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Surviving Junior Year (Barely)
32 Plays5 days ago
This week, the sisters cover a lot of ground—from a surprisingly effective skincare tip you’ll want to remember, to the very real stress of figuring out what to wear to a black tie optional wedding without losing your mind (or your budget).
In “What’s the Buzz,” things take a turn into the irrational (and maybe not-so-irrational) as they unpack fears around flying, bridges, gondolas, and self-driving cars—basically, all the ways modern life can quietly freak you out.
Then it’s onto the main event: surviving the back half of the school year. With junior year in full swing, the conversation gets honest about burnout, pressure, and the myth that effort always equals results. The sisters share practical advice for both parents and kids—how to communicate better, when to step in, and why building relationships (not just GPAs) actually matters.
And in “What’s for Dinner,” Kathy takes on the ambitious task of making mac and cheese for 50 lacrosse players… and lives to tell the tale (barely). Spoiler: it involves a new food processor, a kitchen disaster, and a lot of cheese.
As always head to threelilfishes.com/shownotes for links and recipes.
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Transcript
Surviving with Junior Students at Home
00:00:00
Speaker
School has been just brutal, particularly in my household. Kathy, I think it's been really hard in your household because we both have juniors. That's right. And honestly, you guys, I am just on survival mode from now until the end of school year. We're like walking on eggshells every day. yeah. Which child is going to show up this morning? Can we talk? oh Can we converse with them or not converse? This morning, i got don't.
00:00:30
Speaker
Talk to me about that. i was like, okay. What did you try to talk to me about? I got the stop sign this yeah morning. i was like, fine. I like, turned to Ray and walked out, walked out of the room. I was like... What were you trying to talk to him about? Can I offer you eggs?
Introducing 'Three Little Fishes' Podcast
00:00:51
Speaker
Welcome to Three Little Fishes. We're three sisters who grew up in the Midwest together, but have since spread across the country. I live in Los Angeles. I'm in Nashville. And I live in Philadelphia. We are all married with children, have all had careers, but now we stay at home with our families. Join us as we share secrets and stories about being women, wives, and mothers. We welcome you to laugh along, learn something new, reach out, and join our conversation.
00:01:22
Speaker
So let's jump in.
00:01:25
Speaker
What's up, fishes? What's up, fishes? Good to see you.
Listener's Burn Healing Tip
00:01:29
Speaker
um so a friend of the show um contacted us and she had this like little tip that I thought we would share with our audience here. She has an elderly mother who fell and she got this terrible like burn, like rug burn on her face. And she used silicone. scar sheets and she put them on her mother's face. And she said like after two days, it was miraculously healing. Like, and she sent me pictures and I thought this is a, like a well-kept secret. So if you have any injuries or surgery or something like that, like check out silicone scar sheets, we'll put the link in our show notes. Yeah.
00:02:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's cool. Like the pictures were like unbelievable. I mean, it's like miraculous. And we're not going to post the pictures because we want to give them privacy. But trust us when we say, yeah wow, these really work. And it yeah it really is like the secret that nobody knows about.
00:02:35
Speaker
Yeah. And thank you for sharing because that was incredible. We're also glad that your mom's on the mend. Yeah. So sad she fell. Yikes.
Dressing for Weddings: Challenges and Solutions
00:02:45
Speaker
um So we were talking what's on our minds and what's on my mind and Linda's mind is we have some summer weddings that we're going to and they're black tie optional, meaning that...
00:03:04
Speaker
The wedding party is going to be in black ties. So you can either be black tie or you can be a little less stressed and like cocktail wear. Yeah. Below the knee preferably. I think that the meaning is don't show up in your sandals or flip flops. We're fancy. Don't do it. Yeah. It's fancy. And it's like, what are we going to wear?
00:03:27
Speaker
i know. I really want our audience to give us some tips about where to buy stuff because I've been looking online and It seems like what's on trend right now for women is like the silk brocade dresses, but I'm not wearing that. Like it's too stiff and uncomfortable for me.
