Macaroni and Cheese, Please

Do you remember that advertisement jingle? It is niggling in my mind but I can't find the source. I'd venture a guess and say that is was probably a Kraft mac and cheese advertisement. What other kinds of mac and cheese are there besides Kraft and store brands? 

But before we get to my world class mac and cheese recipe (insert unladylike snort here), how about a life lately update?

It has been colder and drier here in the Mitten. The trees passed the threshed from colorful to rusty brown. There are more and more bare trees, and more and more leaf covered lawns.

It was a much better week for me this week than last. If you are my FB friend, you know that I was struggling. I was whipped from the conference. Just exhausted. This girl doesn't do multiple 4-5 hours of sleep nights very well. Plus we had two drizzly grey days. And my mood was sunk. Friday I spent in bed, reading and crying. I'm not joking. Friends prayed for me and counseled me to take a day off and rest. To let go. It was what I needed.

Like I said in this post, the clamoring voices aren't just my voices, but the voice I have to be listening for is God's voice. Of peace and "come unto me" rest.

Mr. Hippie is good at holding his girls when they need to cry. Even holding me, if need be.

We have completed 10 weeks of school! I can't believe how quickly September and October flew past. Now we are marking off the days until Thanksgiving, a trip to TX and then hauling out the advent calendar.

Just.that.fast.

I have so many things running through my mind right now. I am planning my first ever business venture. It is a big deal. There are lots of technical details to be thought out and executed. And technical is not my forte. I will hopefully be announcing some things come the first of the year. Pray that I keep going and don't give up because it is a lot of work. It is a lot of work in the set up, but a very manageable amount once I get it off the ground.

Now aren't you curious?!

Meres has a new job. Putting the silverware away after it has been washed in the dishwasher. She has decided that the spoons don't belong in the slot they have been in for over 12 years. They go where the forks were. Basically everything has moved over a slot. Which is throwing us all for a loop when we reach without looking into the drawer for a spoon, but end up with a knife.

LC also has a new job. Scrubbing the toilets. She has been begging me to let her scrub the toilets for a while now. It even induced her to eat her oatmeal in record time this week. So she could scrub the toilets. We-eird. 

So, who has a go-to recipe? A recipe that is quick and everyone likes it? A recipe that you always have the ingredients for? A recipe that speaks goodness to your belly?

For the Barefoot Hippies, that recipe is Macaroni and Cheese. It is nothing fancy, but it is amazing. We eat this entire recipe in one fell swoop. Which is so good, but so not good for you. But, you know, it is packed with carbs and protein and is great runner food.

My mom used to (actually probably still does) make this with whole wheat noodles. I'll have you know that whole wheat noodles are an abomination. Mac and cheese is like cinnamon rolls-they aren't supposed to be healthy. So don't try and make them healthy, you will ruin them. 

The tomato adds a unique pop of flavor. And it's the healthy component. I add the tomato whenever I have fresh on hand.

Macaroni and Cheese, the Barefoot Hippie Way
16 ounces pasta (I prefer rigatoni or cavatappi)
1 large onion, chopped
3 T butter
3 T flour
pepper
1 t salt
3-3/4 cups milk
6 cups shredded cheese-cheddar, colby, feta, monterey jack, gruyere
          *use all or mostly cheddar or colby, and add up to a cup each of one of more of the others
2 medium tomatoes, sliced (optional)

Cook pasta according to packaged directions. Drain. Place in a greased 5-6 quart casserole dish.

While the pasta is cooking, sauté the onion in the butter over medium heat until softened. Add the flour to coat the onion, the immediately add the milk. Whisk until smooth. Heat until thickened. Add black pepper, salt and cheese and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and pour over noodles.

Arrange tomatoes over all if desired, and bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, until the sides are golden.

Btw, this is amazing with my tomato soup. (here) Just sayin'.

What are you eating this weekend!

Wine and Cheese

There are various blogs I read for various reasons. I read Design Mom to be inspired. Ascetically inspired. Between Design Mom and Anna@IHOD, I get my daily dose of beauty.

