ON FOOD ~ The Molly Special...

This weekend I had a terrific conversation with my 3 year old neighbor about hot dogs.  Hot dogs truly are the go-to food for children under the age of 5, aren't they?  Since my little buddy loved hot dogs so much, I thought I would share with him my favorite hot dog dish - Mac & Cheese with grilled hot dogs chopped up and mixed into it.  My friend was not quite the connoisseur that I thought he was though, since he scrunched his nose up at me.  Seems he doesn't enjoy the Mac & Cheese - according to his Dad, that's just not how he rolls.

Well.  His loss, I say.  This particular dish (can I refer to it as an actual dish?) is a frequent request by me of Andy on Sunday evenings looking to wind down the weekend with some yummy comfort food.  Andy always likes this suggestion because it is quick & easy - in addition to tasty.

So when Andy headed out of town for business one weeknight recently, leaving me without any prepared food in the house or even a box of cereal to munch on, I wondered which pizza place I'd be calling for dinner.  A peek in the fridge revealed the bare bones of beer, ketchup and salad dressing.  But then I found some hot dogs in the deli drawer.  So I got to thinking.  Sure enough, in the pantry was a box of Mac & Cheese.  Andy always said this was quick and easy.  How hard could it actually be?

Now, just so you understand, when I was in high school my little brother had to show me how to boil water.  I am still teased about this.  So rather than get defensive, or learn how to cook, I just embraced my inabilities with glee and found myself a husband who could and would make a good meal on demand.

Faced with no husband to feed me I decided it was now or never.  If I succeeded I would eat happily that evening and no one would need to know that I could do it for myself in the future.   If I failed, I could just order a pizza and no one would need to know how pathetic I am.  Our cats - my only witnesses - as far as I know, do not have the ability to tattle.

I will have you know that a watched pot does in fact boil.  Because I watched that sucker the entire time to make sure it didn't boil over and extinguish the flame.  I even got daring and decided to grill the dogs at the same time on the stove top griddle.  I multi-tasked!  Without setting off the smoke detector!

I poured in that powdered cheese while my tummy grumbled and tossed in the chopped up dogs like a sous chef extraordinaire.  And before I dug in, I took a photo - because I was too proud of myself not to document my endeavor.  Which was delicious.  But not as good as Andy's.  If I admitted that, he'd never have to make it for me again.