00:03:45
Speaker
And I just can't quite figure it out. Or they're like really like... thin silk or satin that kind of clings to everything. And that does not work for me either. You don't want to show every little bump and every little curve? I do not. No. I'm so I don't like really long floor-length dresses. like I just feel like I get lost in them.
00:04:11
Speaker
So I would probably prefer a dress that's more like knee-length, but I don't know even where to get it. So if our audience... has any suggestions, please let us know because we're Well, I'm assuming you guys are also looking for like on a budget too. Like I feel like you're kind of wearing like a prom dress. When do you, you don't really need black tie dresses very often. So I'm assuming you're also don't want to spend thousands of dollars on this dress. No, of course not. Oh no, no, no, no. So like where do you, you all have ideas of where to find cute dresses where you don't feel too guilty
00:04:46
Speaker
Buying them. yeah You know, I also had somebody suggest rent the runway, but I've never done it. And it kind of, I don't know. I don't know why it kind of creeps me.
00:04:57
Speaker
Like it feels weird to me. Yeah. So Rent the Runway is very popular out here and people love it. Yeah. I have not done it just because I am so petite. I'm shorter than you, Kathy. I don't know if you guys remember when I had that. You're shrinking, right? what A while ago, they're like, ah you are not five two You are not even, ah you're not even You're Yeah, im like five foot. Who knows? Maybe next year I'll be five five or four four. i have no idea. so I didn't think I don't think it'll work for me because I'm too I'm just too short and I couldn't alter it. But I think for you, Kathy, I don't think you're too short to try rent the runway. And Linda, I think it would be perfect for you.
00:05:40
Speaker
mean You're like the perfect size. Yeah, you're tall, you have long legs. yeah You guys can try it and see what you think. But you guys, drop us a line. yeah Let us know what your thoughts are to help these girls dress so they don't, you know, humiliate themselves showing up to this fancy wedding.
00:05:58
Speaker
Right. don't want to humiliate. That's kind of tough. Okay. On today's show, What's the Buzz? Surviving school after spring break and what's for dinner. But before we get into it, please rate, review, and invite your favorite fishes to jump in and join our conversation.
00:06:19
Speaker
What's the Buzz?
Fear of Flying and Travel Anxieties
00:06:20
Speaker
What's the Buzz is, did you guys see there was a plane crash at LaGuardia the other day? Terrible. And the pilots died. I think the fire truck people died. So there was a collision. did they die as well?
00:06:34
Speaker
but I think they did. mean, their truck got rolled because that plane had just landed and it was going on like 100 miles an hour. And i will say it kind of like freaked me out a little bit. Like when I fly, i am always worried because it seems like accidents happen like ten up to 10 minutes after you take off. And then like 10 minutes before you land and beyond. And so I'm always like doing extra prayers, like get me through this.
00:07:07
Speaker
I mean, it feels irrational because there aren't that many plane crashes, but then you see stuff like this and you're like, okay, it's not really irrational because it happens. Well, to be honest, it's happening more, though. I don't know if you've noticed. feels the planes are more in the news.
00:07:23
Speaker
I don't know. it's I mean, that seems like that was the air in the control tower. where But, like, did you see that um one of the flight attendants, like, her... seat was ejected out of the plane. And she survived, but she was in a jump seat, which is like more secure.
00:07:41
Speaker
yeah So that's, I think why she survived. And I'm just like, can you imagine belts seatbelts work, right? Do we all need like jumpsuit, like over the shoulder strap us in? That's what I think we all need.
00:07:56
Speaker
I know I kind of get nervous. I'm a nervous little flyer. hate to say that on to hate to say that, but I think it's a control issue that I have. And yeah, I just, I don't love it. I always feel relief when we land.
00:08:09
Speaker
Yeah. I feel like I told you, I think a couple podcasts ago i had gone to Texas and we had severe turbulence coming back here to Philadelphia and that scared me. And I was like, my husband was not with me.