So, when I saw this glorious article on Design Mom about cheese tasting, I knew I had found the theme for our cabin fever party this winter.

Mr. Hippie and I invited over 20 friends, plus their off spring, and we committed to buying a variety of cheese to taste. We asked everyone to bring an accompaniment for the cheese, and a bottle of wine or fruit juice-depending on their alcohol inhibitions.

We ended up with a great spread-6 varieties of cheese, lots of crackers and some great bread, chocolate dipped strawberries, dried fruit, olives, prosciutto, salami, summer sausage, sun dried tomatoes, jam, and ???

Our cheese buying guide was the rhyme, "something old, something new, something goat and something blue." The 6 cheeses we picked were

Old:

cheddar-plain old, sharp Wisconsin cheddar. I picked it for the color.

manchego-Spanish. Sheep cheese. Very regimented in production. Milder flavored and went very nicely with kalamata olives.

dubliner-Irish. (yay! for Irish-ness in March) This is a cheese made by only one company. No preservatives.

New:

queso fresco-Mexican. Obviously. I am not usually a fan of queso, but I liked the flavor of this. It was similar to mozzarella. The meats really shone with this one.

Goat:

chèvre: the most popular form of goat cheese. It has a tangy flavor. Similar to cream cheese. We all liked it with the sun-dried tomatoes.

Blue:

Danish blue: it was blue and it was Danish. It did add a nice strain of color to the board. And it paired nicely with peach jam. And I have over a pound left over. Can't say it was Mr. Popular here. Oh well. Blue cheese on salad anyone?

We ended up with several bottles of great wine. Reds, and whites. And some Belgian ale or something. Not my thing. But, it went fast. 

Our goal was, "something old, something new. something goat and something blue."
We were able to find at least one of each,
but we noticed there were a whole lot more aged cheeses at the store
than any other kind.

the Danish blue was nicely paired with homemade peach jam.

amazing chocolate dipped strawberries. The perfect ending to the cheese.

the spread

finishing touches

goat cheese was accompanied by sun dried tomatoes.

a whole lot of stemware. so pretty.

gorgeous. food art.

some of the bottled product...

Now that you have seen the pictures, I can say, this beauty had nothing to do with me. I contacted my mother-daughter duo friends, Ann and Hannah, and asked them to make this party a sophisticated event. Decorating is not my strong suit. I am much better at organizing, facilitating and cleaning. If it had been me setting it all up, the cheese would have been on one board in the middle of the table. With everything else just kind of plopped around. No joke.

I think they did an amazing job. I thought everything looked so pretty. They went with a woody and rustic theme. They came early to set up, washed most of the dishes when we were done, and brought more than their share of wine and sides.

I love it when everyone can get together and use the gifts God has given them! Even for such a minor and fun thing as a cheese tasting party.

We ended up with around 20 adults, and 4 or 5 kids on top of ours. The kids banged around, eating cheese sticks, and several pounds of not dipped strawberries, and a good portion of crackers too. The adults mingled and laughed and talked. And it was a great time to just reconnect with everyone.

I thought it was funny when I read Nadine's party post this morning. She talked of cleaning and broken chairs, good friends, and laughter. I think this weekend was perfect for hanging out.

One thing I have learned in all my years of hosting get together is that it is better to save your cleaning until afterwards. Which is totally counter-culture. I mean, we dusted the baseboards before company came growing up, so they wouldn't think we were complete animals. Just kidding. Though we did dust the baseboards, and we did always give my mom a hard time about having to clean for company.

Poor mom...

Anyway...I say-clean when people leave. Dust the obvious, wipe down the sinks, and where the boys missed on the toilets. And leave the rest. Then you can let go, and not worry about spills, or crumbs, dirt or anything else.

Because entertaining is messy. It is work. Things often get broken. Not always by the guests. (I lost another piece of stemware in the ensuing cleanup. Freckles broke it and looked horrified.)

But, it is worth it. Don't ever forget that. Some mess and work is worth the effort of connecting with people. Investing in others' lives.

How can you open your home this month? Maybe not for a huge party. Maybe just for coffee with a friend. Tell me about it in the comments.