Eating comfort.

We were supposed to go out to the movies, then get some Chinese or Asian food or whatever, but B felt ill and spent most of the day sleeping it off. I got to bed around 6am, and was woken up with some arm twisting, and spent the morning making a large mac n' cheese. I was intending this for tomorrow's get together of B's family, but it was changed at the last minute for B's Grandma's recipe for noodle pudding, so this needed to be cooked off or eventually the milk and cheeses would go bad.

Never ate hot mac n' cheese right of the oven, I usually let it set for an hour or two, but this was pretty damn good. I let the roux get to the brown stage, I tripled the Worcestershire sauce, and used whole wheat panko and grated Parmesan to form the crust. I also cut back the noodles by 1/4 to make a saucier product. Probably the best mac n' cheese yet. I think powdered mustard in a larger quantity than the small sprinkle of cayenne will give a bigger flavor, too.

As B slept, took a walk in the 'hood with Edie. Stopped by the local supermarket to pick up some butter for tomorrow's noodle pudding. Very busy, but enough staff were around to handle it. Overheard a conversation with a register person -- they're actually open on Xmas, but a lot of people assume (like I did) that they will be closed. Picked up a walker-thingy for Edie from the office which accepts packages. Set it up, it's basically a basket with leg holes, suspended so Edie's feet touch the ground, and she's surrounded by noise-making buttons (with an off-switch, thank goodness) It's also on wheels so she can move around but is protected by it's bulk. We put her in that thing, and the joyous confusion on her face was a sight to behold.

As B started feeling better, I started feeling worse and felt kinda out of it by 10...

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, toasted bagel with creamcheese and sable, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, mac n' cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, General Tso's Chicken with pork fried rice, egg roll, wonton soup, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
B wasn't hungry, and I wasn't particularly hungry either, but I'm Jewish, it's Xmas eve, and most of my life that meant hanging out with my parents and catching a movie, then getting Chinese food, and nothing will stop me from this food tradition. I actually don't like General Tso's chicken, but I haven't tried it in years. I remember smelling it from across the table, as my mom would get it often. And I thought, well, if I don't like it, I won't eat it and I certainly don't need to eat a brick. I also ordered a wonton soup -- my dad would always order a wonton soup, especially when it came "free" as part of a combination, and would always save it for the next day for lunch. The food itself was pretty whatever, but communing with my parents was comforting. I was eating comfort all day.