Who doesn't love macaroni and cheese?!

The overwhelming feeling from yesterday carried over to today. Don't you just love that? Tiernan's still home with me during the day since he's not himself yet. I was going to send him back to school today, but I really didn't want to set him back by pushing him into activity too early. I did drag him around with me on about a million errands this morning (hello, double birthday party for my boys!) in the crazy (gusting to) 90km/hr winds. By the time we were halfway through he was coughing and sniffling and pale. I felt awful, but I needed to buy a bunch of things. Tomorrow I'll be inside all day cleaning and decorating cupcakes, so hopefully he'll catch up on his rest then. Pneumonia is awful. :/ It doesn't bode well that Kyle came home from work looking like death warmed over, either.

As soon as I'm finished with this blog post, I'm headed to bed. Think I'll actually be able to go to sleep early? I sure hope so!

I made the ultimate in comfort foods tonight. Macaroni and cheese! I adapted this recipe from these lovely ladies over at Twin Tables. I saw them on Rachael Ray, competing to see who has the best mac & cheese. Both of the dishes looked delicious, but I made the winning one and have stuck with it ever since. Along with the macaroni, I made some mushrooms in a garlic sauce from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen and served it with a simple green salad. It was a perfect meal, and I totally had seconds.

Cheesy Beery Mac n Cheese

2 -12oz bottles of pale ale (I use Hoptical Illusions)

1.5 lbs pasta (I used macaroni, but have used rotini in the past)

6 tbsp butter, divided

1 cup diced yellow onion

1 cup sliced mushrooms (I omitted them this time because I had a mushroom side dish)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup flour

2 cups half and half

12oz aged white cheddar, grated (I used 3 year old cheddar)

8oz medium orange cheddar, grated

2 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a lasagna pan with cooking spray.

Pour the beer into a medium sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the beer has reduced by half. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large sauce pot, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

While pasta is cooking, melt 4 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Stir in onions and mushrooms and cook until soft (about 4 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the reserved beer, half and half and bring just to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat, continue whisking and simmer for about 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly. Reduce the heat to low and add the cheeses. Stir until melted and smooth. Add the salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper and combine. Remove from the heat and add to the pasta.

Add to baking dish. Melt 2 tbsp of butter. Add panko bread crumbs and stir until well coated. Spread evenly over the pasta. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce

1 lb cremini mushrooms, washed, stemmed and quartered

3 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, 3 finely chopped, 1 left whole

juice of half a lemon

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the whole garlic clove, and cook for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until just lightly browned.

Remove from heat, add the rest of the ingredients and enjoy.