Our phone rang at 5:20 this morning - nothing, really, an accidental "pocket call" from Nick as he was heading home from some all-nighter, but it had us up and at it very early. Ted's off now - his taxi came at 7 to take him to the airport for his weekly Ottawa run. I don't much like getting up this early.
Today's a stay-in day with eavestrough guys and upholstery people coming at various times, then out for a quick grocery errand after 5.
My friend, Marilyn, is at her cottage 2 hours south of Halifax and finally got a land phone installed there!! Yay!! We talked for half an hour last evening and she has promised to e mail me photos of the place as the local library now has 10 computers. Her place sits atop a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, but after that image, all these years I've had no idea what it's like. I'm really looking forward to those photos.
Interview today for a position in our marketing department, so I'm all dressed up, woohoo for me.... did I mention I HATE dressing up? Collared shirts, dressed pants, ties.... all modern ways of creating a collective society of drones, no individuality! Strike down the dress code, it's evilllllll!!!!
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"If you were looking for something clever or witty or funny here, you've come to the wrong place."
Best of luck for the interview, Bran! Let us know how it went.
The dress code seems to come and go, non? Where Ted works, it's all over the map. Some men dress in ties and jackets, some wear whatever. The women are about the same, with some of them dressing in conservative skirts and tops and others in outfits I'd deem only appropriate for the beach, if that. C'est la vie, lol.
Bran, you cleaned up pretty nicely for your wedding last summer, didn't you? How's the hair? Still longish?
I hate dressing up too, where I work almost everyone wears jeans. I feel bad though. But on the days when I wear slacks or put on make up every one asks me what the occasion is. I just need to get nicer jeans. Mine are a bit worn.
Good luck on the interview Brandon. Let us know how it went. Where have you been lately anyways, busy bee eh?
Tomorrow we head out on our trek across the country. I haven't picked up any books on tapes yet but think I will hit the library tonight. You know what though, i don't know if I even have a CD player or tape player. I just have the IPOD. Wonder if I could burn a book onto the IPOD.
I think I am just going to hijack Jolene's game boy. As long as I take Dramamine I should be able to play it okay. I need Dramamine anyways. Today is my last day of work for a couple weeks and unfortunately there is nothing to do so the day will drag and drag on forever.
We were up early too, KaeEll, although not as dramatically awakened as you were! There's nothing to get the heart pounding quite like a phone call at an hour when phones aren't supposed to ring...
We got back from NC on Sunday, and since then our youngest has been busy, busy, busy, so I haven't seen as much of her as I would have liked! Her brother came over for dinner last night, and we sat out on the deck with our meal. Our son suddenly felt a bit unwell, and had to go lie down, but then returned to the table to finish his meal. He'd had a long day yesterday, and I think that he was exhausted, and it all hit him at once.
This morning, our daughter had to catch an early train to NYC, so Jim drove her into DC, then came home again to have his shower, and get ready for work. He figured it would be easier to do it that way rather than to have both of them rushing around, trying to get out of here in a timely manner.
I'm exhausted!
We had a wonderful time in NC, but it was a roundtrip drive in a compressed amount of time, and there was a lot of prep work to do for our daughter's party. Also, my husband, son, and I were staying at a nearby hotel, and there happened to be a HUGE family reunion going on there! Five generations of the same family. They were all very nice, but at night they got their groove on, and partied in the halls at inappropriate hours. As in after midnight...!!!
So, we were zombies by the time we left NC for home.
And, I've had to sacrifice having a car because Arizona-daughter's car is, well, in Arizona! Consequently, she's been using mine to catch up with friends, and run personal errands, etc. Anyway, I've been somewhat stranded...
Then we had issues about dinner last night. She had wanted to go out, but her brother had requested that we have dinner at home, and that I make a special macaroni-and-cheese dish that he loves. Daughter turned up her nose, saying that she eats mac-and-cheese almost everyday with her little charge. I explained that this wasn't microwave mac-and-cheese, but something completely different, but that I would make a second side for her. She usually turns her nose up at foods that aren't healthful anyway, so I thought she'd like tabbouleh.
So, I made the mac-and-cheese, the tabbouleh, chicken in BBQ sauce, and dilled green beans.
Daughter ate everything, and the wretched child asked for seconds on one thing: the macaroni and cheese!
Smack!
