My husband and I will make a baked version of macaroni and cheese from time to time, usually with some fancy combination of cheeses like Gruyere and Swiss and aged Cheddar. It’s delicious, but time-consuming. And it’s more crispy than creamy. So when I crave the creamy kind of macaroni and cheese I remember as a kid, it’s easy to rely on a box.

Now perhaps you can imagine how excited I was when I came across this recipe from Annie’s Eats that looked easy and seemed to turn out creamy based on her pictures. I’ve never eaten the mac and cheese from Panera, so I can’t attest to how similar it may be. But I can say that even with my rather limited cooking abilities, this dish satisfied a craving and was simple to prepare.

I made a small change and used two kinds of Cheddar (sharp and medium) instead of American cheese (which in my humble opinion, doesn’t pack a whole lot of flavor). So instead of 4 oz. of American cheese, I used 4 oz. of medium Cheddar and 8 oz. of sharp Cheddar. I also didn’t have any hot sauce on hand, so instead I added some cayenne pepper with a little bit of paprika.

It was warm, creamy, rich and absolutely perfect for a chilly Sunday dinner. With a salad of course, because you can’t forget your veggies. It’s still maybe not quite healthy, but I do like that I know exactly what’s in it – and that I can pronounce all of its ingredients.

It seems like a pretty flexible recipe, so I look forward to trying it perhaps with different combinations and ratios of cheese, in addition to varying degrees of spiciness. It was so easy and well-worth the effort, I honestly think I’ll have a hard time eating boxed macaroni and cheese again.

What childhood favorites have you re-created?

While writing was always something I did in some professional capacity, I started writing a blog so that I could have a play time with writing. But then, just like play time wanes, I started looking at my new and fun project as something to improve, to polish, to become better at.

And then I started getting all over-achiever perfectionist on my poor little blog. If I couldn’t write a good post, then why write one? Could I post often enough and if not, then why at all? Was my writing interesting? Were my pictures boring?

That whole line of thinking is silly and for me at least, paralyzing. And led to almost a full year of not writing anything for fun. From a girl who claims she likes to write.

So from now on, anything that inspires, excites, intrigues or simply causes a little light bulb to go off is fair game. Because play time isn’t supposed to have rules, despite what my adult self has tried to impose.

The last year has been a little messy. Which coincidentally, is about the last time I dusted off my blog to write. So perhaps it’s time to embrace the messiness of a play time here to bring focus and structure to other areas of my life. It certainly can’t hurt to try.

So for today’s play time, here’s a picture of my pretty little dog. I promise not to go crazy dog lady and post about her every day. But don’t her big brown eyes and little pink nose just make you smile?

If you know me, you probably know how much I love Target. And some of my favorite clothes have been from both their standard and designer collections. But something about this collection really makes me want to go Black Friday, Totally Crazy, Wake Up at 5:00 a.m. to Get in Line, I WILL Fight You for that Navy Dress and Max Out My Credit Card Buying EVERYTHING (shhh, don’t tell Mint.com) Completely Obsessed.

Via New York Magazine: http://bit.ly/ydygJx

Mr. Wu is the latest of a number of designers who have created a line in the cheap-chic realm. Sometimes my take is these collections can feel a bit forced and fussy, like it’s more important to have something that’s distinctively from a designer, rather than just wearing clothes that reflect what you like.

But his pieces are gorgeous and filled with bright colors, creative shapes and pretty embellishments. He famously dressed Michelle Obama for the president’s inauguration. Stunning, right?

I’ve enjoyed Target designer collections before (Issac Mizrahi, please come back!), and I have a hunch this will be among my favorites.

What I think I love its balanced approach to femininity and maturity. The pieces have just lovely details – stripes! floral! pleats! Yet remain polished and put-together.

This Skirt! This Shirt! This Bag! I Love! Via New York Magazine http://bit.ly/x46LSn

Browsing the entire collection, each piece seemed extremely wearable with numerous combinations across all different scenarios – work, brunch, dinner date, strolling through the city. I appreciate the value and versatility of any kind of clothes that can be worn both at the office and on the weekend.

And This Skirt Too! Via New York Magazine http://bit.ly/xcjYgj

As a city girl, closet space is at a premium. And it’s sort of just a thing I have to not pay a lot of money for clothes. Yes, I definitely spring for value and investment pieces when quality is important. But on an everyday basis, I’d love lots of pretty clothes, just maybe for not a lot of money, pretty please : )

And this dress too! Via New York Mag http://bit.ly/zTtA1Y

And just for fun, look at the commercial for the collection. Adorable. And the clothes are just lovely.

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Will you be checking out the Jason Wu for Target collection? Do you have your eye on any pieces?

I would return my new notebook if this were the reward. Would you? ; )

But then you get over these things. Because you need a creative outlet. And you want some cake. Also because you’ve committed to make dessert for some dinner or another.

And honestly, with holiday baking on the horizon, I knew the best thing to would be stick with it and practice. So I stuck with tried and true recipes for the holidays (because honestly, who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie at the end of the day?) and started to build my confidence again.

I feel like this frosting was the culmination of me getting back into the swing of baking, especially now that I’m much more adjusted to my new kitchen layout, plus getting back to more of a fearless nature in the kitchen. We’re talking burn sugar three times, clean the burnt sugar off the saucepan like crazy and still stick with it kind of fearless.

The recipe isn’t perfected yet, but still worth sharing as I experiment. Also, it was still very good, so it might just be your thing if you like a light caramel flavor.

