mac n' cheese with cauliflower

I know I've shared a mac and cheese recipe before, but this one is better. Plus, it's got cauliflower, so you can feel good about eating your veggies at the same time as all that carby cheesy goodness.

The last time I made it (when this badly coloured photo was taken), I stashed some in the freezer for these first weeks with the baby -- so glad I did! It froze very well and we enjoyed it the other night with some green leafy veggies. 'Twas a perfect comfort food meal for the sleep-deprived.

mac n' cheese with cauliflower

Serves 6

Adapted from Real Simple

12 ounces whole-wheat elbow macaroni
1 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 - 1 1/2 C breadcrumbs
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
olive oil
salt and black pepper
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 - 2 1/2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar
1 1/2 cups reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1-2 Tbs Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil the pasta until done, adding the cauliflower during the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain pasta and cauliflower.

Meanwhile, combine breadcrumb with parsley, a couple tablespoons of the oil, and pinches of salt and pepper.

In the same pot as you boiled your pasta, heat on medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the onion, another pinch of salt and pepper and cook until soft. Add pasta, cauliflower, cheese, sour cream, milk, and mustard. Mix well.

Put into a shallow 3-quart baking dish. Top with bread crumbs and bake until they are golden brown (about 15 mins).

new arrival

I've never been a reliable blogger,

but now I have a good excuse!

advent

December 1st is right around the corner, which means it's advent calendar season!

from the archives

Even though I've given away two advent calendars, I still have just plans for my own. Not sure whether I'll do another stocking one (or mini knitted toques or mittens or...) or whether I'll try something different. This round-up of 30 advent calendars gave me a few more ideas to toss around.

My favourites were this house and ornaments one, the one made of beautiful (and sentimental) cards, and this page-a-day one for the fridge (but I don't think I'd want to remake one every year...)

Good thing December 1st comes around every year so I can be reminded to dream up grand schemes for my own perfect count-down calendar.

cozy cabin socks

These are for the MIL for xmas -- the aptly named 'log cabin socks' from Handknit Holidays. The recommended yarn was so incredibly soft, warm, and beautiful in the light ash blue, that I didn't even bother hunting down a suitable substitute. This is probably one of the few times I've used the yarn in a pattern, since I usually try to use something from the stash (feeling lazy) or find an 'on sale' option (feeling frugal).

One down... one to go...

pumpkin bread

I've got Christmas on the brain. But before I get so far into thinking about upcoming holiday goodies that it hardly feels like the season for pumpkin, may I recommend a moist pumpkin bread?

Sorry, I'm not sure where this recipe came from -- copied from somewhere on a scrap of paper.

pumpkin bread

1 loaf

2 C all-purpose flour

2 teas baking powder

1/2 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1 C packed brown sugar

1 teas cinnamon

1/2 teas ground nutmeg

1/2 teas ground cloves

2 large eggs

1/2 C butter, melted

1/3 C pure maple syrup

1 C canned unsweetened pumpkin (or pureed, fresh steamed pumpkin)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3" loaf pan and set aside.

Mix flour, powder, soda, salt, sugar, and spices in large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, syrup and pumpkin. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and fold together. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Carefully turn out onto wire rack and let cool a bit before serving. Serve warm or room temperature.

yay for handmade holidays!

I love November. It's awesome for many reasons, but for the third year in a row, I'm loving the fact that November is when the Sew Mama Sew blog churns out great crafty gift ideas every single day.

Head on over. I already want to make the incredibly cute and edible pie in a jar and also this top for next summer.

t-shirt tote

You know when you see something so simple and you think why didn't I think of that? Yeah. Case in point.

I must be secretly wanting to rip apart my wardrobe and make stuff because I usually think projects that use worn-out threads are nifty -- like those baby onesies or any of the refashioning projects in this lady's fun archive. It appeals to my reduce and reuse mantra.

Do you know of any good ideas for reinventing tired clothes?

cozy chenille for sofa bed

I actually finished this chenille throw a couple of weeks ago. There's not much time for sewing or creative cooking these days, because we're in the throws of home renovations. We're ripping out the 15-year old white carpet (yuck!) that came with our new place and putting down laminate -- it's looking and feeling great, but it's kind of chaotic around here and will be for the next couple of weeks... at which point we'll start painting. =)

When we moved, we got a cool sofa bed for Jeff's study/our den/to-be baby's room, but it needed more than a patchwork pillow. This throw will be perfect for when we need a corner to curl up in, but also it doubles as a coverlet for when the sofa is disguised as a bed. It kind of bugs me that it's not quite long enough to be a proper quilt, but I'm hoping no one really notices. I love the warmth of it -- the chenille and cotton combo is a great weight.

This is the first time I used such big pieces of fabric for my quilt top -- it came together so quickly!

zucchini fennel soup

Here's another recipe to utilize the great zucchini crop of '09.

The fennel and lemon are very subtle and lovely in this. I even added a bit of the lemon water that the fennel is cooked in back into the pot with the broth (original recipe just said to toss it) and it was just lemony enough.

zucchini fennel soup

(from Food and Wine)

1 fennel bulb, cored and sliced 1/2-1/4" thick

2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Olive oil

4-5 zucchini, sliced crosswise 1-4" thick

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, smashed

4 C chicken or veggie stock

Salt and pepper

In large saucepan, put fennel, lemon juice, pinch of salt, and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until fennel is tender when pierced (about 10-15 mins). Drain off water. (Reserve a bit of the lemon water if you'd like.)

In same pot, heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add zucchini, season with salt, and saute over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until just softened (10 mins or so.) Add stock, lemon water if using, and cooked fennel and bring to a boil. Simmer until vegetables have softened completely (another 10 mins.)

Remove from heat. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender. Return soup to the pot, reheat/season if necessary. Ladle into serving bowls. Garnish with croutons, a bit of sour cream or creme fraiche, or fennel fronds.

*I'm trying to see how freezing zucchini works for me this year -- I have some grated for zucchini bread, but I'm thinking I should slice some as well to have at the ready for this soup.

scrappy pillow

I love those creative moments when you can just feel the light going on in your head. Why didn't I think of this oh-so-simple idea before?! Or maybe it's not a matter of thinking of the idea, but being inspired--and having the time and energy--to actually engage.

I had one of those moments about the bag-full of scraps I had sewn together into random-length strips months and months ago -- a pillow!

I enjoyed getting lost in these fabrics for an afternoon. I just 'cut and paste' the strips together in a log cabin-like circle until it fit over the extra pillow form I had kickin' around.

The back is made up of two overlapping panels of light-weight denim.

I recently saved Andy from the thrift shop. He may be Raggedy, but I was super stoked to find him in such great shape. Ever wonder why those swiggly lines are beneath his eyes?