GOOD LUCK WITH THE INTERVIEW, BRANDON!!!
Daughter ate everything, and
-- Edited by Moore ideas at 09:00, 2008-07-16
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
They eat..... GRAAAAAAINNNNSSS! GRRRRRAAAAAIIINNSSS!
There, there's your joke. LOL.
Yeah my hair hasn't been cut since.... the last time it got all cut off, so last year. I'll see about snagging a picture today and see about getting posted here.
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"If you were looking for something clever or witty or funny here, you've come to the wrong place."
Moore, what's your mac and cheese recipe? I used to make it a long time ago, totally lost the knack for it. I made Kraft Dinner for Vanessa the other day - el puko, non?
Tony and Mike are now in NYC too! Actually, they're in Garden City, Long Island, but head into Manhattan evenings to see friends. eat dinner, etc.
KaeEll, the next time you want to do a quick mac-and-cheese for Vanessa, use Stouffers. It's much better than the Kraft goo...
The recipe I used was the winning recipe on Good Morning America from a few months ago. It uses three cheeses, an entire head of roasted garlic, and the topping is a combination of bread crumbs, crumbled bacon, and parmesan cheese! It makes a ton of mac-and-cheese, but if you're going to go to the trouble, you might as well make a lot, and have the leftovers! The prep (frying the bacon, roasting the garlic, grating the cheese, etc.) is the longest part of this recipe, but once it's assembled, it only bakes for fifteen minutes (covered), and then bakes another few minutes uncovered so that the top can brown.
Here it is:
Best Mac 'n' Cheese Ever from Laura Macek Ingredients:
1 head of garlic, roasted 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 pound Cavatappi pasta (or regular elbow) ½ pound sliced Applewood smoked bacon 1 ½ cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed) ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 8 tablespoons butter ¼ cup minced shallots ½ cup flour 1 quart whole milk 6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, grated ½ teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
To roast garlic: Slice ½ inch off the top of the entire head of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap garlic head tightly in a square of heavy foil and roast until tender about 45 minutes. Remove garlic pulp by squeezing garlic head. Smash cloves with a fork to form a paste.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
Cook bacon completely. Drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Crumble bacon when cool.
To make topping: Combine breadcrumbs, crumbled bacon, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Sauté shallots over low heat in reserved bacon fat for one minute. Add remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and continue to sauté shallots in butter and bacon fat until translucent.
Add flour and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to medium. Stirring constantly with a whisk, add milk and roasted garlic paste.
Cook until sauce is thickened (coats the back of a spoon). Remove sauce from heat then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, Gruyere and Cheddar cheeses. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
Stir in cooked pasta. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle topping to cover entire top. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until sauce is bubbly and topping is browned. Enjoy!
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
I love the Stouffer's mac and cheese too. I was at son's house babysitting while d-i-l took baby to emerg for a goose egg on head courtesy of an airborne heavy toy, and d-i-l asked me to cook the Kraft for Vanessa's dinner. Gyick. Baby is fine.
I gained five pounds reading that recipe! I'll try it on my guys next Sunday with a side of bbq'd sumpthin' protein. Thanks so much for posting that. It's printed up now. The garlic surprises me, but it must add that flavour so many other recipes don't have. Yumm-o. I don't think we can get that brand of bacon here, but I'm sure any decent brand will do. LOL, I bet there won't be ANY leftovers!
I can't find that bacon either, but just use regular. It's fine...
The only thing that I'd suggest is to either make a little extra sauce, or make it a little bit thinner. OR you could cook your macaroni past the al dente stage. I've found that the pasta absorbs a lot of the sauce.
Yeah -- reading the recipe will most definitely add five pounds!
__________________
"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
I think people should dress nicely for work, but then the idea was drilled in my head from "career ed" class in high school and a vocational training school I attended my senior year.
I wore ear rings to a mock interview and they took points away because "the ear rings were too big" Ok so they were the size of a quarter. THAT was the conservative 80's
I should add - business attire was conservative, Madonna was not
My kids like the cheapo mac n cheese, yuck is right. Can't believe they serve it at applebees for something like 3.99 but you can make it for 50 cents. I had the adult version of mac and cheese at applebees today, it was pretty good.
I get to take Gabi to see High school Musical today at the local University! My friend's brother is the drama director! So he's going to get us free tix to every play~
