I LOVE macaroni and cheese. Let me say that again- I LOVE macaroni and cheese. It is probably my favorite dish of all time- it's easy to make, it's universally liked, and who complains about mounds of cheddar cheese? Certainly not this guy.

My recipe switches every now and then- truffle oil comes and goes, I'll try different cheeses, and whatever else I can alter. It's like soup in that there are so many different ways to make it taste really good that sticking to the same recipe really isn't my thing. My macaroni recipe has never actually used macaroni- I've always used other noodles.

Macaroni and cheese is such an easy dish to make that if you want to make dinner with or for your significant other and you aren't all that great at cooking, this is an ideal dish to make. As always, I've approximated some of the measurements in the recipe below, but you can alter them to your liking.

1/2 box of penne

1/3 stick of butter

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup milk

1 table spoon of garlic salt

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of pepper

1 8oz bag of mild cheddar cheese

1 8oz bag of colby/jack cheese

1 16oz bag of sharp cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil the penne until the noodles are soft. Drain noodles, but do not rinse.
3. Cut the stick of butter into thin pats; it will be mixed in to the boiled noodles.
4. Mix all of the ingredients EXCEPT for the sharp cheddar cheese together in a large bowl or pot.
5. Empty the mixture in a large pan and lay evenly.
6. Cover the top of the dish with the sharp cheddar cheese. Depending on how large the pan's surface area is, you may need to use the whole bag of cheese.
7. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the top cheese is brown enough for your liking.

Oranger than a Jersey Shore cast member. Cheesier than your mom's jokes. More customizable than any car at West Coast Customs. THIS is macaroni and cheese. Enjoy making it as much as you'll enjoy eating it- later days!

Cool Windows Swag

Yesterday, I posted about my experience at the Windows Phone Night Market event. Today, I'm just going to show you how awesome I am by flaunting all of my new stuff. Take a look below!

So above we have a pretty cool t shirt (although I was really liking the red Windows Phone track jackets the employees had), a 3 month Xbox Live Gold card, a cupcake trio from Sweet Ride, my Windows Phone wristband, and of course, the coup de grace, an HTC Radar 4G. I'll have more on the phone in a future post, but this is just to show how much stuff Microsoft was giving away- they really appreciate their fan base! This is something you have never seen Apple do with the iPhone. Android events have happened over the past 4 years, but sporadically. This is the first time I know of that the company actually goes on tour to get the device in more people's hands.

Of course, I got lucky with the QR code contest, and the Twitter contest took a little skill, but I appreciate Microsoft going on this national tour to really get the word out about these phones. The operating system is top notch, and as Windows Phones quickly close the specs gap, I'm really confident that they'll get the exposure that they truly deserve. Two words: LIVE TILES.

By the way, the Sweet Ride cupcakes were amazing- it was a mini cupcake sampler, and was definitely worth the $5 price tag. Trust me on this- I'm a cupcake connoisseur. Check out Sweet Ride at their official website, or find the cupcake van via Twitter!

A Night At The Market

Yesterday I took a three hour drive to Chicago to check out a party thrown by the good people at Microsoft. The Night Market Event, as it was known, is just one in a series of cross country parties to help promote the second cycle of Windows Phones. Microsoft promised us food, drinks, a whole lot of swag, and a really good time. I'll just be frank here- they did not lie. The party was amazing.

The picture above was the scene as we entered the MCA Warehouse- it emanated classy and cool; swanky is the word I believe I'm looking for. Microsoft had the whole upper level decked out with bars, Windows Phone booths, interactive demos, and more. It was a little dark for pictures, but my Samsung Focus held its own considering it's all I brought with me. People took pictures with Angry Birds masks, played Fruit Ninja while being hounded by real ninjas, and watched as some of the amazing Microsoft staff went through all of the ins and outs of Windows Phone 7.5. Four devices (Samsung Focus S, Samsung Focus Flash, HTC Titan, HTC Radar) were on display for demos; the two Nokia devices were nowhere to be seen.

Past the chance to eat, drink, and be merry, Microsoft provided plenty of chances for people to win stuff. QR codes, scannable wristbands, and Twitter competitions were just a few of the ways that any of the attendees could win. They were giving away t-shirts, Zune passes, Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, and yes, even Windows Phones. I actually got a Windows Phone in a "quick tweet" competition at the top of the night. (Just a word of advice to those who are attending these events: it would help to know the @windowsphone tweet tag by heart before you tweet. When I finished my tweet, many others were just starting to type, as their Twitter app hadn't loaded yet.)

Anyways, I won an HTC Radar, and in less than 24 hours, it has become my new everyday phone. I'll have more on it later in the week after I've thoroughly played with it.

My first ever Fried Twinkie- where have you been all my life?

To cap off the night, there was a band! The Drums, an indie pop band from Ohio (I got that from Wikipedia!), got up on stage and jammed for a while- I had never heard of them before, but I liked them...at least enough to download some of their music. Everyone in my vicinity seemed to enjoy them too, so that was a win/win. Check out the pics below.

If you want to check out one of these events, I definitely recommend that you do so. Microsoft is halfway through their tour now, but they're still hitting various locations around the country from Boston to San Francisco in the next 10 days. Scratch that- I don't recommend that you go to one of these events, I DEMAND that you do. ALL BOW BEFORE THE HOLDER OF THE MIGHTY RADAR!

So...yeah. For a complete list of cities, check out the city list HERE. Invite your friends or your significant other, and believe me when I say that a good time will be had by all.

Potato Soup

Yeah, I had nothing better to put for a title- might as well keep it simple today.

The weather in Springfield has been dipping into the 40s- the 30s late at night even, and that means soup season has begun!

I found this great recipe on Allrecipes.com, and made my own little adjustments to it; I used green onions instead of regular ones, I used garlic salt for a little more flavor, and added bacon. It turned out really good- I would definitely make it again.

I consider soup to be one of the toughest dishes to make, since it can be altered so many ways and there's always room for improvement. There's something about soup in the winter that just makes it taste better during this time of year. I'll definitely be perfecting this recipe as the season goes on- I'll keep you all updated on the process!