knit2day's Profile

Just to add to Lloyd's point - whilst we do have circuit ring mains, the fuses (in UK appliances) are in the plug and not the socket, as they are intended to protect the appliance because of the high voltage used in the UK. Each house also has a central consumer unit with the main circuit fuses in them, protecting the circuits themselves.

And more than you want to know, I'm sure but in case anyone's still reading: the on/off switch was originally one of the safety features when the UK switched to three-pin earthed sockets in about the 1950s (the other main safety feature is that the live and neutral connections have shutters over them, opened when the earth prong of the plug is inserted - it stops kids sticking things into the socket). The on/off switch also adds convenience and, yes, these days makes it a lot easier to switch things off to save electricity.

Another option - possibly even more appropriate to the season - is to replace the roux with a pumpkin (or other squash) and low/non-fat milk purée - mix about 3 cups of chopped, peeled, winter squash to 2.5 cups of milk (or whatever amount you need, in those proportions). For 8oz of pasta, a purée made with a small pumpkin (about 9" wide) was fine. You can also use a mixture of milk and broth instead of all milk, but using all milk makes it easier to cut down on the cheese further and still get a good creamy taste.

This makes the mac & cheese creamy, a fabulous color - which would work well with the red and green of the peppers & spinach in this recipe! - and you can't taste the pumpkin - as noted by my rather picky nephews. I think the idea came from a Martha Stewart recipe at some point, but I rather lost track of it.