So, it's after midnight and I'm at work....  I've been knitting quite a bit lately and will soon have some pictures and details but for now, just a quick recipe... I've been teaching Paul how to prepare and cook a few basic but very convenient recipes and he's become an EXPERT at making poached eggs!  We often have "breakfast" for supper and he's usually in charge of those meals. This week, I thought that we could move past breakfast to lunch and that showing him how to make macaroni and cheese from scratch would be a great idea so that he could prepare it for himself and Skylar when I was working nights.  I gave him an ingredient list: onion, unsalted butter, flour, milk, cheese and elbow macaroni.  "That's it?!" he says.  "Yup!" I says.  When he asked what kind of cheese to buy, I explained: "Oh, it doesn't really matter as long as you go for a medium flavoured cheese with an equally medium firmness and excellent melting properties."  His response: "phmf. is THAT all?!"  I then explained that any medium white or yellow cheese would be fine: Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Fruilano...  and even Gruyere for the brave, but to stay away from harder cheeses and that Mozarella would work but it's SUPER melty and stringy and can be hard to deal with.  So, off to the supermarket he went; list in hand, recycled grocery bag in tow and a fierce determination in mind. Aaaaaanyways.... due to some unavoidable scheduling conflicts, I ended up making the mac n' cheese on my own while he was at work.  I had planned on jazzing it up with some cooked and seasoned ground beef but when it came to putting it all together, I couldn't do it!  I chickened out!  I couldn't screw with the dish's integrity so I left the meat out.  Good news:  it was yummy.  Bad news:  Skylar didn't like it.  It's hard to compete with Kraft Dinner.  I tried telling her it was better 'cause it was made with real cheese buuuuuuut....  for a picky seven-year old, real cheese is like a sardine sandwich: a grown-up food and not to be messed with.  (We'll save the sardine sandwich story for another day).   So, for those interested in a hearty, easy as shit, home-cooked cheesefest, follow these few easy steps! In a large pot, boil salted water and cook 1 regular bag of elbow macaroni as per package instructions (I totally overcooked mine so it looked like potatoes n' cheese).  Drain the pasta and use the same pot to make the sauce. •dice up some onion (size and quantity dependant on love of onions, but usually 1 medium per batch works) •sweat the onion in a tiny bit of oil (canola, sunflower, grapeseed or a light olive oil) •when the onion is transluscent, add 1/4 cup of butter (that is correct) and melt over low to medium heat •when the butter is completely melted, add all purpose flour to it, 1 tablespoon at a time until all the butter is absorbed and the mixture comes off the sides of the pot when stirred •cook this mixture on medium heat while stirring it around continuously; don't let it darken or burn •add about 1 litre of milk, in three increments, whisking between each to avoid lumps •cook the onion, butter, flour and milk mixture over medium heat, stirring often until the sauce thickens to a very loose pancake batter consistency •add grated cheese, as much or as little as you want, but the more the better •season with sea salt, black pepper, grated nutmeg and a splash of white balsamic vinegar if you have some *combine the cooked macaroni and sauce and top with anything crunchy (I used untoasted panko crumbs as they do brown in the oven). •cook in an uncovered casserole dish (you might need 2 dishes for this size batch) at 425 F until top is golden brown n' bubbly-yummy!

welcome back!

That's a "welcome back" to myself on behalf of myself, welcoming myself back to blogging! I've not posted in ages things have changed beaucoup! firsties, i'm not married anymore, secondsies, i don't cook for a living anymore and thirdsies,... well.... let's leave some things for another time! I've mostly decided to get back to it so that I can continue documenting and recording craft and cooking projects. Since i've not been cooking for pay, i've been able to turn into a hobby again and attempt some of the culinary challenges of my youth in the comfort of my own home, with nobody standing over my shoulder, judging my every slice and my every stir... have lots of pictures from the last year but mostly will be sticking to knitting and cooking projects. Unfortunately, i can't use the ipad to upload pictures so a bientot until i get around to using the actual computer to do any blogging!