I also tried a new chocolate cupcake recipe. They’re the fabulous cupcake base of these super fabulous cupcakes from the marvelous Joy the Baker. Sidenote: Read her blog. It’s really really good and she takes fantastic photos. Anyway, so the cupcake recipe was new and kind of tried and true, because my friend Jackie had made them. And if it passes her chocolate cake test, then it’s a sure thing. Side-Sidenote: Read her blog too!

The real fun here was the frosting.

I had been craving something with salted caramel for quite some time. Not for any specific reason, but in general I swoon over things with a sweet/slightly salty combo.

With that in mind, I set out to make caramel frosting. Making it up as I went along. And having a lot of fun in the process.

Because it’s a work in process, I sadly do not have a specific recipe to share. But if you’d like to know the general framework and experiment on your own, below please find my rough guidelines, sort-of recipe for caramel frosting.

Next time I’ll probably increase the amount of caramel for a stronger flavor. But after having to clean burnt sugar from a pot twice, I was pretty happy with the outcome. And even more happy to be creative in the kitchen again. I’ll be sure to share any tweaks I make as I perfect it.

Ingredients

For the frosting base

5 large egg whites

1/3 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

4 sticks of unsalted butter

1  1/2  teaspoons vanilla extract

For the caramel – adapted from a class I took at The Chopping Block in Chicago:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

It’s necessary to make the caramel in advance to allow it enough time to cool. Combine the sugar and the water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to cook without stirring until the syrup caramelizes to a deep amber color.  Do not stir it while it’s boiling and be extra careful because the mixture gets very hot.

Remove from heat. Carefully and slowly add the cream to the caramel and whisk until smooth. Put to the side and let cool.

To start the frosting, follow the process for Swiss Meringue Buttercream. When you get to the step where you whip the meringue after taking it off the heat, note it won’t get as full and fluffy because there’s less sugar.

Add in the butter according to the directions. For me, it looked like all of the frosting would separate because of too little sugar. But if you continue whipping the frosting while adding the butter, it all comes together. This time around I think it took over ten minutes because I added the butter really slowly.

Once all the butter is added, add in your vanilla and caramel. I added my caramel in three batches to make my mixer’s job a little easier and also to track and adjust the caramel as needed based on the flavor. I ended up adding the entire batch of caramel and actually wished I had more so the frosting was more caramel-y.

Once it’s all done, pipe it onto some cupcakes and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt. My advice – be generous with the frosting and sparing with the sea salt.

Enjoy!

Yesterday’s purple-ish, sparkle-y necklace with some interesting little details on each bead. I wore it with a pink top and grey skirt – a pretty color scheme I like.

Wearing a necklace every day may be the first New Year’s Resolution I’ve ever kept this long : )

Hope you enjoy your day! Can you believe it’s only Wednesday? I cannot.

But I’ve discovered that I can, sort of. I feel like I’m getting the knack of dressing up jeans more and more. Without being fussy and still feeling comfortable, here are the main things I’ve tried to do when wearing jeans to the office:

1. Add casual jackets. I’ve re-purposed suit jackets in the past, but I’ve also picked up a few more casual separates too. Jeans and a t-shirt are pretty much ok with this added piece that adds some flair and polish.

2. Wear nice shoes! I like to wear nice shoes regardless just because it’s fun for me. But I definitely try to up the polished/statement shoe factor when it comes to wearing jeans. I like how my riding boots, for example, aren’t over-the-top fancy, but still become an understated focal point.

3. Throw on a necklace. Especially a bigger, statement necklace that can break up a simple t-shirt or sweater. In fact, I almost have an easier time wearing necklaces with my more basic shirts than I do some of my dressier shirts. I think it brings some visual interest and draws in a statement piece that isn’t necessarily an article of clothing but pulls an outfit together nonetheless. Plus, for me, it fulfills my New Year’s Resolution.

4. Add layers. This kind of goes back to number one. Sometimes I try to add a collared blouse under a cardigan or v-neck sweater to create more texture.

So overall, this has become a bit of my template when I wear jeans. The plain crew neck sweater seemed a lot more fun with a long multi-strand necklace, and I think the jacket added another layer of visual interest – and is great when the office can be either super hot or super cold! Of course, when the weather gets warmer, I’ll be making some tweaks.

How do you dress up jeans for the office or going out? In what ways do you make your jeans feel like part of a more deliberate outfit?

I feel like I’ve always struggled to find those “basic” pieces just about every magazine recommends – things like well-fitting jeans, a crisp white shirt and easily-wearable jacket. It’s all about fit and that makes it hard – not to mention frustrating – to shop for. Jeans especially drive me crazy and shopping for them has been known to produce tears and massive bouts of insecurity. Followed by massive amounts of wine, of course : )

But I feel like I’ve been much more critical of fit and lately have only purchased things that fit well or can be easily tailored. (Plus side: I get to fill my closet with things I love – yay!). So even though I had to wait patiently to find some of these basics, I think it was well worth the wait.

Coincidentally, this white shirt isn’t necessarily my standard collar button down. It has a little ruffly detail at the collar that I liked, and I think creates some texture/layering interest with the pink-ish necklace I chose for today. I love that it’s still a pretty traditional piece, but made more modern with a small tweak.

How do you find find basics for your wardrobe? Do you find it challenging to find some wardrobe staples like jeans and jackets? What tactics do you find successful when you’re shopping for pieces that need a good fit?

Sometimes, at the end of a particularly difficult day, you just have to take stock in the fact you wore a sparkly necklace.