00:08:23
Speaker
Cause he's like, He's a, he used to be a pilot and nothing bothers him. So I'd always be like, should i be worried? He's like, no, Kathy, you're fine. I'm not sure that Peter would even tell you. i don't even think he would like confirm your fears, even if it was true. I think he would just be like, it's fine. I was festering. I'm like, oh my God, this is really bad. This is bad. Yeah, that's bad. Yeah. Well, um,
00:08:48
Speaker
You know, I'm a little bit of a nervous flyer too, but I mean, I still do it all the time. But I remember we had three little kids at home and mom and dad were watching our kids and Rich and I were going on vacation or doing, I can't remember what we were doing, but we were getting on a plane together and dad was like,
00:09:09
Speaker
you're getting on a plane together? Like, what if you crash? Then what happens to your children? And I was like, well we have a will. Do want me to tell you where it is? and he was like, yeah, I guess I need to know. Like, I wouldn't travel together if I were you. You have all these little kids. And I was like...
00:09:25
Speaker
Oh. So that was not a relaxing flight because I was like extra worried that we were going to crash and like leave our children behind. i was like, okay, that was scary. But we made it, obviously. You know, the other thing I don't really like with traveling is, i don't know if you guys know this, but outside Chicago, there's this huge quarry when you're going to Indiana. And I do not like going over that bridge. And then there's other bridges I don't like going over. Like there's one in Duluth.
00:09:56
Speaker
And do you remember in like 2007, I think it was in Minnesota, a whole like road system like collapsed and like 15 people died because the bridge collapsed onto the highway below it And then all these people were injured. And I was like, i don't like bridges.
00:10:17
Speaker
It also probably doesn't help that like when we go up to Canada as kids, we we would have to drive through Duluth, Minnesota, and it's a gigantic bridge.
Fears of Bridges and Transport Safety
00:10:26
Speaker
And mom hates that bridge. So every time we were going over the bridge, she's like, we're going over the bridge. I hate this bridge. We're going over the bridge. So now i'm like, wait, why do you hate the bridge? Is something going happen to the bridge? So now I actively am like, do I need to be worried about all bridges? Just this Duluth bridge? Like, i don't know. It's all bridges for me. i don't love all Duluth is a little scary, I'm going to admit.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah. But I have to say, my irrational fear is, and I haven't done this in a while, but when I'm out skiing, i don't like the chairlifts and the gondolas.
00:11:02
Speaker
I always am like, they're swaying back and forth, they're going to just crash to the ground. And then there was this... thing in the news just a couple weeks ago that happened in swis swiss alps this woman was in a gondola by herself and it detached from the cable and she died it like rolled down the hill i mean that is my worst nightmare yeah how sad i mean that is not good way to go i wonder what happened like is it just like
00:11:39
Speaker
Are they not doing safety checks or what? Well, they said it was very windy that day and maybe it just was too much. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. You know what I can't stand? Our Ferris wheels.
00:11:53
Speaker
That is one of my worst nightmares. Like, why people do that for fun, I don't understand. Like, I can't stand them at all. It's terrible. I don't want to go hard. don't think mine likes those either.
00:12:05
Speaker
I feel like the wheel's going to pop off and we're going to come crashing down and like roll somewhere terrible. I mean, I don't know, but it's all, it's terrible. I used to not like them, but like they're getting smoother. And if you're in your own little like compartment, like there's what the London Eye is really great. It's super smooth. And so I think if it's old and rickety, I don't like it. But if it's new and smooth and I have my own space, plus if they hand me champagne,
00:12:33
Speaker
I mean, I'm good. oh take your mind off of it. Yeah, it's a party in there. if i crash down, I'm like, oh, okay. Do you guys know what Waymos are? So Waymos are the self-driving cars.
