialities. True, this doesn't always happen without conflict. But when conflict occurs, the ability to step back and recognize what is most important in the larger picture of your partnership will ultimately lead to an improvement in the marriage. We are all imperfect people, and I believe that a good marriage with the right person helps us to become better.
Although I was asked specifically about marriage, I'd like to share one thought on love, within a marriage. Love is so often misconstrued as a "thing." You have love or you don't, and it is a capricious thing that follows its own whims. But this just isn't true. Love is a verb, it is an action. We choose to love. We may "fall in love" during initial romantic attraction, but continuing to love is a decision we make. We all get older and in doing so, lose some of our young attractiveness, in many ways. But continuing to love one another once the romance has faded is a conscious choice. We go on loving because of commitment, because of a shared life and experiences, sometimes only because we vowed we would. The happy thing is that being in such a commitment - a daily, intentional bond - most often results in joy, comfort, contentment, and happiness beyond that first experienced during romantic attraction. It is a happy and joyful existence for the most part. But the reality is that we all have dark times, individually and as partners. Sometimes it is just hard to be good and giving, sometimes we are needy and selfish. Although this is something that will need attention and work, the commitment to continue loving one another is what carries us through these times.
Marriage is an obligation and it is work, but it is also fun and comfort and joy. After earning a Ph.D. and accomplishing several other personal achievements, I can still say that being a part of a strong and happy marriage is my biggest success, and truly the one that makes my life good.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Once again, into the breach
Dear friends.
It seems I'm down to posting once every 10 weeks. I guess that's how long it takes before I realize that Blogger might cut me off if I don't post something.
There hasn't been a whole lot to say. Lots of teaching, not much spinning or knitting. I did teach myself to tie pearls. It's not hard. I gave away my first efforts before I snapped a pic, so visuals will have to wait until I've finished the one I'm working on for E's wedding.
Oh yes, the wedding! The biggest news since the last report would have to be that E's wedding shower went positively swimmingly! E, fBIL and I went to NY last weekend for the festivities. They were perfect. The venue was great, the guests were marvelous, everyone wore their party manners, and I do believe that fun was had by all. We followed the shower with a barbecue at our mom's house, with all the relatives and future in-laws. It was a helluva time.
Since then, I've wrapped up my spring quarter classes and am about to fling myself into summer quarter, starting tomorrow. One repeat course and one new one - should be a lark. At this point, not having had a week off since, um, December -?- I'm absolutely living for September. Glorious, glorious September. One whole month to recharge. Heh, at the rate I go, my next post probably won't happen until then.
Maybe I'll stop by in August to wish myself a happy 30th.
It seems I'm down to posting once every 10 weeks. I guess that's how long it takes before I realize that Blogger might cut me off if I don't post something.
There hasn't been a whole lot to say. Lots of teaching, not much spinning or knitting. I did teach myself to tie pearls. It's not hard. I gave away my first efforts before I snapped a pic, so visuals will have to wait until I've finished the one I'm working on for E's wedding.
Oh yes, the wedding! The biggest news since the last report would have to be that E's wedding shower went positively swimmingly! E, fBIL and I went to NY last weekend for the festivities. They were perfect. The venue was great, the guests were marvelous, everyone wore their party manners, and I do believe that fun was had by all. We followed the shower with a barbecue at our mom's house, with all the relatives and future in-laws. It was a helluva time.
Since then, I've wrapped up my spring quarter classes and am about to fling myself into summer quarter, starting tomorrow. One repeat course and one new one - should be a lark. At this point, not having had a week off since, um, December -?- I'm absolutely living for September. Glorious, glorious September. One whole month to recharge. Heh, at the rate I go, my next post probably won't happen until then.
Maybe I'll stop by in August to wish myself a happy 30th.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The Plague
It's not just a novel by Camus.
It is also the state of things around here. H has been seriously ill for 11 straight days now. Flu (official, hospital diagnosed, flu virus), pneumonia, and ear infection. Fun stuff. He's been out of work and out of commission for a week and a half.
I managed to be the impervious nurse for the first full week. I felt fine. I was not going to catch this nastiness. Clearly I would have been symptomatic early on.
Yeah, right.
Wednesday morning arrived with full-on cough, sore throat, headache and bodyaches. My turn. Uch.
Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to offer next week.
It is also the state of things around here. H has been seriously ill for 11 straight days now. Flu (official, hospital diagnosed, flu virus), pneumonia, and ear infection. Fun stuff. He's been out of work and out of commission for a week and a half.
