I don’t usually post on Thursdays, but I wrote down some thoughts today and figured here’s as good a place as any to share them…

I’m feeling rather introspective today. I spent the day at home. That’s not unusual, since I work from home. But it was a day full of no deadlines. No episode to film or edit, no posts that I had to write, no menu to plan. I kinda puttered around doing little bits of some of those things, and bits of others, just because I wanted to. I’m soaking up this easy-ish day because I know tomorrow’s gonna be busy. Menu planning, groceries, errands, blog posts, preparing for my 30th episode next week. The 30th episode coincides with taking a day off mid week, eeek! Wednesday is one of my busiest days (editing day) and I’m going to be BBQing and watching baseball with friends to celebrate the 4th of July. It’s fine, it should be fun, I’m excited about it… I just have to plan ahead. 🙂

I’ve been thinking about my work today. About my goals, desires, why I do what I do. Sometimes I wonder about who’s reading this blog? Am I inspiring anyone to eat well? Helping anyone to love to cook?

I ate soup for lunch (when I read my chicken scratch notes it looks like I wrote “I ate soap for lunch”), rather than the usual grilled cheese, or almonds and cheese (I found it, unlabeled, in the freezer – it kinda looked like soup, so I heated it up and added corn chips – it was, and it was good). I also did Pilates while I listened to Joy and Tracey podcast, which inspired me to try a scarf in my hair. When I was trying to take a photo of it, I sneezed, and that’s what the photo is of. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Husband just got home and told me, “I saw your sneeze picture. You’re very weird.” I’ve also been thinking about blog conferences that I’d love to attend, cookbooks that I want to read, inspiring people I’d love to meet, family and friends who have supported me with kind comments on the show and the blog, and with guest posts.

I’ve been playing catch up. It’s now after 6pm (yikes, almost 7!) and I’m not quite caught up, but I’m a little bit closer. In case you need to do some catching up, yesterday I posted my 29th episode of A Cooking Show with Rachel O. I made a delicious meal of Roasted Turnips with Bacon, and Almond and Black Pepper Crusted Roast Pork. Oh yum!

Better go make dinner. On our menu for dinner: Salmon with Browned Butter, Crispy Potatoes, and Roasted Green Beans. Ready, set, go!

Hello, Monday.

I will admit, that while I love what I do, Mondays are still difficult. Especially after a wonderful, relaxing weekend like we just had.

We saw Raising Arizona, at Oscars Outdoors with some friends, which was super fun! You can bring a picnic, but they also have food trucks, and then you just hang out on the grass and watch the movie when it gets dark. We’ll definitely be going back. Part of the evening included meeting Damon Lindelof – we’re huge fans of Lost, among other things that he’s done, so this was awesome!!

We relaxed, ate pancakes and leftovers, read our books by the pool, watched lots of old TV shows, and in general did a whole lotta nothin’ the rest of the weekend. It was a nice break after a busy (but good) week.

When this morning rolled around I shouldn’t have been tired, but I just wanted to crawl back into bed. I didn’t. I’m glad. When Husband got up, he came out and asked, “Aren’t we going for a walk?” Normally the dog and I walk in the mornings. Last week I asked Husband if he wanted to come too. He did. I was pleasantly surprised that he wanted to continue the walks this week. Last week, on the first walk, I said, “Isn’t it fun that we’re walking together?” I think my question was met with a grunt/grumble/scowl combination. Naturally, I assumed that he wouldn’t want to keep walking with me.

After our walk, I was supposed to do a bit of cleaning (since we threw out the “to do” lists this weekend, it meant doing them when I normally would have been working, one of the benefits of working from home… sometimes it’s not a benefit – when there are dishes to be done and they just stare at me until I finally get up and do them). 🙂 Instead of getting to the cleaning though, I went out and played in my garden. I pulled some dead plants, harvested a few carrots, staked my tomatoes (which HORRAY HORRAY have fruit on them, instead of just flowers that are dropping, thanks to a suggestion from Diana, to gently shake the flowers daily), and picked the caterpillar eaten kale (sad). Even though my garden is a tiny apartment garden, it always does me good to spend time out there. I love digging, planting, watering, and seeing the progress of the plants (especially those planted from seeds).

On Saturday, inspired by the fries we had last weekend at Public House, I made some Crispy Spiced Potatoes with Brown Sugar. They weren’t exactly the same, but they were good none-the-less. We ate them with Roasted Romano Beans, Fried Eggs, and Peaches. ‘Twas a yummy, simple meal.

Hope you’re not having a case of the Mondays. If you are, take heart, the day is almost over. Maybe put someone’s stapler in Jell-o, or just take the stapler altogether. 😉

 

Crispy Spiced Potatoes with Brown Sugar

Last modified on 2012-06-26 00:13:11 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

I have a section on here called “Ask Rachel“, where you can ask me culinary questions. I might not always know the answers, but I’ll do my best to figure it out.

The other day, Jen asked about getting the cheese sauce for Mac and Cheese smooth and creamy. I told her I’d share my favorite Mac and Cheese recipe on here today.

Here’s something I’ve learned in my Mac and Cheese making experience: Milk will break (curdle) if it’s too hot. This will result in a grainy, lumpy, unappealing sauce (it’s not inedible, it just doesn’t look or feel nice). The solution (that works for me): Make the roux and sloooooowly whisk in the liquid (stock, milk… whatever you’re using). Heat until it’s steaming (maybe a few small bubbles are forming around the edge of the pan). Turn off heat. Whisk in cheese.

Mmmm cheese.

I’m including two recipes today: Extra Creamy Mac and Cheese, and Pizza Pasta, which I made with leftover ECM&C two Fridays ago, when I hadn’t made any pizza dough for Pizza Friday. My cousin, Kate, asked for this recipe after I posted a photo of it. I’m happy to oblige.

To the first, a basic recipe, you could add things like: spinach, puréed roasted squash, roasted garlic, fresh herbs, asparagus, ground beef, shredded chicken, sausage, bacon, cannellini beans (whole or puréed – other beans would work well too), roasted bell peppers, roasted green beans, roasted broccoli… the options are pretty endless. If you’re adding things like veggies that need to be cooked, add them with the onions. The amount of oil might need to be adjusted when making the roux. The important thing in this step is that the flour and oil quantities are equal. If you’re using meat, cook it separately, and mix it in after you’ve turned off the heat and added the cheese. If you’re using roasted veggies, or fresh herbs (the delicate ones, like basil and parsley) stir them in when you’d add the spinach. You could top it with reduced balsamic vinegar, crostini, toasted croutons, bacon…

To the second, be creative… add things you’d add to pizza. You could add olives, green pepper, tomato, zucchini, broccoli…

Ooh boy I’m hungry! Can’t wait for pizza for dinner tonight!

Happy Friday, Friends!!

Extra Creamy Mac and Cheese

Last modified on 2012-06-22 20:15:18 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Pizza Pasta

Last modified on 2012-06-22 20:15:14 GMT. 0 comments. Top.