Comfort food…some days, you just have to have it.  Like today, for instance.  Teen Daughter#2 came home from school in tears, because she just found out today that applications to run for Student Council are due tomorrow, and that the process involves an interview as well as a marketing/publicity plan.  And she received only an 88 on her algebra test.  AND her Dad and I are mean because we won’t sign up to have an exchange student from Austria live with us over the summer.  *sigh* 

I nixed the meal that I had already planned and made homemade macaroni and cheese, just for my lovely younger daughter.  Do you live with teen girls?  Do you NEED some gooey, cheese comfort?  Here you go.

2 lb. of dry pasta, any shape that tickles your fancy

1/2 c butter

5 1/2 c milk

1/2 c flour

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

nutmeg, just a pinch

2 tsp salt – to taste

ground pepper – to taste

2 c shredded chipolte white cheddar cheese

2 c shredded gruyere cheese

1/2 c parmesean or romano cheese

Note on Cheese – If you are using the chipolte cheddar, then omit the cayenne pepper from the recipe.  You can use just about any kind of hard cheese you like – cheddar, gruyere, swiss, whatever is on hand. Don’t have any gruyere?  Substitute all cheddar.  Last night, I used a block of chipolte cheddar and a wedge of gouda, because that is what was in the fridge.

Cook pasta per the instructions on the box it came in…but only for half of the time.  Your pasta should be soft on the outside and still very firm on the inside. Drain, and pour into a very large bowl.

Warm the milk in the microwave, until pleasantly warm.  You don’t want to boil it, just get it to the point where it isn’t cold.  Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add the flour all at once and whisk.  Continue to whisk and cook for about a minute.  S..L..O..W..L..Y pour the warm milk into the flour mixutre, whisking the entire time.  This is very important to ensure that you have a nice, smooth sauce and that it doesn’t burn into a gooey mass on the bottom of your pan.  When the mixture is completely hot and bubbly, remove from the stovetop.  Stir in all of the remaining ingredients except for the parmesean until cheese is completely melted. Pour over the partially cooked macaroni and stir together.  It will appear a little soupy – that’s okay!

Dump the entire mixture into a buttered 9×13 baking dish, and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until the pasta is tender and the entire dish is hot and bubbly, with the edges browned.

Serve to your sad child on her favorite Peter Cottontail plate and the silly little silver mug she got when she was a baby.

All will be well.  

  It’s Friday, which means it’s time for Hillary’s Friday Favorites Blog Carnival!  Hop over to The Other Mama and join the fun.

A sea of blue. 

Ladybird Johnson is a Texas Legend by all standards.  While we are filled with admiration at her guts for supporting desegregation and for her amazing dimplomacy during the Johnson’s White House years, we love her for her environmental work, especially for establishing programs to protect and propogate native Texas wildflowers.  (You can learn more at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.)

No respectable Texas home would be complete without its own patch of blue.  I’ll leave you with a snapshot of the bluebonnets in my front yard.

Bless You, Ladybird Johnson! 

I have joined Hip Mountain Mama’s One Small Change challenge for 2010. The challenge is to make one change each month leading up to Earth Day, April 22. It can be small or it can be huge, something I will do to make a positive green impact and follow through with it.

Composting is the transformation of plant matter through decomposition into a soil-like material called compost.  Insects and earthworms, and microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi help in transforming the material into compost. Composting is a natural form of recycling – and a prime example of Lavoisier’s principle of the conservation of mass – it is never lost or gained, only rearranged. Now that I think of it, it also aptly demonstrates the first law of thermodynamics – Energy is never lost or gained, it just changes form.

I digress, and my geekness is showing.  Why is composting so important?  To start, yard and food wastes make up approximately 30% of the waste stream in the United States. Composting could reduce the amount of municipal solid waste by almost one fourth.  The standard means of disposal for most yard and food waste are landfilling and incineration. These practices are not as environmentally or economically sound as composting. Yard waste which is landfilled breaks down very slowly due to the lack of oxygen and it produces methane gas and acidic leachate, both which cause other environmental problems.  Landfilling organic wastes also takes up space needed for other wastes that needs to be in a landfilled. Incinerating moist organic waste is inefficient.  It results in poor combustion, which disrupts the energy generation of the facility and increases more pollutants that need to be removed by the pollution-control devices.

Composting is a more effective and less expensive means of managing organic waste, and it provides a nutrient-rich soil amendment! Compost added to gardens improves soil structure, texture, aeration, and water retention. When mixed with compost, clay soils are lightened, and sandy soils retain water better. Mixing compost with soil also contributes to erosion control, soil fertility, proper pH balance, and healthy root development in plants.

You can compost all of your kitchen waste – everything except meat and dairy products.  When combined with complete recycling of plastics, paper and glass, you are left with very little garbage from your household that heads to the landfill!  For more information on how to get started, visit Compost Instructions for a complete list of resources and simple instructions.

Composting is not without some inherent danger, however.  Remember that part a few paragraphs back about “insects” breaking down the organic matter?  There are some creepy critters who like to take up residence and overwinter in our compost bin – like this ‘little’ guy.  He’s a stag beetle larvae.  I found him when spreading compost this past weekend.  I put him gently back in the bottom of the bin when I was done, so he can finish mutating into an fierce warrior beetle.