00:12:48
Speaker
And we have a ton of them here in Los Angeles. And you see them, you know, they're They're just, there's no driver. You get in it like a cab, but it's self-driven they freaked me out because somebody's having to like program them.
00:13:04
Speaker
I find it so unnerving to see these self-driving cars everywhere. it say on the car it's self-driving? Well, it's got like a camera on the roof, right? Yes. It's like got this like big thing on the, on the hood and it's clear that it's self-driving, you know,
00:13:24
Speaker
um Riley was like, I'm gonna I'm gonna take a ride in one of those I gotta just I gotta have you know, have to try it out. And I was like, Oh, gosh, do you? And he thought it was super cool. But that made me even more nervous.
00:13:37
Speaker
Yeah, I have never been in those. He thought it was super cool and he was like, I felt completely safe. But I'm like, well what if it goes awry? What if somebody hacks into it? Like, I mean, I feel like there's an endless possibility of a list yeah of things. This is your irrational fear now? 1,000%. Like somebody hacking it. Like, you know, hard or like MacGyvered it somehow. Yeah.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah. Would you guys ever ride in one? So I would ride in one. i I never have. um I've been at some scary taxi rides. I'm like, I think a self-driving car would be safer.
00:14:13
Speaker
Seriously. You're not worried that some spy some spy guy is going to hack it? I mean, I don't know. No, not right now. um I... um I've been in some scary cabs too. Like, I think I talked about this once where I was in Portland, Oregon, and I got into a cab and I had to go like an hour away. And my cabbie about halfway through, i was like, this guy is stoned.
00:14:38
Speaker
He is stoned and I'm in the middle of nowhere and there's no escape. I can't even get out of this car because there's nothing around. When I got to my destination, I was like, thanking God that I had made it in one piece.
00:14:53
Speaker
So maybe the self-driving car would have been better than that. So you guys are, sounds like you guys are both for it. I'm like, no thanks. I would prefer person. Well, they have like abide by the speed law. they They probably have to abide by all the rules where most people don't, which would probably be safer just with that.
00:15:12
Speaker
right I know, but I just do it. I get it. i mean, the hacking thing is kind
Daily Safety Routines and Irrational Fears
00:15:17
Speaker
of scary. You know, I, of course, I am my one of my irrational fears is setting my house on fire with my dryer. So I like, I know you talk about that like we i don't know what's wrong with me. I've never had a fire. i don't know why I'm worried about it But like every day I think, oh, I got to get out the lint so I don't start a fire in my house. Like every day.
00:15:39
Speaker
That's crazy. That is crazy. That is a little bit crazy. Why? Why? gosh. don't know why. Because I'm crazy. All right, you guys. Well, maybe we all could use a little therapy in our phobias here. Relax, Lynn. Everything's going to be okay.
00:15:58
Speaker
So you guys, we are heading into spring break. I know some of your kids have like been coming out of spring break. But as we as spring break has been on our minds...
00:16:09
Speaker
School has been just brutal, particularly in my household. Kathy, I think it's been really hard in your household because we both have juniors. That's right. And honestly, you guys, I am just on survival mode in my household to from now until the end of school year. So let's jump in.
00:16:31
Speaker
Well, junior year is no joke. I mean, I've been through it three times and I hate to tell you girls, Kathy, you know this, junior year doesn't end with the end of the school year because if you have a kiddo heading off to college, this summer is busy. It is making sure you have a job. It's making sure you do all of your essays. It's making sure you've buttoned up all of your applications. So I mean, it's a hard time of life for these kids and consequently the whole family because it's stressful.
00:17:03
Speaker
It's real. It's really stressful. My husband and I, we're joking about this kind of. because are you like the judge of that what's you got we're like walking on eggshells every day. yeah. Which child is going to show up this morning?
00:17:22
Speaker
Can we talk? oh Can we converse with them or not converse? This morning i got, don't talk to me about that.
Communicating with Teenagers
00:17:32
Speaker
i was like, okay. What did you try to talk to me about? I got the stop sign this yeah morning.
