it's the year of the cicadas!

Last Friday evening, we had a little girls night, and it was one of the best nights I've had in a while. We all met at Kaley's house and started cooking. I made my homemade macaroni & cheese (I'll post the recipe at the end of this post), Aubrey made her famous nuggets (which are amazingly similar to Chick Fil A nuggets), and Jen brought brownies. We all brought our own wine (except Steph... slacker!), and our party pants. ;)

We started off the night cooking and drinking wine, and catching up as more girls arrived. It was a ruckus in the Poag house - all talking over each other and having our own conversations in equally loud voices. Drinking wine and smoking about a billion cigarettes in the mosquito infested heat outside. Laughing about things babies do, and breaking Kullen's water table. Spraying enough bug spray to coat an elephant. Celebrating the year of the cicadas. Venting about life, and raving about life. 

After we all ate, (and refilled our wine glasses for the 3rd time), we decided to break out Kaley's Secret Santa gift - Partini. I'm still a little confused as to how this is meant to be a drinking game, but we made it work. We molded things out of clay, bounced balls, hummed songs we didn't even know, and did a little charades. The game was a hell of a time, and we were laughing SO hard at the different games we had to play, and how bad we all sucked at it. Well, I guess I should say how bad mine and Kaley's team sucked, haha. 

We spent the rest of the evening talking and gossiping (only a little ;)), drinking more wine, comparing cameras, and laughing at each others' funny stories.  It was just so nice to be in the company of amazing women and have both deep and shallow conversations all night long. To forget our troubles for only a couple hours to enjoy either others' company and laughter. To indulge in good food and drink and not count calories or worry about getting too much sodium.

And of course, there are pictures to prove our good time.

And as promised, the recipe for MandeeFoFandee's homemade macaroni & cheese:

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter

1 large block of Velveeta cheese

1lb of elbow pasta

Bread crumbs (I used Italian bread crumbs)

Milk

Steps:

1. get a pot of water on the stove, since it takes a while to start boiling. unless you have one of those fancy pants stoves that boils water in 90 seconds. if that's the case, I hate you.

2. preheat oven to 350.

3. once you have your water on the stove, melt the stick of butter in a medium sized pot on low/medium heat. when the butter is melted, add 3/4 of the Velveeta cheese. 

hint: I usually chop it in 4 equal sized pieces, and then take 3 of those pieces and cube them so that they melt faster. make sure you put the rest of the 1/4 back in the fridge so it doesn't get soft... you'll thank me later.

4. add a few dashes of milk when it starts melting to get a creamy consistency... if it's too thick, it won't cover all the pasta. 

5. make sure you keep stirring so it doesn't get all thick on the top. do this until it's all completely melted.

6. cook pasta al dente. pour the pasta in a strainer and cool it with cold water. 

hint: I run the cold water over the pasta and stick my hands in there and move it around so that ALL the pasta cools off.

7. when the cheese is melted, pour 1/2 of it into a non stick or glass pan (usually 9x13 pan works fine). 

8. add the pasta. pour the rest of the cheese in and mix it with a spatula until it's all covered. 

9. then take the rest (1/4) of your Velveeta and slice it thin, placing slices on top of the pasta. 

10. sprinkle with bread crumbs and stick it in the oven (uncovered) for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

PS - if you are trying to watch what you eat and keep healthy, I would not recommend making this dish. It is extremely delicious, and you will want to eat the entire pan in one sitting. You've been warned. 

Happy Tuesday!