Yay! Friday

Today was busy (too busy for laundry, ha). I finally finished my invoice and will send it out on Monday. It feels good to not have to think about that anymore. After messing around with Quicken, I went out for a jog-walk-wheeze-fest. It's been a while. My poor little legs and lungs were not happy with all of the sudden activity. Luckily, I had the Ark and Mika to keep me motivated. I managed to stay out for about 70 minutes (before you applaud my efforts, I must admit only about 15 minutes was actually running). I did get my 10,000 aerobic steps, which was my goal for the day.

By the time I returned, it was nearing dinner time and I hadn't planned anything. So, we had leftovers from last night, which was pretty exciting -- the best mac & cheese ever with sauteed mushrooms and swiss chard. I made the mac & cheese yesterday at the suggestion of Mark Bittman's blog entry on Martha Stewart's "Perfect Macaroni and Cheese." Let me tell you, it really is perfect. I love macaroni and cheese (in all of its incarnations) and try it in different restaurants at every opportunity. I've also made multiple recipes that really haven't made the cut. This one, however, is the perfect combination of cheese, milk, and spices. It also has fresh bread chunks on top that form into a perfectly crunchy crust.

With that said, this mac & cheese is not for the faint of heart, with nearly 6 cups of cheese, it falls waaaay off the healthy chart (hence the need for my 70-minute outing today). Jesse and I were saying tonight that if we had a restaurant, this exact meal would definitely be a regular item -- maybe even a feature. We also discovered that we prefer dark, leafy greens over a salad as a side dish in the winter. So, I'll be stocking up on collards, mustard greens, and swiss chard instead of lettuce for the next few months. Jesse even said that he wished I had made two bunches of chard because he'd definitely would have had seconds. Since I'm planning on making more greens in the near future, I think I'll also have to make a pepper vinegar so we can chow down in the proper southern fashion.

Another wonderful discovery on this lovely Friday evening? We did a blind taste test of our favorite bourbon (Old Forrester) vs. Maker's Mark and found that Old Forrester is pretty damn good -- and also about $12 less a bottle. Score! I'm almost hesitant to post this discovery because it feels like a best-kept secret and we shouldn't let too many in on our party. It's no Basil Hayden's, but I'm positive that Graham would agree that Old Forrester is definitely a good value.