Cooking ahead...

I have a notebook with pages of lists of things to do before the wedding.  We crossed a whole bunch of those things off this weekend.

Wonderful sister Deb drove here from Massachusetts to help. Again.  The plan was to get some of the food that can be cooked in advance and frozen taken care of.  One of the side dishes for the wedding is to be my mom's macaroni and cheese recipe.  We used to joke that no one she knew and liked ever died, had a baby or a party without receiving a pan of this stuff.  And everyone loves it, to this day.

So this weekend we cooked 9 pounds of pasta, used almost 4 gallons of milk, 9 pounds of sharp cheddar cheese, and I don't even know how much butter we went through. There was also flour, salt, pepper, dried mustard... a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce.  We used BIG pots.

                                                
And we seasoned it all with laughter, then added a little love.

The trick is to make a LOT of cheese sauce, so the noodles are just swimming in it. They absorb it after a while.  We now have 4 pans (10 x 19") of cheesy deliciousness tucked into the chest freezer.  Before we bake them we will top them with Ritz Cracker crumbs and sprinkle everything with grated cheese, then cook them until they are hot and golden and... yum.

Deb also brought me some presents. Because... that is who she is.  I needed a new milking stool, and she found a super cute one that is just right. I'll get a picture of it another time.  Best of all she went to a nearby antique store which we have visited together and bought me something I have been wanting for three years. I kept looking at it and wishing for it, but never did bring it home. So she did.

And we hung it right up in the garage.  This whole weekend was a great one to be happy!