A Break-fast and Shaloch Manos

It's Purim! Can you guess what my daughter is dressed as? A bunny, of course! So is her cousin. :)

Today was Ta'anis Esther (the Fast of Esther) and as it happens, I have a little tradition about fasts. I always, with very few exceptions, break my fasts on mac & cheese. Sometimes it's the boxed stuff (gotta love it!), sometimes it's just pasta with cheese melted on it. This time, I still had some of that spinach left in the fridge, and I had a craving for fettuccine alfredo, so I decided to try making my own cheese sauce with spinach.

It was pretty yummy, if I do say so myself.

After dinner, I had to run to megillah reading, and when I got back at almost 10PM, I remembered that I had wanted to bake some cupcakes tonight. I could just do it tomorrow, but then I'd have to do it with my dear daughter screaming in my ear. So I went ahead and baked them.



And took a few pictures.



And experimented with staging my shots to get them the way I want them.



I came pretty close. I'm proud.

Now for the recipe.

Pasta with Spinach Cheese Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 Box of Pasta, cooked according to package directions


• 2-3 Tbsp butter


• 1 Tbsp chopped garlic


• 1-2 Cups fresh spinach, ripped


• 1/4 Cup flour


• 1.5 Cups milk


• 1/2-1 Cup shredded cheese, whatever variety suits you

Instructions

1. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a small saucepan.



2. Add garlic to butter, saute until fragrant


3. Add in spinach, continue to saute until wilted



4. Remove the spinach and garlic from the pan and set aside


5. Put remaining butter into pan and melt.


6. Slowly add flour, mixing until well combined after each addition, until the butter is thick.


7. Add milk and cook on medium heat until milk is hot.


8. Add cheese and mix until melted.



9. Mix sauce with pasta and serve

Enjoy!

One note: The sauce was tasty, but not as flavorful as I'd hoped. Try adding salt and pepper and maybe some onion powder.