Yesterday was one of those busy days when I didn't seem to get much done. Church took up much of the morning, although I had some time earlier at home to catch up on email and blogs. After church, I grabbed a bagel and went to my favorite walking place - Lake Elkhorn. (I had packed walking clothes and shoes.) It was a bit chilly as I ate my lunch, but I warmed up as I walked. Didn't see much wildlife - a couple of turtles and the Great Blue heron. Lots of people walking on Sundays. I almost didn't get a parking space, as the lot is very small. When I got home, I had to make a huge pan of macaroni and cheese for a dinner being served by members of my church for some worthy group. (I can't remember which community group it was.)

It's been years since I made macaroni and cheese. I remember making it for my father back in '99. (He's been gone 9 years now.) Actually what I made for Dad was what my mother always made - spaghetti and cheese. It is a very thick version - lots of cheese but very little liquid. It's not the way I ever made it for my family, but Dad loved it that way. When my kids were small, I always made a version with Velveeta cheese - not very gourmet! My son who was a very picky eater loved it, so the rest of us tolerated it because it was one of the few things he would eat. (It still amazes me that as an adult, he worked as a cook for several years. He's a very good cook, but still doesn't eat his vegetables!) Anyway, to make a roasting pan of macaroni and cheese, I tripled the recipe on the box and cooked about 24 ounces of elbow macaroni. To go with this, I grated a pound of cheddar cheese. Let me tell you, that's a lot of cheese to grate. My hand was very tired when I finished. Of course, I had more macaroni than would fit into the pan and way more sauce than I needed, but that's ok because I made two small casseroles - one for me and one for Patty. (Since we are both single, we sometimes share meals.) I ate mine last night and rediscovered how satisfying a dish that is. I must make it more often - but not enough in quantities to feed 10 people!


By the time I got back from delivering the casserole, it was time to phone Kate. I try to call her every Sunday afternoon (evening for her), but we hadn't talked since I left England. We stay in touch by email and reading each other's blogs, http://katelnorth.blogspot.com/ but chatting with her is my treat to myself once a week.

An old (whoops - I mean long-time) friend called me yesterday afternoon. We met in graduate school at Rutgers many years ago. Our group there consisted of three library students and one education student, all female and three undergraduate men. Two of us women married the guys and had a couple of kids with them, but are not married to them now. Anyway, Bonnie, who still lives in New Jersey, is coming down to visit me next week. It's been a couple of years since we saw each other, although we do write every few months, so we stay in touch. (Yes, amazingly, some people still write letters, rather than communicate via the Internet. I have to admit, however, that I type all my personal correspondence. My hand writing has deteriorated badly in the last 20 years - from lack of practice!) It'll be fun to see Bonnie and get caught up on each other's lives. She's bringing her little dog along, which will be a treat for me. I like dogs (used to have two, along with three cats) but don't want any pets these days, so having one visit will be nice.

This morning, I'm supposed to be balancing my checkbook and suchlike, so I'd better quit chattering on and GET TO WORK!