Ray LaMontagne You Are The Best Thing

good stuff

Ok so I totally love Ray LaMontagne's music. He is pure genius. I just thought I would brighten your day with one of my favorite songs by him

Summer Reading Part 1

Now that school is out until September I have been doing a lot of reading. I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to read for fun! Here is the damage I have done so far:

I heard about Jen Lancaster from my friend Julie. We have very similar taste in our books so I had to give this author a try. Oh my god! She is so friggin funny!! I laughed out loud through out this entire book. This is not always a good thing, especially if you are reading at work. This book is basically about a girl who is living the life. She has a great job earning tons of money, perfect trendy apartment in the city (Chicago), all the latest fashion from all the biggest labels, hair done by the best stylist in the city, and an attitude to match. Then everything crashes down when she loses her job and can't find another. I could relate to Lancaster in a few ways in this book. Mainly I went through a phase where labels and status were a big deal to me (stupid girl I was). I learned my lesson alot quicker than Lancaster did. This was a great book and I highly recommend it to you! Lancaster is a smart ass but she is funny.  

Another Jen Lancaster book. This is the follow up to "Bitter is the New Black". While I have never lived in a big city, I have always wondered what it would be like. Sex and the City made it seem so awesome. Thank you Jen Lancaster for showing me that it is not always so super. While Lancaster tells you her tales of apartment hunting, life being employed, job hunting and her other shenanigans in a funny way it wasn't quite as laugh out loud funny as "Bitter". Still a fun read.

When I first heard about this book I had mixed feelings. I LOVE Sex and the City! So the idea of learning about Carrie's past intrigued me. On the other hand I really haven't been a huge fan of Bushnell's other books. But I decided to check the book out at the library and give it a shot. I did not want to put this book down once I started. It was really well written and had great characters. I had to stop a few times and think because some of the story lines differ from the TV show. The book leaves you with a HUGE cliffhanger that left me begging for the next book. But I don't think that the next book comes out until next summer :-(  Like I even need to say this, go read this book!

Mac and Cheese Friday

Yet another mac and cheese recipe! This is food networks #1 rated recipe for mac and cheese. I made it quite awhile ago, but just haven't gotten around to posting about it. It was pretty good, but not the best I have had. However the one thing that I will take from this recipe is hands down the panko bread crumbs. The crunchy topping on this was amazing. I liked the flavor the onions gave it, but really it needed a few more cheeses for complexity. By the way did you notice my awesome new baking dish? I choose this picture to show it off rather than the food :-)

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Ingredients


1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Twilight: The Graphic Novel Volume 1

*sigh* I have some serious love for Twilight. This graphic novel just made me love it even more. This is the Twilight story told in pictures. It was a super fast read, I devoured it in about an hour. But what I enjoyed the most was the pictures were what I had imagined in my head when I read Twilight for the first time. Young Kim, the artist is so talented. I cannot wait until the next volume comes out. This book ended with Bella and Edward kissing for the first time. If I were to guess I think that their will be 4 volumes for the Twilight book. If you loved Twilight and get the chance to read this do it! I promise you will enjoy it.

PS- Julie read the dang Twilight books already!

Better Together

There's no combination of words

I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing
But I can try for your heart
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographs
With sepia tone loving
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together

It's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at them stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together


And all of these moments
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone
When the morning light sings
And brings new things
For tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too
Too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way
Into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression
I was somewhere in between
With only two
Just me and you
Not so many things we got to do
Or places we got to be
We'll Sit beneath the mango tree now


It's always better when we're together
We're somewhere in between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together


I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no, combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing


We're better together.