I managed to be the impervious nurse for the first full week. I felt fine. I was not going to catch this nastiness. Clearly I would have been symptomatic early on.
Yeah, right.
Wednesday morning arrived with full-on cough, sore throat, headache and bodyaches. My turn. Uch.
Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to offer next week.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Where is my assistant?
Seriously, where has that twit run off to? Doesn't she know I've got a stack of papers to grade, lectures to prepare, a wedding shower to cobble together, an apartment to straighten up and man, I could really use a pedicure!
The quarter is going quite splendidly, to be honest. My students seem to be rather pleasant, bright, and self-sufficient. For those of you who don't spend time with the college population, this is nothing short of miraculous! This weekend's requisite busy-ness is just making me cranky. I've already graded exams for one class... delaying the article summaries that need to be graded for the other one. If only I could trick someone else into grading them!
*E, don't read this!*
I have to be the absolute worst matron of honor in the history of the world. E's shower is less than 2 months away now, and I don't have a venue for it. Oh, there was a venue chosen and about to be scheduled... with a chocolate fountain and all... but the MoB (that would be the Mother of the Bride, who is my own mother as well, but is being foisted upon others for the time-being until I get over being annoyed with her) didn't like the location. Why, oh why, did I capitulate? All of this nonsense could have been done and taken care of months ago. But no, the whining won and the original locale was scrapped. And now I'm desperately looking for a place to host a fancy shower for my darling sister who deserves the world - not my crap-ass attempts at planning a party from 3000 miles away. Seriously... if anyone out there is just dying to help plan a bridal shower in the Lake George, NY area, do let me know!
/end wedding whining.
In other news, H got a new tattoo last weekend.
For those not familiar, it's a line from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Vonnegut passed away on Wednesday, apparently satisfied that someone had tattooed his words into their flesh. RIP K.V.!
You may have noticed that for a blog supposedly about being crafty with fiber-stuffs, I haven't been very prolific in that department. Yes, that's another thing that brings me shame and sadness. I just haven't been very inspired to knit or spin lately. I'm working on a pair of socks, and have been spinning a bit... but I just haven't had the heart for it lately. Hopefully this ennui will be on its way out soon.
I did finish a necklace:
The pendant is from gNeebo on etsy.com. (She has great pendants!)
Alas... back to work now.
The quarter is going quite splendidly, to be honest. My students seem to be rather pleasant, bright, and self-sufficient. For those of you who don't spend time with the college population, this is nothing short of miraculous! This weekend's requisite busy-ness is just making me cranky. I've already graded exams for one class... delaying the article summaries that need to be graded for the other one. If only I could trick someone else into grading them!
*E, don't read this!*
I have to be the absolute worst matron of honor in the history of the world. E's shower is less than 2 months away now, and I don't have a venue for it. Oh, there was a venue chosen and about to be scheduled... with a chocolate fountain and all... but the MoB (that would be the Mother of the Bride, who is my own mother as well, but is being foisted upon others for the time-being until I get over being annoyed with her) didn't like the location. Why, oh why, did I capitulate? All of this nonsense could have been done and taken care of months ago. But no, the whining won and the original locale was scrapped. And now I'm desperately looking for a place to host a fancy shower for my darling sister who deserves the world - not my crap-ass attempts at planning a party from 3000 miles away. Seriously... if anyone out there is just dying to help plan a bridal shower in the Lake George, NY area, do let me know!
/end wedding whining.
In other news, H got a new tattoo last weekend.
For those not familiar, it's a line from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Vonnegut passed away on Wednesday, apparently satisfied that someone had tattooed his words into their flesh. RIP K.V.!You may have noticed that for a blog supposedly about being crafty with fiber-stuffs, I haven't been very prolific in that department. Yes, that's another thing that brings me shame and sadness. I just haven't been very inspired to knit or spin lately. I'm working on a pair of socks, and have been spinning a bit... but I just haven't had the heart for it lately. Hopefully this ennui will be on its way out soon.
I did finish a necklace:
The pendant is from gNeebo on etsy.com. (She has great pendants!)Alas... back to work now.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Not much to say
I thought I'd try something new... posting without waiting 3 months. Except I don't have much to say.
Went back to school yesterday. I'm teaching my usual lab class this quarter - yea for that. Hopefully my students will relax soon enough and we can all have some fun. Next week I'll start teaching my lecture class at the community college. This quarter I'll be teaching at the CC that's about 1 mile from my house. Sure beats last quarter's 40 mile commute! If my students are half as good as last quarter's students, I'll be happy. I did have a great class.
