Lazy Rainy Days

By now you've all probably heard about Hurricane Irene, and I'm glad I don't have to give you all the details because honestly, I'm tired of hearing about it. Irene is all anyone could talk about at work for the last few days: "Oh, have you heard about the hurricane?" "So how about this storm, huh?" "Are you prepared for Irene?" ... yes, I've heard about the hurricane. What storm? All I see is rain. And I'm as prepared as I feel I need to be. I bought a 24-pack of bottled water and three cans of Campbell's Select Harvest soups, then Shawn and I chuckled about everyone else stocking up like crazy on things such as bread and frozen and microwave meals... uh, Hello? Anybody home? If the power goes out, your freezer and microwave are going to be pretty darn useless, don't you think?

Anyways, I thought I'd give you all and update and say - we're ok. Our area wasn't hit with much other than lots and lots of rain, extensive wind, and a power flicker in the middle of the night. Really, nothing we haven't dealt with before.


Honestly, the only downside to this whole Irene business is that I'm at home all by lonesome today while Shawn's working the afternoon away. Ok, maybe I worded that all wrong; the downside isn't that I'm home, it's that my work day got cancelled and Shawn's didn't. So instead of both working the afternoon away, or both being at home together... well, you get the point.


Lame-o. I've had to find little ways to pass the time; so I made a batch of oat & maple scones (they're so adorably tiny and packed full of moist maple yumminess!). I also put the extra effort into making lunch - boiled some pasta, cooked up some spinach, reheated a little pasta sauce, and fried up an egg to throw on top (actually, I fried up two eggs because the yolk broke on the first one... and seriously, what's the point of topping something with a fried egg that's not a little runny?)


Next, I plan on catching up on the latest few episodes of My Drunk Kitchen. Maybe after that I'll be more motivated to do a simple sewing project I've had sitting around (taking a big pillowcase and shrinking it to fit a different pillow; so simple but I'm so lazy.) And who knows? Maybe that small step into sewing world will motivate me to start one of the many other sewing projects on my list... doubtful.

All in all, I'm in agreement with Shawn's initial assessment of the storm: the media hyped everything up to get people to spend some money and give the economy a much needed boost. Well played, media, well played.

The last three weeks, in pictures...

As you can see, we ate a ton of homemade pizza (topped with lots of local veggies)... made some more brownies... found different ways to use up this summer's delicious peaches... spotted some squirrels and spent time with a dog (or two).

... I guess we're not very interesting people after all, hm?

Macaroni and Cheese, please!

Grr. I'm such a bad blogger and I really do need to stop apologizing for my lack of posts. (I'm a busy little bee, what can I say!) What I should apologize for though is not keeping my promise to share an amazing mac n' cheese recipe with you! I shared pictures of it and then let two three weeks go by while you probably sat there drooling and clicking the refresh button in your browser... alright, I'll admit, I've made some much more drool-worthy things before (like these s'mores brownies) but I swear this mac n' cheese is worth it.

It's super duper easy to make, seriously. The hardest part is waiting!

Mac N' Cheese

adapted from Taylor Takes a Taste

Ingredients:
1-pound pasta of your choice
salt and pepper to your taste
2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup sour cream
1 egg, beaten
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon worcestire sauce

- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Cook the pasta according to the package, then combine it with 1 1/2 cups of cheese in a 9x9 inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the other ingredients and whisk them until combined. Pour the mixture over the pasta, making sure everything is well-coated. Top everything off with another cup of cheese.
- Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until the top is golden. Let the macaroni and cheese sit for at least 10 minutes before serving it, so that it has time to set as it cools.
- Enjoy!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The following  2 television advertisements piss me off. 
But Why Shawn?Why would you be pissed off at TV commercials?
I am pissed off because the songs in these commercials get stuck in my head.
But Shawn, you love the Dixie Plate Commericial.
Yes I do. But that jingle was good! It is great. Sung well. Recorded well. Produced Well.
These 2 "jingles" are so bad,  they actually work so well... and I HATE IT!
While I am trying to sleep. When I wake up. In the shower. At Work!!EVEN WALKING DOWN THE FRIGGIN STREET!!!!!
These terrible "jingles" are stuck in my brain!They are driving me insane.
Target

Damn you Target. I actually like your 2nd Grade Teacher Ad. So you're not all bad. But still annoying like randomly ringing church bells on Friday mornings.
Resolve

This is so bad. so so so so bad. Who in the hell gave the go to this commercial. It is terrible.Editing. Sound. Did an intern make this?Please lick the floor of the restroom.You guys get out stains, so stick to that.Because it's obvious you don't know how to make a television commercial without being lame and annoying.
Moving on.
Shame on your advertising department Target and Resolve.Shame on you for creating such perfect brain melting atrociousness.  You are On my List of 100 People / Groups of People I wanna slap in the face.



Addendum by Marine: I thought it would be appropriate to add that there's one commercial on my can't-stand-it list and it's that Old Navy commercial for the long and lean flares. The song gets stuck in my head All.The.Time. Also, the commercial doesn't make any sense! Why are they bowling in platform shoes?! They're going to hurt themselves! Then it won't matter how 'long' and 'lean' their legs look in their jeans, because they'll be on the ground, and their jeans will probably be ripped. That's all.