Mint green is a neutral

I am addicted to Project Runway.  The BF and I don't have cable but I, resourcefully, utilize the computer to watch the Project Runway episodes on Lifetime.com.  You should as well, if you don't already.  I only say this because Project Runway All-Stars is wrapping up, and, if you haven't met Austin Scarlett, you really are missing out on one of the great joys of life.  Austin Scarlett is the fair and fancy-free finalist with better hair and eyeliner skills than any other human being I know.  That man can achieve a flawless face in less time than it takes me shovel my breakfast into my face before I dash out the door for work because I never leave myself enough time to eat in the morning.  He is flamboyant (he regularly wears a captain's hat with requisite ascot as "daywear"), divalicious (he has the best shriek in the business), and, most of all, believes that mint green is a neutral.  I couldn't agree more folks.  Per an earlier post on mint green loafers as required nerd wear, I have made a vow to wear my seafoamy footwear at least once a week from now through summer.  I am actually ahead of the curve as I wore them twice last in the past six days.  Carry on, Mr. Scarlett!

Cheers,
Elle

Outfit breakdown: top Everly/pants & belt J Crew/
shoes ASOS

Limits...and the Power of Positive Thinking

I woke up this morning in a foul mood because I didn't get enough sleep.  I am one of those people who craves sleep...I've been known to take 3 naps in one day.  After putting in 10 hours of sleep the night before.  Anyhoo, I was up too late last night plowing through my RSS feed on Google which only made me more furious that I was underslept because it was basically my fault and I couldn't blame it on anything/anyone else.  As a result, I decided to place a moratorium on electronics in my life after 9 pm.  I am allowed to do other things, of course, such as knitting, reading, sewing (all of which I also love to do), just nothing that requires an electricity source.  And my laptop counts as it requires, from time to time, electricity (dammit).  So here I am, proud of myself for setting this "limit", even though this is the first night I am trying it, I am on my laptop, and it is 18 minutes 'til 9:00 pm.  But I believe in the power of positive thinking!!! I will be done with this post on time and shutting my computer promptly at 9 bells.  I won't sully your hopes on my ability to exercise some personal willpower with the sad tale of the Cadbury Eggs.  That will have to come another day.

Cheers,
Elle

Outfit breakdown: jeans Gap/belt Diesel/top Converse/
cardigan Modcloth/boots Etienne Agner

Mac n' Cheesy Goodness!

I am living up to my claim of starting a weekly post of recipes.  A few ground rules on this and then we are ready to rock:
1. I cannot be held responsible for how shockingly good these recipes are, thus causing anyone to gain weight due to over-consumption.
2. I cannot be held responsible for getting lazy and forgetting to post a recipe on those "off-weeks" when I  have about as much motivation to clean my Pepto-Bismol pink bathroom as I do to post something.
3. I basically cannot be held responsible for anything...let's here it for personal accountability!!! : )

Okay, so Mac N' Cheese lovers rejoice.  Here. We. Go.
Ingredients
4+ blocks of cheese, preferably two extra, extra-sharp cheddar.  One of the other two should be havarti for the creaminess
5 1/2 cups of whole milk
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
Dijon mustard
Hot sauce
1/2 cup of flour
2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 teaspoon each of nutmeg and pepper
2 pounds of macaroni or similar pasta

Put the pot on to boil for the pasta with a couple of shakes of salt.  Put in the pasta once the pot is at a roiling boil.  Put the milk in a double boiler and heat it up.  Melt the butter into a high-sided saucepan.  It should be a big one as you will be making the cheese sauce in this same pan and you don't want it to overflow.  Once the butter is melted, add the flour and stir over medium heat until it forms a paste.  This shouldn't take too long, maybe a minute or less.  Add the milk to the paste and whisk constantly until it starts to thicken up.  This will take much longer than you think it will!  I always get tired of whisking, walk away to do something else, and come back to find it thicker, but also with a few tiny lumps in it.  So I think this could be avoided if I just stayed and whisked until it was ready.  Once it is thickening up, add the 2 teaspoons of salt, nutmeg, pepper, and add hot sauce to taste if you like. Then add in the cheese...slowly.  If you dump it in all at once, it is kinda hard to stir, so I add about one cup worth of cheese at a time and wait for that to melt down before adding more.  While this is happening, the pasta should be done so drain it and return it to the pot you were cooking it in.  Dump all the cheese sauce over the pasta, add a couple of spoonfuls of dijon mustard (I usually start with 2 and then add to taste) and stir...stir....stir.  Once everything is mixed together and a gooey mess, you're done!

Cheers!
Elle