Creamy Mac & Cheese... and Peanut Butter

Quite the flavor combination, eh? Yes, well have no fears, I did not combine the two. They are just the two topics I want to share with yous guys today. =) Firstly, after another week of work, work and then some work, I did not cook much of anything new and exciting. Instead I kept with our favorite tasty and quick stand-by's that we love so much.. spaghetti and meatballs, grilled steaks on the grill, pan fried pork shoulder steaks with butter fried cabbage and noodles and Japanese Wings. It wasn't until last night that I felt slightly creative and that really is surprising as I didn't get out of work until very late and barely had an ounce of energy left. I guess my grumbling belly overcame the rest of my body's grumblings for bed. Hubbs decided to go visit some friends at his favorite dive and I thought I'd be taking a nice relaxing hot bath after reading my e-mail and then hitting the sack. Not sure exactly what inspired me to think about macaroni and cheese - could have been the weather. We seem to have left summer in the blink of an eye and are heading directly into fall weather here in the armpit of the midwest. I am not complaining though. Autumn is my most favorite time of the year and although this was a great summer (although a tad bit wet) temperature wise (all in all we didn't really have long bouts with the Africa-hot temps this year), it's September and I am jonesin' for the leaves to start changing, the flannel sheets to be put on the bed and my fuzzy slippers that I have stored away. I'm longing for Sundays with my crock-pot, football games and long drives enjoying the foliage. Or maybe it was just the need for comfort food after a very long week. A little pampering was definitely in order. So around 9 o'clock last night, I opened the fridge to assess my choices in cheeses. I always have cheese in this house. Moutains of cheese usually. I was not disappointed when I opened that drawer that I love to open.. inside were large hunks of creamy Fontina and Gouda along with a decent size chunk of Gruyere and a brand new wedge of the Granddaddy of Cheese's, my most favorite Parmigiano Reggiano. Because it was so late and I was all of a sudden so very hungry, I decided to not make a baked mac & cheese.. I went through all the motions - started with making a roux and then adding the luke-warm milk and seasonings of salt, pepper, ground mustard and worchestershire sauce whisking until it was thick. Then I finished the sauce with the addition of chunked cheeses stirring until it was all melty and gooey.. *swoon* I simply poured the sauce over my al dente elbow macaroni and after a quick stir and a few shavings of the Reggiano I was all ready to sink into my favorite seat in front of the TV and allow all the stress of the week to widdle away with every creamy spoonful. The perfect ending to a very long day =) Speaking of comfort food.. peanut butter fits that bill for me, as well. I could not imagine not having at least 1/2 a jar of the stuff on hand at all times. One of my most favorite snacks in alla world is toasted bread slathered with peanut butter. And don't even get me started on all the fabulous recipes made so much better with the addition of peanut butter! Oh and hello? Who's chocolate's best friend? Yes! You know who it is.. peanut butter! So imagine my utter shock when reading one of my most favorite non-foodie bloggers, Melissa of Sarcomical profess her utter disgust with peanut butter! I was dumbfounded. How could anyone not like peanut butter? This is blasphemy! Or at the very least, unheard of in my realm of thinking. As I continued to read her post regarding peanut butter I found myself laughing out loud.. that kind of tear producing, belly shaking laughter. This is a post that you must read for yourself. And although I can not agree with her opinion of peanut butter, I can most assuredly agree with the rest of her faithful readers that this gal is hysterical. ;)