dairy queen

Two things happened today:
(Well, lots of things happened today, but here are two of them...)
Before my afternoon rehearsal for tomorrow's going-to-be-awesome dal niente concert (Chicago people: come!), my four-months-pregnant friend Connie turned to me and said "Hey, guess what I ate today?" (We've had a few conversations about uncontrollable hunger and such, which she is feeling for the first time due to her baby.) "Fried potatoes covered with mac and cheese and sour cream." We both thought about that for a minute. I told her she'd made me hungry.
The second happened first, actually. At breakfast this morning Shana told me that she was going to do a little detoxing next week, eat less dairy and not drink and such. I said I would keep that in mind for any meals we would be sharing.
So when I came home today (from picking up my beautifully repaired viola, thank you very much!) I knew what I had to do: I had to make the baked mac and cheese recipe I spied and bookmarked on Smitten Kitchen the other night. It's decadent (let me just say: 2-1 cheese to pasta ratio) but not too complicated and perfect for a night alone. I've been trying to eat somewhat more healthily (in large part due to Shana's good influence, lately not all of my soups contain cream), but sometimes, after a rollercoastery and wearing week, you just need mac and cheese. It's in my oven as I write, sizzling (I used too small of a baking dish, but my oven is luckily protected by a layer of foil) and smelling delicious.
Tonight I'll also be making the dough for lime meltaways (also from Smitten Kitchen, as I am indeed smitten) as a gift to Connie for driving me home from our gazillion Evanston rehearsals. And the cookbook is making strides towards being done! Soon, soon...