Eating Out

We don't eat out much. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, I adore planning, shopping for and cooking dinner-- I like everythng about it (except the clean-up, which thankfully, the Mr. doesn't mind doing). Cooking is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before I drift off to sleep at night.

Second, it has proven to be pretty tough to find a baby sitter who can man-handle 2 two-year-olds to sleep at night. On the very few occasions when we have gone out to dinner, it has been a 6pm reservation so that we can hurry back home by 8pm bedtime. Yuck.

Third, eating out in Switzerland is ridiculously expensive. It set us back 100 Swiss francs (about $80) for the two of us to go out for pizza and a couple of beers. On our tenth wedding anniversary, the Mr and I ate at a fancy restaurant with an excellent reputation. I was pregnant with the twins, feeling large and not so good (nor was I drinking). Here's what we ordered in total: One salad, one bowl of soup, one appetizer, one entree, one gin and tonic and one beer. Essentially, between th two of us, we ate a four course meal for one person. It was very good. Not incredible, but very nice. Here's what our bill was: 428 Swiss francs (about $345).

I cried on the drive home.

So, we eat in about 360 nights a year. But that doesn't mean that we eat meatloaf and baked potatoes for 360 dinners (no offense to meatloaf, of course). I try and cook dishes that are as good as we could get in a favorite, neigborhood bistro. I'm not a food snob, I understand the value of a great mac and cheese. But I want it to taste like the best mac and cheese you've ever had.

Below is a recipe I developed for myself and my friends who find it, for whatever reason, a better option to eat at home. Maybe it's because they simply love to cook.