00:17:39
Speaker
i was like, fine. i like turned to Ray walked out, walked out. What were you trying to talk to him about? Can I offer you eggs? I actually was trying to talk to him about, um, his sports event that he had had the other night and he just didn't want to talk about it at all. And I was like, yeah okay.
00:18:05
Speaker
So i't even a i was I wasn't even going like academics or anything. Yeah. You said it was like safe. You thought sports were safe. Nothing safe. no Nothing is.
00:18:17
Speaker
yeah it's so It's so interesting. And i you can see that they're working so hard, all these things to do, and they're putting in so much effort. And I love podcasts. We're doing a podcast. I love to listen to podcasts. And have you guys heard of Brene Brown and Adam Grant's They're doing a podcast called Dare to Lead and it's a short series. And Adam Grant is a teacher at Wharton.
00:18:44
Speaker
and He's a professor at Wharton, the business school. And he was talking about how they are they were both talking about like effort and effort equals success or does effort not equal success? Like how does effort translate into into your everyday life.
00:19:04
Speaker
And he said that he was going over um reviews from students after the semester ends, they get to rate the professor, like how's it going? What worked well? What didn't? yeah Yeah. And he said that he was shocked that he was getting some negative feedback from his students regarding their grades. And the underlying theme was for as much effort and work I put into this class, my grade does not reflect that.
00:19:33
Speaker
And he was like, I was really taken aback by that. He's like, well, what am I supposed to do Just because you put effort doesn't mean that you got the material or you should get a grade. Is that like everybody who who plays a sport should get a trophy? Yay for effort and it doesn't matter.
00:19:51
Speaker
and then he said, he kind of stepped back a minute and gave it a little bit more thought. So they think they're putting in all this effort. They think that they're getting it, but they're not getting what I want them to get.
00:20:03
Speaker
So they didn't come talk to me. They didn't come process with me how it's going in the class or what they need to do differently. i didn't circle around with the student because, you know, I that i didn't think that was my role.
00:20:17
Speaker
But what if I looked at differently and the student looked at differently? If you go and you ask for feedback, you ask for how can I make my effort stick and move the ball down the line?
00:20:31
Speaker
Is that what it's about? So he was saying that a lot of these kids are working hard and spinning their wheels, people in the workforce working hard, spinning their wheels and not getting noticed by their bosses.
00:20:42
Speaker
So we need to be teaching our kids how to kind of advocate for themselves and be going to these professors to be able to learn how to do the job, how to do the role, how to learn in the class, how to transcribe what they,
00:20:57
Speaker
what they should be getting from the class. And it got me thinking about Riley in particular.
Academic Success and Self-Advocacy
00:21:02
Speaker
He's working really, really hard. He doesn't like to ask for help or go to the teachers. He wants to figure it out himself.
00:21:08
Speaker
And maybe it's helping them at this back end as they're heading into their senior year, heading into high school jobs, starting to help them to, it's not just about effort.
00:21:19
Speaker
Effort is just the is just the buy-in, right So how do you help them? How do you help them get beyond just the buy-in and maybe they won't feel so tired and moody if they, you know what i'm trying to say? That it's more than just the buy-in.
00:21:38
Speaker
Well, I think you definitely said something very profound. Like I know that my college age kids, I mean, they have to connect with the material that they're learning and,
00:21:52
Speaker
I think you can like put a bunch of effort in, but maybe if you're you're doing the wrong kind of effort, it may not be the right thing. mean, they need to be having these conversations with their professors. and Even in high school, their teachers, they have got to be engaged and the teachers need to know that they're invested and that will help and that will help with their grades.
00:22:15
Speaker
Because if the teacher doesn't know who they are they won't give him the benefit of the doubt in the end. And I think it's super important to have a good relationship with the teachers, even though the kids hate doing it.
