Pass the Time, Please...

I woke up Sunday morning with those flittery butterflies in my stomach. Like a kid on Christmas day, I was too excited to sleep in. After eight long weeks, my husband was finally coming home. Unfortunately, I needed to kill several hours before I could start my journey to the airport to pick him up. After a leisurely breakfast with friends, which included countless cups of coffee, I was jacked up on caffeine and anticipation. The countdown was ticking away but at a painfully slow pace. This signaled the time to break out the pots and pans, rummage through the fridge, and get sucked into some culinary zen. Not only would the time fly, but I would be left with something delicious... a win-win situation. Raiding the refrigerator, I found parmesan, gruyere, and mozzarella as well as a jar of homemade arugula pesto. With the addition of some whole wheat pasta, mac and cheese was the obvious choice. I quickly got a pot of salted water going on the burner and started shredding cheese. Once the noodles were tender and the cheese sauce was finished, I mixed the two together, swirled in the arugula pesto and topped it with chopped almonds. While this tasty mixture was baking to a nice golden brown, I washed the remaining dishes, set a plate out for my lunch, and made one last time check. After enjoying my creation and taking a few quick snaps with the camera, it was, indeed, time to go. I love it when a plan comes together.