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.

In anticipation of the possibility that our internet will still be out of service on Monday, when it comes time for my next blog post, I’m using my thumbs and typing on my iPhone. When they gave us the news that they’d have to send someone out on Monday, my heart sank a little. No internet!? That means we can’t watch a movie with our Pizza Friday pizza, we can’t check our email, we can’t stalk people on Facebook, I can’t post the guest post that Elizabeth wrote for me, we can’t stream MLB.com…  Oh wait, we can do these things, ON OUR PHONES!!!

We totally live in the future! I mean, yes, technically every new day is us living in the future, but that’s not what I mean.

Did you ever think, back when you were watching Saved by the Bell and wishing you had a cell phone like Zack Morris, that you’d one day be checking Facebook on it? (Side note, I can still sing the entire SBTB theme song, I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit.) If you were like me, you might not have had the Internet at all. You would have had no idea that Apple was anything other than a fruit. And, if someone had asked you if you were on Facebook you might have asked if that was a medication or if they’d sneezed (unless you were MZ, then you might have been writing the name over and over in your school notebook). My point is simply that the technology we have today is amazing! “Yes, I love technology. Not as much as you, you see. But still I love technology. Always and forever.”

I’m beginning this post on Friday afternoon. This weekend we’re going to get out of town with some friends. My goal for the weekend, aside from going wine tasting for the first time, is to take some cool photos on my phone and finish this post.

To start the weekend off, we had Pizza Friday… Since it’s summer time, we have lots of squash, zucchini, and basil. So I made a pizza out of it. It was delicious!! We ate the whole thing, just the two of us. That’s not an uncommon occurrence in this household. (The recipe is at the end of the post.) We watched A Good Year while we ate. My favorite line (regarding his uncle’s memories), “not good, they’re grand” reminds me of my memories of Oma and Opa. My second favorite line is, “McDonalds in Avignon, Fish & Chips in Marseilles” I want to go to France!

This portion is being written on Sunday evening. We’ve been home for about an hour. I just closed Calico Joe and wiped the tears from my eyes. It has left me with a slightly sad, nostalgic, yet contented feeling. The whole weekend has, minus the sad. It was anything but. What it was was a refreshing 31 hour get away. It felt like we were gone for a week, in a good way. The best way. It was filled with laughter, delicious food, bocce ball, wine tasting, smiles, antiques, House Hunters, a cheap hotel, cool breezes, a picnic, a gazebo, lazy sunshine, a good book, fun photos, inside jokes, deepened relationships, good music… It was just what we needed. I’m sure Husband would agree.

Arriving at the vineyard. Windows down, breeze flowing in.

We walked from one vineyard to the next. Beautiful!

Sipping Sangria in the shade. Best Sangria I’ve ever had. Husband got attacked by one fire ant.

Discussing Bocce Ball strategy.

Our trip’s mascot, Shmebulock*. He tried to get into all the photos.

Best Reuben. Best fries (they had cinnamon, brown sugar, and other spices on them). We had fries 3 times that day. Chick-fil-A, Truffle Scented Fries, and these amazingly spiced ones. I didn’t realized this until we were eating the last set.

Picnicking on a hot day. Yummy food, wonderful company.

Husband insisted that we take another one with me in it. When you’re the photographer, it looks like you weren’t on the trip. See, I was there!

Relaxing with our books/napping before we headed home.

We stopped for gas and Husband bought us Pop Ups! I’d never had one before. I’VE BEEN MISSING OUT!! I love Rainbow Sherbet! We had it often in the summer when I was growing up. I love how tastes and smells can bring back so many memories.

We were greeted by our dog, who missed us and wagged his tail furiously at our return. I’m sure he didn’t miss us too much though. His friend, Nathan, brought him treats.

I have to go return my library book now. It’s due today. I also need to call my Dad. Then we’re going to watch the last two Harry Potter movies. Great ending to a fantastic weekend.

Zucchini, Gruyère, and Basil Pizza

Last modified on 2012-06-18 17:40:13 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Sent from my iPhone

(*Disclaimer: I’m a fan of Gravity Falls and I like Shmebulock. I’m not an employee of Disney or in any way associated with the show. I just think it’s funny.)

Did you have a good weekend? I hope you did! I hope you had fun with friends and family and that you ate yummy food. It would be fine if you got your chores done too, but that’s not nearly as fun, so let’s not talk about it, OK?

Some randomness…

We had a nice weekend.

We ate out for our friend, Nolan’s birthday on Sat. I had some Mahi Mahi, which I’ve never had before. It was yummy!

Two sets of friends had baby girls, one day apart. I can’t wait to meet them!! (Update!! I have now met one small newborn… OH MY!! She is cute!!! I held her for a really long time. We’re friends.)

Husband saw Prometheus in theaters twice. I saw it zero times. We’re both happy with our choices.

On Friday, since I didn’t have any pizza dough made and since I did have leftover Mac and Cheese, I made Pizza Pasta. It was delicious. We ate it ALL. I will post the recipe soon, since my cousin, Kate, asked for it. 🙂

Husband and I finally joined the 21st century and got iPhones. I’m totally in smit with my iPhone. And, incidentally, it’s helped me to not check FB and email so often, because I get a notification when someone has something to tell me. The photos I took for this post were taken on my iPhone. It’s pretty handy and I’m finding that I take a lot more photos this way. Although I won’t stop using my good camera either. It is also great for reading the DYAC funnies, which, yesterday, had Husband and I in stitches and hardly able to breathe we were laughing so hard. So far, I think this one is my favorite. I have only bought one app, Talking Carl. He makes me laugh a lot. Right now he’s mimicking my typing… then he just yelled, “COOKIE”. My thoughts exactly, Carl. Dog doesn’t appreciate him, especially when I make the horns (or whatever that instrument is) play. He’s like a child who, when ignored, keeps trying to get your attention. I’m trying not to laugh so he won’t know how funny he is.

I have a Crock Pot full o’beans. I’m going to make Summer Chili when I film the show tomorrow. I want to eat it now. I will wait, only because it’s not cooked yet.

One of the disadvantages to being a food blogger is I’m thinking about food all the time. Perhaps I would be regardless of my job. It means I want to eat everything I’m writing about all the time. I don’t, but I want to. Right now, instead of snacking on the Honey-Sesame Salmon Salad with Crispy Potatoes that I’m about to post about, I’m eating cheese and leftover popcorn. It tastes good and all, just not quite the same. It’s OK, it will just make me all the more excited to make it again.

On Sat, after watching many many episodes of Take Home Chef, I was craving Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies. I couldn’t find the recipe online, so I made it while watching and pausing the episode on my phone. I totally did things in the wrong order, but they turned out amazing. Um, I ate three. They were not small cookies. I felt a little sick afterwards. That didn’t deter me from eating another the following day. There are two left. I’m eating a nectarine instead of a cookie (after my popcorn and cheese snack). Oh boy! I love nectarines! Possibly my favorite stone fruit.

Enough of the random things, here’s the recipe for the salad. My friend, Sunshine, asked for it…

Honey-Sesame Salmon Salad with Crispy Potatoes

Last modified on 2012-06-11 19:44:58 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Crispy Potatoes

Last modified on 2012-06-11 19:45:03 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Homemade Croutons

Last modified on 2012-05-10 00:17:29 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Orange Vinaigrette

Last modified on 2012-06-11 19:44:53 GMT. 0 comments. Top.