In the kitchen

Miss Pea and I make a weekly trip to Trader Joe's while Miss Rae is in ballet class. It gives us a little alone time, and we restock our supply of milk and yogurt. And as Daddy likes to tease, we usually can't walk out of there without a plant. But their flowers are so cheap and they make us so happy! Here is our fix this week ~ lipstick pink Gerbera daisies:

And the chocolate chip cookies I've had a hankerin' for. Check out the pantry for the recipe.

Now before we get ahead of ourselves with dessert, here's what's for dinner:

Greenhouse Pasta and Cheese

(I don't use a recipe with this, just add stuff 'til it's right, the way Gram did. So I'm making some estimates here.)

I love all the many different pasta shapes; pretty much anything you like will work ~ macaroni, fusilli, penne like I used today...

Cook your pasta according to the package directions.

In another saucepan, melt about 4 tablespoons of butter and stir in about 4 tablespoons of flour. Make a roux (paste, another thing from Gram). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in about 4 cups of milk ~ we like whole. =) Then start adding your cheese. We use whatever cheese is hanging out in the fridge, so tonight it was some tangy Mexican queso and some shredded cheddar. Mr. Browning likes the sauce thinner, so maybe 2 cups of cheese altogether. Save some to sprinkle on the top when you pour the sauce over the pasta.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350* until it's bubbling and thickened and you just can't stand it any longer! Dig in!

I've heard of an infinite number of things to add like bacon, chives, bread crumbs...egg (if you're like our favorite president Reagan.) The possibilities are endless. Toss in whatever sounds good to you at the moment.