2009 Recipe #1 Macaroni and Cheese

So, here’s the first recipe for my New Years Resolution of trying one new dish each weekend and posting a picture and recipe (providing the whole thing wasn’t a total disaster!).

I decided to start with something simple but that I had never made before…and believe it or not, I had never made homemade Macaroni and Cheese from scratch before! No, really…I kid you not!

Growing up in a Mexican household back in the day when we lived on a rancho 30 miles from the nearest town, we didn’t get to eat foods like mac n cheese. We ate a lot of Mexican rice and sopas which I LOVE, but no mac n cheese.

When my kids were little they loved that stuff in the blue box.

They loved it because that was what their mom made them. Then when the microwave type came out, well I was in hog heaven! Now I didn’t even have to take 10 minutes to boil water and open a box…the microwave made it possible for the kids to make it themselves and the good thing is my son liked it better!

So why fix something that ain’t broke? Well, because I made a new years resolution and I have all the ingredients to make this recipe I found on this great website, which you want to visit because it’s interesting and they have a great writing style. It features great food ideas and photos, and they write about living in the south and I love all things southern! I think I'm a Mexican Southern Belle. Ok, so not so much a belle anymore, but maybe one of those weird Southern ladies, kind of like the southern ladies on Steel Magnolias (one of my very favorite movies!).

Mac & Cheese
1 8oz pkg macaroni
3 Tbs butter
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 pound grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten

Cook macaroni in boiling salted water until just tender, drain and rinse with cold water. Leave in colander to drain. Combine melted butter, milk, salt & pepper in a bowl. Whip eggs into the milk. In a large baking dish, layer half of the noodles, top with grated cheese. Repeat layer of noodles and cheese. Pour milk and eggs over entire casserole. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until set. (With my oven I had to bake it 40 minutes and then I stirred it all up and sprinkled more cheese on top and baked it another 10 minutes.)

And here it is in all it's cheesy, gooey splendour! Mmmmmmm, smells great!
So here's the sample I tasted for ya'll. And it was good. I liked it. It's not what I imagine when I imagine mac n cheese, because it's different. But it's still really good and totally comfort food! Try it and let me know what you think.