Pain in the Mac

I'm so excited! Jamie's show starts tonight. 8 p.m. on ABC. Its a two hour premiere and I can't wait.

Meanwhile, this week I made Macaroni and Cauliflower Cheese Bake (pg. 49). Of course I decide to make it on our busiest night this week. As I start cooking I'm already thinking that I should have picked a different night but I was away for the weekend and I'm feeling a little behind. I had gone over the recipe ahead of time and was puzzled by Jamie's method to melt the cheese. After placing the grated cheddar and parmesan cheese in a large heatproof bowl, you are suppose to "Place the bowl of cheese over the saucepan." He warns, if the water boils up (uh-oh) beneath the bowl, just turn the heat down slightly. I think all day about what bowl/pot combination will work and before starting and I also play around to figure out the right "fit." Already, for the first time, I'm cursing Jamie. I watch the cheese VERY carefully while hubby is outside with the kids playing to keep them from being underfoot. Toddler has been very cranky and is getting four teeth at once. He hasn't eaten much and since this recipe doesn't involve red sauce or ketchup I know he isn't going to eat this. Just as the cheese is melting and getting gooey, my daughter runs in and says that the baby has just thrown up outside! Husband is calling and the ooey-gooey cheese is melting and who knows what is going on under my heat proof bowl that is fitting oh so precariously atop my pot. I'm torn about leaving the stove but I stick my head outside and find out that he's fine, he has probably just eaten a leaf and that the messenger was exaggerating a bit, he didn't exactly throw up. As I get the report I hear the familiar sound of the pot boiling over. Crap! Mac n Cheese shouldn't be this hard, Jamie! I scramble to rescue the dinner and my stove from becoming a charred mess before the party that I'm having in just an hour. Of course, dinner turns out amazing and "looks just like the picture" once again but I'm having post-traumatic stress and wondering why Jamie needed to make this recipe so darn complicated. I have every pot out on the counter and husband is once again cursing cleaning up the ooey, gooey Parmesan cheese. Did I mention that every time Jamie's commercial comes on, husband yells at the TV about cleaning up the Parmesan?
We tag team the clean up and I straighten the kitchen for the Pampered Chef party that I'm hosting. You can't even tell that just an hour before it looked like a bomb exploded in the kitchen. The Pampered Chef party is lots of fun and I eye a double boiler like thing in the catalog! Oh! A new gadget for my mac n cheese???
Recipes cooked: 8
Recipes left: 165
Days left: 346

Check out the video for Jamie's show tonight:
http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

Need a new gadget?
Visit my friend Heather's website and place an order using my name by Monday, March 29 at 9 a.m.:
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/heatherclarkskitchen
Click "Shop Online" then enter my name