00:22:29
Speaker
They hate it. It's awkward. Yeah. And i do think it's hard because in elementary and middle, middle school in particular, I feel like they have some like sometimes contentious relationships because middle school teachers, like it's a hard job. So then you have to get into high school and you have to kind of reset and like really try to engage and get, it has to be habitual because as you get older, you have to do that too. i mean, I would argue that this guy too needs to stop and like self-reflect a little bit. Like maybe you're not doing your job properly because, you know, if they're doing all this work and they're producing something that you think is not
00:23:17
Speaker
Yeah, you should. Then you need to like, whoa, like how did you miss the mark so much on this yeah paper, this assignment or this whatever?
00:23:28
Speaker
And I do think it is sort of fascinating. Like when you get into college, all of the kids can rate their professors. So when you're picking out courses, you can look and see, OK, this fits my schedule, but this guy's getting D's consistently from his students. I don't want that. yeah I don't want that teacher.
00:23:46
Speaker
yeah So it all kind of gets wrapped up into one, but I do think like step one, if I had advice to give some a parent who has a child going into high school, it's have a meeting with the kids like at a time where they're not in it and just really talk through like it's important to set up some good habits and And one really important habit is to have a relationship with your teachers because as you get older, it becomes more important. Yeah. You know, so like be uncomfortable freshman year and do it. Go in and talk to every single teacher and try and have a rapport with them.
00:24:26
Speaker
And it's not for that year, it's for the future years. You know, they need recommendations and they need habits and they need to know they're human too. So develop a relationship with all of them.
00:24:38
Speaker
And some teachers will be receptive to it and some will not. And that is just kind of part of the program too. i don't know. It's hard. It's a hard, it's a hard year.
00:24:50
Speaker
I think the main thing kids have to realize going into high school is they really have to focus on their GPA. It really does matter. And you need to set yourself up for success.
00:25:04
Speaker
And, Some AP classes as you get older um also are good, but don't like completely overload yourself that you're completely stressed out. But that shows grit if you're taking some harder classes.
00:25:19
Speaker
You got to prepare for that s SAT because it is real and it's coming back. People think like it was going to go away forever during COVID, but Some schools, I think some schools, I think are keeping with that, but there are schools now that are bringing it back. So you're going to have to prepare well for that exam. And it's hard. yeah I think also, Kathy, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I think also they like to see that you're taking the challenge of taking it. They want to know. Like, are you willing to take that extra step? Yeah. um
00:25:51
Speaker
But some of the things I was thinking about to like, you know, we're thinking about is like how to survive after spring break is just a few things like the communication, like I just talked about with that professor. Like, I think it's really important that these kids are talking to their teacher coming back. This is the last push. What do I need to do? What do you need see from me? You have to stay on top of it.
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah. Like, what do I need to do? i think sleep. I don't think my kid is getting enough sleep. I don't know what's happening in your houses, but I worry that he is just not getting enough sleep.
00:26:24
Speaker
Yeah. I do think sleep is super important. I think exercise is important to help with stress. Yeah. um I think these kids have to take a breath though and realize like it is so stressful. And I think,
00:26:40
Speaker
I have a few kids that are really stressed and I think just letting them know it's going to work out. Like you feel like the weight of the world is on you right now, but it's going to work out and just be assured that it will just give it your all and it'll happen.
00:27:00
Speaker
Well, and I wonder if that could also be like what you mean, what you could also mean is like redefining success. Like what, you know, what does that look like for you to finish out a successful year?
00:27:11
Speaker
Maybe it's changed when it was at the beginning of the semester to what it is now. I mean, I think really we're talking specifically to those kids heading off to college, but I think, you know, it's very, it's, you know what it is too? It's like all these kids, they hate being asked, okay, how's it going? How's school? Have you got your applications? Do you know where you're going to go? What are you going to do when you're grown up? What are you going to like, you know, so like as the adults in the space, it really tried to like bite your tongue and not ask those questions. Just be like,
00:27:45
Speaker
My standard question for kids when they're in senior year is what are you going to do next fall? Instead of like, where are you going to school? Cause some don't go to school right away. Some take a gap year, some go into the military, some go into trades or whatever. What are you going to Where are you going to land?
