The Oscars, a Pasta dish review, and How much I love him

Well, the weekend didn't start well. I could feel myself coming down with something. I used to be able to simply will my way out of being sick, but I was not so lucky. By Saturday's workshift, I was in the throes of a cold/flue bug. As much as I needed to suffer through, I just had to call in sick to work on Sunday.
Ahren and I had plans to get together after I was done with work for the Oscars. He, hearing of my illness, decided to come early, so we could spend the day together and he could take care of me. Isn't he sweet?

My man - looking all nice for our Dinner and Movies night.

Well, the Oscars were fun. As always, I had a bet going with Ashley (for those who don't know her, she was my roommate during most of college). She has carried the Oscars Winners bragging rights for the last couple of years - I don't know how she does it. I was sure this year I would finally break her record. So, Ahren and I settled in to watch, and we had our own little bragging rights bet between the two of us. Well - I didn't do as well as I would have liked - Ashely won with 10 accurate predictions. I had 7 - but I did beat Ahren, who had 5. There were a lot of upsets though, where none of us were right.

I must say, I really am looking forward to being able to see some of the movies featured this year ... maybe one year I will be able to see most of them BEFORE the Oscars, but I doubt it. Besides half the fun is pure luck of your complete guesses being right.

About the pasta dish - Ahren took charge of dinner and brought a recipe from his mom, simply called Pasta Cheese Dish. It was kinda like Pasta bake, only with a cheese gravy. Sorry, no picture available, we ate it too quickly :D

Pasta of your choice (bowtie is recommended - we had spirals) - cook, drain, & set aside.

3/8 cup butter,

1/2 cup flour,

1 and 3/4 cup milk,

1/2 tsp salt,

1 tsp dry mustard (opt),

1/2 tsp black pepper,

1 and 1/2 cup (8oz) Jack cheese; shredded
Melt butter. Stir in flour. Gradually stir in milk & spices. Cook on med/low heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Remove from heat, add half of cheese, and stir. Pour over pasta and toss/stir until pasta is coated. Pur mixture into a greased 13x9 dish. Top w/ remaining cheese, then Bake @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

What comes out is the most amazing, cheesy thing EVERY! We added a lot of extra cheese, so I was pretty happy. Although, since we didn't have the dry mustard, I think the taste might have been a tad on the bland side, but it was still delish! Highly reccomended!!

I was feeling pretty good for a bit there, and then, sometime during the night, I got hit with the full force of the bug, and come Monday morning, I could barely make the call in to work. I still feel bad about taking the time off, but man, everything was so fuzzy, and my stomache was messing with me, and the congestion was raking my lungs. UG!! But, Ahren had the day off of work, so we again spent the day together. A lot of it was resting for me. It was kinda nice to just be together. He was the greatest caretaker ever! He really made me smile with his antics. See below:

Have no Fear, Ahren is here to care for you! My hero ;)

But he also took care of me. Again, during the day I recovered, but by the evening, I was feeling fuzzy again, and on top of everything else, I started getting a sore throat. We sat and watched a movie together and some tv, but I was mostly drifting in and out of conciousness. He put a pillow down and let my lie with my head in his lap, and he just sat there, stroking my hair - he even massaged my temples for a little while. Even though I was sick and I felt terrible, I was in Bliss. It was so nice to be taken care of like that.

He went to work the next day and came back afterwards. I had my room lit with candles and had some soft music playing when he came back. It was one of the best evenings ever. We sat and just talked for a couple hours together - listened to some music, swapped stories. It was all just so natural. I got a picture of him while he was looking something up on the computer. I just love this shot:

Doesn't he just look so cool?!

This really made me think: about how much I really do love this boy. It's only been a little less than 2 months, and I am head over heels in love with him. I am normally the practical person who would say "There's no way you could possibly love someone you've only been with for a month!" But I'm eating my words on that. Ahren and I have connected completely in such a short time. I know him so well, and vice versa. We've even already moved almost completely out of the "Utterly Twitterpaited" stage, and into a less crazy level of comfort. Oh, I still break into smiles whenever I see him, but as one of my friends puts it "you two are so natural together, you would think you've been together at least 6 months" Ahren attributes that with how much time we just spend talking. We can't afford to go out a lot, so when we're together we just make dinner, watch a movie and talk.

The last couple of days has served as a reminder of how much I do love him. At first, I held back from saying that to him. I let the practical side do the talking, but the more time we spent together, the louder my heart shouted at me :"YOU LOVE HIM!" He's so good; so kind; so sweet. He's so fun to be around, but he has a serious/practical side that does me a lot of good. I want to be a better person because of him, and I begin to see all the better aspects of myself shining when he is around, and all the less than good aspects start to work toward something better.