Remember waaaaay back, last summer, when I got 30lbs of alpaca fiber from a friend? Well, after 5 months at the processor (is that normal??) I finally got my roving back.
Four large bags: tan, brown, black and blended. Isn't it pretty? Sadly, it's full of vm, which makes for VERY tedious spinning. However, once picked over a bit, it spins like a soft and silky dream. I love it! I will take me years and years to spin it all. It's positively yummy!
Went back to school yesterday. I'm teaching my usual lab class this quarter - yea for that. Hopefully my students will relax soon enough and we can all have some fun. Next week I'll start teaching my lecture class at the community college. This quarter I'll be teaching at the CC that's about 1 mile from my house. Sure beats last quarter's 40 mile commute! If my students are half as good as last quarter's students, I'll be happy. I did have a great class.
Remember waaaaay back, last summer, when I got 30lbs of alpaca fiber from a friend? Well, after 5 months at the processor (is that normal??) I finally got my roving back.
Four large bags: tan, brown, black and blended. Isn't it pretty? Sadly, it's full of vm, which makes for VERY tedious spinning. However, once picked over a bit, it spins like a soft and silky dream. I love it! I will take me years and years to spin it all. It's positively yummy!
Friday, March 23, 2007
She's aliiiiive!
I am, indeed, alive!
Three months, two classes, 1 nasty bout of insomnia, complete social isolation, utter lack of time for crafting or blogging and 9000 cups of coffee later, here I am.
This blogging hiatus was brought to you by the fact that I taught two new-to-me courses this past quarter - physiological psychology and developmental psychology. One each at two different schools, with two VERY different student populations. It was a 3 month long lesson in student needs/demands, the logistics of lecturing to 350 students 8 times a week, and my own personal limits on the need for sleep/proper nutrition/exercise/social interaction. (Apparently I can go for 3 months with none of the above. Who knew?) Let's just say it was an adventure. Perhaps I'll say more when I can think about it without twitching.
To celebrate spring break, darling Sarah came up to visit. It rained, which kept us from doing much lovely leisurely walking or exploring, but we certainly found ways to fill the time.
Thursday night, Sarah, H and I joined my sister and future BIL for the Brewer's dinner at Ray's Cafe. Many tasty beers were paired with tasty plates. The food was lovely and the company delightful!
On Friday we had dinner and cocktails with the lovely and talented Ms. Rebecca and Ms. Jenn. The food was fantastic, the drinks were enlightening, and we all had a bit too much fun. (Or was that just me?)
Look! Sarah brought me a terrarium! I knew that she and some other friends have been on a terrarium kick lately, and I was thrilled to recieve a wee adorable one of my very own. Isn't that just the cutest little container? And it has shamrocks and a snail shell in it, along with some beautiful moss. My very own tiny garden! I love it.
I haven't had time to spin or do much knitting in the past 3 months, but am hoping to catch up with that, now that I'm a little less overwhelmed with lecture-writing. Stay tuned for updates.
Three months, two classes, 1 nasty bout of insomnia, complete social isolation, utter lack of time for crafting or blogging and 9000 cups of coffee later, here I am.
This blogging hiatus was brought to you by the fact that I taught two new-to-me courses this past quarter - physiological psychology and developmental psychology. One each at two different schools, with two VERY different student populations. It was a 3 month long lesson in student needs/demands, the logistics of lecturing to 350 students 8 times a week, and my own personal limits on the need for sleep/proper nutrition/exercise/social interaction. (Apparently I can go for 3 months with none of the above. Who knew?) Let's just say it was an adventure. Perhaps I'll say more when I can think about it without twitching.
To celebrate spring break, darling Sarah came up to visit. It rained, which kept us from doing much lovely leisurely walking or exploring, but we certainly found ways to fill the time.
Thursday night, Sarah, H and I joined my sister and future BIL for the Brewer's dinner at Ray's Cafe. Many tasty beers were paired with tasty plates. The food was lovely and the company delightful!
On Friday we had dinner and cocktails with the lovely and talented Ms. Rebecca and Ms. Jenn. The food was fantastic, the drinks were enlightening, and we all had a bit too much fun. (Or was that just me?)
Look! Sarah brought me a terrarium! I knew that she and some other friends have been on a terrarium kick lately, and I was thrilled to recieve a wee adorable one of my very own. Isn't that just the cutest little container? And it has shamrocks and a snail shell in it, along with some beautiful moss. My very own tiny garden! I love it.
I haven't had time to spin or do much knitting in the past 3 months, but am hoping to catch up with that, now that I'm a little less overwhelmed with lecture-writing. Stay tuned for updates.
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