00:28:01
Speaker
I'm excited for you. You know, I'm not their parent. So like, that's fine as the parents it's, okay, let's get a plan in place.
00:28:12
Speaker
How's it going? You're going to get in some places. You're not going get into other places. Everything's going to be okay. One moment at a time. It's hard. So if we were to get people like surviving, coming back from spring break, I know Kathy and I are really thinking about particularly our juniors, but I know kids who are just starting high school who are freshmen, this has been their first year. It's been really hard on them. It's a real change to be able to you know, to go into the high school career heading, you know.
00:28:43
Speaker
So what's our advice? what What would be one tip that you would give, Linda, like to survive this back half? What's one tip? I think just, you know, stay the course. Just, you know, when it's not the heat of the moment, just remind them that you love them and just stay the course. Your hard work is paying off and it's going to be okay. Stay the course. Yeah.
00:29:05
Speaker
What about you, Kathy? What's your one? what you one I think, you know, if you're putting in the hard work and every day it's going to work out, just believe in yourself and not let it get you down so much.
00:29:21
Speaker
um I would just also say, i would just reemphasize too that you have to sleep and take care of yourself. That's super important. If you're too tired or you're sick, you're not going to be able to do well.
00:29:34
Speaker
Um, it's okay to take breaks, take a deep breath. Yeah. And it's all going to get done. And I think the number one thing is to communicate. You have to communicate with your teachers. You have to communicate with us.
00:29:49
Speaker
You don't have to tell us every little feeling that you're having, but you've got to leave the door open. So you're not in it by yourself. You feel like you are, but you're not, you have support. i mean, that is so huge. I mean, these kids, the weight of the world is on these kids shoulders and it is not on their shoulders. Like just make sure your kiddos know how much you love them and you're proud of them. No matter what happens, it's, you know, we love them.
00:30:16
Speaker
Good luck out there. All right, y'all what's for dinner?
Cooking for a Crowd: Mac and Cheese Chaos
00:30:21
Speaker
My son plays lacrosse and This week's dinner, the junior class is providing the meal for the lacrosse team.
00:30:29
Speaker
It's kind of every class provides it during the season. And this is our time. So they were asking, it's going to be, we're getting like barbecue, like catered barbecue is being brought in but they were asking people that they needed a bunch of sides. And so i was like, I'll i'll do the macaroni and cheese.
00:30:54
Speaker
And then I called the place and I just thought it was kind of expensive for what it was. And I was like, well, maybe I can do it. It's noodles and cheese. Like how expensive does it need to be? Like less expensive and be like good quality food.
00:31:09
Speaker
It's just your time, right? Yeah. So why not? So I got this idea in my head thinking, oh, this is like a no big deal brainer meal. Well, it turned out to be bigger than I thought.
00:31:25
Speaker
Because i have to feed 50 kids, 50 people. Yeah, that's a lot of macaroni. So I got a recipe online. And then of course, I have to like double it.
00:31:37
Speaker
And then I went to the store and I got all this like pasta and then it's the cheese that's expensive yeah to buy. I can't believe you didn't go to Costco. Well, I should have probably. Dinormous blocks.
00:31:51
Speaker
I should have probably in hindsight. Well, I guess, can i just have that can I just have you back up really quickly? Because I know a little part to this story that I think that you're forgetting is that you decided that you were going to make this mac and cheese that you thought would be more economical.
00:32:06
Speaker
And you're like, I can make lasagna. Yeah. I can make mac and cheese. But you're like, I have to shred this cheese. And I don't want to shred all this cheese by hand. And you're like, i only have them. I'm like, put it in your food processor. You're like, I don't have a food processor. I just have a mini food processor. So then you call the other day and you're like, guess what? i bought a new food processor. I i love it.
