Friday, July 26, 2013

5 completely random tidbits about my life

1) Ari pees on cue now (well, occasionally) on the potty!  Thank goodness.  I'm still hoping to have him potty trained by the time this baby is born.  I think it may actually be realistic at this point.

2) I wake up singing the Dinosaur Train theme song.  I don't know why.  It's incredibly insanely addictive.

3) Just finished The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi for a change of pace.  It's a real-life true crime novel about a serial killer in Florence in the 1970s and 1980s.  I got it as a gift, I'm guessing because the gift-giver thought it was a historical fiction novel based on the cover.  But I read it anyway... not quite my style, and I wouldn't highly recommend it... but it did give me a new appreciation for investigative journalism.

4) Since the senior rabbi has been at camp and then on sabbatical, I've been leading every Friday night service for the summer.  And tonight is my service before she comes back,  I can't believe it! The cantor is on vacation this week, so I've already led my last service with her.  I feel like we finally got a groove down, and now it's over.  Boo.  But still, what a joy to be able to lead for as long as I did.

5) I made Kraft mac n'cheese for the kids, and for once, it wasn't the 3 1/2 minute cup - it was the box version, 20 minute-boiling-noodle deal.  I wondered aloud how one prepares real mac'n'cheese and Robin told me his grandmother used to make it with cheddar cheese on the stovetop, or sometimes put it as a casserole in the oven, and that he and his brother would turn up their noses to it cuz it wasn't Kraft with orange powder.  But he also said he has no idea how she made it. So this is my new quest: anyone have a good recipe I can learn? Keep in mind I'm not exactly a cook, but I do follow directions well.  There are about a trillion recipes online, but I'd rather make something that has proven success from one of you.

4 comments:

  1. "Almost-as-good-as-kraft-cuz-you-can't-get-chalav-yisroel-orange-powder Mac n Cheese"

    Ingredients:
    -1 box Elbow Macaroni
    -1/2 to 1 cup of Milk
    -Two to three triangles of spreadable cheese (known as "Schmerling's Cheese" in the frum community - not sure what it's equivalent would be in the normal world, but it comes in small triangles and is somewhere between cream cheese and the real stuff - so I imagine that you could figure out a substitute if necessary ;)
    -Shredded cheddar cheese
    -Feta cheese (optional)
    -Garlic powder
    -Salt and pepper

    1. Boil pasta like normal, drain
    2. Mix in schmerling's cheese until mostly melted, then add milk and spices
    3. Add in shredded cheddar (eyeball it, but you always need more than you think you should) and whatever other types of soft cheese you have laying around.
    4. Serve hot. This is REAL cheese and will congeal and get icky-looking once it's cooled.


    All-in-all, if you lay out your ingredients before hand, it doesn't take that much longer than the box-ed kind... and I'm sure there are those who would say that it tastes better but, honestly, there ain't nothing like kraft mac n cheese :)

    p.s. HI!

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  2. I've tried this one .. it's good
    http://allrecipes.com/recipe/old-school-mac-n-cheese/detail.aspx
    has video's too :)

    S.Mackenzie

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  3. Ooh, Chana and Sandi - these sound good! I'll have to try them out next weekend when I have time.

    And p.s. Hiiiii back! :)

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