Before the holidays, I was struggling a little with my pre-k classes. I couldn’t switch my brain from the public library storytime format, where you have 45 minutes to an hour to sing, use bubbles, read stories, and do a craft. And the parents are there to help with any complicated gluing or cutting for the craft. My class periods are 30 minutes, and I realized after a while that with pre-k I really get more like 20-25 minutes. It takes them a while to do transitions, so they’re not at the library when the bell rings and need about 5 minutes to clean up and line up at the end of class. But by November I’d finally sort of caught on to planning units over a month’s time with them. Some weeks we just do stories, some weeks we play a game or do a craft, etc.
My stepmother-in-law’s mother passed away today. She was 95 and lived with my in-laws, so we were all close. I may not be blogging much over the next few days, we’re waiting to hear about arrangements and things. So it’s a bit of a quiet, somber day today.
A couple of weeks ago I made some really good baked mac and cheese. I have a few recipes I’ve used in the past, and I tweaked them all and added bacon and onions to get this one, my latest experimentation. This is a meal on its own.
Jackie’s Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Onions
Serves: 10 as a side dish, 6 to 8 as a main dish
**If you’re baking this, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and boil the pasta for 1 minute less than package directions suggest for al dente. Otherwise just eat it out of the saucepan.
I haven’t made anything lately because my machine is misbehaving. I think I just wore it out during the holidays. And it’s more than 3 years old and has never been serviced. So it’s definitely time. I can’t sew more than a few inches without the bobbin thread getting all messed up or sucked back into the bobbin casing. So I need to take my little Kenmore in for servicing, and I’m having separation anxiety about it. I can’t use it in its current state, and I can’t stand the idea of leaving it somewhere for a few days, maybe even a week. I know this is completely ridiculous, especially since my self-imposed birthday Etsy deadline is just a couple of weeks away. Don’t think I’m going to make that deadline.