00:32:27
Speaker
I'm shredding lettuce. I'm going to shred cheese for this mac and cheese. And it's going to be amazing. So I just feel like people need to know that you also got yourself a new mac daddy food processor to shred cheese and all the things. I did because I was going to have my husband do it by hand, but then like, he's going to kill me. So I'm like, you know what? I have i have this stupid mini food processor and I'm like, why do I have this like mini thing? yeah so i is fine It is cute.
00:32:57
Speaker
I have one of those two. I did buy a bigger one. yeah Because that is one of the um key things with this recipe is they say that if you buy shredded cheese, it's kind of waxy.
00:33:10
Speaker
Yeah, kind of coating. It's like gritty. So you don't want to use that. So you need to you need to shred it yourself. But I have to say... My favorite thing about this whole thing is my new food processor because I love it.
00:33:25
Speaker
Like it, it was amazing. Yeah. But I have to say last night I started making all this stuff. My kitchen was a disaster. yeah First of all,
00:33:39
Speaker
To make like a lot of pasta, six pounds of pasta. So I did it in double batches. yeah But that still is a big pot of pasta.
00:33:50
Speaker
yeah And then you have to make the sauce. And I did it in my Dutch oven. But like the sauce started like getting hot and spitting. And then when we added the cheese, it started like getting all over it.
00:34:03
Speaker
My husband ended up helping me because I was like, can't lift this. This is like so heavy. This is like cheese. It started like spitting at us. And Peter was like, ah oh my God, Kathy, we're burning ourselves.
00:34:19
Speaker
But, um, It was kind of comical, to be honest, because then I got out my big 20-quart pasta pot, and we just dumped it all in there. yeah And that actually worked great.
00:34:31
Speaker
But I think I'd do better like the next time I ever had to make such a huge batch of pasta. But it was funny. And I think it actually turned out well.
00:34:42
Speaker
Now, what recipe did you use? Because I use like um Alton Brown's stovetop mac and cheese a lot, but it has eggs in it. So that's why I was going to use that recipe, but i I chose not to because it has eggs and I have, there's a couple our kids on the team that have severe allergies, so I didn't use it, but I got it.
00:35:05
Speaker
I think it's like a YouTube recipe. But it comes... It's TikTok. It's like... um YouTube. But it's like a lot of just cheese, evaporated milk, um butter. Yeah, it's basic.
00:35:21
Speaker
Salt, pepper. I'll post a recipe that I made. son tried it. Is it good? We all tried it. And my son I made my son try it. And he's like, this is really good, Mom.
00:35:33
Speaker
So... good um I think it is a way You did it. You did. But it it took me a long time. And then I had to clean up my entire kitchen. I had to like Mac Daddy clean because that cheese got everywhere.
00:35:50
Speaker
Well, I guess note to self was... I'm not an industrial kitchen. Like, right you know, it's like big time when you're cooking for that many people. um And you need a helper. So thanks to my husband, Peter. Shout out because he was very nice last night.
00:36:07
Speaker
So. Yay, Pete. So Kathy, would you do this recipe again and just do it just the one pan? Like, would you take this on again? Yeah, I probably would like just do a smaller serving. just so you don't have so much.
00:36:25
Speaker
Yeah. But I mean, a 25 batch is still huge. So yeah, yeah I definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I can't wait to hear how the boys like it. Cause it's tonight. they bet They better like it. Yeah. Yeah, they will. And you don't have any burn marks, right? Cause like, um, hot cheese can like burn, burn you.
00:36:46
Speaker
I'm not hurt. Thank goodness. Silicone. Yeah.
00:36:52
Speaker
No scar seats for me, but I actually got some on Peter's sweater, which he wasn't happy about. Well, I'm sure the boys appreciate the effort. Good job, Kath. You all should try this mac and cheese that Kathy's going to post in the show notes and let us know what you think. Is it worth the hype or no?
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00:37:11
Speaker
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00:37:23
Speaker
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