Kristina Thursday, January 6, 2011

I've always loved macaroni and cheese but grew up in a blue box household. My mom only ever made that mac and cheese in the Kraft blue box.

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(I'm of the school that twists and shapes actually taste better)

Recently, Stacy mentioned on twitter that she'd made baked mac and cheese for dinner. My first question was "Will you be posting that recipe on your blog?" The answer, of course, was yes.

Around the same time (it maybe have actually been the same day), F posted a recipe on her blog for baked mac and cheese.

I took a quick survey of my family (who I planned to cook the mac and cheese for, if I did it for myself I was concerned about the quantity I would consume) and, while I knew they were not fans of spice (I'm not either), I was surprised to hear them say they perfected a mac and cheese without crunchy breadcrumbs on top.

So, for that reason, I went with F's recipe.

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Yum, yum, yum! I had a few issues with mixing the milk and the cheese (my Velveeta did not want to melt) and made a nice mess but other than that it was easy and tasted awesome! The only thing I'd do differently next time is to buy a throw away pan to make it in because the dish I used is going to be a bitch to clean (it's soaking now).

What are your favorite mac and cheese (or pasta in general) recipes?

Kristina Saturday, January 1, 2011

I've loved to read for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid and couldn't sleep (anyone who knows me knows this is a life long issue), my mom would tell me to read until I fell asleep. That ended pretty quickly when she realized I would stay up most of the night to finish the book I was reading. In high school and the beginning of college I didn't do much reading outside of school work because I had no time. In past years when I have had more free time (summers, for example), I was working and/or interning and just wanted to be lazy when I got home.

By my count (which is really my GoodReads account plus my fuzzy memory), I read about 75 books in 2010. I forced myself to spend most of my free time this past summer reading and it paid off. I also got a Nook this summer which helped! I know that my 2011 will be much busier than 2010. This semester I have 4 classes, an internship (which is sure to be exciting but stressful), work, will be graduating college in late April (which will hopefully lead to a grown up job in DC), and am in 2 weddings (maid of honor in one), so there will plenty of can't miss social events, too.

So, blah, blah, blah. The whole point of this post is my top 10 books of 2010. These didn't all come out in 2010 but I read them last year so I'm counting them.

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Commencment

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The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy

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Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

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The Promise: President Obama, Year One

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Half the Sky

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Eighteen Acres

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First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third World Adventure Changed My Life

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The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University


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Goodnight Tweetheart

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The Hunger Games

So what were your favorite books of 2010?