Yes, we've talked about the future a lot. It doesn't scare either of us at all. We're very comfortable admitting that we're both in this relationship for the long haul and even our talk of the future has become very casual. There is no question that we're going to be together for (at least) a long time. We've started making plans together. I've already got a fund started up for a road trip for the two of us to take together to see him family in Indiana via Illinois to see my family.

Here's the other thing: we've talked about life ideas. We both know where the other stands on things like life dreams, careers, sex, marriage, kids, religion, etc. We fit into each other's plans nicely, if not perfectly. While we're not giving up any of our own dreams, we've grown fond of the idea of helping the other find their dreams, and compromises don't seem like an inconvienience. We're far from action, but theoretically, we fit together well.

I never thought I would be here, writing or thinking these things - but I've come to realize that anything is possible - and it's all because of him :D

Recipe - Tamale Pie and Kool-Aid Sherbert

Yum! Simple, cheap, delicious, hearty, and open for reinterpretation. Mom wrote this recipe down from I don't know where, and we had it tonight.

Tamale Pie
1-2 cans of chili ; 1/2 can of corn ; 1- 1 1/2 lb ground hamburger or turkey ; 1 onion (chopped) ; 1 box cornbread mix ; 1 c. cheddar (shredded). First, brown meat and onion together. Mix in the corn and chili with the meat. Pour into baking dish. Top with cheese. Make the batter for the Cornbread as directed, and pour into the dish. Bake as directed by the cornbread box.

You know what I like about this? Plenty of options! This is kind of the base idea, and you can customize this as much as you want. I'm thinking cut it in half, add some Rotel, add some seasoning to the meat, and use mexican cheese - but it also works wonderfully by itself. The sweetness of the corn mixes perfectly with the savory chili and meat.
You know what else I love about this? CHEAP! and EASY!

Another must try: Kool-Aid Sherbert. Can't afford ice cream and want something cold and sweet? Take 1 package of Koo-aid (your choice), 3c milk, and 1c sugar. Stir together until sugar is dissolved. Freeze a couple hours. Beat mixture for a while, put back in the freezer until firm.
Easy and cheap. It's incredibly sweet, so its not something you should do often. It is also really hard to scoop out when it is completely frozen, so it would be best to either serve as soon as it is at the easy scooping stage, or set it out awhile before serving.
Mom and I decided to try Strawberry, and let me tell you, it is delicious. Cheap person's sorbet. It is incredibly creamy and packed with flavor. Perfect for "can't afford to go out" dessert. Delicious!

Recipe Sucess! Cheese Balls Coffee Cake

Well, I post reviews for everything else on here, so why not do food? Added bonus is getting to share some DELICIOUS recipes with anyone crazy enough to read this thing. Maybe that's my way of saying sorry? Maybe not, but its a nice little treat for anyone checking in on me from time to time.
So, I can't take full credit for this one. It is based on something I saw Paula Deen's sons making, but I did a few changes, and now, this recipe is kind of a base for endless possibilities. It really is open to any kind of changes, additions, or subtractions you want to make.

Made it for Mom today. It was a hit. Mom loved it (either that, or she was being REALLY nice about it). Dad liked it - that's right, DAD liked it. He is the "tried and true" type, so if he likes something new, we'll be sure to make it again. Me? I don't mean to brag, but I loved it!

Cheese Balls Coffee Cake: 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon to taste, 2 tubes ref. biscuits (10 count), 8 oz cream cheese (cut into 20 pieces), 1/2 cup butter (melted), 1 cup powdered sugar, 2T milk. Combine Sugar and cinnamon, set aside. Flatten out each biscuit. Dip piece of cream cheese in cinna/sugar mix, place on center of biscuit. Fold biscuit into ball and seal edges. Dip in melted butter, then roll in cinna/sugar mix. Place in lightly greased bunt pan in a single layer. Don't stack! Pour remaining butter and mix over the top. Bake 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes after baking before removing from pan. Whip together powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over top of cake once it has cooled.

See? It's a wonderful base recipe with plenty of oppurtunities to personalize it to your taste. I think this one is a keeper. The cinna/sugar mix adds a nice little crunch to the outside of the biscuits and that mizes wonderfully with the creamy texture of the cream cheese. Personally, I think the glaze is a little too sweet for my taste, but its still good for someone who needs a little extra sweetener. As far as changes and substitutes go, the possibilities are endless. Add nuts to the coating, fruit to the filling, and sub some kind of juice for the milk, and you have a different taste all together. You can also make this into a stuffed garlic pull apart bread - which I will be tempted to try sometime myself. I'll let you know how it goes ;D