Two Songs for Saturday: "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye (feat. Kimbra), and "Cameo Lover" by Kimbra

Sometimes I can't just limit myself to one song.  

Gotye (Wally De Backer) was born in Belgium, but moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia when he was two.  He's been compared to Sting and Peter Gabriel.  I like him, and I love this song.  (His website.)

Kimbra (Kimbra Johnson) is from New Zealand.  She's got a great voice, and I like her, too. (Her website.)

Hopefully you'll enjoy both of these.  If not, I hope you at least enjoy the rest of your Saturday. 

A Driveway and Some Mac and Cheese

This is our driveway.  It has a concrete half-wall to block the hill of ground from flooding into our driveway.  It works pretty well, but we still had big mounds of dirt up next to the wall from run-off/landslides/rain/whatever.  Pleasant.  Because, not only was it a hilly driveway, it's also curvy. Look again.  See?  So, with winter deciding to take a break for a day last Saturday (I wore a t-shirt! Outside!), we decided to conquer the driveway.  Shovels? check. Rake? check. Gloves? check.  Saw? (for rude roots) check.  Trash cans? check.  Broom? check.  Muscles? check. Sonic drink? check. Tunes? check.  A few hours later it looked like this. Look again. YAY!! So much better. Sorry I don't have a before picture, but at least you can see some of the remains to get an idea of how it was.

After so much lugging, bending, lifting, kicking, and pulling - ok, not that much kicking - it was comforting to have leftovers in the fridge for dinner.  Not only leftovers, but rich and you-deserve-something-nice-here-have-a-bite-of-this macaroni and cheese.  My favorite parts about this were: the southwestern mix of pasta we got in Seattle last fall, the super-simple and very tasty bread crumb (torn pieces of bread) topping, the use of nutmeg and cayenne pepper, and that I had enough cheese in the first place to make it.  I did however lose my mind and didn't use any kind of real milk product - even though we had it.  I used soy milk - because that's what I have with cereal, and I don't drink milk much anymore... Anyway, wouldn't really recommend vanilla soymilk.  It was still very good, though.

MARTHA’S MACARONI and CHEESE printer-friendly version
via Smitten Kitchen

Serves 12

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for casserole
6 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to l/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for water
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated Gruyère or 1 1/4 cups (about 5 ounces) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place the bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the bread, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside.

2. Warm the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

3. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk a little at a time to keep mixture smooth. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick, 8 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyère (or 1 cup Pecorino Romano); set the cheese sauce aside.

5. Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook the macaroni until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir the macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyère (or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano), and the breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes (though we needed a bit more time to get it brown, but your oven may vary). Transfer the dish to a wire rack for 5 minutes; serve.

A Song for Saturday: "Emmylou" by First Aid Kit

 First Aid Kit is a duo of Swedish sisters, Johanna and Klara.  I think they have a folksy-70s vibe, and I like it.  Their song, "Emmylou" is currently popular.  Hope you enjoy it. 

First Aid Kit "Emmylou" from Maximilla Lukacs on Vimeo.

Dear Photograph

I learned of Dear Photograph from Design Mom this morning and found myself enchanted and nostalgic as I looked through the photographs and notes of strangers.  Kind of fitting since we were just looking at photos of Ryan's family from the 70s last night.  I wonder what his siblings or his parents would say to the photographs...

"Taylor Jones, at just 22 years of age, was inspired to start his website Dear Photograph as he flipped through old family photos at his parents' kitchen table. When he came across an image of his brother sitting at that very same table, he lifted it up and snapped a picture of the picture. In a moment, the idea for DearPhotograph.com was born. After taking more photographs, Jones posted them on a website and asked people to submit their own renditions -- but he had no idea how overwhelming of a response he would get. In just six short weeks, millions of people had visited, hundreds had submitted, and Jones had created an internet phenomenon that captured the world's attention."

Dear Photograph,

My Dad used to get all of his friends and my Uncle to come and help him do up what was then a crumbling townhouse in the wrong side of town. These days it is super posh and I think of them all standing there in the windows when I drive by everyday on my way to work.

Katie

Dear Photograph,

In high school ROTC, he was innocent to the ways of the world. After graduating, he proudly joined the marines to do his duty and serve his country. In 1983, a bombing in Beirut, Lebanon would take him from us and now all we have are photos like this…and we are thankful.

Fotoguy

Dear Photograph,

30 years ago, I was that little boy who could see the beauty in all things far and wide. Perhaps that is the innocence of childhood…looking at life with clarity and simplicity, always enjoying the view. I hope I never lose sight of that.

-Giuseppe

photos: Dear Photograph

quote: here

Valentine's Day: Flowers and Cookies

Flowers from Ryan this morning :)

Some people from our church got together and decided to do "Secret Valentine Families." Essentially, it's like Secret Santa, but we have to give gifts in secret to our assigned family for at least three days and reveal who we are on Valentine's Day.  It's organized thusly:  If you sign up, you will be assigned a family, and another family will also be assigned to you.  Ryan and I have had fun putting together Valentine's packages for our family, and the last one (a cute bucket of CANDY!) will be delivered this evening.

What I really wanted to tell you about was the cute family that were our secret valentines.  One night they dropped off a darling bag with the following:  heart-shaped Junior Mints, red sprinkles, two small containers of frosting (white and pink), a heart shaped cookie cutter, and a pre-made roll of sugar cookie dough!  Sweet!

So, naturally we used it right away and made some Valentine sugar cookies...

Gettin' fancy with the sprinkles

SOFT SUGAR COOKIES        printer-friendly version

from my friend Jamie C. 

For shaped cookies, roll out and use cookie cutters.  Same baking time.  

(Ky's note: We always bake cookies on parchment paper.  For these, after pulling them out of the oven we let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes.  Then we got to the fun part: decorating!)

2/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

3 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup sugar (for decorating)

Mix butter, shortening, and sugar.  Stir in eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to wet ingredients.

Roll into balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart.

Cook at 350* F for 10-12 minutes.