Beer 'n' Cheese Mac

I was so distraught over how to name this recipe, combining beer, cheese, caramelized onions, bacon. Beer Mac 'n' Cheese... Mac 'n' Beer Cheese ... Mac 'n' Cheese with Beer 'n' Bacon, Beer-Cheezy Mac (yeah, with a z)... so that's the ever-so (not) creative title I have. Beer, bacon, cheese, caramelized onion, awesomeness... can you dig it?

This recipe is a great example of accidental ingenuity. I often start out with one idea in my head that turns into something completely else once I start cooking (and realize I don't have half the ingredients I need in the house), or I will have no idea what I want to make and just start looking for food that needs to be used up in the kitchen. I was going to make mac 'n' cheese... but then that ever so important ingredient just happened to be missing, MILK. So beer and flour it was. It's days like these I wonder if I could be on top chef or chopped one day... and then I come back to reality (and realize I took an hour to make everything and the timer would've run out light-years ago... not to mention I'm not the first person to ever make this food).

A natural pairing for this recipe is whatever beer you cooked with. I used a run-of-the-mill light beer because it's what I had on hand, but lager would probably be best to cook and drink. But if you must pop the cork, opt for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

Puppy, Rain, & Baked Potato Soup

Where have I been this past month or so? Well, Mr. B. and I have had a busy end of summer/start of fall. We bought and moved into our first home (yaayyy but so stressful!), I started grad school (yay, but so stressful...), and we became the parents of a handsome German Wirehair Pointer named Sawyer.

Yeah, he's pretty much the cutest, craziest thing ever.

And then, just when we thought we were getting the routine down... Sawyer hurt his leg on one sunny Saturday morning at obedience class. Now, we have a 14-week old puppy who would love nothing more but to run, run, run, and run some more but should be resting & healing (which he only did for the first few days... then went back to running, splint & all). 

So this is our cute puppy, down for a nap, with his new blue cast :(

Mommy (as I now refer to myself in the third person...) gets to come home from being orthopedic nurse at hospital all day to orthopedic nurse at home for a stubborn puppy. Moreover, his splint must stay dry and it's pretty much done nothing but rain for the last two months.

And again, it's raining outside. No suprise. Hurricane season is no fun for anyone... and it's a shame because September is one of my favorite months here in the Northeast; sun-soaked days in the 70s, flip flops and jeans. My September was held hostage by rain, and now it's October. Perfect weather at night to sit around the fire with friends.

So to comfort myself in this mopey weather, I've made a baked potato soup will all the fixin's. This recipe yields A LOT so cut down if you don't want to be eating this for days. Pair your bowl of yummy baked potato soup with a Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc.