This is a macaroni and cheese baked with cauliflower and an herbed bread and pancetta topping, an endive and radicchio salad with a fresh basil dressing, and stewed fruit with vanilla bean ice cream - the ice cream is store bought, but everything else was made from scratch.

This attempt took a little bit longer - 46 minutes, from start to sit-down, including cleanup - because I'm too fussy to sit down to eat until the dishes are done and the counters wiped down (thanks, Mom). This longer time was in part because I woke up groggy from an afternoon nap after hosting a Mothers' Day brunch for my family this morning, and also because I wasn't really feeling like cooking another big meal today. However, I knew when I was reaching for the take-away menu from Thailicious that tonight was when the real challenge began - when I didn't actually feel like getting my act together, but did so anyway.

The macaroni was nice, not too rich or cheesy. I stewed peaches with a splash of vanilla, orange juice and cinnamon, and it was a delicious ending to the meal. I'm now sitting with my cup of coffee and feeling very smug about cooking through the pain...